Team Mawan spent today in a conference room on the upper floor of HQ Raleigh. Our usual work space was being used for a meeting between professions but we were able to carry out our work else where. Much of the work we did today was conducted within a non disclosure agreement (NDA), so we can’t discuss too much of the actual work we conducted. However, I will focus on the actual work environment and opportunities we got to utilize. We were able to connect apple devices to the TV screen in the conference room and presented data and research findings to each other. We called various local stores about their products and their markets. We also researched information and competition online. In the conference room we operated out of today, there was a large glass “white” board for sharing ideas to each other. We analyzed individual findings in a group setting by writing our information on the white board. At the end of the day, we utilized these devices again in our presentation to Mr. Mark Self. We summarized our market research and informed him about all of the calls made to various stores. Mr. Self set us up with a tour on Monday of Vector Textiles laboratory, which we are excited to get to investigate. Again, he was impressed with the work we conducted today!
We had a conference room booked. It was party time. Almost immediately, we figured out how to connect to the Apple TV. After, we made many calls to maternity stores and garden shops and researched further on other uses of Vector Textiles in the form of bed netting and plants. Due to a non-disclosure agreement, we are not able to share the specifics of the weave of Vector Textiles. Additionally to clothing, Vector Textiles also sells plant shields and bed netting.
Conference room
We were tasked with calling local maternity and garden shops and ask about bug repellent clothing and plant armor respectively. The maternity stores did not seem interested in holding a conversation, especially since none of their customers ask for bug repellent clothing. The garden shops were more helpful, with one store even giving a substantial list of organic plant netting as well as chemically treated plant netting.
The survey for our market research got sent out after the draft was approved, and immediately, responses started flooding in. It was crazy how fast everyone responded. Cary Academy’s network contains at least 850 students and faculty, making our survey statistically relevant. Currently, we have gotten over 200 responses and will be very helpful for a better understanding of the consumer market.
In order to save money due to the expensive parking in downtown Raleigh, we went to Target and picked up Lunchables and chips, a nutritious lunch.
steal!yum
Today wasn’t really too eventful, although Mr. Self debriefed with us at 4 pm. He talked to us for a while about the path Vector Textiles needs to take in order to become successful. Again, due to the NDA, we cannot discuss the details of Vector Textiles business deals. To summarize our discussion with Mr. Self, he talked about the basics of marketing and how companies who sell intellectual property make money. He talked about some of his concerns for Vector Textiles as well. Overall, it was a slow but informative day.
Team Mawan
Tomorrow we are going on another off-site day to interview customers to further our work on Wednesday.
Today we met up at the homebase, and made a plan. An ambitious plan nonetheless, but still a plan. Some might even say pioneering, but we knew the challenged ahead. We needed to collect data from stores in the area. Then, we would have to compile our data into a Microsoft Office Power Point Presentation. It was go time.
Of the four CA students experiencing this work, we would split into two teams. In our teams we would go out and ask various retailers about their stock of certain types of clothing in order to get a better understanding of the market we are trying to invade. My team, composed of myself and Nevett Scott Matton, managed to hit 5 retailers and left each one with a legal-pad page full of notes. In our downtime walking between stores, we thought it would be advantageous to interview potential consumers on the street. The Street People were, although hesitant at first, happy to answer the couple of questions we had. This was instrumental, nay…, crucial to defining who our target audience was.
After both teams compiled our data, which spanned across numerous pages, we created a Microsoft Office Power Point Presentation to display our findings visually. It was about 1pm when we created our Microsoft Office Power Point Presentation, and for the next 3 hours we vigorously analyzed our data. After much work, it was approaching 4pm and we still had information that needed displaying. As the big hand struck the humble 4 and the little hand grazed over the grandiose 12, we had completed our compiling.
The time to present our information was rapidly approaching; we only had seconds to spare. As Marshall Mathers once poetically stated, “His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.” This embodied the atmosphere of the room, yet all four of us knew it was time. Time for what you may ask? Time for greatness. Check in tomorrow for how our presentation went.
Today I would like to dedicate this blog to a story about a helpful store clerk. At our work experience program today we split into two groups of two to gather field data to do market analysis. When Will King and I were at our first location, REI, we were a little nervous to start. However, one of the sales associates was very helpful and gave us plenty of insight into the clothes we were asking about. She told us things like how many washes you could get without wearing out the chemicals. This helped us greatly in our research and she gave us more insight into how many people were interested in this type of clothing. She said about 5 people per day came in and asked about this. I sadly do not know her name but Will and I are very grateful to her as she helped us greatly and we would not have gotten our report for the day done without her.
