By, Jackie Gilles
During my short time here tea slingin’ as a marketing intern, I’ve learned some important lessons that I feel might be helpful to incoming interns in order to make their lives a little easier at first:
- Make friends with Jermaine. He is the keeper of the candy and often has some hidden away somewhere in his desk. He also knows where everything in the office can be found, EVERYTHING, which is a very helpful tip for a new, clueless intern who doesn’t want to look dumb.
- If you don’t like dogs, get over it. Don’t worry though, it won’t be hard; even the most hard-hearted dog hater can’t resist Bayer’s sweet lovin’. After hanging around with him so much I’m pretty set on getting a Golden Retriever one day.
- Yes, while you might be tempted to drink 4 bottles of Half n Half within a one hour period just because it’s free, don’t do it. You will sugar crash and burn.
- Work at as many events as possible on the weekends. I’ve never been paid to have so much fun before! Events like ACL weekend were really great, but meeting SLT fans was pretty dang fun, too—our fans are the best and love Sweet Leaf like you wouldn’t believe!
- If you’re lucky enough to take your break with April, you’re lucky enough. She’s a fountain of knowledge about random new wave 80’s bands, social media secrets, and tells the craziest stories that will most often blow your mind.
- Driving the Sprinter van is indeed as fun as you would think it is.
- Happy and Danny are your bosses—know that they have your back, especially if you’re wanting to find some Tito’s to make a SLT cocktail.
- The biggest compliment you could possibly receive is Gigi knowing your name instead of being called “hey, intern!”
- And my last little pearl of wisdom: work hard and do your best, but take the time to get to know people around the office. You will have met some fun, talented people, and you definitely won’t forget the semester you spent interning at Sweet Leaf Tea!
In all seriousness, I have loved having the opportunity to work for such an innovative, modern company that definitely knows how to work hard but keep life fun (please recall my post about beer pong in the office my first week). I’ll be sad to leave but I look forward to still being a brand ambassador for SLT as I attempt to find a job after I graduate this weekend. Speaking of which…anybody happen to be looking to hire a French-speaking Advertising student?
And the winner is….
By Alexandra on Dec 3 Filed In ACL, Epiphone Guitar, Events, Live Music, Sweet Contests, Uncategorized 5 Comments
Blog poster seanningham is the winner of the Best Live Music Experience Blog Contest. Congrats!
This autographed Buzzfest '09 guitar rocks!
After reading about his Bjork experience at ACL in ’07, it sounds like we all missed quite a show. I can imagine her intense vocals brought a knot to his throat. And I agree that Bjork is much more fierce and much more cute than Hannah Montana. Cheers to inspirational female artists and unforgettable live music experiences.
Thanks to everyone who shared their stories. We love good music and we’re glad you do too.
Best Live Music Experience: Bjork
By Guest on Nov 20 Filed In ACL, Austin, Texas, Live Music 4 Comments
You could feel tangible fervor in the crowd before the show started. A young girl standing in front of my wife was asking everyone around her, “Do you like Bee-york?” to which we replied, “Heck yeah, we do!” It was touching to see that the youth has better options for inspirational female musicians than Hannah freakin’ Montana.
The sun went down and Bjork took the stage, barefoot and painted and fierce (and cute), and began to knock out tracks from her entire catalog, one right after the other, ending each song with a demure curtsy and a girlish “Thhhhank you” in her adorable Icelandic accent. This delicate display was nicely juxtaposed next to her amazing and intense vocals on songs like Declare Independence, which had all of the Festival stomping around and waving their freak flags higher, higher.
Accompanying her delicious and complex cacophony that night was a ReacTable, a sort of digital synthesizer turntable thingy that produces amazing sound and a spectacular visual. The swirling lights and noise from this machine displayed on the giant screens did nothing to hamper the show’s affect, believe you me.
