When I was told that I’d be interning at the corporate office of Shobha, I imagined a gigantic building near fancy stores, overlooking the empire state building. I expected to see people in formal suit & tie attire, big office cubicles, giant glass windows surrounding the floor, people rushing around with phones ringing off the lines; just like you would normally see on T.V. In all honesty, I assumed my internship was going to mirror the assistant in the movie Devil Wears Prada. I thought I’d be sent to all parts of NYC delivering food & coffee, & running personal errands. Shobha is a self-made, fast growing, high quality waxing, sugaring & threading business. The only thing running across my mind was “this must be the real deal.”
Riding the elevator on the first day, I anxiously awaited my destined floor. When I stepped off the elevator onto the 8th floor, the thoughts in my head silenced. I was greeted with the comforting smiles of the staff. Everyone was very polite & quietly working on their daily projects. I walked into a glass conference room, & met my two fellow co-workers who happen to be interns as well. Shobha’s human resource generalist, Alethia Graham, introduced us to the staff & explained the company’s policies. Her friendly & bubbly attitude made me feel more comfortable.
We were then introduced to our supervisor, Alexis Bortone. She explained that each week would be different from the last. We’d cover all aspects of the Shobha business, & work on different projects from inventory to finance & accounting (real deal stuff.) At that moment the image me running personal errands around NYC vanished.
Hearing the fun music & seeing everyone in casual attire gave the room a calm & relaxed atmosphere. Working in an open environment instead of cubicles or closed offices is beneficial because this type of layout allows the team to form a relationship where everyone is there for one another in any type of situation. Experiencing the casual atmosphere at Shobha made me realize that working here wouldn’t be as crazy as I thought it would be. Everyone works hard on their specific projects, all with a calm flow.
After getting acquainted, we [the other interns & I] were quickly instructed on what our tasks would be for that day. The first week we jumped right into marketing & discussed ideas that would help bring prospective clients to Shobha salons, & presented them to Shobha Tummala herself! Yup, the founder of this extraordinary hair removal salon.
If you were to look at me weeks ago, you’d see a girl who was uncomfortable presenting in front of people, & preferred working alone. Now I have to thoroughly share my thoughts, & communicate with my co-workers. If I ever get stuck, my co-workers are always there to help me—an added benefit!
Working at Shobha has shown me that when I leave my comfort zone, I can grow as a person. This experience has helped me to understand that I must work hard, & attend to detail. Shobha stresses to show individuals that working is not about what you can’t do, but what you can achieve if you’re only willing to learn. I’d like to thank Shobha for this new experience in my life, & shout out to Kristina Pugh [a Shobha alumn & my human rights teacher] from build on for telling me about this internship.
Interested in interning at Shobha? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at jobs@myshobha.com!