Chloe Coldagelli

Major: Apparel, Merchandising, and Design
Minor/option/emphasis: Event Management
Company/Organization: West Boutique
Destination: Okoboji, IA
Timeframe: Summer
Advisor/Coordinator Email: annthye@iastate.edu

Responsibilities

During this Internship I was able to experience a wide variety of responsibilities. My daily responsibilities included creating social media content, working the sales floor, creating displays/dressing mannequins and assisting the managers with different tasks. During this internship I learned how to create part numbers for orders and how to receive in merchandise/inventory. I also was able to help buy some of the Fall 2019 merchandise. Through that I learned how to fill out purchase forms and how to contact vendors. Lastly, I was able to also receive some cool event management experience as well because West Boutique is connected to Okoboji Boat Works. Each week I assisted the Event Coordinator with processing public cruise tickets and answering customers questions about private cruises. I also was able to helped facilitate a Fashion Show that was a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association. It was a good experience to learn more about planning a large event and the amount of people it takes for an event to run smoothly. This internship allowed me to learn many different sides of the retail & event industry and I throughly enjoyed how interactive it was!

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment was attending a wholesale meeting with our Sperry Rep. My two managers were talking about the meeting and I was very interested in attending. I asked them if it would be possible for me to attend with them and I am so glad I asked! It was such an awesome experience to see Sperry's designs for Spring/Summer 2020 before they were available to the public. Also it was beneficial to learn more about the process West Boutique goes through before purchasing merchandise. Additionally I got to speak with our sales rep about his job and his favorite part about working for Sperry. This experience made my very interested in Wholesale and excited for my future!

What advice would you give?

My advice for future students is to be open to all different types of internships. Any experience that allows you to learn more about the retail/apparel industry is so important to prepare us for our future careers.

Career Connections