Reflections / Week 11 17th- 21st March
Friday, March 21, 201412:28 AM
Week 11 was my last week in Pestle & Mortar .
I was dreading it as I have learnt ten fold from the company but at the same time I knew that I should not be caught up in my emotions because there were a lot of deadlines that I had to meet especially for The Deck Issue 2.
I was especially excited to interview travel host and male model, Henry Golding who was our featured talent for The Deck Issue 2. I was told by the bosses to keep the interview fun, engaging, witty and not to hold back on the details. I came up with questions that I thought would fit the above requirement to the delight of my bosses and they told me to carry on with the interview. I have been writing freelance for over 4 years now and as someone who was trying to break into the writing industry (part time) scoring an interview with a celebrity was a pretty big deal for me.
Henry Golding, Travel host , TV personality and male model
Contacting Henry Golding was a challenge as he was always on the go. I did not know which number to call as one week he would be in Singapore, and the next he would be on the opposite end of the world. With the help of my bosses, we tracked him down and he agreed to a 1 hour interview and a photo shoot with us. On the day of the interview, I was extremely excited but I was reminded by my bosses to be professional. The interview went smoothly and I was glad to have carried myself well.
I also assisted in Henry Golding's photo shoot. Our in house photographers were shooting him for the front page of The Deck Issue 2. I was in charge of wardrobe and had to ensure that his clothing was the right size , was ironed and looked good in a whole.
Making tweaks to Henry Golding's wardrobe during his shoot
Behind the scenes of Henry Golding's shoot with Pestle & Mortar for The Deck Issue 2
In addition to shooting Henry Golding, I also was responsible for another shoot for The Deck. I had the idea of introducing the Pestle & Mortar staff to the readers as they were only used to seeing our retail staff, not the staff from the headquarters. The bosses liked my idea and thought that it would build connection between the Pestle & Mortar brand with their customers which could lead to brand loyalty.
Shooting Faz, our in house photographer / videographer for The Deck Issue 2
The edited picture of Eddie, the head of operations that will be used in The Deck Issue 2
I was told that since my internship was coming to an end, I could choose to hand over The Deck Issue 2 to someone else or if i wanted , I could continue managing it. I chose the later option as I had already invested much time and effort into it that I might as well finish it. This meant that eventhough my internship was officially over that week, I was still to report to the headquarters until The Deck Issue 2 was ready for publishing.
The rest of the week was spent preparing for Smashing Saturdays, a company event.
Smashing parties is a BBQ & hangout party
hosted by Pestle & Mortar at the Head office in Bukit Damansara. The Smashing party isn’t just all about fun, but a
networking platform with our Pestle and Mortar followers, friends and an
opportunity for everyone to meet our family members (artist and celebrities we
endorse) with music performances, contests events.
Every Smashing party will feature the
following:
- Sale
of Pestle & Mortar merchandises. On these days,
we normally will do a launch of new merchandises or a sale just for the
Smashing Party.
- BBQ
& Finger food that we will be providing from the
Pestle & Mortar barbecue pits for the hungry customers through out the
event. For our upcoming Smashing Party, the food station will be manned by celebrity chef and TV Host, Chef Nik Michael Imran
(Celebrity Chef & TV Host for multiple TV shows, Masterchef Malaysia Season
1 contestant and restaurant owner of PickNik Comfort Food Cafe
- Drinks (Alcoholic and non-alcoholic): We had Sommersby sponsoring us this time round. Previously it was Carlsberg and Asahi
- Performances
by invited artists. We had Az Samad, DJ Bunga, Faaz and Skyward performing.
The interns were given a number of task to prepare for Smashing Saturday. I was appointed the head of the group and had to oversee that everyone did their delegated jobs.
Make props to be used at the photo booth. Nina and Ruzette did a great job. They eve made a mask of the Pestle & Mortar office Pug, Bam Bam.
Make notices to inform people of some codes of conducts. Ruzette was in charge of this and did a fantastic job.
Hang banners and lights around the venue. All the interns worked together to ensure that the location was properly lighted and decorated
The interns also worked together to set up the pop up so that our guest could view the samples of our products before purchasing them.
Displaying a sneak peek of our Summer 2014 collection that is to come out in May.
I was put in charge of liaising with the sound people and making sure that the DJ equipment arrived on time for our invited DJ to spin.
As the event day approached, we had a team briefing to ensure that everyone was clear about the roles that they were to play during the event. I was partnered with Nathaniel, another intern for registration. Our goal was to get the personal particulars of every guest. The whole team was also told that we were to help each other out whenever we finished our own jobs.
On the day of the event, Nathaniel and I were positioned right at the entrance of the party.
We were armed with an Ipad each and went on taking the personal details of the guest. I observed that at first many of the guest were reluctant to give out their information. In fact, many of the left out details like their email address, mailing address and phone number on purpose. Nathaniel and I did have some issues with the more adamant guest who tried to get away without having to register.
After we fulfilled our "quota" , Nathaniel and I lent a hand to Ruzette and Nina who were stationed at the bar. We were stationed there for the rest of the night.Our role was to basically hand the guest their drinks and receive payment. Fairly easy stuff but I sure did make many friends that night.
Sommersby sponsored the party with 600 bottles , which mean free Sommersby for everyone!
The crowd
The Interns together with Eddie Samad, The head of operations
Ruzette and Nina mending the bar
The band Faaz entertaining the crowd
Hugh Koh, the creative director having a bite out of the burger prepared by Chef Nik
After the party ended, we all chipped in to clean the place. Eddie also called us into the kitchen for a debrief. He commended all our efforts and also bid farewell to the interns that were leaving.
Internship Overview
When I take a step back and overlook my entire internship, I'm very grateful to have worked with Pestle & Mortar. When I first came in, my objectives were to " To learn each and every process that is undergone for a product to be made and sold". Now that my internship is over, I realized that I not only met my objectives but I have learnt so much more. I realized how shallow my objective was in the beginning. I did not understand the concept of holistic learning and only had my mind focus on one part of the internship. Now that I have completed my internship I realize that my growth should not be limited to my knowledge on business. In Pestle & Mortar I also grew mentally and emotionally. I have my colleagues to thank for most of that. The entire Pestle & Mortar team, together with the interns were encouraging, ever willing to held and accepted my flaws. They motivated me to be better everyday. Being part of a group of dynamic young people was just the right environment I needed to be in to push me to be the best that I could be. I also have to give it up to my the bosses of Pestle & Mortar. You don't hear this often, but they definitely had to be the coolest bosses ever. Other than being a business mentor, they genuinely cared about my well being and what was going on in my life. One boss even took it a point to sit me down and find out about my passions. At the end of the day, I believe what made my internship the best was the people.
The End.
❤"Reflections / Week 11 17th- 21st March" was Posted On: Friday, March 21, 2014 @12:28 AM |
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