The Intern Diaries (S2E3): Seatbelts, Everyone!

I’ve got the Magic School Bus theme song on repeat because Week 3 was all about exploration. The interns even got to leave the office and go on a grueling expedition across the street. Who needs vacation when you can travel to new destinations during your 9-to-5? JK, please take vacations, y’all. Just remember to take your Hightower flag and post a pic with #HightowerHighflex so we can keep up with your travels!

Continue reading to see what hijinks the interns got into this episode. Thankfully, all activities were done on Earth.

Cruising on Down Madison Ave.

What time is it? Field trip time! Permission slips were signed (by their roommates of course, because they’re adults) and backpacks zipped all the way up for a glamourous walk across the street to Hightower partner firm, Private Vista. This wealth management business is one of our faves – just kidding, you’re ALL our favorites – and it’s a cool way for the corporate team to get to know what life is like at an RIA (registered investment advisor) firm.

For some, the experience was out of this world. Operations Intern Ashley Baka said, “I had such a great time at the off-site visit to Private Vista this past week. As someone who is currently studying financial planning in college, this was the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about the industry from advisors themselves. The advisors showed us a mock client scenario utilizing their software and gave us insight into the CFP® exam. They also went in-depth about the different levels/stages of becoming an advisor, which I very much appreciated, as my plan is to pursue a career in financial advising after graduation. The visit was extremely informative, and allowed our intern group to get a glimpse into the day-to-day of one of the advisory firms under Hightower.” Talk about a Daytime Emmy award-winning review!

The Hightower New York interns also went on a field trip to Treasury Partners. However, you’re just going to have to take our word for it because they were having too much fun to provide photographic evidence of the event.

Our Own Ms. Frizzle: Dan Watanapongse

You may think that is a weird comparison ^ BUT our CFO and Ms. Frizzle actually have a lot in common. They’re both very good at educating in their respective fields! Dan W. took some time out of his busy schedule of jet-setting around the world in a school bus rocket ship (allegedly) for a lunch-and-learn with the interns. From what I hear, he did a stellar job of explaining his day-to-day in a digestible format. Speaking of digestible, they also enjoyed a delectable spread from Goddess and the Grocer. I begged for scraps at the end, and can attest that the salad, as the kids say, “slapped.”

Graphic Design Intern Reagan Towers shared, “He made the lunch super personable, making everything light, fun and most importantly, understandable. I don’t come from the financial world, yet I believe he wanted to connect to every intern in the room no matter what department they’re in.” Maybe next time Dan will take us inside a bank vault or something else finance-y. Just some ideas off the top of my head.

Going into the Belly of the Firm

As if that wasn’t enough adventure for one week, the interns also went on an extremely in-depth tour of the many departments at Hightower. The “Learn About the Firm” event involved a visit to each team and a 5-minute overview of how they operate. It was a lot of info, but our brave warriors stayed with it until the very end. I think they came out the other side with more knowledge on the inner workings at Hightower than what I have after two years, so maybe I should start asking them for help on stuff…

The experience proved fruitful for those that are good at standing for extended periods of time. Office of Program Management Intern Evan Echlin noted, “I really enjoyed learning about the M&A team during the “learn about the firm” series on Wednesday. It was great to gain a further understanding of how Hightower grows the business and the process they use to do so.” Love to hear it, Evan! Don’t cry it’s over, smile that it happened.

Super Cool Not-So-Secret Projects

In case you were wondering, the interns are also doing real work during their time with us. We polled them to see what projects they were excited to take on this week. Get ready for some goodies!

• Investment Solutions intern Sydney Lapper (which is so close to Cyndi Lauper) liked working on “internal rate cards.” Girls Just Want to Have Fun, indeed!
• Acquisition Finance Intern Ashleigh Szydlowski said “preparing summaries for the deals closing in the next few weeks” was her fave!
• Josey Hackmack (of Week 1 fame) told us, “I got to see the tech side for the integration project for one of the recent closings!”
• Aesthetic Queen Reagan Towers noted, “I created social cards for 2/13 Strategic Partners and their core values which I had a lot of fun with.”
• The aforementioned Evan Echlin named “EPMO artifact development” as his top project. IDK what that is, but it sounds legit!

Well, there you have it. It sounds like the interns need a vacation from this vacation, which is perfect with July 4 coming up. Tune in next week to see what the interns are moving the needle on with their dynamic synergies.