First Capstone Team Assignment

For the past three weeks, my Capstone team, Strategic Knights, has been researching and analyzing the retail grocery industry. Today, we had our first team assignment due, which consisted of our 15 page retail grocery industry analysis report and our 10 minute presentation about our analysis of the industry. The report and presentation are each worth 100 points, so we had 200 points up for grabs today. That's 20% of our overall grade. We managed to pull everything together with less than 30 minutes until class started. Thankfully, my team has quite a few superstar students and they make my job as team leader a hell of a lot easier than I ever dreamed was possible.

Strategic Knights: Raeann, me, Lauren, Gabby, and Elizabeth

We gave our presentation exactly as we had rehearsed it, with 20 seconds to spare on our time limit. Afterwards, our professor asked about five in depth questions. I think we answered four of the questions really well; however, we struggled with one question because the girl who had that part in the report that the question related to couldn't back up her statements with reason or resources.  Overall, I am proud of my team's performance. Our professor let us know that we got an A on the presentation, but the exact grade is not yet known. Plus, we have to wait for him to grade our 15 page report.

Having this assignment behind me is a huge relief. I don't have much time to relax though because the mid-term is next week. Hopefully, I'll get some down time the week after mid-term during spring break.

Positive Feedback at Work

When I interviewed at Mazda, I was under the impression that I was interviewed for both the sales position and the finance position. The GM and I both agreed that I would be better prepared for finance if I started out in sales, so I signed on to be part of the sales team. My intention was to learn everything I could about sales and work my ass off to be promoted to finance.  After numerous one on one conversations with my co-workers in sales, I came to realize  that most of them had been working in sales for less than six months, were UCF graduates majoring in finance or business admin, and were also looking to move into finance. The fact that it seemed most employees in sales were likely to move to finance before me was kind of disappointing. However, I didn't let it slow me down in how much effort I put into work. I finally got some re-assurance today from my GM and my team lead manger.

I had placed an order for 3 Mazda uniform shirts. My general manager then called me and said he thinks I look very professional in the white blouses I've been wearing. He suggested I not waste my money on ordering any Mazda uniform shirts since I'm on the "finance track." As long as I am comfortable in my white blouses. Wow, he recognized and gave me hope in the career goal I'm pursuing!  Plus, he implied that I wouldn't get my money out of buying Mazda uniform shirts if I'm promoted to finance within a few months. This thrills me!

My manager, who is also my team lead, asked me what my plans are for employment. Do I plan to stay in sales, or do I plan to pursue a position in finance? I told him I want to learn everything I can in sales so that I can do my very best, but my overall goal is to get into finance. He agreed I'd be a good candidate and said he will keep it mind when he reviews my potential and performance at manager meetings every Monday to put in good words for me.

The two positive feedbacks from my managers today eased my mind when it comes to who will get a chance at the finance office first... me or some of my co-workers. I now believe that I am in the running to be a first mover. All except one sales co-worker have the Mazda uniform shirt. Evidently, the GM didn't think it'd be a waste of their money. Perhaps because he thinks they'll be in sales for a while. I just have to keep working my ass off! The payoff will be so sweet! Although I'm not looking forward to having to take the auto industry compliance exam. A real world exam is a little daunting to me.

I'm Rocking At Life!

I am totally rocking at life this week! Don't get me wrong, I'm working my ass off to do it, but at least my hard work is being rewarded. I pulled a 96% on my first big report of the semester! That impressed me for some reason. It's a senior level class and the professor will not pass students that cannot write at a college level. Relief set in because I was unsure at how well my writing skills are since I don't write a lot of college level stuff as a finance major. Evidently, I'm an amazing college level writer. I don't think I ever got that high of a grade in English Comp I or II.  I know I write as a hobby, but I guess I didn't realize the quality of my grammar and word choices show my level of education.

