Notes from an Intern
A Day In the Life of a Reebok Intern
with Ashley Payne
Week 10:
This week I received the first actual mock-up of my winter boot. I cannot explain the excitement I felt when I first saw it. It is great to see your design come to life. It was the first round of mock-up, so I will be making some adjustments. I’ve talked to the pattern maker about the revisions that I want to make and discussed material selections with the Color & Materials librarian. I am ready to go and just waiting for the second mock-up. And I plan on getting the final photographed for my portfolio!!!!!!!! This is so exciting!
I’m thinking about how fast this experience has gone by, how much I’m going to miss it and all the fun that I have had. I’m going to miss everyone that I’ve met. It’s truly been such a cool and rewarding experience and I’m sad that it will be over soon. I’ve also come to the conclusion that I can definitely see myself working in the footwear industry which is quite exciting!
Note from Internship Advisor: After Ashley completed her internship with Reebok she received another internship offer with Converse. So Ashley if off to work on more shoe designs!!
Week 9:
Heather is the head of the internship program here at Reebok. Every week all the interns and apprentices get together to have our weekly meeting with her. In the meeting we each discuss what we have accomplished that week. It’s a way for Heather to make sure we are busy while being efficient and helpful. If there is a problem or concern Heather will work with the intern and supervisor to correct the situation. I think she is a positive influence for all of us because she is proactive and takes initiative to help see that things run smoothly and get done in the design department.
Week 8:
I was recently approached by the employee in charge of the Brand Range Photoshoot. The Brand Range showcases the new season’s apparel and footwear line. I was asked to participate as one of the models. I was a bit hesitant at first, but eventually decided, why not? I might as well mix it up and get a THOROUGH internship experience. It was a 2-day shoot at the Reebok Headquarters. Makeup and hair artists were provided along with a full photography team. I was put in various shots including jogging with dogs, running up a steep hill with a “friend” and working out. Of course, all the shots included me wearing Reebok apparel. It was a fun experience.
Week 7:
I met with my manager to discuss progress on my personal project, the women’s boot. Unfortunately I haven’t had enough quality time to dedicate to my personal project because I’ve been so busy with other tasks. I met with him and my other category team apprentice, Reggie. We each talked about our progress, although I was still in the early stages of my project, Tom, my manager, seemed really impressed with my ideas. I explained the research that I did, and the reasoning I had behind my inspirations and he approved of my design direction.
In the past several weeks, some exciting events have happened. The other day, NFL players Kevin Faulk and Randy Moss came to the Reebok Headquarters to play basketball after hours! On this particular day, I had decided not to workout at the gym, but instead watch the game. I watched the entire game with several guest athletes. On another occasion, one of the Boston Celtics players who won gold in Beijing came to “mingle” with the Reebok employees. I received a pair of tickets to watch him and other athletes and Olympians perform at the Reebok Indoor Games. You never know who you will “run” into at Reebok!
Week 6:
For the past month, I’ve been swamped with work from the 25% and 50%. Mainly, I have been responsible for providing the headers for all of the presentation boards the 50% presentations which is the half way point in the design process for the FW10 season. I have also had the opportunity to see how the 50% are set up and participate in sit in on some of the 50% meetings, where concepts are presented for the new season to the decision makers.
In addition to the prep work for the 50% I was asked to do a graphic design related project. I was asked to create an alternative design for the foot bed of a particular sandal. I appreciated that my design manager trusted me to deliver a good alternative. After I created some designs and presented some options to my manager and we agreed on a definite winner. He then sent my design to the people who wanted the job done in the first place and they loved it!
Week 5:
Recently I was asked to do a women’s winter boot for the Fall/Winter 2010 season. I was excited and took on the project. I was informed of the process and quickly began the ideation process. I came up with many ideas and concepts around convertibility and unique closures for the boot per the brief. My manager seemed very impressed with the work that I presented to him. I was asked to refine it, and the ideas were
presented at the marketing and development meeting. I asked my manager if I could sit it on the meeting where I learned so much from just one sitting with designers, and marketing and development staff.
Marketing and development liked my work, but decided on another design. At the end of the meeting I was told that I would assist with the designs that were chosen. I didn't, however, leave without an incentive. Marketing suggested that the design that my fellow coworker, Reggie (apprentice) and I came up with should be produced anyway so that we could learn about the entire process from start to finish with our own shoe. So by the end of this internship, I’ll have a produced design which is wonderful and CRAZY! The marketing and development team definitely felt that the designs that Reggie and myself presented were worthy of being considered as options for a future season of winter boots.
Week 4:
This week to help with the 25% kickoff, a “design meeting” was held. All the designers were called into one room and the heads from each design department had set up a “bonding seminar” to help us all loosen up and get motivated for the 25 %. A couple of words were said by the design heads and then next thing you know a lady comes out in 80’s workout attire, she looked like she was straight out of the locomotion video. Lol! Then she had everyone get up and do silly exercises with her while she did them on the center table. She had an assistant with her in similar attire. It was absolutely hilarious. Everyone definitely loosened up. After silly exercises, they handed out bubble for everyone to blow. It was quite the Monday morning. It was a great “exercise”. I appreciated whoever set it up. It was fun.
Thus - I’ve been spending my time the remainder of the week working on 25%. This is my priority job for the week, at times I’m asked to do a couple of side jobs, such as line work or colorways for footwear models. I’ll take the time to complete the smaller jobs and then get back to the important job at hand. I’m always conscious of having things done by the deadline time. So far, I’ve been pretty successful about meeting them.
Week 3:
This week I've been preparing for what is called 25%. 25% is basically the first quarter of the design phase for the new Fall/ Winter 2010 season. I've completed the designs that were asked of me and submitted them to be considered into the 25% design review, which is exciting. I'm impressed with the ideas and concepts from all the designers and felt that for the most part that I held my own with my work and that they fit right in.
Another job that has occupied my time in the last couple weeks has been moving gator boards. Gator boards are these 9-10 ft. tall, thick pieces of foam core on which designers pin their work up for presentations. The interns and apprentices were in charge of hauling them from the design department from one end of the entire Reebok facility to the other... Quite the "Intern Job" as well. Ha! The office dynamics here are great. The relationship between any two-coworkers is one that is friendly and professional. For the most part the people I work with are upbeat, friendly and helpful. The atmosphere is professional while easy going at the same time.
Week 2:
This week I was asked to do some colorways for the Spring/ Summer 2009 Collection. My manager, Tom liked my color and material selections so with any luck, I will have a colorway coming out soon for a Reebok walking shoe!
This Friday, the Stanley Cup Trophy was brought in to the headquarters for everyone to see which was quite fascinating. I guess one of the perks for sponsoring most of the NHL teams.
Some of our coworkers threw a small party for the interns to welcome us. It was at their place, all the interns attended, and some Reebok employees, and it was really, really nice. Everyone got to interact outside of the office setting and got to loosen up a little bit. It was appreciated.
Week 1:
I just completed my first week at Reebok. The entire Reebok headquarters is absolutely gorgeous. My first two days were orientation. We received lots of freebie Reebok stuff, and a gift certificate for a free pair of shoes, which made my day!
Throughout my internship, I will be working under my manager Tom; every intern has their own manager. I will be working on Walking and Adventure footwear and from what I've seen of their upcoming collections, it should be pretty fun. Everyone in the studio is really friendly. I'm having a great time. I see some of the CCS alums around all the time, which is nice.
