I cannot wait to see what happens after completing this internship. By remaining focusing on what is needed to accomplish today’s goals, I have a clear vision what will need to happen to achieve the employment desired in the action sports industry. It has been a constant feat to balance my current employment, this internship, and my social life all at once. Having completed this internship will allow me to focus purely on acquiring the employment opportunities I desire and less on balancing the many other requirements others have for me.
One thing will always remain certain in life, if you want something you have to go out and get it for yourself. This internship has taught me that you must be willing to make sacrifices, do whatever it takes to keep moving forward, and push until you reach your goals. It may seem hard at times to keep all this up month after month, week after week, day after day, but this is a proven the recipe for success. By staying driven day in and out, no matter the circumstances I remain in a commitment that many others have not been able to meet. It is a great lesson about running a prosperous business; no matter what the daily circumstances may be, it is important to stay focused on moving towards the goals.
As this journey comes towards an end, I have acquired some very useful information and lessons that will carry on with me in my new employment, new experiences, and new life challenges. Every tribulation that is faced today prepares me for the future, and how situations are handled today dictates how well I can control the outcome of future circumstances.
With summer approaching quickly, more and more I find myself near the water and in less clothing. But before days are spent in board shorts and flip flops there are some much needed skateboard trips! Last weekend’s event stirred a new desire to be on the road scouting skate spots and parks. I was fortunate enough to find myself amongst some very inspiring talented skateboarders and enthusiastic spectators. Last Saturday the Carmel Valley skate park hosted the “I ride, I recycle” skateboard contest. Let me begin by stating there was much more to see than just a few power slides and wheelies. I was not only impressed by the caliber of riding, but the diversity of athletes. Not only were competitors of many ability levels, but they were of different sexes, age groups, and skateboarding styles. There was a little bit of everything at this event; it seemed as though even skateboarders that were not in the sanctioned competition were having fun skating in their own competitive contest. At any given time I would look around and see others not only having a great time, but having support from others doing it. It makes me remember weekends when mom would take me to the skate park. Ma didn’t know anything about skateboarding, so I never listened to her tips, you know stupid comments like “keep your head up, or “make sure to keep my feet above the metal thingy’s” it never failed that in less than 10 minutes an older skater would roll up and say “Keep your head up dude”, or “Yo bro, keep your feet over the trucks!”. Somehow it sunk more when he said it; he was a peer and was understanding. this skateboard event reminded me of All the things that I long for…skate trips to rad parks, skateboarding with a diverse group of athletes, the inspiration from complete strangers that know what they are talking about and a little bit of summer to top it off.
So this last weekend I got to represent Bamboo Skateboards at “Greenfest” which was presented by SDSU’s Associated Students and SDSU’s Enviro-Business Society. It was a weeklong schedule of events which encourage, celebrate, and advocate sustainability and diversity. The purpose of GreenFest was to engage the campus community through social and interactive programs in an effort to educate them on the important of living a sustainable lifestyle and to promote sustainable practices.
Engaging with the students and staff alike, it was evident that SDSU is a campus that is at the forefront of living sustainably. Every vendor that was present was making steps towards revealing ways to improve lifestyle while doing a part of preserving the future. It was not only a great event, but a great venue. For anyone that has not been to the SDSU campus I would recommend visiting for the simple fact of viewing great architecture in a stunning setting. Awesome art, design, and scenery coupled along with great weather and many like-minded students, sets the tone for becoming educated in both general studies and sustainability at a SDSU a synch. It is no wonder this is a preferred University amongst many students living in Southern California.
While working this event, I informed others about business practices that will not only generate business for Bamboo skateboards, but healthier consumer decisions on what products leave less of an impact on future generations. Overall, I would say that this was a great success for Bamboo Skateboards and other products/services that promote sustainability!
Just wanted to say huge shout out to my friends that are on tour!
