Hi! My name is Samantha Roos, and I am a rising junior at Chapman University. I am pursuing a degree in Strategic and Corporate Communication, as well as a minor in Leadership Studies. Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to intern for a custom apparel company called Greek House. As a Sales and Marketing intern, I have been able to learn the ins and outs of strategic sales tactics and several approaches to corporate marketing. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as an intern at Greek House and am eager to implement the skills I have learned toward my education and eventual career path.

I found the Sales and Marketing Internship at Greek House through someone in my sorority. They had shared an apparel item that they were able to create through the internship, and I made a mental note to add Greek House to my list of applications for internships. I later went directly to the company website and was able to apply quickly from there. My current manager then interviewed me, and I began onboarding in early May. At first, I was hesitant to start the internship as I had little to no experience in the categories of Sales and Marketing. I also had never completed an internship before, so I was definitely unsure of what to expect. Because the Greek House internship program is remote, I was able to work completely from home. While this can be difficult, Greek House made it extremely comfortable by allowing the interns to network and meet each other over Zoom.

Working from home at my computer.

Some of my internship responsibilities included attending weekly webinars in the morning, networking with fellow interns, and real-world application of the information learned from the webinars. I created an ongoing lead list, completed reach outs to these prospects, and logged all my activities and conversations with leads on my dashboard. Additionally, I completed a total of 3 intern projects throughout the internship, including a design inspired by our college town of Orange, a marketing campaign based on trend forecasting and competitor marketing, and a Bid Day inspired mood board and lookbook for sororities. These creative outlets and the structured schedule of webinars allowed me to understand the sales process while enhancing my marketing skills. The combination of these helped me to gain much more confidence in both areas, Sales and Marketing, and further knowledge of corporate operations.

My college town inspired design.

The communication courses I have completed at Chapman have played a role in my experience at Greek House. In my Introduction to Strategic and Corporate Communication class, we brainstormed and completed a marketing campaign for a specific company. We outlined detailed steps and techniques according to the company’s target audiences. I found that these skills allowed me to effectively market my projects and my apparel design to best fit various audiences and therefore drive sales. Additionally, in my Theories of Persuasion class, we learned about the meaning of each color and what they signify to audiences. This applied directly to my internship when it came to designing custom apparel, and I made sure to take that information into account when I created my piece inspired by Orange.

My internship at Greek House and the communication curriculum at Chapman align with one another in several ways. I pulled from my education in strategic communication and used what I have learned to benefit my internship experience. Although I was unsure of how I would do at Greek House, I quickly felt at ease due to the detailed webinars and one-on-one mentorship and the knowledge I gained as a School of Communication student. I look forward to further enhancing this knowledge in my next two years at Chapman University and bringing it with me as I continue my career path.