One Wild Idea Becomes an Entrepreneurial Reality
During the third week of my internship, we were relocated to the warehouse on Long Island. When Kristen and Katelyn first shared with the interns that we would be working from the warehouse, my initial thought was something along the lines of “Oh snap!” It was at the warehouse where I was able to see firsthand how one wild idea became an entrepreneurial reality.
The week at the warehouse in Long Island was very different from what we have been experiencing at the office in the city. We were able to truly see what makes SnappyScreen so special. It has been quite evident to me that Kristen has put all of her time and effort into building a machine from absolutely nothing. However, it was not until I actually experienced her work ethic at the warehouse that I was able to fully grasp her unwavering commitment.
When we first got to the warehouse, Kristen gave us an introduction to the SnappyScreen machine and walked us through her entire process of how the machine has evolved to today’s new version. The way Kristen spoke about the evolution of her machine mirrored her evolution as a self-taught engineer as well. It was extremely interesting listening to her as she spoke about how her wild idea has become a reality.
Being at the warehouse also modified our tasks as an intern as well. For the first day, we focused a lot on helping Kristen build the machine. Little did I know how much time and effort goes into crafting a SnappyScreen, and even more admirable is how Kristen does everything by hand. Kristen trusted me and the other interns to put together some internal pieces of the machine. When we were putting these pieces together, precision and perfection were of the utmost importance. A simple mistake that may seem trivial, could make the whole machine malfunction, which made me nervous but excited that the part I was putting together was important to the machine.
On top of our roles as apprentice engineers, we also had to complete our other roles in order to keep the company growing and developing. It was very humbling doing my work on my computer while alongside me the machine was being built.
To grasp the extent of what was going on in the warehouse, Kristen was building five brand new machines from scratch that are to be released by the end of the summer. These machines will be traveling all over the world, from Texas to Mexico to St. Kitts to Greece. Knowing that our work in the warehouse would reach far beyond our grasp (literally and figuratively) was a very special experience and something I am grateful to be a part of.
Out of the many moments in the warehouse, one that was very special to me was when Katelyn surprised Kristen and Abby, a fellow intern, with an ice-cream cake to celebrate their birthdays that were happening next week.
Although this was a small gesture, it was very commendable how considerate everyone at SnappyScreen truly is. Working at a small company has allowed me to create bonds between my supervisors and the other interns that I do not think would be possible at a larger company.
Written by Kendra Downey, #WakeEntrepreneur, Class of 2021