Team Mawan began their day at 9 a.m. at HQ Raleigh. The team was super excited for today because today was an “off-site” day in order to conduct research in the markets for potential product competition. Two groups were made, Amy and Adam, and Will and Scott. We split up a total of 10 different stores between the two groups. At each store there were different products and different associates. It was a very immersive experience because we were left to our own devices to conduct business questions and surveys in the real world. As we searched various clothing venders, like REI, North Face, and Bass Pro Shop, we were able to establish an idea for the market size of Vector Textiles and its competitors. Only in day 2, Team Mawan has achieved great success and learned an abundance about business strategy and surveying. To end our day we had a summary presentation to Mr. Self about our findings. He was very impressed with our hard work and abilities in real business scenarios. We left the office a little after 5 p.m. after a full days work.
10 minutes early on my first day at Vector Textiles and I am introduced to our employer, Mark Self, and his corgi, and then immediately ushered into the work space. We have a table in a communal area with other companies around us, and then we start our tour. We’re located in HQ Raleigh, a sort of hub for startups in the Raleigh area. The lobby of the building has a plethora of lounge chairs to inspire discussion and networking. In addition to this, there is a coffee bar that offers everyone free coffee and fruit throughout the work day. On the second floor, there are many offices that people can rent to springshot their companies to success.
We start out the day with a quick team meeting, and then begin our work. We utilize team software “Slack” to organize our research to eventually present a final presentation on how to effectively distribute Vector Textiles’ product. After three hours of work, the team heads to Cook Out to fill up on some tasty treats. Upon our return, we dive right back into researching and finding potential companies to license Vector Textiles’ product to. Looking forward to the next 7 days of Work Experience.
Today we visited stores for our field research. We split up into 2 teams and ventured off to various outdoor activities stores in Cary, Raleigh, and Apex. Will & Scott and Adam & I each went to different stores and scouted out the possible competition and interviewed customers.
1st store!Chemical free Rynoskin bug resistant pants (made by the same professor)
We talked to sales associates and some customers to get a better profile of the popularity of bug-resistant clothing and the average consumer profile. All of the people we talked to were very friendly and seemed interested in an all-organic product. Will and Scott interviewed an avid outdoorsman who seemed eager for a non-chemical product, since the chemical used to treat clothes, permethrin, is a toxin to the human body and sometimes a skin irritant. We also learned that if someone wanted to treat their own clothing by spraying permethrin, it would only last 6 washes, not to mention the toxic fumes that could damage the body.
ChemicalAll-natural
All the stores carried bug spray, and with our research yesterday, we were able to better interpret the data we collected at stores. I realized that going to the store and talking in real life was much more effective than sending out online surveys, even though the technology is considered more effective. For example, we did not even realize there were any bug resistant clothing at Bass Pro Shops until we stepped into the store.
The main takeaway from our field research was the fact that there were no organic products that are effective in the bug resistant clothing market. Even though there were some organic sprays, they had to be reapplied more often. Chemically treated clothing only lasted 70 washes, hence, there was no permanent solution for bug resistant clothing.
Team Mawan lunch break!
Working with a team is much more efficient as well, and being able to split up and cover twice as many stores were the most effective method in order to finish up our work.
Mr. Self checked in with us at the end of the day and we made a brief presentation to explain or data and provide a quick analysis of our conclusions. He was very impressed with the work we were able to get done in one day. Cary Academy prepared us well for giving effective presentations and expressing our thoughts.
Overall, it was a tiring but rewarding day. Mr. Self wants us to further study bug resistant netting for beds and plants. I am glad we were able to fulfill his expectations and more. Excited for Day 3!
As I arrived at the parking deck at 8:39 am, I thought to myself, “Man, I hate downtown Raleigh”. The previous night, I texted one of my colleagues, Adam Cervenka, and asked him to walk into HQ Raleigh with me. I was nervous as we walked through the doors but soon realized that it was pointless. HQ Raleigh was a communal workspace with a chill vibe, the perfect recipe for discovery, innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
An awesome workspace!
There were many amazing amenities in HQ Raleigh, including free coffee and water, pretzels, fruit (peaches and bananas), a latte machine, and even a beer tap.
Note: We did not utilize the tap since underage drinking is against the lawNo more peaches:(
It was a cool main lobby with many rooms for various companies to have a home-base. I was blown away by the aesthetically pleasing design and coffee-shop, professional feel.
Open floor plan!Various company roomsMulti-use kitchenCommunity calendar!
Scott Matton, another colleague, revealed later that there was free parking right around the corner, which made the day even better. Downtown Raleigh wasn’t so bad and the internship wasn’t as daunting as I thought.
Our workspace was a generous gift from a company called R!OT, a company geared towards helping start-ups by providing them with 12 weeks of free space and resources with no equity. It was the perfect space to encourage collaboration.
Interns!
Our boss and potential CEO of Vector Textiles, Mark Self, gave us the task of proving why Vector Textiles is important and who they will provide for as an end goal. He arrived at HQ Raleigh with his dog and gave us a brief overview of his plan for us. We kicked off Day 1 by making a game plan and researching. Mr. Self introduced us to a widely known instant messaging platform called Slack, and throughout the day we made sure to run various things by Mr. Self before putting it into action.
