Halsbrook, Inc.
Halsbrook is a online retail store that launched in September of 2012. Founded by Halsey Schroeder, the company was inspired by her mother’s lack of non-trendy and timeless clothing pieces growing up. The office is located in the Flatiron District of NY; However, I took on a remote position within the company, working from my home in Augusta, GA. I am one of two Buying Interns for the company, working directly with the Planning and Buying team.
Buying Intern: A Day in the Life
A typical day as a Buying Intern at Halsbrook includes many of the following tasks:
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Managing/Removing sold out products from the website
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Merchandising different product pages online to increase customer interaction
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Inputting Purchase Orders into the system for a specific buying season
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Creating/Updating Performance Reports for different brands/vendors before meetings
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Attending Buying Team meetings and taking notesSmaller daily projects within the system or google teams software
Examples of My Work:
Apparel Details "Cheat Sheet"
The Apparel Details "Cheat Sheet" outlines things like necklines, dress silhouettes, and pant silhouettes for the customer care team to use when helping employees pick out pieces. Many of Halsbrook's customers are older women; therefore, they prefer a specific style and stick to it in all their items.
End Use by Brand
The End Use by Brands infographic I created is also something to help the customer care team. When they receive calls from a customer who needs an outfit for a specific event, like a cocktail event or trip, they have these brands to refer them to.
Resort '25 Trend Assortment Overview
The R25 Trend Overview Presentation I completed with another merchandising interns outlines the trends and themes found throughout the season's buys. Read more by downloading the PDF!
Best Experience
One of the best things about my Internship experience with Halsbrook was being able to work for a big retail company, but being part of a team that felt like family. Halsbrook has more brands on their site then they have in house employees. Therefore, when everyone would attend the monthly company-wide online meeting, there was a lot of laughter, conversation, and intentionality. I loved getting to work with a small company and being able to interact with the owner and CEO on a day-to-day basis.
Difficult Experience
One of the more difficult things about my experience interning with Halsbrook was being remotely located. While I knew it would bring it's troubles, it was very difficult to feel like I had a place within the Buying Team when I was never going to have meetings face-to-face. I operated solely on my computer, doing every task using Google Teams or their custom online software. This challenge throughout my internship ensured that I communicated better and was more intentional about getting to know my fellow employees and supervisors from screen to screen.
My Biggest Lesson Learned:
One of the greatest lessons I have learned from my supervisor in my internship was the love and understanding I was shown in a corporate environment when an unexpected circumstance came up.
At the end of June, a family member of mine had an unexpected surgery when the doctors
found 3 broken places at the bottom of her spine. Because I am not located in the same town as her, my mom and I traveled to stay with her and then wait in the hospital the next day while she was in surgery.
I told my supervisor about the incident and that I would do my best to be online the whole time at the hospital but knew I wouldn’t be able to do much that day. She was extremely understanding and even gave me half the day off to focus on family. I learned a very important lesson from her that productivity is never more important than the stresses an employee might be going through. While it is important to always do your best in any job or career, it is just as important that the same job or career does their best to take care of its employees mental and physical well-being. I am thankful to have interned at a company like Halsbrook, Inc. that does just that.
"Anna's tenure as the buying intern at Halsbrook was marked by her personable nature and enthusiasm for taking on new projects. She demonstrated analytical skills and creativity in her development of a Resort Trend Overview. Her research was insightful and presented in a manner that was both engaging and easy to understand. Her attention to detail was present in her handling of Purchase Orders and pulling Selling Reports. Anna was a pleasure to work with and her skills and enthusiasm are sure to serve her well in her future endeavors."