The band is called Minor birds and they are on a 2-3 month tour with another great artist named Kat Jones. Thanks to Mark in the marketing and sales department, they are riding new Bamboo Skateboards in somewhere around 30 states of the United States of good ‘ol America! After the bands tour had a stop in the San Diego area, Bamboo skateboards had the pleasure of hosting them to a few hours at the warehouse, showing them what it’s like to run a great skateboard company while they showed us what it’s like to run some great instruments! Please follow them on their journey across the great states, and make sure to support their valiant effort to support Bamboo skateboards and methods of sustainability through great music and art in any way that you can!
Thanks so much Joel, Chelsea, and Kat Jones for making the stop to see an old friend. Love you guys and your wonderful musical capabilities!!
While it seems it’s been a lifetime, this internship has only been around 9 weeks since the commencement. What is most important for me is to understand I am past the halfway threshold. As we are coming towards the end of the internship, time will begin to slip through my hands and it will all be over before I know it. After taking the midterm, it seems as though all other work seems much simpler. It was not material that I have reviewed often, but it was very important information for anyone looking to understand and advance as a business owner.
Equidistant through the internship marks a good point to begin a new approach. From this point onward, I am dedicated to learn as much as possible from this internship using every aspect of running a action sports business. By asking many questions from all angles, this company will become more and more transparent in how it functions and operates. It is important to keep a focus on exactly what is expected from my position as an intern, but inquiring about other facets of the company can do nothing more than benefit myself, and ultimately the company in a healthier way.
I welcome the second half of this internship with open arms, and cannot wait for the opportunity to show what I have learned thus far about how to make a business thrive in such a saturated and difficult market. By using a very fine tuned set of tools, there is a way to compete with the ever evolving market of progressive brands out there. It is merely figuring out what tool is appropriate for the job at hand. This is my opportunity to show that my sets of tools are ready to be used! ]
We are just now wrapping up our 10th week as an Intern team. All of us live in the area now so our in office work days are truly a blast. Come to think of it now that we are all in town I think its about time for us to have some team building fun!! More about that in my next post hopefully.
Personally the last two weeks were pretty hard. I spent the entirety of week 9 up in NorCal (where I am originally from) with my family and had to work remotely. That being said I do not envy any intern that ever has or ever will work remotly, it is not as fun as working in office, I spent most the week feeling as though I was missing out on all the amaizing and awesome things that were happening in office without me. Plus, to make it even worse, Geoff decided that while I was gone it would be a perfect time for him to swing by and say hi to the crew (obviously myself excluded).
On a more positive note this week has been a lot of fun. Mark has been working hard at landing us some pretty awesome PR (more to come in later posts I am sure) and on Wednesday Jonathan, Mark, and I spent a good solid 5 hours picking up shortboard trucks, finding the best of the best shortboards, gripping them, building them, shrink wrapping, packing, and finally (in the knick of time) pushing them out the door for our trusty UPS man to take them away.
We also had our Mock-Interviews this week and I felt really onfident with the outcome of mine. I did miss a few keypoints due to the fact that I have never done a Skype interview before but it really was great practice. From what I have been told by friends that now work at amazing companies, Skype interviews happen, they happen often, and more than likely they will happen to you so make sure you practice getting comfortable talking into that little dot on your computer. Practice building a relationship with an image and a dot even though there is no one around (ya that sounds a bit creepy).
We are all super stoked for the upcoming week as we have a fashion show up in LA that we are participating in and most of the team will be heading up there for that. What’s better than beautiful people, eco events, and Bamboo Skateboards!!
Im sorry I don’t have much more to discuss this week but I can promise you that a lot of things are in the works and Bamboo is growing so very very fast!
Hello world! It seems like every week is so packed with stuff to do it is insane. We just finished up our Midterm and I think we are all super stoked on how we did. It was a lot of prep work, but it all paid off. Last week we put in a bunch of hours trying to work as a team and come to consensus on our answers. Of course, we strayed a bit off track the first try, but we were able to stay focused and eventually came to consensus with our methods and our answers. I feel like this Midterm was set up really cool. It really helps you understand the financial and numbers side of the business. I’ve taken a couple accounting classes before, but they had little translation to this project. I like how there were two different factories with two different sets of variables that we had to calculate and compare. I felt like I was making real life business decisions and forecasts.