Our first task was to research what was already in the market. As we soon figured out, there was nothing in the market of insect repellent clothing that was all-natural and organic, like the special weave that Vector Textiles had created. Almost all fitted insect resistant clothing underwent chemical treatment with permethrin, an FDA-approved chemical. Upon further research, we found that although seemingly harmless, permethrin was toxic to cats, fish, and can negatively affect pregnancy. When ingested by humans, the chemical acts as a neurotoxin and a number of other harms. Additionally, it does not evaporate easily, posing harm to the environment, as permethrin is harmful to fish.
We then decided to create surveys to gather statistically relevant data to get a better feel of the target consumer and consumer market availability. We ran it by Mr. Self, and with a few tweaks, we sent it to Dr. Mc to hopefully send out to the CA community, a network with a plethora of people. With that, it was time for a lunch break.
Our self-declared team, Team Mawan (Mark, Amy, Will, Adam, Nevett), ventured to Cookout for a team lunch. We followed accordingly to the schedule we had previously drawn up, listing “lunch” from 12:00 – 1:00 pm.
Cookout:) ft. chauffeur*Mawan
We headed back to HQ Raleigh to get back to work. After filling Mr. Self in with loads of information we had collected, including stores to visit, the harms of permethrin, and general consumer profiles, he instructed us to construct a compelling powerpoint that contained an organized version of our research. We worked all the way up until 4:30 pm, the end of our workday.
Hard at work!
Originally, Mr. Self was going to drop by the office at 4:00 pm, but since we had kept up plenty of good communication and clearness in the Slack group chat, he deemed it unnecessary. Tomorrow we are planning on going off-site to sniff out the competition from outdoor activity stores. It was a very positive experience, and there was plenty of organization and self-motivation, with Adam even creating a well thought out lunch plan for the remaining days.
I learned that even without shadowing a boss, we were capable of self-directing the project, a level of maturity and compassion needed to succeed in any real-life job. Specifically, working with Vector Textiles is a unique experience, since it is a start-up company. Team Mawan gets to experience first-hand the extensive research and data analysis needed to successfully launch a product. I hope that I will continue to learn the gist of marketing and how to effectively communicate and present, just like in a real job. I am looking forward to finishing the presentation and presenting our findings, and am very excited for Day 2!
Today I arrived at HQ Raleigh for my first day of work experience. I showed up 20 minutes early because I did not know if I would be able to find parking. This led to me standing around while I was waiting for my group to arrive. When Mr. Self and his dog arrived, we got to our workstation in a company called Riot’s space. As our team (Mawan) got to work, we first got set up on the workspaces internet. After we were all set up, we were given a complete tour of HQ Raleigh so we would get to know the space. After the tour, we got to work. We got set up by creating a Slack for us to communicate, which is basically a workflow program so we can let each other know what we are doing. After this, we devised a plan for the week by setting goals and creating a timeline for what we need to do. After our plan was afoot, we broke off to do independent research which will continue throughout the week. I also worked on getting a survey created so that we will have an organized place to keep all of our data from market research. After this, we went to lunch at a nearby CookOut and came quickly back to work. After lunch,I researched the toxic effects that permethrin, an insect repellant, has on humans and why it may be bad for us. This took a substantial amount of time because there has not been much research done on this chemical. Through this, I got to learn a lot about the way insect repellant clothes are made and how they work.
Upon our arrival at HQ Raleigh, Mr. Self and his pet dog welcomed us to our working space inside R!OT, the company that graciously provided us with a home base to conduct our work experience. HQ Raleigh provides an extraordinary Co-working space and we are very lucky to have the opportunity to spend time here for the next eight days.
We began our work by planning our first week out. We made a timeline and set ideas on the table for what we were going to accomplish today. In the morning we researched the potential available markets and similar products on our computers. We also drafted survey questions to send to potential customers and for sales attendants at stores. We decided tomorrow was going to be an “off-site” day where we will travel to various retail stores in the area to survey customers and search the stores for other similar products. During our midday lunch break we made a quick run to Cookout. In the afternoon we focused our research onto Permethrin, a semi-dangerous chemical that is in standard use as the main insect repellent in clothing. Vector Textiles would be a safer, chemical-free, option for insect repellent clothing.
When we came into the office this morning the peaches had been restocked!
Will and I at our first location, REI, before the helpful sales associate gave us information.
Looking at the product that the sales associate showed us at REI.
Outside our last field research location, Great Outdoor Provision Company.
The building where my work experience is located, HQ Raleigh.
Our team working diligently on market research.
The main lobby of HQ Raleigh.
A calendar showing events we were shown on our tour of HQ Raleigh.
Team Mawan getting lunch at Cook Out
