Interns of Naiise II
Welcome to the second edition of Interns of Naiise. If you haven't read Interns of Naiise I, you can head over here to do so. Read on and find out more of the unsung heroes who helped to do amazing s**t everyday.
May, Social Media Intern, The Xiao May May
How long have you been interning at Naiise?
Around 3 months!
What is your role?
I'm in charge of photography and I helped the onsite team, as well as customer service. During my time, I've also helped to set up store and design the Games Room for our Suntec Store and even outbound products to the stores for the operations team.
Describe to us how your internship has been.
It was a wonderful experience. I get to do a lot of different things, I'm not restricted to only one department. I think it's really about trying out new things and getting to know yourself better.
I really like the company, the people here are very nice! We go out for outings and everybody here gets along.
Prior to this, I was a part-time retail staff. I was working with this other Intern ( Joy Ann) and they told me about their internship, and I felt like joining and wondered if it was a good choice. Since I'm working part-time, I was more familiar with the store, so I wanted to try it out!
Name one unforgettable story.
It will be Cathay store set-up. When we started working on Cathay, it was so bare. White walls with concrete floor and all. Now, it looks so nice and we can't believe we had a part in creating this. During set-ups, we painted, sanded and once it dried up, we tagged the products and display them nicely to make the store really chio. After that we promote on social media! It's fun, but tiring.
Name one product you would recommend.
Speculoos Cookie Butter Chocolate by Poppy & Co
Wei Chen, Operations Intern, The Salsa Charmer
How long have you been interning at Naiise?
It's been almost 2 months.
What is your role?
I was an operations intern, so I fulfilled online orders and preorders coming in, managed the warehouse, uploaded products online etc.
Describe to us how your internship has been.
So far it has been very fun. I chose Naiise because I can learn the different aspects of the company and how the processes go through. I learn things from scratch and that's one of the many things I value as an intern.
Shuyun is a good mentor. I feel comfortable working with her, I get to learn a lot from her for operations and she's very familiar with the processes. Being an ops Intern, you are away from the office and you get to bond with the operations people while you're down at the warehouse. It's only a few people down here working with you but it's still fun. It's a home away from home. More relaxed and comfortable, a little hideout.
How's setting up of the stores?
I feel like it's all part of the process of the company. Without us staying up late to set up the shop, Naiise wouldn't be where it is today. Yes, it's time consuming, but it's necessary in keeping the business going.
There's this perception about operations being a 'tough job'. How do you feel about that?
I would say it's not easy managing the warehouse and fulfilment of all incoming orders. But it's okay if everyone works together; we get things done easier. On my first day here, I had to outbound (i.e. move stocks from warehouse and distribute to stores). I was thinking, "Omg, do I have to do this for the rest of my internship?"
But I realised it's only once every 2 weeks, so it's not so bad. After some time here, I realise that all these hard work is necessary for Naiise to function as a company.
Name one unforgettable story.
On my first day, I came really well-dressed and I had to do "Outbounding", because I thought it's my first day so I have to make a good impression. I better wear something "Naiise", but when I reached I sweat through my button-down shirt... I sat on the floor. I wasn't prepared. (laughs)
Are you happy with Naiise at The Cathay ( The Setup ) ?
I worked on the Visual Merchandising, and it was my first time. When you walk into a shop, you never realise the amount of effort and thought that goes behind placing a product on the shelf. You'd think, " Take the item, put it on the shelf," but it's actually not that easy. I learnt something, which was that I took for granted the amount of hard work that goes into the simplest things. To actually be hands-on and work hard on it, is a very humbling experience.
Name one product you recommend.
I really like Bellroy, I've been using it for 3 years. I am quite loyal to this brand and it coincides with what we're pushing forward, which is quality products.
Jessica Heng. Newsletter Intern, The Basket-baller
How long have you been interning at Naiise?
For almost 2 months.
What is your role?
I do a lot of random things, but my main role is to brainstorm new ideas for the newsletter team. I do online banners and a few projects for teams that need help, like the Cathay DIY corner. I am also working on an internal buying project with Eltheia. A lot of manual labour such as painting, moving boxes, VM-ing and filing...but those are the jobs I like the most.
Describe to us how your internship has been.
The Cathay setup was enjoyable for me. For a week we worked for long hours, receiving stocks. When you see an empty space turn into a shop, it's pretty unbelievable!
I joined as a newsletter intern, but I do retail shifts too. When you're doing retail shifts, you get to interact with customers and I like that part.
I feel like I have grown in my internships, as I managed a few different projects. You get jobs thrown at you and you had to adapt to it, such as data analysis, which I never wanted to do actually.
Your internship is what you work out of it. When you ask for things to do and work on, you learn more. When you take initiative to find things to do, you will then learn more along the way.
My mentor (Serene) is very nice! She assures everyone in the team that what they do and contribute is very important. She's also very understanding if I need to go off early.
Name one unforgettable story.
The other day after Cathay set-up, we were eating pasta at SMU and two of my other friends popped by and they waved to me. Because they were in a huge group, they waved in a general direction. So Briandon thought they were waving at him, so he waved back. (Okay it's not related.)
Okay, something more related... Devi and I worked on the visual merchandising for the kid's corner. It was a new experience and we get to be creative with the space. When Naiise at The Cathay was open and the retail staff told me that people hang out at the kid's corner, it made me so happy.
Name one product you recommend.
Mandy, Marketing Intern, The Hardworking Tanker
How long have you been interning at Naiise?
2 months!
What is your role?
For now, I'm helping with the onsite team, so I do up the collection descriptions. I am also designing the template for the order confirmation emails.
Describe to us how your internship has been.
It's not really what I expected, but it's better than what I expected. The people here are very friendly and I managed to get used to working here. Although it's crazy, it's fun working with the people here. Work wise, I learnt a lot. I learnt a few useful things that you can't get out of school.
We have to do a lot of hard work, such as taking out the trash, clean up the space, mopping up the floor, clean the furniture. We had to sand the floor with sandpaper - things I never expected myself to do.
I was happy to do it because there was a sense of fulfillment to see the store transform from an unfinished space to how it is right now today. The walls are nicely done, and awesome furniture is put in place.
Cathay set-up was really fun because in office, we're very focused on work so we didn't manage to interact so much. During set-ups, we're all working together, helping each other and getting to know each other better along the way. I do a lot of manual tagging, shifting of the products. I helped out with the visual merchandising. It was hard and it got redone by someone else. But overall, it was a good experience.
Name one unforgettable story.
Cathay set-up was unforgettable, because it's the largest flagship store we have. It was so huge, and we stayed late on most nights. During that period of time, we stayed over the office to launch our new website. And a lot of collection descriptions and SEO texts needed to be churned overnight, right after we rushed back from Cathay.
My mentor (Li Bing) is extremely funny. She's so engaging and hilarious, you can laugh at her all day long. She's friendly and she's always concerned how you are at work and she catches up with us daily.
Amanda is very bubbly and she always brings cookies for us!
I don't see myself the same person as I entered Naiise. When I first joined, I never thought that I would be so committed to my internship. But the past few weeks, since we worked together for long hours, I slowly stepped out of my comfort zone and stayed till late at night to help out.
Doing physical work, you get to see the outcome of your efforts. And doing it with the team, it's more fun!
Name me one product you recommend.
I would recommend Matchaya! I love Matcha.
If you would like to be part of the Naiise family, write in to us at [email protected].
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