LIM College

by Victoria Stankus

I wrote about my internship at Paul Stuart in an earlier blog. Now, here's more info about it and internships in general.

About two years ago, Paul Stuart went from being a family-owned business to a corporate-owned entity. In doing so, there has been much more structure and balance to what is expected and more of a path that was formed. However, it may be a bit difficult to keep up with what the company is looking for on a day to day basis after being used to it running so differently.

Throughout a company’s life, they are faced with holding onto their identity. Customers change and so does society. In figuring out how to accommodate customers, companies have to make sure they keep who they are. This is the most important, crucial and difficult task of them all.

The Paul Stuart customer is a successful business man who works in finance, or is a lawyer or has a very sophisticated career. He is someone who is family-oriented and is trying to make the whole work/life balance thing pan out.

In trying to gear themselves towards a younger customer to get them in the door along with keeping the core customer, Paul Stuart feels as if they swayed too far left and has lost some of their old clientele and is currently trying to get them back in the door.

That being said,  I realize that my biggest personal challenge here is realizing that I am only an intern. Sure, I have ideas on how to attract new customers, while still keeping the old. All in all, I tend to want to do more. And although I have different views on working for an establishment that has been operating in a specific way for years, I have to remind myself that I am just a small fish in a small pond.

This doesn't mean that one day I won't possbily share my ideas, but it has to be done in the right way. Communication is key to running a successful business. 

People have to talk to each other to understand what it is going on within the company. Why isn’t a task completed? If someone did finish it, who was it and when?

Many times individuals tend to keep information to themselves and eventually it doesn’t benefit anyone at all because it backfires. The wrong person is accused, the task doesn’t get done, no one knows who is at fault and someone is usually always left unhappy. So, remember, communication is key!