Just yesterday Mark, Thane and I went down to San Diego’s CW 6 for their San Diego Living segment. We joined a couple of other companies who will be attending the Cardiff Surf Classic this Saturday. Before we went on I asked the group if I could put on the Panda suit and get in their shot, and they were all about it! I was super stoked because I got to give the reporter a big panda hug. Then we did our segment, and Mark killed it. He pitched all of the cool stuff we have going on with iRide, Eqo Optics, the trophies and everything. Then, I asked the producer if we could get the Panda in the studio, and they were all about it! The woman reporter couldn’t stop laughing when as she posed like she was having a serious interview. It was great. Overall, the event was a tremendous success.
Now, we are getting all set up for our event at the Cardiff Surf Classic this Saturday. We have our kicker ramp all spray painted up, we have our obstacle course planned out, and Sean is finishing up spray painting the tarp wave that we are bringing down. It has been quite an eventful week and I look forward to the event this weekend!
Congrats to everyone who has made it half way! It’s been a huge struggle, but with every struggle, comes a test of our character, work ethic, and boundaries. I have far exceeded what I thought I was capable of accomplishing, and been pushed way past my limits.
The saying “it’s all downhill from here” doesn’t really apply to this internship (for those of you considering doing it). It’s a constant challenge, and even though we’re half way there, things are continuing to get more challenging. Goals to meet, events to plan, decks to sell.
However, we are all becoming a team more and more. Better and more effective communication has been key. We are figuring out not only our own strengths and weaknesses, but also that of our co-interns, as we build and grow off each other. We are slowly creating a fit among the team, to where I can finally say that I feel like we are contributing to BambooSK8 as a whole.
This is our chance to really create ourselves. Through success or failure, this has been a huge learning experience for us, and I’ve made some great friends in the process.
It’s week 6 and time is flying by. It seems like last week I was walking into the doors of BambooSK8 for the first time as an intern asking myself “What’s Hookit?” and wondering what the following weeks had in store. Now we’re 2 weeks away from the half way point, and I’m more excited about this experience than ever!
Why you may ask? Although the tasks are piling on, and we’re all stressing out and pushing hard to maximize our points, the reason I’m so excited is for our plans. After all these weeks we finally have some set ideas to put into action. We have some fun contests we’re holding, events we’re attending, and of course, some awesome times to look forward to with my fellow interns and peers.
Things are also getting easier as they continue to get harder. It’s a fine balance, however, I can tell that I’ve been pushing myself past my comfort zone and into that “sweet spot” where I’m maximizing my efficiency and yielding my best results. I’ve not only grown professionally, but also as a person. They say that experience is one of the most beneficial education, and I can wholeheartedly back that up. This is by far one of the best learning experiences I’ve had the chance to obtain.
Happy Memorial Day everyone! So many things to be thankful for on this day.
As we begin Week 4 I can tell as a team of interns we are all in! It has only been one short month so far and I feel so involved. I am learning more and more about each aspect day by day as well as the importance of communication. Every day I wake up excited, become a little overwhelmed, and by the end of the day I feel a little more accomplished. Each day is filled with a full range of emotions. Being able to confide in the fellow interns as well as Mark and Geoff really makes me feel like part of the team. This internship is so different than any other job I have ever taken on and I appreciate the challenge. Although every task is full of ups and downs I am gaining a knowledge I wouldn’t be thinking about other wise.
The interns are great via Skype and email but I really wish I had the opportunity to visit the office and work with everyone face to face. I am hoping to make this possible come July, at least for a week.
Last but not least I am looking forward to receiving my BambooSk8 decks this week! I can’t wait to skate one and travel with them to Michigan in the upcoming weeks. It makes me feel like a little kid who wants to show off the new board, haha. Well this is still only the second post of many to come. Once again, I am so grateful to be welcomed on to this journey of an internship.
