During the first week of interning at Ellery Partners, I was fairly new to the entire space of sourcing companies and networking with people in different industries, including HOA management and packaging companies. As a rising sophomore, I was one of the youngest interns on the team and I found it difficult to find opportunities where I could help others because I had a lot more to learn than others.

Over time, I found how I could become a servant leader and contributor to the team: industry pitches. Prior to joining the company, I had more than a handful of experiences competing in stock pitch and case competitions during my freshman year. Through this, I had solidified some fundamental skills in researching companies, reading through IbisWorld and MarketWatch reports, and creating concise, put-together slide decks, translating my research onto a presentation. At Ellery Partners, our weekly Friday industry pitches became my opportunity to not only grow from feedback, but share new information, compiled research, and ideas to the table. Pitching niche industries that I was passionate about, such as the Yoga and Pilates industry and Advertising Agency industry, I was able to virtually “teach” my peers and Jalen about these unique, diverse industries. Pitching my industry, I was able to find a direct approach to my challenging barrier and found the entire process rewarding.

Reflecting back to the beginning of this week, I have grown to improve both my transferable, interpersonal and knowledge-based skills. With a group of interns, who are more than willing to step in and help, I became comfortable with the phrase “asking for help.” Slack, my new best friend, became a useful resource where I could communicate questions that I had with the other interns, discuss how to source companies for certain industries, and more. Throughout my time at Ellery Partners so far, learning from my peers and growing as an individual in different aspects from team-working skills to technical skills in modeling and company sourcing, I appreciate every word of advice and encouragement that I receive from my peers, Jalen and Orlando. The welcoming environment at Ellery Partners, where I can comfortably ask questions and share my own opinions and ideas have been a rewarding aspect of being an intern. Reading this blog post when I am near the end of my internship at the firm, I hope to have learned three to four times the amount that I have now, and most importantly, have helped others at the firm grow from my research, pitch initiatives, and of course: my initiative of asking questions and sharing my answers to my peers’ questions (the key to success and productivity!).