Macy's Southeast Intern Summit 2011

"Macy's future CEO's"

Since June 15th I have been interning for Macy's at the Mall of Georgia, located in Buford, Georgia. It has been an amazing adventure and overall new experience. 

On July 19th I left for Miami, Florida at 1:30 in the morning to attend Macy's Southeast Intern Summit. 4 interns, 2 SLDP's and I arrived at the Miami International airport at 9:25 a.m., we were quickly whisked away in a Taxi with a driver that I thought was going to kill us. By the grace of God we arrived at the Marriott hotel that sits on Biscayne Bay at 10:15 where we changed into our professional clothing and left at 11:30 for the Southeast Regional office. 

Upon our arrival we met with the rest of the interns from the Southeast which totaled right at 17. We started our day with introductions from the college relations staff and then went straight into working on a project that we have been working on for the past 2 weeks. We got to meet with one of the Senior Vice President' of Stores that gave some really great information to us on how to prepare ourselves to be successful. She gave us a list of books that have helped with inspiring her within her career. they are as follows:

1. Good to Great, by: Jim Collins

2. The Tipping Point, by: Malcolm Gladwell

3. Working with Emotional Intelligence, by: Daniel Goleman

4. The Gold Standard, by: Jamie K. Spatola

5. Monday Morning Leadership, by: David Cottrell 

I can't wait to start this reading list. I am always open to suggestions on how to be a great leader. One of the best classes I have taken while in college has been a leadership development class. I think you should think of yourself as "wanting to be the person people learn from". 

When we were done with meetings we went bowling as team interaction activity. I am happy to say I am the one that "got the ball rolling", literally. I broke the ice and was the first one that got out there and started bowling and from there everything fell into place. It was a great experience and we all just clicked.

On day two we left the hotel at 8:30 to go volunteer at "Feeding South Florida" for a few hours. Feeding South Florida is a food bank that distributes goods all over the tri-county. It was a rewarding experience and nice to know that I work for a company that is involved in giving back to the community. From there we went back to headquarters, had lunch and departed for our flight back to Atlanta.

This internship has been one of the best experiences I have had while I have been in college. You actually learn the business and everyone wants to see you go far and they are willing to help you get there. I hope my career with Macy's continues on for years to come.

Until Next Time...