Hello Again!
Normally, I tend to write my blog on Sunday afternoon, so I can reflect on everything that happened in the week prior. However, today that is not the case. I am writing this blog on Monday due to my absolutely crazy weekend. But before we can get to the weekend, let’s talk about what I’ve been up to at FormlyAI.
This past week, I mainly did 2 things. I created projections and did research. I was able to step out of the marketing zone for a little bit this week and create some financial projections that would help visualize the amount of customers needed in order to hit certain revenue goals. This was very enjoyable to me, as I got to play around with excel for a bit and try some different things out. After I finished that up, I stepped back into the marketing research sphere and did a Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) analysis. This task was especially difficult because the market that Formly is in is so new, that there really aren’t hard numbers that exist. I hit many roadblocks during this project, which frustrated me. I made it through though and was able to create some rough estimations based on various research studies that were conducted.
It was a short week at work though, as I took Friday off to go to the town of Neubrandenburg for a concert. I had seen that one of my favorite German artists, Montez, had a concert that wasn’t TOO far from Berlin, so I bought tickets and took the day to travel there. The concert was incredible, but the public transportation system was a nightmare. Neubrandenburg stops their public transportation around 10pm, so I had to try and find a taxi in order to get back to my hotel in the neighboring small village. It took over an hour to find one. The problems didn’t stop the next morning, as the bus that was scheduled to come did not come, and I had to try and call a taxi again. The taxi service said that they had none available, so what did I do? I walked 2.5 miles from Weitin Dorf to Neubrandenburg Bahnhof at 8 in the morning.
When I got back to Berlin, I was able to relax for a little bit, but then I worked remotely for my 2nd internship 247 Fighting Championships. They had a double event, one starting at 12pm EST (6pm my time) and 6pm EST (MIDNIGHT my time). I stayed up for both events and posted for them on their Instagram (@247fightingchampionships go check it out 🙂 ).
I was absolutely exhausted after the events, so I took Sunday as a day to relax.
Switching gears, I want to talk about how I’ve been developing at FormlyAI. Specifically, I want to talk about my leadership skills.
Before my internship here, I would consider myself a leader in a lot of things that I do. I’ve held leadership positions in organizations that I’ve been a part of ever since high school and continued that trend in college. I like holding roles that have responsibilities, as I feel like it makes me feel more of a part of the group. However, that transition of going from a leadership role to none can be kind of challenging.
In my previous job at a pizza shop, I was kind of a leader in the way that I was an “unofficial manager” as I was trusted with running the shop sometimes when the owner wasn’t there. Now that I am an intern, I really wouldn’t consider myself a “leader”. Sure, there are only a couple of us and I have a huge list of responsibilities, but I don’t really feel that I am a leader. I could be completely wrong though, as I do have to lead myself. I could also be considered a leader as sometimes the CEO asks me for advice, but I would not consider myself a leader during this internship.
That being said, I will be able to take some of the skills I have observed from the management positions and use it for the future. This upcoming academic year will be the first time I won’t hold a leadership position in any of my organizations for a while, so I can use some of the skills I am learning now. For my one organization, the Heinz Chapel Choir, I will be in more of an “I did this last year so if you have questions ask me” type of role. I will be able to use some of the times that I gave advice as a reference if I need to provide guidance. I will also be able to transfer the skills I am learning to my everyday life. I feel as if I have gained some better reflecting skills, as one of our meeting topics is to always reflect on what we have been working on.
I have a great feeling that everything I have been learning while abroad will not only make me a better leader but a better human being. I know that we all grow, but this experience is helping me understand things that I did not really know about myself until now.
Bis Nächste Woche!