Intern Update: Mackenzie Richards

Mackenzie Richards

Analytics & Technology and Applied Mathematic, College of Business, Influence, and Information Analysis

Spanish, College of Arts and Sciences

Travois - Communications Team Analyst

My internship at Travois is an experience I will cherish forever. This company specializes in housing and economic developments for Native communities. It is fulfilling to be a part of a company that impacts so many lives in such a positive way.

One of the most valuable experiences I had during this internship was taking part in the strategic planning process. Travois hired a wonderful woman to come in and help the company figure out how best to manage business. She helps Travois to understand our overall company goals. Then she goes to each team to talk about how all department goals should align with the overall company goals. Lastly, she has every individual create their own goals that should support both department goals and company goals. I loved taking part in discussion about how to help the company grow.

In the future, I would love to see myself working for Travois, however I think that I would be a better fit in a different department. I love working with numbers and data, so working on the communications team was not the best fit for me. I was able to utilize some of my analytical skills with Google Analytics, and my coding skills with HTML. However, as the internship progressed, the additional tasks I was given steered away from my skill set and education I am pursuing. The company is only 35 employees and is a very unique company that serves a highly individualized population.

Coming into this internship I was very nervous. I had never worked a nine to five job before, or in a role other than working with children. I did not know what to expect with regards to what I would be doing. However, I had high expectations for myself. One big goal was that I wanted to do the best job I could do with every project I was given. I think I did achieve that goal. Looking back at this summer, I have learned a lot: about the company, about the business world, about different software, about business development. Based on my experience I know that I want to work with numbers. I want to go back to my data analytics and math side. I loved and appreciate the opportunity and experience Travois gave me. I learned a lot more about myself and what I want to do for my career.