Also, my team turned in a mission statement for our strategic business unit (lab) and my professor selected it as the best mission statement from all of the other teams that turned one in.  Considering that only one girl on my team sent me her ideas of what the mission statement should be, and everyone else left it up to me to combined it with my ideas (Oh, the responsibility of being team leader... gag me).  I came up with the following mission statement to guide us in what we do and who we are for the rest of the semester:

We conduct competitive analysis for firms and their industries to uncover sustainable, competitive advantages. Our continued development of employees allows us to integrate the various levels of expertise required to maximize the benefits of stakeholders and society.

Yeah, I am on track to finish this semester with a BANG!!! 

Also, I'm back at the dealership this week. Yesterday, I was only supposed to be shadowing. However, I had just clocked back in from break when a customer came in and all of the other sales associates were busy. I got to step up to the plate. The customer had been at the dealership the day before and my co-worker, Mary, had helped out then. Since Mary was with another customer I got to be put in the game. I ended up selling a car! It seems crazy, but I didn't know anything about the car because it was pre-owned. That didn't slow me down though. I discovered the features of the car with my customer and gave a kickass demo drive. I'm certain it was on the demo drive that the customer was sold. Shoot, I was sold. lol I convinced myself it was a good car for a good price. I even wrote up all the paperwork with guidance from my manager. It was fun!

Chronically Single

Surprise, Valentine's Day was yesterday! Honestly, it has never been a particularly special day for me.  I had a team meeting with my Capstone group, which consists of four other girls and myself. Most of whom seemed super excited to leave the meeting to see what their significant others got them. I was excited because I actually had the day off from work, which meant that a nap was in my future!  Two of them talked, one about her husband and the other about her boyfriend, and I forced a smile and listened to the nonsense.

Unfortunately, no one asked about my plans after the meeting, so I didn't get to brag about my upcoming nap. Naps are special to me. It's probably for the best. In my experience, it is usually difficult for others to believe that I have gone 27 years of my life without ever having been in a serious relationship. Sure, I've dated, but it's exhausting and bad for my immune system. I'm most excited about seeing my bestie this weekend. Sometimes I think I'd make a good nun.

Yes, I'm chronically single.  I'm still not looking for a relationship. It's just not something I want in my life right now. I do evaluate my attitude about the idea of a relationship a couple times a year.  Will I ever be ready? Will it ever be something I crave?  Most of the time it boils down to me not being able to see the value of being in a relationship. I fail to see the benefits. I simply don't want to waste my time. Actually, I do not have a lot of extra time on my hands anyway. I'd rather spend the extra time I do have on hobbies, napping and catching up with my current friends (most of which I don't have time to have face to face conversations with).  If I were better at time management, would I be more interested in having a relationship? I doubt it.

Not Sure How, But I'm Surviving

My social life has been non-existent all year; however, I've met more new people in the first two months of 2015 than I did throughout 2014. In a way, I am making one friend at a time. When I was shadowing Mo at work and practically sold his customer a second car by myself, I let Mo take the sale and count it toward his cars sold amount. He was shocked I just gave it to him, but the way I looked at it was that I was shadowing him to learn the sales process, not to steal a sale from him. I just didn't feel right counting the sale toward my cars sold amount. That decision earned Mo's trust and respect and now I know he'll have my back on the sales floor and he will be willing to help me out in the future. A co-worker's car broke down this week and we were both at HR all week for sales training. Even though it was out of my way, I offered her a ride while her car was in service. She took me up on it and bought me lunch to thank me. She was grateful and I think we'll be great team players on the sales floor.

Work is getting intense. I have learned so much that my brain might be on the verge of exploding. I don't think it will be too much longer until I'm actually on the sales floor selling cars. I'm a little nervous because I know I'm inexperienced, but I'm hopeful customers will be patient with me as I learn and do everything I can to help them. I can't wait to help my first customer and I really can't wait to sell my first car!  I'm currently suffering from new car fever. During sales training, I met the COO and CMO of Holler-Classic Automotive Group, which was really neat because they took the time out of their important duties to welcome us to the company and share some of their experience in the auto industry. Their ideas for the future of the company are impressive and inspiring!

