Blog 23: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

    I am most proud of the overall outcome of my presentation, I feel as though all those months of mentorship and research really prepared me for that one moment where I went up and taught everyone what it was that I learned in those nine months.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

What worked for me in my senior project was really my mentorship, I learn better when I experience things hands on and that's exactly what I did there, and it furthered my knowledge on business and what it takes to run something successfully.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

What didn't work was my overall activity, I wish I had given myself more time to work on it, instead of preparing everything the day before because since my printer broke it wasn't easy coming up with a whole new activity in less than 24 hours.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

The senior project has helped me with my future endeavors by helping me understand exactly what it takes to run a retail business and get a better understanding of what my degree will actually mean. I do plan on furthering this topic throughout college and seeing if there's a chance for me to work my way up in a company to corporate. 

Blog 22: Mentorship

Content:

LIA Response to blog:

    Literal

·     See blog for hours and description 

·    Amy Mariani and Vans

    Interpretive

The most important thing I gained from this experience is just how much it really takes to run a store successfully, I learned this all through my mentor Amy, who showed me some of the ropes and duties that are required to run a store successfully.

   Applied

This has helped me answer my EQ because I was able to find out exactly what is essential for becoming a successful retail franchise owner. It really taught me everything that is needed in order for me to run  a retail business and how to make sure that I maintain the success of that business as well.

Exit Interview

Content:

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

• My EQ is: What is Essential for becoming a Successful Retail Franchise Owner? My three answers are: (1) Every retail business person should know their ideal customer's wants and needs, (2) All retail business people should know who their biggest competitor is, and (3) In order to keep the success in a retail store a business person must always have sales and promotions within their store.
• My best answer would have to be my first answer, because I feel like this is the most important part in any business. Whether it be retail or not you have to know who your target audience is and what you can do to please them.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• The process I took to arrive at that answer was me thinking about opening my own retail store. I thought about what I would sell, but most importantly who would I sell to. I started thinking about who was I going to sell to and how could I make them happen. And then as if nothing that's how I arrived at my answer to know the ideal customer's wants and needs.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

• Some problems that I faced with my senior project was that I had issues getting my mentor as well as finding specific research. I overcame that by doing mentorship at the place that I work with the actual store manager and as far as research I started digging deeper and started reading books and viewing lectures that further expanded my knowledge.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

• The two most specific source that I had for my project was my mentor Amy Mariani and the book "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. My mentor helped me a lot with my project because she really gave me a first look into the retail world and how it all works. As far as the book, it showed me how to turn a business that is already doing well to do even greater. 

Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) Include this statement: “I, Rebecca Barberi, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 36 hours of work.”
(b,d)  For my sources I used my lab projects because each individual project taught me how to use a PC but more specifically Microsoft. I learned that in the busniess world everyone uses microsoft so by me taking this class I expanded my knowledge on computers and how to set up excel sheets as well as use Access. 
INTERPRETIVE 

(See picture above.)

APPLIED
This component helped me answer my EQ because it showed me more steps on how to obtain the success in my EQ, (What is essential for becoming a Successful Retail Franchise Owner?). By taking this class it taught me the fundamentals of the business world and how everything is shown. All presntations, or payroll sheets, in the business world,  are done using Microsoft 2013. 

Friends and Family Discount

Friends and family discount was something that was given to the employees to hand out to whoever they chose to basically come in the store and use our discount. Our customers received a 30% off their total purchase which really made them happy because we had purchases of $120 go down to about $83. It was a really busy weekend for us with everyone coming in and using that coupons. This helped me with my topic though because it helped with proving that sales and promotions really do work, in bringing in more customers.

Blog 17: Answer 3

• EQ 
• What is essential for becoming a successful retail franchise owner?
• Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*
• In order to keep the success of your company you must always have sales and promotions.
• 3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)
• it keeps the customers satisfied to save a couple of dollars
• at vans we always have bogo 50% on shoes, socks and sometimes apparel
• if you do bogo free you are guaranteed to get a lot of customers
• The research source (s) to support your details and answer
• http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/customer-care/selling-more-to-existing-customers/sales-promotions-faqs
• Concluding Sentence
• I've learned this through my mentorship and helping customers, when asked what makes them keep coming back they tell me it's cause of the sales and promotions that we have.

