Fun times in Kansas!

In my last two posts I mainly described all the hard work I've been through to understand the business and ensure my projects add value to the company. Having been with Hill's Pet Nutrition for 5 weeks now, the only thing that haven't changed is the amount of work. What have changed though is the amount of fun!

When I first started I didn't know too many people in the state of Kansas (actually I knew only one from work) so fun wasn't part of my everyday life. It got even worse when I had to deal with flooded roads and storms (picture was taken at 3pm). If you add to that tornado warnings every other day, there you have a whole bad situation in terms of lifestyle.

However, things started to turn around as the HR department had organized some activities for all the interns. Since we are only two MBA interns, it was great to get a chance and meet others from packaging, engineering, procurement etc. After a picnic at Lake Shawnee, which was extremely fun, we all started to hang out and arrange different kind of activities with the best of it being the get-together in my apartment to watch USA against Ghana for the World Cup. If only USA had won our afternoon would have been even better but you can't have it all! To fight the pain from the devastating loss my American counterparts suggested we go for a beer which took me some time to drink. Look at the glass size in the picture...

Overall, the World Cup has dominated, not only discussions but also our time. Being part of a truly global company gave me the opportunity to watch the Greece-Nigeria game with a couple of Nigerians that work for Hill's. Also, based on my initiative, there are several brackets flowing around but so far mine is the most accurate. I guess soccer is not an American sport yet. Good times... Hopefully it will be even better during the second half of my stay...

First Quarter Done!

Hey everybody from the full-of-tornado-warnings Kansas!

I am officially done with my first 3 weeks at Hill's Pet Nutrition and I must admit they went by pretty fast. Several meetings, cross-functional teamwork, research, insight analysis, and number-crunching is the story of my first quarter. My project list keeps getting longer and the day-to-day tasks make things more hectic but no complaints. By the way, keep in mind that all the unpredictable and urgent tasks always end up on the intern's desk!

Basically, the last couple of weeks I spend the majority of my time working in Excel, pulling up shipment and consumption data from different retailers and trying to identify the implications moving forward. This is called the Colgate Business Planning which essentially is a tool to keep track of where the company stands on a monthly basis and figuring out ways to counter possible drawbacks or unexpected downfalls. It may sound like a heavy process but I was glad to be part of it because one of my goals for the summer was to gain exposure to this type of data in order to enhance my analytical and decision-making skills.

Apart from the planning process, I also spent time on the core of my project which is to develop promotional strategies for different lines of products including online, in-store and misc. The fact that it needs to be customized by retail environment and product makes the need for insights greater which is why I've been going over several studies. Currently, I am leading the development of in-store signage and displays based on some ideas I had working with people from supply chain, sales, and packaging engineering which is a great experience.

Overall, my colleagues are more than willing to help me and answer all the "stupid" questions a newbie has. The HR dept has arranged several activities like teleconferencing with parent company Colgate and lunch with all the VPs but the most fun will be this Friday at the picnic all the interns have with the managers and coworkers at Shawnee Lake. It is another advantage of the summer hours at Colgate (Friday is a half workday)...

Take care!

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!

More than just Chemistry - first week

I have finished my first week as an intern and it has been a very good start! It was exciting to find out that I will be leading three impactful and challenging projects. My expectations as career switcher, regarding the caliber and breadth of experience, seem to be more than fulfilled. Not only I will have exposure to one marketing project, but I will have to manage three different aspects of the marketing function. Juggling unrelated projects, involving Marketing Research, Market Assessment and Commercial Development will make a busy summer for me!!

At FMC BioPolymer (http://www.fmcbiopolymer.com/) I know I will be learning more than just Chemistry. I was lucky enough to participate in the monthly Marketing meeting, which gave me a more general idea of the focus, important initiatives and on-going projects, as well as who is involved. It will be soooo good to be able to deliver results while getting to know the company and apply what I’ve learned in my first year at Ross. I feel very pleased and I believe that afterwards I will have a better understanding of the area as a whole.

On the personal side, I have been very fortunate too. My new place was part of the package offered by the company and has everything I need. It is walking distance to the office in central city Philadelphia; and really close to historical sites and stores, restaurants and parks. People have been very helpful during my arrival. I received a walking tour of the neighborhood, maps and tips on activities and good places to go after the working hours are over. Office environment is something I have been very satisfied with! My manager, the project sponsors, Human Resources, and everyone else has been very friendly and warm. For now, I’m the only intern. Another MBA intern, from Kellogg, will be arriving in the next weeks. I hope he and his wife will be comfortable as well in Philly.

Impossible is Nothing!

MBA Intern @ Hill's Pet Nutrition in Kansas

Hello everyone! My name is Nikos Apostolidis and I come from Greece. I just completed my first year in the MBA program at the Ross School of Business, which I must admit was very challenging but looking back, I can see how beneficial it has been. Starting May 24, I will be interning with Hill's Pet Nutrition, a consumer goods company owned by Colgate-Palmolive. However, the path to securing this internship has been all but straight.

Prior to my MBA, my career evolved around sports. I played pro basketball in Greece for 3 years but a career-ending injury forced me to re-evaluate my plans. Leveraging my experience in the industry, I pursued a sports management career during which I led the basketball and business operations of two pro basketball organizations.

Moving to Ann Arbor, my goal was to go back to sports but quickly realized other exciting opportunities out there. Consulting, marketing, general management were all interesting options and the school is really strong in almost every area. Eventually, I sticked to marketing but not in sports; I decided to pursue a brand management career in the consumer goods industry (CPG).

As an international student, entering the CPG industry is more than a challenge but NOT impossible. After a couple of unsuccessful interviews, I figured I could use MAP as a way to get an offer. Thus, the majority of the projects I bid on was with companies I was interested in and knew they still had open positions. Finally, the project I was assigned to was with Hill's Pet Nutrition.

After a long two-month period of hard work with my team, we delivered exceptional results which helped me distinguish myself from other candidates and eventually get the offer. The Global Marketing Development Program at Hill's is the pipeline for full-time hires which makes it even more important. Even though I still don't know what I will be working on (got the offer a couple days ago), I'm very excited because I already know the company and the people which I think will be very helpful since there won't be any adjustment period. On the other hand, I can't say I'm nervous about it but I definitely think of the fact it is a new industry for me and have to be quick on my feet. Overall, this is what I wanted to do when I joined Ross and the fact that I accomplished it gives me great satisfaction and strength to continue working hard during the summer.

The next post will be early June and hopefully I will have more details on my project. Till then take care everybody.