Jordyn Betsch

Responsibilities

As an intern at White Willow, my tasks included set-up and tear-down of events, working in their warehouse, and having opportunities for assisting and coordinating of local luxury events. It was mainly spent putting together ceremony and reception day-of weddings/events and doing a lot of dishes while at the warehouse. It was a lot of early mornings and long nights, but it was really rewarding to finally see all of the design pieces put together. I got to assistant coordinate about 3 times over the course of my internship, which allowed me to shadow coordinators closely, and I helped with the setup and tear down of at least 40 weddings and events over the course of my 14-week long internship.

Accomplishments

I think my greatest accomplishment over the course of my internship is probably when my supervisor at a wedding saw that, during setup, I had done well at creating the floating baby's breath center floral arrangements on a few tables, and asked me to re-do the one's she had already done and to do the head table with the same arrangements. Usually the supervisors are the ONLY people to set up and tough the head table. It's the most important table of the wedding, so it's only ever in very experienced hands. That day, however, she asked ME to do the MAIN floral piece on this head table. It finally felt like I gained her respect in terms of design, and it's one of the main things I think i took away from this internship.

Learning experience

I learned that sometimes you really have to advocate for yourself as an employee. Ask questions about opportunities and go above and beyond to show your interest in what you are doing, but also know that you deserve respect as an employee and you're allowed to ask for it.

What advice would you give?

My future advice is to remember that at the end of the day, even if you feel like you're doing menial jobs- everything is experience that you're gaining. Washing dishes? Now you have experience in running a decor rental company and keeping your products clean. Folding napkins? Now you have multiple different design techniques that you can add to your resume. Even if it seems dismal in the moment- you are always learning something.