We danced and cheered and stood in awe at the perfection of Bjork’s show set against the backdrop of the stunning Austin skyline. I held my wife tightly during Joga, a song that always brings a knot to my throat. It was by far my best concert experience to date.
What about you? Post a blog entry and send it to sltfan@sweetleaftea.com for your chance to win an autographed Sweet Leaf Tea Gibson Epiphone guitar.
by seanningham
Will Work for Tea
By Guest on Nov 19 Filed In Austin, Texas, Intern Add a Comment
The past couple of months have been the cherry on top of my college experience. I decided to get an internship because I wanted to gain valuable insight into the real world of marketing; the local aspect of Sweet Leaf naturally drew me to this internship. A fellow classmate of mine, Jeff Dobecka, completed the internship and shared his experience with me – it sounded too good to be true!
To my surprise, it actually exceeded my expectations! This internship has been chock-full of fun and exciting experiences, such as the Austin City Limits music festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest, blitzing (handing out cases upon cases of Sweet Leaf) all over town, demoing at store grand openings. We have also attended the Austin Triathlon, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and many University of Texas tailgating parties. It’s allowed me to meet and hang out with all the local Austin weirdos, which makes me love my “weird” city even more!
In the office we’ve helped create multiple media contact lists; we’ve designed the upcoming college brand ambassador program; we’ve created numerous contests giving away guitars, cases of tea, and many other prizes.
As the “sweetest internship” is swiftly coming to an end, it’s all becoming bittersweet. I’ve gained knowledge on how a small business has become successful through hard work, innovation, creativity, and having a good time. Every person that works in this office genuinely loves what he/she does and is completely dedicated to the brand. They each show up at the events that Sweet Leaf sponsors, and the community has the perception that the office is full of cool people – a perception which has proven to be true.
I am going to miss this place more than I can express, and I am so thankful that I was able to meet all of these great people (and dogs). I’m also addicted to Sweet Leaf Tea for life, but who can blame me? Yum.
ACL Survival Guide — Additions and Afterthoughts
By Happy on Oct 13 Filed In ACL, Activities, Austin, Texas, Events, Live Music 1 Comment
Now that we’ve all had some time time recuperate from the madness (most of us, anyway — I’m still feeling it a bit), I have some afterthoughts to share. I may be a so-called Austin City Limits expert, but after experiencing this year’s fest, I felt it necessary to include an addendum to my ACL Survival Guide. In no particular order:
- Rain boots and rain coats. Make sure you have these, just in case of inclement weather. If you don’t already have them by the time the big event rolls around and you end up needing them, good luck finding them. I’m pretty sure the entire Austin metropolitan area was completely sold out of these coveted accessories. Also, make sure your rain coat actually works. Mine didn’t.
- Get dirty. If muddy conditions are present, you’re inevitably going to get a little dirty. Don’t be afraid. Embrace it. Even if Dillo Dirt is made of treated sewage sludge (that’s right, it’s your poop).
- Get crafty. Bring out the Macgyver in you if you find yourself in a bind. My friends, Sarah Wolf and Hawa Amani, made clever use of trash bags and silver duct tape to solve their failing poncho debacle. Nice work, ladies.
Stylish Trash Bag Ponchos
We also fashioned a make-shift windshield on our golf cart made of saran wrap. Worked pretty well, actually.
Clown Car 2000 S-Series, with optional saran wrap windshield upgrade.
- Pace yourself for the after parties. Even after a long day at the park, make sure you have enough energy to make it out to the after-parties.
- Patience. Whether you’re just a festival goer or working behind-the-scenes, you’ve gotta bring some patience with you. Maybe even a little perseverance. I’m astounded by the number of folks that still came out and made the best of it. Well done, people.
- Out-of-towners. If you have friends staying with you from out of town, write your name and number on their forehead below the words “Please call if found:“. You’ll be glad you did. I, for one, spent Friday night/morning on a wild-goose hunt looking for my belligerent friend downtown after the fest. Not fun.
I think that just about covers it. Until next time…
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