TOMS Shoes » swalpert

a taste of TOMS

swalpert — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:36:04 +0000

Projects are moving full speed ahead at HQ this week and I now see that there is no such thing as a “slow day” at TOMS. After an exciting weekend of adventures and exploring L.A. (intern Grace and I got a little lost in Korea-town and ended up in what might be the sketchiest, most amazing Korean BBQ restaurant in existence), there is no time for slacking before starting another busy week!

Yesterday, the Green Team (a group of eco-minded TOMS staff who work to make the office a “greener” place) hosted a potluck lunch, which was an awesome way to decompress amidst the craziness. Having attempted potluck lunches before, I halfway expected most people to forget about it and pick up a bag of chips at the store on the way to work. That was soooo not the case. Let me just say, not only are TOMS employees passionate, funny, and intelligent (not to mention totally hip and trendy), but these people can COOK! Several of the interns participated as well and impressed the office with our mad culinary skills.

I brought homemade spaghetti sauce, Grace made roasted beets, Julia brought a fruit platter, Alex baked some mac n’ cheese, David made arugula/feta pasta salad, and Amanda baked some delicious blondie brownies for dessert. Other interesting dishes included chicken stuffed with swiss and brocolli, veggie fried rice, baked brie, spicy zucchini, vegan oreo cupcakes, and oh yeah- the most amazing banana pudding I’ve ever tasted. And I’m from the South, so that’s saying something…. sorry Grandma!

Alex checking on her Mac n’ Cheese!

I am coming to realize that here at TOMS, people are constantly going above and beyond… even in the kitchen.

Amanda showing off her plate of homemade goodness!

Gotta remember to stir the spaghetti sauce!

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getting our hands dirty

swalpert — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:53:34 +0000

As the 5^th week of our internship rolls around (FIFTH WEEK?! No way…), the office is buzzing and the work is flowing steadily. We were promised on Day 1 that we would be doing work that mattered at TOMS, not just typical intern grunt work i.e. coffee runs and long hours at the copy machine. And as the internship has continued to unfold, this promise has definitely proved to be true. With several huge TOMS initiatives in the forefront, we have officially made the leap from “new interns” to marketers, graphic designers, event planners, online marketers, retail representatives, and more. What a rush!

Today is a huge day at HQ. We are having 32 sales reps from Canada come into the office, so interns and employees alike are scrambling to get everything in perfect order before our guests arrive! Not to mention the boss-man Blake is back in the office after several weeks on a speaking tour, so everyone is on their toes! Alt Sales intern Dianna has been busy making gift baskets and center pieces while Retail and Giving interns Grace and Amanda are hustling retail displays out the door before the mail man arrives. Creative intern Carly and Travis the office manager are sprucing up some of the walls as well. All of the interns have been working together to plan what we will do for TOMS 4^th Birthday coming up on May 5^th. We have so many exciting ideas in the works and we also have some cool stuff planned for our TOMS family across the world! We present to our marketing directors on Tuesday, so stay tuned… and wish us luck!

Beware to all rushing around HQ today ! Wet paint… and busy interns!

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who are we?

swalpert — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:55:31 +0000

I’ve gotten several questions since I started these intern updates regarding just what it takes to be a TOMS HQ intern. Each time I usually respond that you must be hard working, passionate, driven, smart, and eager to learn. But then as I thought about my fellow interns, it occurred to me that you must also be unique, silly, fun, and just plain awesome. I have not properly introduced my fellow interns to you guys and I think EVERYONE should see just how amazing these people are. So I present… the TOMS Spring 2010 Intern Class!

From left to right: Amanda, Heather, Julia, Jessie, Dianna, Sarah, Mike, Grace, Alex, Carly, David and our intern coordinator Caroline in front

Sarah – Social Media

Hometown: Augusta, GA

Fun Fact: I don’t have a belly button

Favorite Food: My Grandma’s CHEESE GRITS!!

Best Part About Working at TOMS: Being around incredible people who work hard and make a difference every day

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment”: Bowling a 44 on my first “Fun Friday” at TOMS… I had the lowest score out of the whole company. Awesome.

Grace – Retail Marketing

Hometown: Old Lyme, CT

Fun Fact: I am from Old Lyme, Connecticut — Home of Lyme disease! I think I’m immune…

Favorite Food: Beans and Rice

Best Part About Working at TOMS: The awesome music that is always playing in the office

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: Having to ask how to use the phone at my desk

Dianna – Alternative Sales

Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA

Fun Fact: I was the drummer of a punk band when I was in Jr. High called “Persecuted.” Then my freshman year, I was the cymbal captain in the marching band.

Favorite Food: Panda Express: orange chicken, chow mein.

Best Part About Working at TOMS: I love being at HQ constantly surrounded by creative people who passionately believe in the One for One Movement.

