The Intern Diaries (S2E9): Barbentower

Oops, I’m writing about Barbie again. You didn’t think I could go the whole year without talking about the global phenomenon that is Barbenheimer did you? It overlaps with another phenomenon known as the Hightower Summer Internship Program because just like these box office hits, our interns are getting ready to make their professional debuts. In this movie, we see our dolls learn how to steal the spotlight and take steps toward securing their sparkling futures. Spoiler alert: some truth bombs were dropped.

Scot Kees Slides into the Dreamhouse

Chief Administrative and Legal Officer Scot Kees got out of his box to share his career journey and insights with the interns for their last lunch-and-learn of the year! He knows the rules of corporate law and how to draw a crowd. He shared what it was like to wear many different hats between admin and legal, not unlike Barbie and her many careers/outfits. Just like I loved her early work (Totally Hair, Olympic Skater, 12 Dancing Princesses), many of the interns enjoyed hearing about Scot’s early days working for an in-house firm.

Baby Einstein/talent acquisition intern Caleb Carlson furthers humanity with his take on the event. He said, “His background and passion for law was very cool to hear about, but he also gave us some great advice about what to look for in organizations and how we should approach the beginning of our careers. Baby Einstein 2/ learning & development intern Sarah Welch gave Scot’s lunch-and-learn a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. She added, “He’s so down to earth and the conversation was awesome!” What a dazzling day in the office.

Hot Take: Intern Hackathon > Manhattan Project

It may not be theoretical physics, but it’s still hard work! Week-by-week the interns have been crafting their final group projects (not unlike how Barbie crafts the perfect outfit for every occasion) to be presented in their last week of the program. They’ve been examining how to improve a specific function within the designated departments of IT, Risk and HR. Through brainstorming, presentation planning, thorough research and more, these sort-of scientists are counting down the days until they can showcase their findings to an elite panel of Mattel executives aka their managers and leadership teams. This Barbie really liked the project so far. Sarah Welch said, “Our Hackathon project has been fascinating for me this week –  we sent out a survey to all of corporate and began analyzing the data so it’s been super interesting.” It’s sure to be an explosive event, but only the figurative kind.

How to Nail the America Ferrera Barbie Speech

America Ferrera delivers an iconic monologue in the Barbie movie, but I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it yet! (Her Ted Talk has a similar flavor of empowerment that also serves as a master class in public speaking). Thankfully, the interns are well on their way to having that same impact because they had a workshop of their own taught by Operations Development Manager / thebomb.com Joe Loyer. To give everyone the confidence of Barbie Career Girl, Joe walked the interns through a training called “Presenting and Public Speaking in the Workplace.”

The interns must have been deeply enthralled with this presentation (perhaps more than a three-hour movie on physics, politics and betrayal?) for not a single photo was taken to capture the moment. Service & implementation intern Josey Hackemack, also known as _{Weird Barbie} (undoubtedly one of the best characters, don’t come for me) said, “I really enjoyed the public speaking and presentation skills learning series. I appreciate that it was interactive and helpful for our final presentations!” When the interns make their way back to the real world, they will be fully prepared.

Do You Guys Ever Think About Interning?

Other than their hackathon projects, these Barbies have been busy changing the world by developing projects of mass innovation. Here are some cool things they have been doing lately:

• “Creating training outlines for our new learning management system” – HR Barbie/ Sarah Welch
• “Making an example website – magazine using CSS Grid” – Techno-Ken/Robert Yun
• “On-boarding buddy project” – HR Ken/Jack Hughes
• “Sourcing candidates on LinkedIn” – HR Allan/Caleb Carlsson
• “Cost/Benefit Analysis for Hightower software” – Real Estate Ken/Evan Echlin
• “Broker-Dealer Operations” – Super Serious Ken/Jack James

It seems like they’re all on their way to budding careers as astronauts, veterinarians and rock stars! Barbie would be so proud.

Robert Yun most accurately summed up Week 9. He said, “It’s almost the end, felt super short. Time flies in the corporate world it seems…” When you’re having fun in your Barbie Dreamhouse/Hightower corporate office of course! But we must bid you adieu so you can grab those double feature tickets to Barbenheimer. Tune in next week to see what the interns are moving the needle on with their dynamic synergies.