First couple of weeks at Hill's Pet Nutrition!

Hello everybody from Kansas! Certainly not the greatest place on earth but this is where I'm spending my summer so I'll have to find a way to like it...

Since my last post, the main difference is that I have moved to Lawrence, KS and been here for two weeks. Lawrence is a college town, very similar to Ann Arbor, but it's a half-hour drive to Topeka to get to work. I would love to give you more info on the location but unfortunately things have been pretty hectic at work and haven't had the chance to move around as much as I wanted.

I got my project(s) description and was given a cubicle (which as you can see I have decorated accordingly) the very first day. I was assigned to the Science Diet cat nutrition team for the summer. Basically, I will develop a promotional strategy for the special needs line, design the brand action plan for the life-stage line, and lead the monthly volume tracking to understand our sales activity, make recommendations on corrective actions, and comply with Colgate Business Planning.

In addition to my project, there are several daily "mini-projects" coming my way which reminds me what the real world looks like. However, I am fortunate enough to report to a Michigan alum who, along with other recent MBA grads from other schools, has been very helpful. Most of the people here are more than willing to help me get a better understanding of the business and daily tasks.

Yeah I know it sounds like a busy summer! Just by looking at my deliverables I feel some pressure but every day has been a learning experience, even during lunch with directors and VPs. This is the kind of company Hill's is-everyone is accesible.

If I had to point out my major difficulty so far, that would be the acronyms! They use more acronyms than full words which makes my communication a little bit harder. Until my next post, hopefully I will have figured most of them out...

Enjoy summertime!