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: I feel like we are new little puppies who want everyone to like us, so sometimes we like to “show up” to places where other employees might be without actually getting an invite. I can’t believe I just admitted this…

Mike – Web Design

Hometown: Dallas, TX

Fun Fact: I hit 40 mph on my bmx bike

Favorite Food: Kogi BBQ and Texas BBQ

Best Part About Working at TOMS: The people rock

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: Getting in trouble and then paged on the loud speaker for storing my bike in Blake’s closet

Julia – International Online Marketing

Hometown: Rostock, Germany

Fun Fact: I’ve developed an American accent when I speak German, so whenever I go home to Germany, people ask me where I’m from. Seriously?!

Favorite Food: I put cheese and ranch dressing on almost everything that is edible

Best part about working at TOMS: Being able to learn about marketing strategies from my manager

Most Embarassing “Intern Moment” So Far: Nothing yet… but I’m sure it’s coming.

Jessie – Human Resources

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Fun Fact: I am completely addicted to the TV show “Dirty Jobs”… when there’s a marathon on it’s my own personal heaven

Favorite Food: Crispy french fries

Best Part About Working at TOMS: Belonging to the family

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: My pants split when I bent over to pick something up

Alex – Online Analyst

Hometown: Arlington, TX

Fun Fact: I went to chemistry camp after my junior year of high school. SO cool…

Favorite Food: Cheese, all types, and bacon-wrapped figs

Best Part About Working at TOMS: The energetic atmosphere at HQ

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: To be determined…

David – Friends of TOMS

Hometown: Yorba Linda, CA

Fun Fact: I am pretty much an expert Cribbage player.

Favorite Food: My Grandma’s Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Best Part About Working at TOMS: The company culture is amazing and the work I’m doing is very fulfilling.

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: I guess it was when I read “personal message” out loud as “personal massage” in our meeting the other day. Oops!

Carly – Creative

Hometown: Fountain Hills, AZ

Fun Fact: In 7th grade basketball the only shot I made was for the opposing team. But to this day, my Dad will tell you how awesome/quick I was on the court with 100% Dad Pride.

Favorite Food: Fro-yo. Duh!

Best Part About Working at TOMS: If I say learning… does that make me a nerd?

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: My first day!! Blake decided to take the desk next to mine to see the ins and outs of creative first hand. Pretty much had a nervous stutter all day.

Amanda – Giving

Hometown: Malibu, CA

Fun Fact: I am fluent in ANCIENT Greek

Favorite Food: French Fries

Best Part About Working at TOMS: Spending my time finding more ways to get shoes on feet that need them.

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: Not realizing TOMS’ phone # shows up on caller ID…I’ll leave it at that.

Heather – Creative

Hometown: Kansas City, KS

Fun Fact: I was voted most likely to be a millionaire in middle school. I wish…!

Favorite Food: Korean Food all the way!

Best part about working at TOMS: All the different projects I get to be a part of and, of course, the cool people!!

Most Embarrassing “Intern Moment” So Far: There’s this speed bump right outside Toms HQ and I trip over it EVERY single time… usually in front of people.

So… who are we?? We are TOMS interns.

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family time

swalpert — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:11:30 +0000

This week at TOMS has been like no other “work week” I’ve ever experienced. As I sit here thinking how best to describe it to you guys, only one word comes to mind: family. Among the highlights of our second full week at TOMS are a hilarious intern potluck supper at our apartment and a thought provoking book discussion led by Blake at HQ. Having dinners and reading books together are two things I never expected from my first real-world job. At least not two weeks in. But, life at TOMS is proving to be beyond any sort of expectation I had, so I guess this week was par for the course.

Since we haven’t gotten to see each other much outside of work, Grace, Julia, and I (the only interns actually living together) decided to have all of the interns over to our house for a potluck on Thursday after work. When Thursday afternoon finally arrived, everyone was eager for 5:00 to come so we could start the party. The problem was… no one had actually gotten food to bring yet. Including us… No big deal, we would just make a collective trip to the grocery store to pick up some goodies. One hour, three trips back inside and a couple bags of orange chicken and enchiladas (awesome combination, I know…) later, we had FINALLY made up our mind. Disclaimer: I do not ever recommend going to the grocery store with 8 hungry, indecisive interns. We all stayed civil, but I’m not gonna lie, I was eating the bag of chips in the check-out line way before I paid for them. Once we finally got the potluck started, we had an absolute blast. We took turns blasting our favorite music, told our pre-TOMS stories, stuffed our faces, and learned a few new things about each other. Every time we get together I feel even luckier to have the opportunity to work among such an incredible, diverse group of people, and this time was certainly no exception. After the potluck, a few of us ventured to a local spot down the street and danced the night away.

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work hard. play hard.

swalpert — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:26:16 +0000

Hello all! It’s Sarah again with another intern update. Our first full week at TOMS is in the books and we actually made it out the other end with some smiles, albeit a few less hours of sleep. Our first two days of work were a good introduction to the office, but on Monday morning it was time to get down to business. In spite of the easy-going office atmosphere, I definitely experienced some of the typical first week frustrations. I couldn’t read my own notes I had taken from my training session, I completely mixed up one (or two) spreadsheets, and spilled coffee on myself before our first department meeting. It is taking some time to adjust to being the new kid again after being in college for 4 (ok fine… 5) years. I couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed at times, but my very patient manager just patted me on the back and told me to try again.

