Corporate Barbie

I've fallen into quite the routine here. I wake up, take a shower, put on my corporate gear, chat with Summer, make breakfast/lunch, head to work. I have reports to do on Monday/Tuesday as well as catch up from happenings over the weekend. Go to lunch, work on whatever, pack up go home, have dinner, hang out with friends, go to sleep. Wash, Rinse Repeat.

Last week, I met with my mentor. As mentioned before we have a leader, coach and mentor. Our mentor is someone still in finance, but outside the department. Kind of a safety zone. They are there to help you with anything. I immediately loved her. She has worked a variety of jobs, having just transitioned into a new role at Downtown Disney - my former home! We sat and talked for an hour, and I expressed to her I wanted to pursue more accounting and that I was interested in pricing. She thought of some departments for me, taking notes, thinking of ways to get me in on shadow opportunities. I get to meet with her every 3 weeks. Next time, we're getting Earl of Sandwich =)

I also got to pick the brain of my leader last week. After the forecast meeting, I went through the presentation deck and just wrote down questions. Some were legit 'what is this chart?' and others where just general 'why is this like this?'. I only got through a handful in our blocked time (which we went over...). Next time!

One of our team members also transitioned into a new role. We had a farewell lunch for him and he came to me and told me if I needed anyone to talk to, he was there. He had been through the intern program and such. I'm going to miss him! He was fun, and I really appreciate his offer of advice. I told him I would probably harass him haha

This past week has been pretty quiet. A lot of the team is on vacation, including my leader. During my check-in with my coach, I expressed to her how much I enjoyed tracking the quick service coupon promotion and I'd like to learn more about it. We get up, walk around the building, she introduces me to some people who are involved and got me in on the weekly meetings. Then she took me around the building some more and I spoke with one of the cast members that designs the stores. He showed me some previous projects which was really neat. He worked on the new cruise ship stores and will be working on the Hawaii resort stores.

I set up time to meet with one of the pricing cast members to review how they analyze promotions and then I also have time with another cast member who works in merchandise planning to hear her input on the promotions gig.

Also during my check-in, Duranne decided to pull me from the SAP class and put me in the merchandise training class instead. I felt pretty special not having to do all the typical intern classes haha. The class was really interesting. It was on contract and policy compliance. Basically the rules and steps that have to followed and taken in order for a product to be released. Making sure its not a rip off and what to do if it is a royalty.

I started my finance fundamentals class on Wednesday. It was much like my PDS class during my college program, but now I think I can appreciate it more. The highlight of this class was I met the woman that interviewed me. I went up and introduced myself and told her how stress-free my interview was and such. I mean, my interview was a conversation. I actually laughed during it. It wasn't me putting up this prim and proper face. I was honest and I guess that's why I'm here now.

I am really jazzed for next week - my calendar has a lot on it, I love it!

From a personal life standpoint, I've been running around, having fun. I can't have too many lazy days, thanks to my Papa for that. I got a new roomie, Alisha, on Monday and she's pretty cool. She's working at the Land - extended her internship. So far so good there!

We do a lot of gather around and eat dinner things haha Still doing our weekly dinner and some impromptu dinners with the neighbors. Last week we went to the Polynesian, sat on the beach and watch the water pageant/fireworks. I saw Fantasmic the other night and spent the afternoon at Cocoa Beach yesterday.

Everyday is different. I've been doing a lot of soul searching/what am I doing with my life after January thinking. I just got a flash of the scene in Pocahontas during Just Around the Riverbend. "Should I choose the smoothest course, steady as the beating drum...."

Copy, Paste Values

This week was a bit long. I was busy at work and outside of work with the 4th and birthdays and such.

The week has been a lot of me sitting and listening to one the members of my team explain what he does at month end for closing and forecasting since he is changing jobs. It was overwhelming. I wasn't the only one feeling that way, even finance professionals did too so I shouldn't feel that bad, but it does make me question finance as my field. I enjoy accounting more which is less grey - I like black and white. But we'll see.

I started editing a file to set it up for the quarter 3 summary, and started matching item numbers to papers with merchandise on it that are held in the royalty department.

I sat in on the forecast meeting and went to training on presentations as well at the end of the week. I have more training coming up and then my finance fundamentals class starts the week after.

I think I've heard the phrase "copy, past values" more than anything this week haha, oh excel.

I'm enjoying my time here, socially and professionally - so far so good!

Enjoying Your 2nd Dinner?

Last Saturday I spent a few hours in the Animal Kingdom and then came home and made my famous Mamma Mia Baked Ziti for dinner. Michael made Banana Foster which was so good!

So Monday was day 2 of orientation (backstage at Hollywood Studios) where we learned more about what to do in order to further our career, definitely valuable information. After that we took a little walk to our lunch location which was in a room meant for events like this, but in true Disney fashion it was decorated with old props from shows/parades. There were puppets from the Lion King show at Magic Kingdom (pre Philharmagic) and contraptions from the Tapestry of Nations parade. We had lunch with a few executives who spoke to us about their history and what we should do during our time here. It was stressful haha but a good experience none the less.

After lunch we took a walk through DHS and rode Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster. It was important for us to experience what we are supporting. To see the guests faces and see how this machine runs. Awesome day of orientation =)

This week I also had another SAP training class and a welcome lunch (aww). At the office I ran my first report (this one on mail order merchandise) and acquired a couple others to do weekly. One is the weekly volume report (attendance etc) and one tracking how the quick service coupon promotion is going.

I also was working on pulling numbers for a deep dive analysis and my leader was really pleased with it so I got a project to take it one step further. I'm not sure how much I can say but it's a benchmarking type assignment. Next week is dealing with month end and forecasting so it'll be busy for my team! I am now finished all the online trainings as well, go me! haha it's been good at the office. I'm getting lost less and less.

From a non-work perspective, life has been busy too! I feel like I've eaten more than anything this week, enjoying second and third dinners haha. Tuesday night, Summer and I tried out the Zumba class here at the apartments and then went for a 2 mile walk. It was wonderful! We're going to train for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. I've always wanted to do something like that, so I'm excited =)

Wednesday night was the cast preview of Captain EO, which was opening officially on Friday. So after work I met up with Summer, Corinne and Adam - enjoyed some dinner in Japan and then headed to see Michael. I did not remember it haha but it was fun! Friday we did our traditional Epcot and Magic Kingdom experiencing Space Mountain twice (woo!).

We decided to do the 4th of July Magic Kingdom fireworks on Saturday to avoid the crowd and it was just absolutely stunning. We did some attractions afterwards - Adam hasn't experienced the world, just the land so we had to introduce him to some of world's magic.

Today I am cleaning up, doing laundry and then headed to the Studios to meet up with friends for the fireworks there. I have a busy week ahead and I'm excited for it! Happy 4th of July Everyone!