Fashion-focused Sales, Merchandising, and Buying

How did you get your internship and why did you choose the opportunity?

I was able to get this internship from my previous working experience at Grand Central. I reached out to the CEO to ask if she would take me in for a sales, merchandising, and buying internship. She was so excited to bring me along because the store is approved to have student interns from the University of Arizona for class credit.

I chose this internship because working in fashion is something that I love and enjoy. I love to build connections with people and help them feel confident about themselves. I find that making others happy gives me a lot of joy and creates happiness inside of me. The connections I have made with others will have an everlasting impact on who I am.

What kind of work did you do throughout your internship experience?

Throughout this internship, I made contributions to the company’s social media, including maintaining the Instagram feed, responding to direct messages, creating try-on hauls, and making Instagram posts/stories. I also had duties of assisting customers, maintaining the store, working on the register, and following open-to-close duties. I merchandised the store, printed tags, and added new clothing items to the racks. I traveled on a work trip to the other location in Phoenix and learned the other store’s system as well.

The most satisfying part of the internship was definitely helping out the CEO with the buying for the company. Working with Grand Central made me feel like I was a very significant asset to the company and my fashion style and opinion were valued. I was able to be creative and actually pick out the clothing that was sold.

What new knowledge and skills did you develop in this internship?

I gained new technical skills, improved my leadership abilities, and improved my focus. It was a challenging role at the time, but I was able to learn quickly and efficiently. I also have improved my communication skills and have become even more personable with others. I definitely gained a lot of leadership skills because I was a leader in most of the companies' buying decisions.