A few weeks ago I met a young woman who is interning for the Detroit Tigers. Not in person. Via email. It went like this.......Even though she lives in California, my daughter is a HUGE Detroit Tiger's fan. HUGE!!
The Tiger's were going to be giving away Miggy Cabrera posters at their next home game. And you could only get the poster if you went to the game. Well, that wasn't going to happen
My daughter desperately wanted one. Being the indulgent mother that I am, I sent an email to the Tigers, via their website, giving them the circumstances and requesting a poster. The worst that could happen is that they would ignore my email.
A week later, I received an email from
Kelsey Meier with the Tigers, asking for my daughter's name and address! Holy crap!!
My snoopy recruiter-self just had to find out who this Giver of Happiness was. I mean, let's face it, she was going to make me look like
The Most Awesome Mom Ever!! So off to LinkedIn I went. I found out that Kelsey was a fairly new college grad, with a very cool job. Naturally I thought her story should be shared. She graciously accepted my request for a phone interview.
Except for the first 4 months of her life, Kelsey has lived in Michigan. Do we call her a Michigander or a Michiganian? I forgot to ask! Though she attended public school from grades K - 8, she attended a private all-girls
Catholic High school.
Throwback: I, too, attended Catholic school but this was way back in the Sixties. Checking out Regina High (where Kelsey went to school) I saw that their dress code included saddle shoes. Talk about a major flashback -- using white shoe polish every Sunday night to polish my saddle shoes! I don't know of any Catholic schools in my area that require saddle shoes nowadays. Call me crazy but I love saddle shoes!
Within the first couple of minutes of talking with Kelsey I could tell that she was a classic Type A personality, an indomitable force of nature. She played 3 sports in school -- basketball, volleyball, and softball, sat on the student council and was President of the Honor Society. She credits her parents' support and involvement in her education as a major factor in her success.
Studies have shown that regardless of background or income, students with involved parents are more likely to have higher grades and
test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, and adapt well to school.
Asked if there was one particular teacher who had an impact on her in high school, she said that, for the most part, she had very good teachers. But one stood out. Mrs. Robertson, her sophomore AP History teacher. Because of Mrs. Robertson, Kelsey decided that she wanted to major in government and foreign studies/foreign affairs in college.
Kelsey had wanted to go to
Notre Dame, a private Catholic college in Indiana, for as long as she could remember. Her older brother was already there. Any good school counselor will tell you that there are multiple criteria you should look at when deciding on a college. Location. Size. Admissions requirements. Academics. Clubs. Cost.
Ultimately she decided upon the
University of Michigan. U of M was a good match for her outgoing personality and the cost, compared to Notre Dame, was much more palatable.
During her freshman year, with an introduction provided by a family friend, Kelsey interned with the U of M Athletic Dept doing marketing, specifically promotions. She loved it!
Her junior year she interned with USA Hockey, doing marketing promotions and PR (Public Relations) as well as assisting with national team development for the U17 and U18 teams. She was responsible for prepping the kids for interviews they would be having with the local and national press. Her years of working with the Miss St. Clair Shores Scholarship program, an affiliate of the Miss America Pageant, had given her the tools needed to coach the young hockey players in how to dress, speak in a clear voice and how to comport themselves with the press.
For three and a half years, she worked on promos with the Athletic Dept at U of M until her graduation in 2012. She had also switched majors. She graduated with a BA in
Sport Management.
In January of 2013 she was hired as an intern with the Detroit Tigers in their marketing dept., focusing on promotions and events. She is responsible for an array of promotional programs such as....
Fan Development
Fan Experience
Tigers Kids club
Tigers Fan Club
Theme Nights
When you email the Tigers (like I did) about a promotion they're having, Kelsey will most likely be the one who responds to your request. And she does an amazing job of it!
It's not often that an intern is given almost complete autonomy to manage an entire project but Kelsey was given that opportunity when she was asked to put together The Official Detroit Tigers Away Game Trip to Toledo which is Detroit's farm team, the
Toledo Mudhens. She worked within her budget to advertise the event, book the FOX Sports Detroit Fan Express bus, handle all communications with the fans, and provide a thank you gift for the 50 Detroit Tigers Fan Club members that participated. The night was a success!
What's next after her internship with the Tigers? She isn't sure. She'd like very much to stay with the Tigers' organization but fulltime jobs are limited in a local organization like that. You either wait for someone to move up or out and that doesn't happen very often.
But she is sure she wants to work in community affairs (promos and events) and she wants to stay in the sports arena, so-to-speak. Whether that be with a pro team or college sports or even an agency firm, she enjoys the fast pace and interaction with the community. But until the end of the 2013 baseball season, she will continue to work crazy hours and show the Tiger fans lots of love. She is happy in the space she's in at this moment.
And what advice does she give to high school and college grads? "Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Take chances. Don't be afraid to talk about yourself -- your strengths and accomplishments. But don't be cocky. That puts people off."
Her journey continues. And wherever that journey takes her I know that she'll make the most of each and every opportunity.
. Tech Support Specialists get yelled at and freaked out on A LOT. There will be times when you save someone's data and they won't even thank you. Yeah, people can be rude. But you'll have plenty more users who will treat you like the rockstar that you actually are and appreciate your technical expertise. Treat all of them with respect. It will pay off in the long run.
-
