By: Sammy Miller
Copy Editor
Summer isn’t just about basking in the sun at the beach, it is also a time where high schoolers get jobs and internships which could help them better their future. These internships can unleash a realm of opportunities for students and give them the platform to see what they might want to do in their lives.
Seniors Jenny Jenks and Talia Genova were “all in” at their adidas product creation process internship from July 8th to July 12th from 9 am to 4 pm. Jenks’ mom is the President of agron, Inc, which is the accessories licensee for adidas in the US and she created a program for high school student-athletes who are curious about the product creation process.
“I have always been interested and in awe of all that my mom does at work and thought it would be cool to find out what her demanding job entails,” Jenks said. “It was also such an amazing experience to meet all of the employees and learn how a smaller, tight-knit company works together, where everyone knows everyone, as opposed to a huge corporation, where you might not know who your office-neighbor is.”
The first day of any new venture comes with a variety of emotions and for Jenks and Genova, they were excited yet nervous for their new change of scenery. They were both elated to see what it would be like to have a job in this field because it’s something that they might want to pursue in years to come.
“On the first day I was nervous, but at the same time I was going with my best friend and her mom, so I knew that I would have a lot of fun and be safe, so it was calming to be there with Jenny,” Genova said. “The first day was so fun, everyone was so nice, I was really worried that we would be looked down upon as interns, but everyone was so nice and helpful.”
Everyday Jenks and Genova would arrive at 9 am and get settled at their group table with the other members of the internship, and worked on their individual projects. They were also given an itinerary for the week, which told them where to go at what time and what they were going to be learning about. They also sat in on product meetings, visited an Adidas store and the official Adidas Accessories warehouse. Jenks and Genova even ran a focus group at a Hermosa Beach beach volleyball tournament.
“Each day, we were given the opportunity to meet up with different departments of the company, and we were able to give them advice as to what we thought was correct from our standpoint as teenagers,” Genova said. “We also worked on our own projects every day and at the end of the week, we would present our projects.”
Jenks and Genova also experienced hardships during their internship, which made them smarter and stronger people as the week came to an end. Even though the job has extremely fun aspects, it takes hard work to become successful and they learned this first hand. They were assigned an individual project where they were encouraged to design either a new product or design an existing product. This project proved harder than one would think according to Jenks, but she never gave up and due to this determination, the reusable water bottle design she created is being considered for a prototype.
“I started with designing a simple, black, Originals backpack, however soon I saw that they designed a super similar one that would be coming out next Fall,” Jenks said. “I then designed a pair of Originals Slides, but then realized that they are part of Adidas and not agron, Inc. I finally came up with my reusable water bottle design and by doing this project, it showed me how difficult it is to come up with something truly new and different and not a copycat.”
According to Jenks and Genova, they both said that they have learned so much in just a week that they were there. They were able to learn how complex the journey of a product really is from when a designer sketches it to it hitting the shelf at retail. According to Jenks, every single person who works there genuinely cares about you, even if you are just there for the week, which made the program special. They would ask them questions that were meant to guide them down the right path for a career.
“The part that I enjoyed the most about being there was being able to experience marketing and what it’s like to be like to be apart of a really cool company,” Genova said. “It was amazing to see what it would really be like to have a job in that field and the people there really helped us to learn and understand what they do.”
After completing the internship, Jenks and Genova both agreed that they could definitely see themselves working at agron, Inc in the future due to their fantastic experiences. According to Genova, she would love to pursue a career there because she believes that it is an awesome company, the people are extremely nice, everything is so organized and the creativity was off the charts.
“I 100% see a future working at agron, Inc. I absolutely love the comradery everyone shares, whether you are a new temp or the President; everyone cares for one another like the way
athletes care for their teammates,” Jenks said. “Now that I know a lot more about the design and marketing processes, I am even more interested in it as a career.”
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