What specific experiences (honors or otherwise) in the past year have had the most impact on your personal, academic, or professional goals and life trajectory? Which future experiences will further encourage this growth? Please articulate specific academic and/or professional goals for the next year.
During the summer and fall semesters of 2022, I completed a co-op that I am confident will have a large impact on my future career. I was reached out to by JBM Packaging in Cincinnati to be a co-op as a Marketing Sustainability Associate. I was initially very hesitant to accept this position because my students in my major did not routinely complete co-ops and I was very unfamiliar with the process behind it. However, looking back, I have never been more grateful for an experience in my life.
I was the first intern at JBM Packaging to have work focused on sustainability, which led me to have lots of freedom in deciding what I focused on. This position was challenging and rewarding, and I learned so much about how businesses and the environment interact and how an ethical company should be run. To begin, I decided to focus on the company’s goal of becoming a B-Corporation, which is a rigorous third-party certification that ensures prioritizing social and environmental wellness along with profit. I learned how to navigate the B-Corporation database and analyze JBM’s scores in five different categories: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. JBM was already succeeding in the Workers and Governance categories, with their empowering Fair Chance Program that provides meaningful work and life training to ex-incarcerated people. I noticed though, that they were not consistently monitoring their environmental impact and finding ways to reduce it.
I worked in the Sales, Marketing, and Innovation department with about ten other employees and interns, and I could tell they all truly cared about the environment and wanted to become more sustainable. Despite this, there were so many other marketing and innovation projects at the time, such as developing more creative projects and upgrading their marketing technology. I quickly realized that if they did not make environmental analysis and conservation efforts a top priority, they would not reach the minimum score to become a B Corporation.
This is where I struggled the most and grew in my professional goals. I remember trying to hold more ‘Eco-Strategy’ meetings each week to discuss goals for improvement and presented environmental consulting companies in Cincinnati. My advisors appreciated the work I was doing but were not taking the steps to actually make any improvement, even though I had completed all of the background research and developed a five-year plan for the company. I grew frustrated and understood that in order to make any substantial changes happen, I had to begin with the leaders of JBM to create a company-wide culture shift. After emailing my main advisor every day and urging for approval during meetings, I was finally allowed to meet solely with the CEO of the company.
We discussed the importance of intentional leadership and the commitment it takes for a company to become sustainable, along with specific steps that JBM must make. I learned that I had to speak up loudly and confidently for my voice to be heard and overcome my imposter’s syndrome when leading meetings and analyzing data. The B Corporation certification process takes months, so I did not see the immediate effects of my work while at the company. In March of 2023, JBM Packaging became a certified B Corporation with an extremely high score for a manufacturing company.
I will take everything I did at JBM Packaging as a learning experience to be used in the future. Even though I discovered I don’t want to work in marketing, I learned professional skills that I will carry with me to my next internship or job. I hope to be more involved in sustainable development in the future, which will require lots of grit and determination. These are two skills I learned at JBM, along with leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills. After I graduate, I want to go to graduate school and research developing countries. This will require lots of work and no immediate payoff, which JBM has prepared me for. I learned about the importance of striving for success even if it means being uncomfortable, exhausted, and frustrated.
I was the first intern at JBM Packaging to have work focused on sustainability, which led me to have lots of freedom in deciding what I focused on. This position was challenging and rewarding, and I learned so much about how businesses and the environment interact and how an ethical company should be run. To begin, I decided to focus on the company’s goal of becoming a B-Corporation, which is a rigorous third-party certification that ensures prioritizing social and environmental wellness along with profit. I learned how to navigate the B-Corporation database and analyze JBM’s scores in five different categories: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. JBM was already succeeding in the Workers and Governance categories, with their empowering Fair Chance Program that provides meaningful work and life training to ex-incarcerated people. I noticed though, that they were not consistently monitoring their environmental impact and finding ways to reduce it.
I worked in the Sales, Marketing, and Innovation department with about ten other employees and interns, and I could tell they all truly cared about the environment and wanted to become more sustainable. Despite this, there were so many other marketing and innovation projects at the time, such as developing more creative projects and upgrading their marketing technology. I quickly realized that if they did not make environmental analysis and conservation efforts a top priority, they would not reach the minimum score to become a B Corporation.
This is where I struggled the most and grew in my professional goals. I remember trying to hold more ‘Eco-Strategy’ meetings each week to discuss goals for improvement and presented environmental consulting companies in Cincinnati. My advisors appreciated the work I was doing but were not taking the steps to actually make any improvement, even though I had completed all of the background research and developed a five-year plan for the company. I grew frustrated and understood that in order to make any substantial changes happen, I had to begin with the leaders of JBM to create a company-wide culture shift. After emailing my main advisor every day and urging for approval during meetings, I was finally allowed to meet solely with the CEO of the company.
We discussed the importance of intentional leadership and the commitment it takes for a company to become sustainable, along with specific steps that JBM must make. I learned that I had to speak up loudly and confidently for my voice to be heard and overcome my imposter’s syndrome when leading meetings and analyzing data. The B Corporation certification process takes months, so I did not see the immediate effects of my work while at the company. In March of 2023, JBM Packaging became a certified B Corporation with an extremely high score for a manufacturing company.
I will take everything I did at JBM Packaging as a learning experience to be used in the future. Even though I discovered I don’t want to work in marketing, I learned professional skills that I will carry with me to my next internship or job. I hope to be more involved in sustainable development in the future, which will require lots of grit and determination. These are two skills I learned at JBM, along with leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills. After I graduate, I want to go to graduate school and research developing countries. This will require lots of work and no immediate payoff, which JBM has prepared me for. I learned about the importance of striving for success even if it means being uncomfortable, exhausted, and frustrated.
