Molly Hunchis

Responsibilities

During this internship, I have been given the title “Inn Keeper”. What this means is I help with everything from cooking/serving breakfast, getting rooms ready and helping out with tea parties and other parties hosted at the Inn. I’ve also been in charge of checking guests in as they arrive, and attending to what ever their needs may be.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment would be how I’ve used my brand new marketing skills I’ve learned and put them to use. Before this year’s 4th of July parade in Clear Lake, we wanted to create and hand out some marketing material. What my boss and I have discussed is we want to get the word out about how we want to host more private parties. We sat down, and I helped her create all new business cards. We placed three things on the card that people can do at the inn. “Stay, Host, and Attend”. We also put together on the card all the ways people can find the Larch Pine Inn and contact us. I was really proud with how they turned out, and we just recently had people contact us regarding our private parties.

Learning experience

One great lesson I’ve learned from my experience this Summer is it’s nice to have a successful business, but there are ways to make a successful business, outstanding. By taking time out of your schedule and tasks, and sitting down with guests and getting to know them really makes a difference. We have had so many people complement us on our ability to make the experience more personal. Sometimes customers can feel rushed, and by taking time to sit and chat really makes them feel more at home. Another lesson I’ve learned is a good experience takes time, and costs money. An example of that would be for our tea parties and breakfasts. We have so many courses, different dishes and an overwhelming amount of clean up after, but having a new plate, a new cup, fancy pieces of silverware really helps make it a luxurious experience. Another example of that would be with more people, it requires more help with serving, cleaning and attending to the guests. So, we have to hire more workers, but with all that, it’s a better experience all around and a much smoother operation.

What advice would you give?

My advice to future students in Event Management would be it can be scary to take an internship you know really nothing about, but internships are all about growing and learning new experiences. It’s okay to mess up, and just get back at it and try again. Most businesses aren't looking for students who know everything about the business, they want students who can learn and grow over a period of time.