Hey there, my name is John Gunsbury and this summer I am interning at MAXSA Innovations in Fairfax Station, VA. MAXSA is made up of about 6 people and sells automotive accessories and outdoor lighting. We focus almost entirely on e-commerce, selling products online through the likes of Amazon, Home Depot, and Walmart. Once an order is made online, we are notified and ship the package or palette from either the office or the warehouse. While the concept of the business is simple, the office can really heat up.
MAXSA is a small company for how much business it does and during busier days the team has to set aside plans and projects to assist with immediate issues. So, although everyone who works here has a specific job, each employee and even my boss have very fluid roles within the company. For me, it is no different.
As an intern, I have generally been working on weekly projects while helping with odd jobs throughout the day. My projects have been concerned with analyzing ways to increase sales through various websites MAXSA supplies. I am no expert on this topic, so at first I was flailing around a little but now I have gotten the hang of it. This learning process has been the case for many aspects of my internship because of how dynamic the office is. I had to quickly acclimate to answering customer calls, packaging and shipping products, and fulfilling online orders along with my projects. Although it scattered my brain at first, I have now experienced and understand every facet of the company (to an extent).
It’s hard to coin an exact title for this internship, but I would call it a sort of entrepreneur internship. I have seen the bones of the business and how it runs by shadowing my boss, Skip, almost every day. It has been a pleasure seeing how he runs a business and all the balance it takes. Being at MAXSA has taught me to try and fail, adapt to unique situations, and seek out opportunities for growth. I have found the dynamic nature of this internship very exciting and a large part of that is thanks to the small size of MAXSA. MAXSA’s size also means that the work I do has a real impact on the numbers, and it’s always nice to see the fruits of your labor.
Interning at MAXSA has made me rethink the size of the company or organization I’d like to work for in the future. If anyone is reading this I would recommend considering a similar thought. I am not sure how engaged I would be at a larger company, but I know here there will always be something new for me to do.
I would also recommend bringing a notebook to any job/internship you do to write down any and everything that is going on. I had not originally planned on using one but it has been a great help for increasing my mental capacity and staying on top of various projects and tasks.
I’m very grateful to the Haverford Whitehead Program and MAXSA for giving me this opportunity!
