Hello! I am Kate Montalvo and am in my final semester of Communication Science at UvA.
I recently had the pleasure of interning at Interall Group, an Amsterdam based wholesaler in the promotional market which specializes in sustainable products. Interall Group has, in recent years, become a market leader due to its innovative and environmentally friendly approach when it it comes to promotional products.
Whilst I was completing my internship at Interall Group as the Sales and Communications intern, my colleagues and I were informed of some incredibly exciting news from the two owners of the company. We were amidst the annual Interall Group Christmas dinner at the Michelin star restaurant, “The Duchess,” when our bosses, and the owners of Interall Group announced that the company had been sold to a bigger company in the same field by the name of Clipper Gifts. This news came as a surprise to all of us, but it was told to be an exciting opportunity for the company to grow and prosper whilst continuing to promote Interall’s most unique trait, its sustainable collection.
In the month that followed the Christmas dinner during which we acquired the news, the whole team had to come together to ensure that the transition to the new company was seamless and well done. This not only took a lot of hard work, but we were all put the test physically and mentally. Our first task was moving our entire warehouse. This required us to hand count all of products, put them in labelled boxes, organize them onto pallets, and load them into 5 different freight trucks. After the entire warehouse was moved, we had to also move our entire sample room of products that we ship to customers as samples. This took quite some time, as we had to make sure all the samples were in their coordinating giftboxes, as well as count every item one by one.
This period was quite strenuous but the way the entire came together was quite remarkable. As we all did our tasks for the big move, we would play music and bond as a team. After the move was finished, more tasks followed regarding the transition to the new company. Myself and my colleagues had to review all our data as a company and organize it into excel sheets. This was also quite tedious work but once again it was vital in aiding an easy transfer to the new company.
When I began my internship, I did not expect that the company I was working for would be sold while I was an intern, nor did I think I would play a valuable role in ensuring that everything was in order in the long process that followed. Although it was hard work, I thoroughly enjoyed this period of my internship as it brough my colleagues and I closer and I learned a lot in the process.