Georgetown MBA Internship Diary: Stephen L.

Come on Down to Cleveland-town!

The biggest question I usually get from friends is about my adjustment to life in Cleveland. Despite lacking the glamour of some other cities in the country, Cleveland and its suburbs have been pleasant thus far.  Having lived in two rather developed cities (DC and Seattle) for most of my life, I’ve made it a point to not compare Cleveland to other cities.  I have enjoyed visiting the various neighborhoods such as Tremont, Ohio City, West 6th, Covantry, and Cleveland Heights.  Additionally, I’ve been able to attend a few events from the annual rib festival to the grand opening of the Cleveland Art Museum’s new modern art wing.  Still need to visit some key sites such as the I.M. Pei designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but so far, a promising start to my first experience in the Midwest.

Meeting Madness!

It took about 30 seconds into my first day for me to realize how many meetings a brand manager has in a week.  My computer had barely booted up and I realized I was 5 min late (not my fault, longer than expected orientation) for a pre-scheduled informational meeting with my contact in Sales.  Looking ahead at my calendar, I was scheduled to meet with ten other cross-functional team members in the first week alone!  After the initial shock, I quickly got into the groove and took advantage of these opportunities to learn about each cross-functional team member’s role, their experiences with Nestlé, and how to best utilize their knowledge to accomplish my projects.

Although I don’t have a “typical” schedule, my day usually consists of some combination of the following:

• Reviewing emails and scheduling meetings

• Meetings with cross-functional team members

• Quantitative analysis

• Reviewing notes and market research reports

• Competitive tasting panels

On a side note, I think about food basically every minute of my day.  It happens when you’re working on the Stouffer’s ® brand for the world’s largest food company. 

In addition to my prior experience as a consultant, my first year at Georgetown MBA has given me a solid foundation for my internship, especially:

• Advanced Marketing Management (Homa)

• Marketing Management (Goodstein)

• The Marketing Innovation Residency

That’s all I have for now.  This Wednesday I’ll be headed to Nestlé USA’s headquarters in Glendale, CA for the annual marketing intern retreat.  Looking forward to seeing how my fellow Georgetown MSB student, Amy, is enjoying her marketing internship with Nestlé Prepared Foods, and getting the opportunity to meet Nestlé USA Chairman and CEO, Brad Alford.

Let's Fix Dinner!

I’m currently in my fourth week of a twelve-week marketing internship with Nestlé USA in Solon, OH, where I am working on the Stouffer’s ® brand.  I have been given three challenging, yet engaging projects for the summer, each of which with a different area of focus (analytical, creative, and strategic).  The people are brilliant and extremely welcoming, I'm having a great time with my fellow interns, and my projects are exciting and completely relevant to my brand's needs.  Needless to say, it’s been everything I’ve imagined and I’m excited about what lies ahead in the coming weeks. 

So how did I get here?  Like many of my peers, I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I arrived at Georgetown MBA.  Having worked as a consultant for the previous five years, I wanted to apply my diverse skill-set as a brand manager.  I reached out to several second years and alumni, all of whom enthusiastically helped me prepare for the recruiting process.  After weeks of preparation and interviews, I was fortunate to obtain internship offers from Kellogg’s at the National Black MBA conference and Nestlé at the National Society of Hispanic MBAs conference.  Although I was extremely impressed by Kellogg’s, I ultimately accepted the Nestlé offer based on my interest in prepared foods and the welcoming culture. 

My goals for the summer are:

• To immerse myself in the Nestlé culture and meet as many people in cross-functional areas as possible.

• To strengthen my creative and strategic abilities, and produce value-added projects.
• To have fun experiencing brand management and spending time with my fellow interns.

In my next entry, I’ll provide a sample of what my typical day is like and notable events from my first four weeks.