The Internship

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Overview
Reflections
The Company
Credits

Overview

The Intern

I'm Sabrina Chan, a final year student at Taylor's University, majoring in International Business. When deciding which university to attend for my bachelor's degree, an important factor that my parents and I were looking for was a university that incorporated an internship as part of their module. This was because my parents believed in hands on learning and wanted a program that would give me a 'taste of the real world'.

When the time came for me to chose an industry to intern in, I was torn in a couple of directions. The first choice was to try out in an NGO as it has always been a dream to serve my community as a career. The second was to get my hands into event planning, or more precisely, the business of pageants. Ever since my stint in Miss Malaysia the year before, my interest in the industry had grown. Lastly, I also wanted to get into retail. Owning a ~~failed~~ online business of my own, this seemed like a good option for side income to support myself in the future.

The Internship

After much contemplation, I choose to do an internship in retail as it seemed to carry more weight than my other choices. I got into Pestle & Mortar Clothing, a Malaysian clothing label as a retail intern. The internship would carry on for a period of 3 months -from 6th January 2014 to 21st March 2014. I would receive an allowance of RM5** during that duration and would report to the Head of Operations. My working hours were Mondays to Fridays from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm.

To know more about my journey, or to read my daily reflections, click the buttons on your top left.

Reflections/ Week 9 & 10 3rd-14th March

Friday, March 14, 20142:56 PM

Week 9 & 10 brought in even more responsibilities for me but I enjoyed myself every step of the way.

Firstly, there was our monthly stock-take. This time, Eddie Samad, the head of operations got all the interns involved. Usually, I would be the only intern who would go. I found this to be a breathe of fresh air, plus the more people we had, the faster we would get work done.

Carrying out a stock-take on our online inventory

Stock-taking in Pestle & Mortar Bangsar

Pestle & Mortar's storage space at Tangs, Empire Mall.

We took especially longer carrying out a stock-take at Pestle & Mortar Tangs in One Utama. This was because the shop had been operating for over a week without a storekeeper so everything was in a mess. In addition to counting stock, we had to re-fold clothes, carry out the visual merchandising and clean up the store.

Pestle & Mortar in One Utama was in a mess as we did not have anyone to look after the outlet for over a week

Nina, one of the interns, sorting and folding the pile of clothes.

The Pestle & Mortar store after clean up

Hugh, the creative director, knowing that I had some talent in writing frequently called me over to his desk to assist him in writing up abstracts and short profiles for the company. I felt rather privileged as not all the interns got to work along side all the bosses. Pestle & Mortar had a collaboration with Digi to design their new uniforms and had to present it in the form of a fashion show. I assisted Hugh in writing up the script meant to be read by the emcee when introducing Pestle & Mortar's designs to Digi.

Pestle & Mortar also took part in a headphone design competition held by Pioneer. Hugh delegated the task of writing up a short company profile and the reasoning of their designs to me. Hugh explained to me that in order to get the full understanding of the team's design, it would be best for me to sit in while the designers were having their brainstorming session. I took this as an opportunity to pick the heads of the Pestle & Mortar designers. I tried my best to contribute my ideas here and there.

The designers brainstorming on ideas for the Pioneer headphone design competition

Pestle & Mortar's submission to the Pioneer headphone design competition

Throughout both weeks, I also worked on The Deck Issue 2, a project given to me to spearhead. I managed to finish up our Holiday Collection look book write up. It can be seen below.

(click to enlarge)

I also got to meet the owner of Cycling concept cafe, The Grumpy cyclist for an interview for The Deck Issue 2. Once again I was reminded that I was a representative of Pestle & Mortar and had to carry myself professionally. I realize that I was so lucky that the bosses trusted me enough to meet with their stakeholders without any supervision. I'm so glad for the freedom they gave me and was sure not to disappoint them. Part of the interview that I conducted and wrote up can be seen below.

(click to enlarge)

I was scheduled to oversee a photo shoot the following week for The Deck Issue 2. Seeing that this was the first photo shoot I would be overseeing, I asked the company creative team if I could observe another photo shoot that was going on to get pointers on what to do the following week. They gladly agreed and even invited me to assist the photo shoot. I helped with the lighting and wardrobe.

I ironed the clothing and made sure all the clothes have been arranged and put in proper sets before the photo shoot begins.

The on-going photo shoot that I got to observe

Week 9 & 10 Overview

Relating What You Learn with your experience
Week 9 & 10 was really busy for me. Much more responsibilities were added on. Looking back, I realize that the reason why I was given so much responsibilities was because my bosses trusted that I could do it. Of course at that time I did not see it as such. I'm especially thankful to head the entire issue of The Deck. It was a whole lot of work, but at the end of the day, I know that seeing my name on the publication would be my joy. I also realized that I had to take the initiative to learn and get better in the office.

Observation
Seeing that I was responsible for many things for The Deck, I knew that I was lacking the expertise, experience and knowledge. I decided I was going to overcome this by observing how they were done first and then following lead. Take for example the photo shoot that I was to supervise. Not knowing a thing about photo shoots, I observed another photo shoot that was taking place in the office. From that I learnt about lighting and how important it was for the models to showcase each and every product they were wearing as they tend to accidentally hide them when trying different posses. I also learnt to interview people by observing how my bosses spoke to visitors and guest at the office. They were friendly and warm which made them more approachable and easier to communicate to.