Nerd day

Nerd day at vans! I came in to work a couple of weeks ago and as a joke we made one of our managers dress as a nerd in all vans clothes to help promote the store, it actually worked people laughed so hard they started buying the products he was wearing just to make others laugh. This was just another way to show how much fun business can be!

Blog 16: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?

• What is essential for becoming a successful retail franchise owner?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

• You must know your ideal customer's wants and needs

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

• Know who your biggest competitors are

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• Today's fashion
• Successful companies
• Top sales

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

• http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.csupomona.edu/docview/1432227456?pq-origsite=summon

6.  What other source supports your answer?

• http://link.springer.com.proxy.library.csupomona.edu/article/10.1007/s10551-011-1048-x/fulltext.html

7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

• After doing almost 6 months of mentorship I have concluded that my second answer would be knowing who your biggest competitors are.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

Content:

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• I am taking a college computer class for my independent component 2

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• I will be learning how to use Microsoft and PCs and I plan on showing evidence of this by showing my transcript

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• This will help me explore my topic more in depth by learning how to use Powerpoint, Excel, and Windows; in the business world all of the following applications listed above are used everyday and it is important to know how to use them.

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

• I have already done this.

Independent Component 1

• LITERAL
  (a)  I, Rebecca Barberi, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
  (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
• http://www.vans.com
  (c) Senior Project Hours log updated
• (d) Explain what you completed.    
• I did more mentorship for my independent component with my mentor
• INTERPRETIVE 
  For my work I did more mentorship at Vans, the significance that it has to my topic is I learned more show to answer my EQ. I learned how important customer service is as well as stock. I also learned ways to stay successful and how to manage a business. 
  
• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 
• This helped me better understand my topic because it taught me what it actually takes to run a successful business. It doesn't just require good clothes or shoes, it requires a team that enjoys the brand as much as the customer as well as creating an environment where you feel welcomed instantaneously and know that you can always come back and still feel that feeling.

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

            One of the things I'm most proud of with my presentation was that I was actually able to capture everyone's attention. I was able to engage with them and really make a connection and have them see/ notice things that they wouldn't think of such as trends among their peers.

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
                 
                  I think I deserve a P because I followed the guidelines of the contract, I also spoke from knowledge not from the powerpoint or note cards. As well as that I believe that I was actually able to really capture everyone's attention in the room and make this more of a fun and entertaining presentation instead of a boring one.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

                 What worked for me in this presentation was the fact that I really understood what it was that I was talking about and that I was able to teach other people on my topic and make them see what I see when I think of retail or trends.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

                What didn't work was the fact that I could not use my laptop to present and the flash drive where my powerpoint was saved didn't work either. Next time for future reference I will either bring an adapter for the computer or I will save the powerpoint three different ways so that one of those files will work (As it did today).
5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

                  I think my answer #2 might be: To know who your biggest competition is

Goodbye 2014!!!!

GOODBYE 2014! HELLO 2015!!! As a goodbye to 2014 I used this clip from my last day that I worked before I left for Europe. We were all already off the clock just waiting for my manager (the guy at the beginning of the video) to finish things up so we could leave. This little bit here reminds that work doesn't always need to be hard and stressful, you can still have fun with it, still be you. Because after all if you like what you do, you never really work a day in your life.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 Hours

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
             I'm doing my mentorship at Vans.

2.   Who is your contact?
              My mentor is my manager Amy Mariani


3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year?
              17 hours and 32 minutes


4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
                All that I did mostly stock work, I filled the racks with shoes as well as the apparel. I was a runner so I did shoe checks and had to run the shoes out to the desired customer. I was able to work on the floor as well, working on the register and the floor either greeting customers or helping them out look for the desired product that they were searching for.

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

Content:

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?
         

                Over this break I was able to do some more mentorship hours, as well as enroll in a computers class at my community college that will teach me how to use Excel, and Microsoft Windows 2013. Which is very essential in today's business society.
2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

              The most important thing that I learned from what I did was that time means everything in the business world. It's important because in just a matter of seconds things can change for the better, for instance my mentor found out that the store next door was closing and she made a few calls to her boss and discovered that we will be moving locations to a bigger site by the end of the year. I learned all this directly from my mentor/manager Amy.
3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

                I would probably talk to either my mentor Amy, or two of my other managers, Jerimiah and Zachary, because of all the people who work at the store those three have been the most helpful to me in answering questions for my senior topic. They have showed me the importance of time and money, and how you can better yourself with different positions within different companies.