School is going full speed ahead. I had my very first team meeting outside of class today and it went amazingly well. We had a great discussion on the retail grocery industry. Is it an attractive industry? That is the mystery our 15 page report will be solving. Before the meeting I felt overwhelmed and uncertain on how we will complete everything on time, but after the meeting I felt more confident in my part and our team's ability to kick ass on this report. So far, I'm getting great feedback on my team for being a well organized team leader. =) I manage all of our discussion threads on webcourses and make weekly announcements on our goals for the week.  I also communicate with our lab instructor to keep him updated on our team's progress.  I'm glad my teammates recognize my effort in keeping us all on the same page.

P.S. Still waiting to get a grade back on my first big report of the semester... =/

What Does It Mean To Have Fun?

I think with all of my hard work I've been putting forth in work and school I have forgotten how to have fun. Tonight I found myself reading numerous 10-K forms filed with The Securities and Exchange Commission. I think I actually convinced myself that it was fun and interesting...until I got to my fifth or sixth 10-K form on a company in the retail grocery industry. They all pretty much repeat the same shit over and over again, and most of the information is not useful to my research for my team's industry analysis report. I need info on Porter's Five Forces: Threat of New Entrants, Competitive Rivalry, Bargaining Power of Buyers, Bargaining Power of Sellers, and Threat of Substitute Products.  Oh well, off to have more "fun" researching. Someone save me!!!

So Much To Do, So Little Time = Life

To say that my life is crazy busy seems like an understatement.  Between work and school I really don't have much time for myself or anyone else for that matter. Taylor and I cancelled her visit last weekend. I can't even remember the last time I took a nap.

I'm still loving Mazda! I'm learning tons of stuff every day! I'm officially Mazda certified, which is pretty awesome! I'm still learning how to tell all of the different trim levels apart at first glance though. Plus, I'm still learning all the technology offered: BSM, MRCC, RCTC, LDWS, etc... I pretty much know the different engines, horse powers, torques, wheel sizes, and cloth or leather that comes on each trim level. It's just the technology and some safety features that are tripping me up when I'm asked to explain them. This week I'm learning the sales process. So far, I know our greeting and concept statement that we share with each customer. I should be ready to hit the sales floor in two weeks! I'm so grateful that I found a company willing to invest in me.  I plan to work my butt off to reward their investment.

As for school, I kind of want to quit so that I can focus on work. I know I'm only taking one class, but it's a monster of a class! I turned in my first big project today, my 10-K report. I only got it to 12 pages because I just ran out of time to work on it. I'd love to get an 80%; however, I'd settle for a 70% since I know I could have done better if I had more time. This morning in class, we were assigned our first team project and it's due in three weeks. Everyone in class is freaking out because we have a 15-20 page industry analysis report to write about the retail grocery industry, we have a 10 minute presentation to give about our industry analysis, and we have our mid-term exam all due in the same week. February 24th is going to be a week from Hell. This week my team is focusing on researching the industry since we have use a minimum of 10 sources in our analysis. Next week, we will split the project up and give everyone on the team a portion to write. Hopefully, writing the report won't take too long since we'll already have most of the research completed, and then we'll need to put together a presentation and practice delivering it flawlessly! Oh yeah, and in our spare time we should study for the mid-term! HA! We'll see how that goes.

Also, I finally have the official date I will be graduating as long as I can pass this class! The big day will be Saturday, May 9th, 2015 at 9AM! Even though I know the date, it still doesn't seem real yet. Perhaps it's because I'm not yet certain I'll pass this class.

I have no clue how I'm going to get everything done to get to where I want to go with work and school, but I know I'm working my butt off to get there. Kim keeps reminding me that I will be rewarded in May for all of my hard work in school.