Key Learning
I learnt the art of multitasking this week. I am usually used to completing a certain job before starting something new. But all my responsibilities on week 9 & 10 had datelines that were very close to each other. These meant that I would have to work on several projects at a time. At first I found it hard to focus on one matter because my mind would just be everywhere. I realized that I work better in an environment that is quite and where I was away from distraction. That way i could really focus my mind on one matter before moving on to the next. This also thought me to manage my time better. There were times where I had to stay back at work just to meet deadlines. I remember staying up until 4am in the morning just to finish the Grumpy Cyclist but that was because I had procrastinated on writing the article. I learnt my lesson and after the incident, I ensured that my time in the office was used to its best.

Development & Growth
My growth for week 9 & 10 was tremendous. Being put in charge of so many things at one time made me realize that I had to step up my game. I was constantly giving mini pep talks to myself in the office whenever I felt like I was slacking. Getting to work with all the bosses before made it easier when I was carrying out my task as I was now familiar with how each of them worked. I believe that one of the main motivations I had behind my growth was that I was always trying to do better than I did before. And it also helped that my bosses saw this and gave me encouragement. Every time I excelled in a task, I was given another task that carried more responsibility. These 'task' were like goals for me to meet and every time I completed one, I felt like I 'upgraded' .

Key Achievements
The main key achievement throughout week 9 & 10 was that I did well enough in my writing that one of Pestle & Mortar's partners would hand pick me to write for him every time he needed something to be wrote out. I felt so happy that he got see my talent and decided to harvest it for me. I even got to write a press release for the first time. When I told him that I had no experience in writing a press release, he replied saying that he was familiar with the quality of my work and trust that I would do a good job. It felt so good to be good at something and have your boss knowledge it.

❤"Reflections/ Week 9 & 10 3rd-14th March" was Posted On: Friday, March 14, 2014 @2:56 PM | 0 lovely comments ✿

Pestle & Mortar Clothing

Company Profile

Pestle & Mortar is a Malaysian clothing label that was first introduced in 2010. By definition, Pestle & Mortar is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances. Pestle is a heavy club-shaped object which is used for crushing and grinding. Mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, marble, clay or stone.The substance to be ground is placed in the mortar and ground, crushed or mixed with the pestle. Much like it's definition, Pestle & Mortar Clothing is a mix of blooming ideas, all mashed up into one collective idea.

The actual Pestle & Mortar tool

After their successful stint at Urbanscapes, founding partners Arnold Loh, his brother, Arthur Loh and childhood friend Hugh Koh decided that it was time for Malaysians to have a clothing label that depicted the local lifestyle , culture and authenticity. They came up with the designs themselves, sent them to manufacturers overseas (where the cost is lower) and sold their products online, just like all the other popular street wear brands. They designed their clothes around the things they were familiar with growing up in Malaysia and was greatly influenced by American Rock band, Blink 182.

The Band, Blink 182

After a year and a half of operating online, Pestle & Mortar did well enough to set up their first physical store in Subang Jaya. This was followed by the opening of a flagship store in Bangsar in 2013. Today, the brand is also carried in Pavilion, Tangs , Zalora and The Alley in Penang. In addition to creating clothes for the Malaysian market, Pestle & Mortar now ships to over 15 countries over the world with a large fan base in Singapore and Australia. In addition, they were hand picked to be the only retailer in Malaysia to carry Bellroy wallets.

The Range of Bellroy Wallets

The core product of the company has always been T-Shirts as the founders believe that it will never go out of fashion and will always be the core medium for fashion expression.The company has since expanded their range of products to oxford and flannel shirts, cut & sew pieces and pants. A recent addition to the Pestle & Mortar team also opened the company's doors to design clothing for women. Their most recent collection show cases crop tops, baby tees , beach shorts and dresses for women.

The Pestle & Mortar Stamp Jellyfish Tank in Brown

Pestle & Mortar is constantly looking for established and up and coming brands/identities to work together with. The company has so far collaborated with Urbanscapes, Carlsberg, Future Music Festival Asia, World Vision, Air Asia X, DJ duo "Lapsap", BATE, and motorcycle enthusiasts, "Beautiful Machines".

Malaysia DJ Duo, BATE

About My Department

Pestle & Mortar is a growing company with humble amount of 12 employees. The company's headquarters is situated at the top floor of Wanaka the Bungalow, a spacious bungalow set in Damansara Heights.

Wanaka The Bungalow, Pestle & Mortar Headquarters

As it is still a small company, there is no clear divide of departments because everyone's' work responsibilities overlay. The most obvious divide that I observed over the course of my internship is more of a physical divide where the company is divided into 2 rooms, one for design and another for the operations of the company. As I am a retail intern, I was put under Danny New, the Advertising and Retail Executive. Danny, a man of many capabilities, carried out all the responsibilities of Pestle & Mortars advertising activities and managed all 5 of their retail outlets.

Org / Department Structure

As Pestle & Mortar is a growing company with only a humble amount of staff, many of their job responsibilities intertwined among each other. When I first entered the company, their organizational chart was still a draft. I was very pleased to be given the opportunity to be asked to update and redo their entire organizational chart which you will soon see in my reflections

Acknowledgements

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