Dylan Neal, a rising senior on the Albion College men's lacrosse team, learned that sports isn't the only way to tour the country.
Though his internship with Cotswold Industries, a leader in the innovation and distribution of technical textiles, lasted only three and a half weeks, Neal traveled across the continental United States this summer. In addition to his work in New York City, where he was charged with designing and marketing a new product for sale on the company's Amazon.com web store, Neal visited a plant in Clemson, S.C., to learn about the manufacturing supply chain and flew to San Francisco for a shadowing experience as his supervisor made in-person sales calls and attended a trade show.
"The internship has exceeded my expectations in that I've seen new places," said Neal, a business and organizations major who is completing the internship as a requirement in Albion's Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management. "I never thought of textiles as a career possibility, but marketing and sales could be a huge opportunity.
"I pride myself on being outgoing and personable, but I never put those skills to use," Neal added about his sales activity. "I gained valuable information about the people I was selling to while sitting in meetings with customers. Skype and phone calls are ways to connect with customers, but I learned people want to be heard and seen face-to-face. I have learned to listen twice as much as I talk."
Neal also offered a story of an afternoon when his supervisor tasked him with a marketing assignment as consumer companies test the extension of their brand reach by advertising inside apparel, such as trousers.
"That surprised me," Neal said. "I consider myself a fashionable guy, but you have to think about who [the consumer brands] are gearing their product to."
Learning During a Challenging Year
The internship comes after Neal's lacrosse season came to an abrupt halt in March when he tore an anterior cruciate ligament during the Britons' non-league contest against nationally ranked Denison University. Sidelined for the final 15 contests of the season, the all-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association first-team pick in 2014 watched as his teammates celebrated the program's first-ever league championship and NCAA Division III Championship berth later in the spring.
Neal, who admitted the injury pushed him to examine his priorities, including the importance of lacrosse in regards to his academic commitments, said he could make parallels between the setback on the field and one of the important lessons his supervisor delivered during the internship.
"The textile industry is an imperfect business," Neal said. "It's one where individuals need to get over the bumps and move on because there's no drive to success without failure. My boss wanted to teach me how to fail."
Hands-on Learning
A Brighton, Mich., native who prepped at Detroit Catholic Central, Neal said his parents are involved with software sales and that his only exposure to the textile industry came from watching videos online. Despite such a steep learning curve, Neal credits the Gerstacker Institute for putting him in situations he might encounter in the professional world.
"I stayed on campus for a month last summer (in 2014) for three classes and the Gerstacker Institute's mock interviews and etiquette dinner," Neal said. "Those activities were a big help to me, especially for the customer dinners I've attended this summer.
"Albion has been a good experience," he added. "I like the small classes and the lacrosse team has had great success. We have played for the conference championship every year since I've been here and you can't ask for better than that."
