Internship Spotlight: Katie Cote, Burgeon Outdoor

Katie Cote is a Business Administration major graduating in the spring of 2022.  This summer she interned with Burgeon Outdoor in Lincoln, New Hampshire.

What was the process for getting this internship, job, or summer experience?

I emailed Rudy Glocker, the Founder of Burgeon Outdoor, my resume, and after an interview with him, he gladly accepted me for a summer internship!

What was a typical day like?

I would get in around 9 a.m. and work until 5 or 5:30 p.m.. I would work the front desk and help any customers who came into the store. I would explain our products, which are high end outdoor apparel, and would help customers if they purchased products. Burgeon Outdoor also makes customizable logo t-shirts, so I would make those for customers if they wanted some. I would also do side tasks for Mr. Glocker, if need be, such as count inventory, restock the floor, package online orders, or order fabrics for the sewers.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

I loved getting to meet people from all over. Burgeon Outdoors headquarters are located in Lincoln, New Hampshire. It is a huge hiking and camping town, so most of our customers we had were from all over the northeast. I also loved watching the sewers work and finish products while I was there.

If you worked on a big project, please describe it below:

Mr. Glocker gave me a few projects. The first project was redecorating the store to enhance the customer experience. The other intern, Charmaine, and I created a PowerPoint presentation and pitched it to Founder, Rudy Glocker, and Operations Director, Justin Walsh. He really loved our ideas, and we were able to redecorate the store! The second project was to do some trip planning. I created some business trips for Burgeon such as climbing the highest peaks in every northeastern state of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine within 24 hours as well as venturing outside of the Northeast to hike in places like the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. I researched hotels, rental car rates, and flights as part of my project.

What did you find most challenging?

As I am a California native, going out of state and adapting to life on the east coast was challenging. Not only did I have to contend with the time difference, but I would also get up at 6:30 a.m. and get home around 6 p.m. every day, which was extremely tough, especially coming out of COVID, where I was not used to going into an office every day. On top of working at Burgeon Outdoor, I was taking online summer classes, so juggling work and school was not easy, but I pursued and had a great time during this internship, and I really learned a lot!

What did you learn?

I learned a great deal about how to run a small business, especially in the midst of the pandemic. Burgeon Outdoor opened in October of 2019 and were able to survive the pandemic and continue to be a successful company today. I also learned first-hand about the importance of supply chain management. Since all products are made in store, we would have to order fabric, threads, and zippers within a reasonable time before being able to start new projects with the items.

How did Eller prepare you for this experience?

I was able to use many of the business skills that I have learned from the business classes I have taken in Eller to prepare me for this summer intern experience at Burgeon Outdoor. I was also lucky enough to be selected to be a part of Eller ELITE from 2018-2019 where I learned how to pitch ideas to Rudy Glocker and Justin Walsh in order to improve the in-store experience.