Having successfully survived our first two weeks as interns at LACE Partners without crying, getting fired, or bankrupting the business, I thought this would be a great time to reflect on a busy, challenging, but fun fortnight.
Oli, Megan and I have been up to all sorts since the 19th of June. Oli has been on site with our client, YNAP, and despite being thrown in at the deep end he has really enjoyed it. Megan has been crowned the new ‘Research Princess’ for her work on researching cutting edge wellness technology; and I have been assisting on the sales and marketing front: posting daily updates to the LACE LinkedIn page, organising events and decluttering Capsule. Yep, from animatronic teddy bears that make you happy, to PowerPoints about Strategic Development, and high-fashion clients – our first few weeks has had it all!
Right from the get-go it was great to get properly stuck in and take responsibility for what we were doing. This meant we learnt what to do and what not to do very quickly. Oli says one of his highlights has been ‘working with the team in a supportive and positive environment, where people take time to teach and coach me to consolidate my understanding’. We all said it was very satisfying to feel like we were actually making useful contributions to the success of LACE and to be trusted with some important pieces of work – like meeting with clients, making decisions and building the business plan.
One of the other things we have all really enjoyed is getting to know the team. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming, and has made time to answer all of our questions – big or small. Megan says she has ‘met some really interesting people through meetings with clients, such as 360 Health and Performance’. One of the things that surprised me was how interconnected everyone is, and how many of the sales leads and opportunities come from an introduction or a contact.
Another thing that struck me over the last fortnight is just how ‘fundamentally different’ LACE is from other companies – particularly in the tech start-up related market. Having seen several articles recently talking about the difficulty many women face in returning to work at more traditional companies, it has been really interesting to see how differently things are done here and to think about what the future of the workplace might look like: flexible, connected and digital.
I asked Megan and Oli what they hoped to gain from the rest of their time at LACE this summer, Megan said: ‘to gain experience within consulting, and to try out new things to find out what kind of work I prefer’. Oli said ‘to learn as much as possible from co-workers and on the job. Also to build a wider network. To experiment doing different roles during the internship and to be able to compare business areas and see what I enjoy best by the end of it’. I am excited to learn more about marketing and what it can do for a business – and hopefully write some more blog posts and articles.
Apart from that, for the rest of the summer we all have plans to go travelling – Megan to Japan and Hungary, Oli to India or Eastern Europe, and me to Croatia – so please let us know if you have any recommendations or ‘must sees’!
Kathryn Evans LACE Partners Intern
