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From our Intern, Kristen: What Will I Take Away?

January 6, 2016

From Kristen:

My heart breaks as my internship at Toast comes to an end. As I look back on this semester, I realize how much I have learned! Toast not only taught me about event planning, but also inspired me to continue pursuing this dream and to change my career path completely. Kim and Tamara encouraged me and showed me the joy and hard work that go into this profession.

One of my favorite things that I will be taking with me is the fact that you have to love what you’re doing.  Especially in this profession, you HAVE to love it.  If you don’t like working with people, being creative, or working hard, then this is clearly the wrong thing for you.  Kim smiles every day.  She laughs, she connects with people, and she always gives everything 100%.  Those are some of the key things that help her events be so successful.  She gets to know her clients, she personally connects with them, and she works so hard to make their special day everything they want and more.  She can mentally picture what the event will look like and she is willing to take those steps along the way to make it happen.  I am so beyond impressed and have a whole new outlook on what this business looks like.

I have loved this internship so much that I have actually decided to stop pursuing a teaching career and graduate a year early.  This next year, I will stay here in Santa Barbara to work and hopefully do some event work on the side.  I would love to be able to continue learning about this profession and the many aspects that go into it.  I really loved the ability to work with weddings, but I would also love to explore other events as well.

Through this whole experience, I had the most fun with all of the behind the scenes work that went into the events.  The arts and crafts and creative sides are so important!  I have always loved art projects and things that require a bit more than just printing out a paper and calling it good.  This internship gave me some great opportunities to explore more of that!  I was able to put welcome baskets together, cut ribbon for napkin details, and cover pears in glitter to act as escort cards.  All of these things helped me to branch out in my artistic world and explore a more hands-on creativity.  I always loved getting to see how it was incorporated into an event!

I also have found a new love for flowers!  First off, I learned that I really don’t know much of anything about flowers.  They require so much care and take so much work!  They have to constantly be in water, cannot be in a hot atmosphere, and you have to be careful with their petals because they can bruise! I mean, who knew, right?? I even got the opportunity to put together my first bouquet and some arrangements to accent the centerpieces.  The key is to just be creative!

Through all of this, I have found new passions and a place that I fit in.  I like the busyness and when the to-do list is packed.  I enjoy running from place to place and having a little pressure to make an event perfect.  I am really excited to see where else I can go in this industry and I really hope that I will be able to continue helping with events.  What could possibly be better than helping plan someone’s dream wedding or dream party?!

Cheers to a future with lots of unknowns, but even more possibilities!

Kristen

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