Adventures in Marketing

By Rachael Kosinski ‘18

Marketing majors Becca Walczak ’16, of Huntley, Illinois, and Julia Perisin ’17, of Peoria, tested their professional skills with challenging internships. Walczak interned for Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide while Perisin interned for Lincoln, Illinois-based Sysco Distribution.

Walczak, who formulated a marketing plan to present to senior leadership, called her experience the “most challenging thing I have ever done.”

“The reward at the end and the ability to present in front of all the leadership made it worth it,” she said.

As a media intern, Walczak discovered how applicable her classroom knowledge could be in unlikely positions.

“I never thought media was an avenue for a marketing major to go,” she said. “I loved learning about a completely different field that was so consumer-oriented. You have to know just about everything about your consumer in order to successfully create a media plan. ”

Perisin served Sysco’s executive distribution team, where she managed real-life situations, such as a food order for a product out of stock because of a recall.

“Customers do not take no for an answer,” Perisin said. “To satisfy the customer, we ended up offering an alternative item with a discount.”

Perisin was able to observe operations of different departments of the company through a rotational internship where she shadowed employees in sales, marketing and finance.

“Whether it was a week riding on the semi trucks in steel-toe boots or a week working in the accounting department, I really got to understand the company from every angle,” she said.

The summer also boosted Perisin’s relational skills.

“After shaking hands with over 400 people and riding along with 20 different sales reps, I am now able to confidently talk to a stranger and turn them into a friend,” she said.