Georgetown MBA Internship Diary: Jeffrey

Others can claim it...

...but I will vehmently object.  Working at The Four Graces...best internship ever. 

Working from an office at the vineyard was great.  Access to wonderful wines was great.  Spending my weekends in the beautiful Willamette Valley pouring and drinking wine was great.  Hanging out with Nike & Intel MBAs from across the country was awesome.  But at the end of the day, the best part may have been that I was able to add value to a growing business by employing my skills as an MBA student.

Career Management will reinforce for us time and again how important the right internship is for landing your full time job.  Here's perhaps a new twist on the same old internship:  how often are you afforded the opportunity to work anywhere on the planet for 3 months?

Fortunately that question landed me at a young vineyard with great Pinot Noir.  In my final week, I completed and pitched the fruits of my 3 month stint, a strategic plan.  It was received very well, and the vineyard is now working full steam ahead with my plan as the roadmap.  I also ran an analysis that saved our white wines from being replanted as pinot noir vines, employing financial, marketing, and strategic evaluations.  I completely overhauled their website (to be launched before the month ends) and developed a 3-month marketing plan to attract traffic to our brand new tasting room.  Oh.  And I drank A LOT of great Pinot Noir. 

All and all, it was the best job I have had since I was a 16-year-old lifeguard. 

...now if I can just get that purple stain off my lips.

A Change of Shorts, and the End of Summer

I survived my first earthquake. It was brief to be sure. But, nonetheless, I needed a change of shorts. I really wish someone would have simply mentioned that such things occur here in the Pacific Northwest. Whew.

In any case, I visited our new vineyard this week. The Black Family purchased the estate a few years back, and set up shop right next to the relatively infamous Ken Wright. The wine won't be ready for a few years, but its exciting to see the vines cared for so diligently, so early on.

With only 2 weeks to go, there is much coming to a crossroads with my internship. I have a web designer working at full capacity to launch our new-look site and a new blog for the true wine enthusiasts. With constant badgering and incessant attention, we just might get that up and running before I leave.

Additionally the Strategic Plan is starting to resemble something coherent and interesting. It has taken several drafts, to be sure. In fact, despite the fact that I'm sharing my first draft with the general manager tomorrow afternoon, I actually overhauled the entire format and structure starting at about 5:30 pm last night. I think I have finally just this afternoon molded it into something clear and concise. It seems the most important cog in this machine was the groundwork I laid in the first month: mining all the data I could find. Without concrete evidence, my strategic plan would be nothing more than an exercise in ego and futility. But all those long, boring hours of researching are now bearing fruit in a deductive, deep analysis. Its also been fun to put to use just about every subject that you could cover as an MBA. This strategic plan required deep financial analysis, substantial strategy evaluation, guerilla marketing tactics, supply chain assessments, and yes, even business law. Everything but statistical analysis. And thank god.

Hopefully the first review of the first draft will go well, in which case I can relax a bit and enjoy my last couple weeks in Oregon.

Holy cow. Fastest summer ever.

My classmates and I will probably throw one more party at the house to celebrate the close of summer with all of our new MBA friends from Nike and Intel. I'll probably have time for one last hike in the Columbia River Gorge, and maybe, just maybe there's time for a trip to Seattle or Walla Walla (Washington's blossoming wine country).

...and for a nice, cool, crisp wine to endure the hot summer, try the Pinot Gris:

www.thefourgraces.com

Brand Managment & Milton Bradley Drinking Games

For those of you who might be wondering how good the wine is, well, I'm fortunate to say that the wine is well reviewed. Check out the following reviews if you're curious (complete with a shout-out in the Post):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062600410.html
http://www.moreisless.ca/?p=463
http://www.californiareds.com/tasting-notes/Four-Graces.html

The job...

Having put a nasty inventory reconciliation behind me, I'm now squarely focused on strategic planning. Examining the value chain of our operation, it seemed to me that an important differentiator for our vineyard could be our website. Having surveyed the competition, there really are few exceptional websites out there, websites that actually enhance and promote their brands, drive sales and attract visitors to Oregon. While our website probably is on par with most right now, the general manager agreed that we should "refresh" the website. I've been on and off the phone with our consultants ever since negotiating the work to upgrade the site. I'm also concocting a survey to send out to our email list and club members. We really haven't had any feedback about out website, our customer service or products, other than what people offer up freely in the tasting room.

Its been fun to play brand manager, and hopefully, you'll soon see the fruits of our efforts online.

Fun stuff...

I'm living with two fellow Hoyas this summer - Sophie, who's working at Nike, and Luis, working at Intel - and we finally moved into our house. The place, intended to be a summer vacation rental, is fantastic!!! The view from the deck is unbelievable (check out the pic).

We christened it over the weekend with a huge BBQ, plenty of cocktails, and good company. MBAs from across the country, all working at Nike and Intel, were in attendance. As you can see in the pics, the 'Blue Steel' competition was interesting - some looked better than others. Also - for those of you who didn't think it possible, you can, in fact, make a drinking game out of a childhood favorite...like, 'Uno' or 'Operation,' for example (wretched 'wish bone' gave me problems all night). On that subject, I highly recommend the game aisle in Target. 'Chutes and Ladders' is definitely next.

On tap for the weekend...what else but wine tastings?? I'm taking a group of Nike and Intel friends down
through the heart of the Willamette Valley. Its beautiful country, so as long as the weather cooperates, it should be a nice long, lazy weekend.

Speaking of...its 4:30...time to uncork something.

Week 2/3: An MBA, bus boy, and kindgergarten teacher

Work in a small place, wear many hats.