Man, have these past few weeks been busy! All of the interns are working so hard to get into events, launch new contests, get new customers, visit skateparks, and the list goes on forever. I can’t believe this is the end of week 12, and we are approaching the end of internship so soon. These next few weeks are going to be very challenging, as we all need to meet our sales, marketing, and PR goals by week 16. Yikes!
Something very exciting this week was our final exam! It was somewhat like the midterm, with a few extra curve balls. I’m not sure how I did yet, but I’m crossing my fingers for a good grade! For the future interns reading this, make sure you are always checking details! In the final, and everything else you do. Lead times are a real doozy. So make sure you start training your mind to think in weeks, not months.
Other crew news is that a few of our riders are competing in the Phoenix Am Competition this weekend. Keep checking our facebook and twitter for updates! http://phxam.com/
Wow, its the end of week 12. We had a pretty gnarly final this week that I felt good about then realized I was one of the only people to get a different answer :/ I felt very productive this week, our hookit and twitter numbers went up more than any time this internship so far. I’m busting my ass for the remainder of this internship to bring the most results possible.
I’m excited about attending the EcoFest at CSU San Bernardino on April 6th representing BambooSk8 and getting some panda skateboarding footage this next week.
This program has been a fun ride, that I don’t want to end. It has pushed me to get out and skate more and talk more with the skate community. As well as getting me to push myself beyond what I believed I was capable of accomplishing. I got a concrete wave party to attend in the middle of April. Fun stuff. Let the good times roll.
BambooSk8 – where the grass is greener and you skate on it!!!
It’s easy to think “oh yeah I have to be efficient, no problem.” Although, when you are hit with a bunch of tasks to tackle, it’s not always as easy as it seems.
Red peppers in my self sustaining vegetable garden in South Cali
Luckily, we have a sweet system set up to monitor our efficiency and help us manage our workload. The timesheet has been a challenge to stick to and it has been difficult to figure out how to make improvements but it has been a big help.
Super Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes
We had an awesome time at Clash at Clairemont 6. Despite the bad weather, a ton of people came out to support Grind For Life.
The Clash
This program has been a blast and a big challenge for me to learn how to bring results and develop professionally. I look forward to every second of the rest of it.
Half way done!! Oh my, this week was absolutely insane. First, I am learning how to play the piano in school, and it is definitely my greatest challenge. Learning an instrument past 20 takes far more effort and commitment. It is really teaching me to be patient with myself and accept that I’m not the greatest at everything I do (haha ).
Another crazy part of the week was the midterm (yikes!!)!! I had been preparing for weeks and weeks, hours and hours for this thing, and you know what happened?? I messed up one thing and it screwed up all of my answers. Lesson learned, pay attention to details and make sure you use every resource you have when studying (as in ask your fellow interns for help in addition to the executive team). I didn’t do as well as I was hoping, but now that I know what to do next time and I should be able to rock the final!
Overall, the internship has been a blast. Everyone is super cool and very helpful. We have been busting our butts as a team to increase facebook likes and twitter followers, and it looks like our hard work is paying off! If you guys haven’t already, please follow us on twitter, and like us on facebook. We give you the DL on the latest cool news! Also, special shout out to Gabe, who has been doing an amazing job managing Hookit!
It snows, and then it’s warm. It snows, and then it’s warm. I wish Denver would make up its mind!! Cheers!
THIS WEEK WAS INSANE!!!!!! I think I heard a collective sigh of relief from all the interns once the midterm was completed. I don’t know about anyone else, but I took a couple of shots of Jameson to take the edge off after that exam. It may have been very difficult, but the knowledge I gained from the experience was undeniable. I will carry this information with me throughout my career for sure.
