Natalya Arnest reflects on her transformative summer as a Retail Vendor Manager Intern at Amazon. She shared,  “This summer, I had the pleasure of interning at Amazon as a Retail Vendor Manager Intern in the Home Improvement Group! Not only did I research and strategize for my summer project, Defining and Expanding the Home Improvement Group’s ‘Subscribe and Save’ Program, but I was also able to learn and understand managing 3rd party selling on Amazon.com which involves all sides of the business from running marketing activations to managing a PnL. The best part of my experience was working with and learning from the finest professionals across various teams. I am incredibly grateful for this experience and cannot wait to apply all that I have absorbed to SCU and future roles!"

Lexi Wangsness summer with Thelios LVMH was a deep dive into the world of luxury retail. Here’s how she summed up her experience: “Working for Thelios LVMH was one of the most invaluable experiences I have had thus far. I got to work with Sales Ops and Client Experience. Some of my favorite projects included planning and putting on our semi annual market week which are sales events in NY & LA as well as creating monthly sales reports for the LVMH brand portfolio. Along with LVMH’s intern day and career fair, I got to learn from talented industry professionals and understand luxury retail under the world’s largest luxury conglomerate. I am so grateful to have gained such knowledge, experience, support and connections through Thelios and the entire LVMH group this summer!”

Rachel Hwang shares her experience from interning at Target, noting, “My favorite part of interning at Target has been getting to experience the care, grow, win together culture. I helped build team culture at T1309 through organizing and leading store huddles, managing projects within HR, and co-leading departments throughout the store. I am so thankful to the retail management institute for helping me find such an incredible opportunity and I am excited to share that I have accepted a full time position as an executive team leader following graduation!” 

Jordan Pope had an incredible summer interning at KEEN Footwear! Reflecting on the experience, she shared, “I had the best time interning at KEEN footwear this summer! I was the learning and development intern helping out with internal communications and learning modules but got the opportunity to extend my internship and work on a project for the sustainability team proposing a restoration and repair program. With weekly informational sessions I learned so much about the footwear industry! One of my favorite sessions was on footwear design and product management. During my internship I got the opportunity to volunteer at multiple KEEN events throughout Portland and was able to engage with 100s of KEEN fans and talk about product and technology with them!”

Manini Kapoor reflects on her summer as a Finance Intern at Roche, sharing, “As a Finance intern at Roche this summer, I gained valuable experience in corporate finance and the healthcare industry. I was supporting the innovation finance team in clinical Development and Medical Affairs(CDMA) where I worked on budget analysis and forecasting, capital expenditure auditing, and automating financial reporting processes. Furthermore, I collaborated with various other departments in finance and non financial teams. I gained experience working in not only cross functional teams but also a global work environment. One of my projects was streamling a financial process for travel budget yearly forecasting models that contributed to a significant time saving initiative. Another favorite part of my experience was the wonderful work environment at Roche. There was a close community amongst employees and interns with a lot of events and professional skill building resources. Overall, I enhanced not only my technical finance knowledge but also professional skills. I had the best internship experience I could have asked for and an amazing summer at Roche!”

Meet Betsy Delaney - she spent her summer at Crate and Barrel, diving into the world of merchandising as a Merchandising Intern. Here’s how she described her experience:  “During my time as a merchandising intern at Crate and Barrel, I had the opportunity to work on a key project focused on pricing and assortment analysis for the Canadian market, specifically in the decor and textiles categories. This project was particularly exciting as I presented my findings and recommendations to senior executives, providing them with actionable insights to guide strategic decisions. In addition to this project, I actively participated in cross-functional meetings and closely collaborated with teams in planning, product design, sourcing, marketing, e-commerce, and visual merchandising. During weekly sales calls, I also provided valuable data and insights to inform senior management on key merchandising decisions.

This experience has profoundly shaped my career goals, as it confirmed my passion for the retail and home space. I love how merchandising allows me to blend my creative and analytical skills to make impactful decisions. I’ve also learned the importance of asking questions and how vital collaboration is in this role. Working closely with colleagues and cross-functional teams has shown me firsthand how essential teamwork is in achieving common goals and driving business success.”

Meet Lucie Edwards - she spent her summer at AleSmith, a brewing company based in San Diego, California. Here’s how she described her experience: "This summer I interned with AleSmith, a brewing company based in San Diego, California. Because the company is so small, I was able to make meaningful contributions to their marketing efforts. I really did a little bit of everything! I created DTC email and SMS campaigns, led product shoots, designed graphics, made posters, and supported the social media team. I learned so much about how retail companies operate, especially in the alcohol industry! There are so many specific guidelines that you need to follow and work around that I had never thought about before! For example, we can only ship our beer (even non-alcoholic beer) within California, but we can distribute it to other retailers out of state."

Ann Waldo had an unforgettable summer interning at Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)! As an HDD Marketing & Business Planning Intern, she worked closely with mentors and executives, diving deep into the HDD industry. Reflecting on her experience, Ann shared, "In June 2024, I began an eleven-week Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Marketing & Business Planning Internship with Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) in San Jose, CA under Tammy Nguyen in the HDD BU. At the start of the internship, I had much to learn about the HDD Industry. On day one, my fellow intern Genevieve Boken and I met with TAEC mentors who wholeheartedly wanted to help us quickly come down the learning curve on the industry so that our research, analysis and final presentation would be as impactful as possible. We had the privilege of working with and presenting to TAEC executives from the United States, Japan, and Latin America. Our final project investigated and analyzed the 3.5” Internal HDD market in the Americas to recommend strategies and initiatives to increase its market share and profitability. This exciting project challenged us each day in areas which let our key skills and interests shine: marketing, business analytics, Spanish language and culture, and retail industry knowledge. To learn more about my experience as an HDD Marketing & Business Planning Intern, I have linked my Internship reflection on their HDD Storage Blog."

Kaitlyn Perry had an amazing summer interning as a Product Marketing Intern at Workday! Reflecting on her experience, she shared, “This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to intern as a Product Marketing Intern at Workday. I was able to work with the Workday Student PMK team, which is a product we use here at Santa Clara University to register for classes, pay tuition, track our degree progress, and much more. My day-to-day involved creating content and completing organizational work for the annual Workday Rising conference, researching competitors with a competitive intel project, and creating sound bites for my team to use for future marketing efforts, among other smaller projects throughout the 12 weeks. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to try out product marketing and I can’t wait to gain more experience as I return to Workday as an Associate Product Marketing Manager.”