This past week has been proof of the multifarious tasks that come with working in a small, start-up business.  While I continue to hammer away on a strategic plan, a vast inventory reconciliation, and beefing up internal controls, I've also made use of some of my more latent, less polished skills.  I volunteered to work at a huge wine tasting event a few days ago that brought in restaurateurs, distributors, the press, and the general public to sample the magnificent wines of the Willamette Valley.  Lacking the technical knowledge to pour wines (although, I can say that I am certified to pour wine legally - which basically means I signed a waiver), I was relegated to refilling water pitchers and dumping spit buckets. Yes that's right, spit buckets.  How very glamorous.  $35K / year in tuition, and I'm a bus boy. 

The upside is that a clandestine operation brought me plenty of wine to drink.  I artfully "borrowed" a tasting glass, removed my name tag, and stole a few tastes of my own.  Take that spit bucket.

Prior to the event, The Four Graces decided to donate a novelty, 5-liter bottle of Pinot Noir Reserve for a non-profit auction that benefits Salud!, a great organization that provides health care to the migrant workers that support the harvests each year (http://www.saludauction.org/).  Unfortunately for me, product labels don't come standard with a 5-liter bottle of wine.  So I spent about 2 hours with photo shop sizing and re-sizing, then cutting and re-cutting, and finally pasting and re-positioning an extra-large label on to the bottle, a la kindergarten. 

In any case, I trust these two anecdotes would be slightly more entertaining than a recounting of my delightful reconciliation of over 8000 cases of inventory across 5 different distribution centers.  Trust me, my spreadsheet would make most eyes bleed.

I also wanted to share some pics from my hike through Multnomah Falls.  I've never been to this part of the country before, so I must say, I was shocked and awed by the natural beauty of the region. Hopefully you'll enjoy the pics scattered throughout as much as I enjoyed the hike. 

Jeffrey

www.TheFourGraces.com

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Week 1: A Taste of Wine Country

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Wow.  I expected the countryside to be beautiful, but…   Wow.  It’s BEAUTIFUL.  From our descent into Portland at dusk I knew I was in for a treat.  My commute, while a hefty 45 minutes from downtown Portland to the “office,” is simply stunning.  Rolling, lush hills.  Big, blue skies.  And not one ridiculous D.C. cab driver in sight. 

I like.

Day 1 started with introductions, like many of my classmates I’m sure.  I shook hands with my boss (who I already knew), and met the office manager, Julie.  So introductions lasted about 4 minutes. 

The vineyard itself is spectacular, so much so that I’ve committed to a jog every day around the 110-acre site.  We’ll see how long that lasts.  My office is an old tasting room, converted from a farmhouse some time in the early 90’s.  I spend my first morning sweeping it out and rearranging furniture.  Quite a contrast to my classmates, I'm sure, who no doubt are meeting dozens of people, signing waivers, and frantically reading org charts. 

My boss and I quickly turned our attention to my work plan for the summer.  First, I'm supposed to complete a review of financial results from the past 18 months.  Using that, I'll begin authoring a new strategic plan for The Four Graces.  My boss was also interested in improving the control environment for our inventory, which spans about 5 different warehouse sites (that, itself, provides some insight
into the complexity of the industry).  A few smaller odds and ends rounded out the work plan for at least the first half of the summer. 

Man, I thought, with all this work, it must be time for a glass of wine!  Sure enough, not only was wine-drinking permitted at lunch, but was in fact encouraged given my status as a greenhorn.  I indulged of course.  But only cause I had to. 

Then came the onslaught of indoctrination emails:  financials, consultant evaluations, marketing materials, news reports, industry links, etc. etc. etc.  Plenty to read and plenty to learn. 

As I read, I started thinking about how I would be able to add value to a firm working in an industry so complicated and one with which I have limited knowledge.  My plan:  deep, data-based analysis of the industry, competitors, and the vineyard itself; surveying best practices within and outside the industry; and devising some reporting tools to aid the general manager. 

Through 5 days, I’ve already visited my Strategy textbook several times, searching for frameworks, tools, or any ideas that might give me some advantage.  I’ve also had to wear my accounting "hat" as I poured through about a dozen financial statements from some of the larger wineries.  That earned another glass of wine, I decided.  Perhaps most valuable of all, I’ve been using some gems from
Professor Ferdow’s Supply Chain Management class. That class, more than any so far, has been incredibly useful in breaking down our vineyards' Value Chain and highlighting opportunities for improvements.  As soon as I get my first paycheck, I owe that man a bottle of wine.

Enjoy the pics of the vineyard, my office and the Black Family, owners and keepers of The Four Graces (their 4 daughters)! 

Jeffrey

www.TheFourGraces.com 

Stompin' Grapes

On May 25th, I begin my internship with the harvesting of Pinot Noir grapes on the winery of The Four Graces in Willamette Valley, Oregon, just outside Portland.  While participating in the harvest may not necessarily the best use of my M.B.A. skills, it should be the most fun start to a job since I was a lifeguard at age 15.  While my classmates begin their internships in a cube, I intend to begin with a deep sunburn. 

Soon enough though, real work will have to be done.  My boss, the general manager of the winery, has said that we will immediately embark on updating their strategic plan.  What better place to start for an M.B.A.?  I will have the opportunity to shape their business for years to come.  Few internships get to start from the top, so I hope to seize this rare opportunity and to help lay a foundation for a thriving, highly profitable, and fun wine business.  While every opportunity exists for me to utilize my new MBA skills in finance, marketing, strategy, and supply chain, my objectives might just look a little different than my days at a Fortune 10 company, where the pursuit of profits reigned supreme.  The wine industry out West appears to be more of a lifestyle than a demanding economic engine.  It will be interesting to operate in an environment with such a different pace. 

Either way, I’ll get to know the Pinot Noirs as best I can.

Check out the winery at the following link:  http://www.thefourgraces.com