Now, on to the good stuff. The marketing team and myself have really been working hard at reaching our numbers lately. We have lined up a lot of contests for Facebook, Hookit, and Twitter. All of this has been with the help of BambooSk8′s graphic guru Jackie! Without her, our contest flyers would look pretty busted. David has utilized a program that will automatically post to Twitter, so he is really moving on that end! I was able to get the new Facebook Reveal Tab added to Google Analytics so we are seriously moving on our goals!
On top of all the awesomeness that is just exuding from the interns, a few of us in office interns got to meet TAMEKA! She came into town and hung out with us in the cave. It was awesome to put a face to all those emails! The next intern scheduled to visit us Oside Riders is Alissa. She better get her game face on for beer pong!
We are ending week 6 and I must say, this has been the best week so far! Wyatt, the CEO and owner of BambooSK8, was here in Denver on Saturday and it was really great hanging out with him. We were able to check out a couple of shops here in Denver and he gave me some really helpful tips for dealing with sales. It was also Valentine’s Day this week, so I hope everyone enjoyed it! Or at least indulged in all of the chocolates on sale at our local grocery stores (I know I did)!
After getting well into our commitments this week, I finally feel very confident that I could have a good, long career in this industry. This internship has really started to challenge me and show me what it really means to be a leader and a self starter. Those two characteristics alone will make or break you right now. My time here at BambooSK8 is not only teaching me about the industry, but teaching me a lot about myself. I’ve been working on “what needs to be done daily” as a part of my philosophy items and have learned that this doesn’t mean “how many things can I do today” but really what needs to be done that will make the biggest difference for tomorrow. This has really motivated me to get started on planning for the next few months, as I will graduating from college and would like to have a plan for when that time comes.
In the mean time, it is finally warming up here in Denver and the skateparks are just about dry. So in my next blog, be ready for many pictures from future adventures at skateparks and roadtrips for BambooSK8 related tasks. Check out the hoodies I made for repping at parks, they came out pretty good.
Wow, I’m already in week 6. Time is going by so fast and with all the things we’re doing, I didn’t even realize that the halfway point in this internship is coming.
In the last few weeks, I’ve learned about using the feedback from my mentors and bosses here at Bamboosk8 to improve how to get my commitments done, reach goals and be a team player. I also learned about being a leader with my groups to get things done properly and efficiently regarding Hook it and Facebook, while helping other leaders of other teams with their goals. Receiving positive and negative feedback I can grow as a person and as an employee. It’s funny because when we started, I thought I was good at this and that, while now I know that I’ve got so much still to learn and at the same time I’m making gigantic steps. The feedback is always relevant and when I follow through with it, I see the difference in my speech at meetings, while writing with my fellow interns and when making sure projects are handed in at the right time.
There are so many tasks to do each week that motivation is not hard to come by generally! If you stop you fall behind and possibly out of the internship, however the staff is always there to guide us and make sure we work to achieve the weekly goals. We are all leaders in different groups and meetings, which is an invaluable experience in the real world. Tasks keep pouring in each week, so we keep motivated and we understand how to work under pressure and in a timely manner by using a spreadsheet with all our weekly duties.
To stay on the internship we constantly have to reach KPI’s each week, which are rewarded under the form of points, the backbone of what keeps us going forward in the stage and it’s like a recognition of our efforts since our final grade will determine our recommendation.
If you look for an internship in the action sport industry and you want to make a difference in real life to other people and the planet, this is it. Bamboosk8 will take you beyond what you think it’s your limit and you will discover how much potential you have.
By the way, I’ve just received my 10 decks from Bamboosk8 and now I can’t wait to show you all my fantastic skills on a bamboo made skateboard, while all the other people in Australia wonders with their jaw wide open at what I’m riding and where to get one!
When I found this opportunity at BambooSk8, I had recently graduated from college in San Francisco. I took a couple months after college to relax, get my resume together, take a little trip to Florida, and a cruise to Alaska. Once I got some vaca out of the way, I started to get into the swing of things, sending out endless resumes for all kinds of jobs, getting a response very rarely of a phone interview and no return call. I started to think more and more about what kind of company I really wanted to work for and how I can make it happen.