Little by little I have gotten to know my fellow interns during our lunch hour. Since we don’t live together, it has been tricky trying to find time to really get to know everyone. We have official “intern lunches” on Tuesdays and Thursdays where we all sit outside at the picnic tables and pick the brain of one of the TOMS managers. This week it was Sydney from Customer Service and Kellen and Donna from the Creative team. It was cool hearing what exactly their jobs at TOMS entail, as well as the obligatory embarrassing stories from when they first started at TOMS. It definitely makes you breathe a little easier to realize that everyone goes through this “new kid” phase. The rest of the days we all took lunch break together so that we could chat and catch up, choosing to sit outdoors and enjoy the (finally) sunny California weather!

Friday was “Fun Friday,” a monthly tradition at TOMS. On the last Friday of every month, we have a few hours of FUN as an office. This month all of us headed down the street, switched out our TOMS for some pretty goofy looking bowling shoes, and spent a couple hours cheering each other on at the bowling alley. One of the interns, Heather, is pretty much a bowling prodigy and blew everyone away with her mad skills. Fun Friday did not disappoint and we all left feeling super optimistic about the next five months. After bowling, several of the interns went to dinner at a really cool restaurant in Venice. It was nice to FINALLY hang out and relax together outside of work. L.A. is so huge that although we may work at the same place, some of us live up to an hour away from each other!! While we had a few embarrassing moments last week, Friday definitely served as an opportunity to laugh them off and bond over this insane experience.

On the right, David the Friends of TOMS intern bowls a strike. Notice on the left our graceful intern coordinator Caroline as she exhibits her impeccable bowling form.

Interns Heather, Grace, Carly, Dianna, and me at Nikki’s in Venice!

On Sunday, our intern coordinator Caroline took a few of us to Runyon Canyon so that we could experience L.A. from a different point of view. After a pretty intense (for me, anyway) hike up the side of the mountain, we were treated to breathtaking views of this place we now call home. It was incredible how much you could see up there. All that went through my mind was…Wow. I am so lucky to be here.

And as I sit here at my desk, staring at the wall made of shoe boxes, I can’t help but feel absolutely giddy that this is only just the beginning.

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the starting line

swalpert — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:09:23 +0000

Eleven strangers from around the country were chosen to work in one warehouse for five months. Welcome to the life of a TOMS Spring 2010 intern. My name is Sarah and I am one of the newest members to the TOMS family! I drove across the country all the way from Augusta, GA to begin this incredible adventure in L.A. Why would I travel 3,000 miles to California for an internship? Easy. TOMS is more than a job, more than a company, or more than a pair of shoes. TOMS is a movement- a movement that everyone can be a part of and one that actually has the capability to change the world.

On my journey from Georgia I made a stop at the Grand Canyon. Wearing my TOMS in the snow, no doubt!

After only a few days on the job, I can tell that working at TOMS is going to be intense. But then again, so is anything that’s actually worthwhile. We walked into the large warehouse that houses TOMS HQ in Santa Monica last Thursday for the first time, nervous, excited, and not sure what to expect. We had come from far and wide; Connecticut, Georgia, Arizona, Texas, California, Kansas, and oh yeah… Germany. I think it is safe to say the TOMS mission is inspiring people all over the globe! Our first day on the job was spent getting “oriented.” Our awesome intern coordinator, Caroline, showed us the ropes and introduced us to several of the employees. We chilled in a conference room for most of the day as each manager came back to introduce themselves and explain their position at TOMS. It was surreal. I think it is safe to say that all of us were on cloud nine… were we REALLY here? Was that ACTUALLY Blake Mycoskie that just walked by?

Some of the interns gathering for the first time at TOMS HQ!

Hard at work already in the Online department “office.” One wall is made completely out of old TOMS shoe boxes!

We got to sleep in a little on Friday and were told to report to the office at 10:30 to be introduced to the ENTIRE staff. I’m not gonna lie… I was pretty nervous. I knew we were going to have to stand in front of everyone and introduce ourselves and would have about ten seconds to convince everyone that we were funny and cool. However, as soon as Caroline led us into the room with all the other TOMS employees, any previous jitters immediately disappeared. Everyone was hanging around in a circle and gave us a round of applause when we walked in. And standing in front wearing bright green sweatpants and clapping loudest of all was the man himself, Blake– the brains behind the whole operation. He was so cool and welcomed us all to the family. Because TOMS is just that, a family, and we were now a part of it.

Our new boss!

And then, of course, we still had to stand in front of the 60+ staff and introduce ourselves, but everyone was super nice and at least pretended to laugh at our jokes. After our meeting, we got right to work, and I’ve got to say it was quite a rush. Working in an environment like the one at TOMS makes you actually WANT to work, because you know you’re doing it for a reason bigger than yourself, bigger than a paycheck.

Our intern coordinator, Caroline, introduces new intern Grace to the TOMS staff

Well, that is all for now, my friends. I hope you all will enjoy keeping up with the adventures we are about to embark on at TOMS. Stay tuned…

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