My first thoughts were that I needed to gain valuable experience no matter what, so I focused a lot on internship opportunities. I realized I’d like to work for a company that is socially responsible, or who has a greater cause. Or I’d like to work with a company related to my interests in skateboarding or plants. BambooSk8 was everything I was looking for in one opportunity.
I really started skateboarding when I was about 11 years old, and like Pringles chips, once I popped I couldn’t stop, hehe. Ever since then I’ve been hooked and have continued to go out and have fun skateboarding, especially being in the bay area hitting up fresh spots I didn’t grow up skating.
My interest in plants came from a project I did for fun for my parents, completely redoing their landscape and irrigation. I turned planters of dirt and rot into tropical succulent lush beautiful planters of life. I planted fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, flowers, ferns, succulents, pretty much everything I could get my hands on. Definitely some bamboo, 4 different varieties!!
When I began the internship, I realized it wasn’t all running through fields of bamboo with wind in my face jumping on my board shredding bamboo half pipes. Although, I did also realize that this is going to be an intense program that has the potential to greatly enhance my professional development and help steer me in the right direction towards finding a career path I can walk down with a smile on my face. Also, that it’s up to me to make the most of this great opportunity.
So far, we have been getting used to some of the tools we are going to be using to promote BambooSk8 and to interact with skateboarders. We’ve also been learning all about BambooSk8 and what makes it a great company. We’ve been working a great deal on our own professional development: learning our weaknesses, our goals, and how we can improve our interviewing skills. We’ve done a lot of collaboration between interns and mentors, contributing ideas and sharing lessons, and started to become acquainted with one another.
M future goals are to take what I learn in this internship and to move on to gaining more experience relative to tasks I excelled in during the internship. I want to narrow down a more specific career path and have more specific goals. Once I have my focused path, I will bust my ass to become the best at what I do. I’m looking at the next 14 weeks with the highest hopes and a hungry, determined spirit. Much thanks to everyone at BambooSk8!!
The video links at the bottom of this post (Berkeley, Bobby longboarding) may be glitchy or take a while to load, especially the longboarding one because it’s longer, and don’t view it full screen, sorry bout that.
Makeshift spot right next to the ocean
The infamous hubba hideout on the verge of destruction
Just wanted to keep everyone up to date with what has been going on here at BambooSK8. During the second week of the internship all the interns attended ASR which was a great experience for all. You can read all about it in my last post. It was something I will never forget and I hope to attend it again in the future as my career in the action sports industry continues to grow.
One of the main objectives of this internship is to spread the word of BambooSK8 and create awarness for future generations to come. I can’t say enough good things about this company and the internship program. Bamboo skateboards are the wave of the future and have proven to be superior to its counterpart maple. Tested and proven in the Sole Tech labs to have more POP than maple!!! What more do you want in a skateboard than a durable product thats got POP?
We want to thank all you kids out there on loop’d network that are buying our decks and supporting us. Keep on sending us those photos for the weekly photo contest and keep on rippin’. Whether your buying our decks directly from us or in your local skate shop, you are starting to see the light and supporting a good cause. One day when all those maple trees are gone what will you turn to?
This is a great company and a wonderful opportunity that I am proud to be a part of. Until next time….
grand prizeTime to get stoked. I am proud to announce a new contest in the works here at Bamboo Sk8. The contest involves shooting an Eco/Skate video. The video is a chance for contestants to get creative. I have been working closley with Ron (head of public relations), and we so far have finished an outline for a “pilot” run. The pilot run will include all the basic ideas of the contest for four teams of participants to compete against eachother. We will pick the best video for a grand prize (later to be announced, but trust us it will be worth competing for). If the pilot contest runs with out any major problems we will unleash the contest to the masses. We see this contest eventually going national, maybe even international. We also have diffrent variations of the contest, one will revolutionalize the skate market. We are changing the world one step at a time. There is no stopping us and eventually you will have no choice but to join us. Why not join us now. Go ahead, help us save the world. I dare you.
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