
This year we welcomed six college students into the Highstreet Internship Program, each intern gaining valuable experience in their area of interest and study including IT, Marketing, an HR. Highstreet has developed this program to grow studentโs ability to perform in the marketplace, to give students the opportunity to experience new areas of business, and to invest in our communities, and clients (see how our internship program invests in our clients here). By offering students the chance to be a part of a real business we are investing in the people where we live, developing a better future.
The College of William & Mary
Rhea Nandra
A junior at the College of William and Mary and a self-proclaimed expert risotto maker, Rhea decided to join Highstreetโs internship program because of the mentorship of Highstreetโs CFO, Ben Davies. โI got introduced to Highstreet by connecting with the CFO to learn more about a career in finance when I first picked it as my major. I found that call really helpful and that mentorship continued in the form of an internship.โ Majoring in Finance, Rhea is passionate about the problem-solving nature of the field and its inherent career mobility. She spent her summer working in Highstreet’s Finance department.
Not only can Rhea crunch numbers but she is an avid athlete participating in soccer, rowing, and running. Basically, anything to take her outside. Looking forward in her career, Rhea continues her theme of mobility by focusing on the skill of making work excitingโregardless of the position or company. โIโve found that looking at how small tasks contribute to bigger picture goals adds meaning to my work.โ
Rhea has been a constant asset to Highstreet. By developing a FOIA Request Tracking process, creating a Depreciation Model, and assisting with Consolidating Forecasting Models, Rhea has proven herself to be an intelligent, hard-working professional.
Her suggestions to future interns: โExtract the greatest value. Reach out to Highstreet team members, work in an office setting, and request tasks specific to your area of interest.โ
Isabel Zarhloul
A junior International Relations major at the College of William and Mary, Isabel was referred to the Highstreet Intern program by her friend Rhea because of the excellent experience she had while interning during the summer of 2020. Isabel became an International Relations major because of her interest in politicsโa bonus being the well-rounded nature of the curriculumโeconomics, writing, research, and political science courses have diversified her education experience. In her free-time, Isabel enjoys swimming and has done so competitively and recreationally since she could walk. Coming into her internship she was interested to learn more about the internal workings of a technology company.
Isabel has a passion not only for swimming and politics, but for traveling and exploring new cultures. One of her professional goals is to work closely with nations across the globe. She is specifically working towards employment with the United Nations or some other international non-profit.
While interning with Highstreet, Isabel worked closely with the HR department, coordinating, and researching, employee engagement and intern activities. She also helped in Highstreetโs rebranding effort and participated in tasks within the Marketing department.
Her suggestions to future interns: โAsk questions, set goals, and be transparent!โ
The University of Tampa
Makayla Lee
A sophomore at the University of Tampa, Makayla Lee is a former nursing major who found her passion in Marketingโspecifically in social media. The ever-progressing evolution of digital platforms within the context of social media fascinated and drew her into the world of marketing. When she isnโt going to class, Makayla spends her time volunteering at various charities through her sorority. She enjoys the opportunity to meet and form strong connects with people and is dedicated to being involved on campus and giving back to the local Tampa community.
Over her internship with Highstreet, Makayla worked in the Marketing department with Meg PhillipsโHighstreetโs Marketing Director. She was instrumental in the Highstreetsโs rebranding efforts as a website was launched alongside the new brand. She updated branded documents, was responsible for ordering rebranded office and convention materials, and researched and wrote a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plan to maximize Highstreetโs new website and brand. Makayla felt her opportunity to work with real marketing projects confirmed her choice to become a marketing major. She has set the goal of managing the social media marketing campaigns for a large fashion company in the future.
Her suggestions to future interns: โDonโt hesitate to ask question and speak up if you donโt understand something. Be attentive and take notes while in meetings where new assignments are given and be realistic.โ
Savannah Lee
Savannah Lee spent her summer working in the HR department and has started her sophomore year at the University of Tampa with her identical twin Makayla. Majoring in Criminology, Savannah is hoping to add a Psychology minor. This summer she worked on building out a Unanent skills module to allow for employees to add their skills, certifications, education, and experience. She participated heavily in the new hire process creating intern offer letters, sending new hire Paylocity emails, entering background checks, entering I-9 forms into the USCIS eVerify system, sent HR paperwork, and followed up on any missing forms.
During the second quarter, Savannah, coordinated an employee engagement activity as well as a summer intern event at Top Golf. When asked why she chose a business internship as a criminology major, Savannah offered this comment. โAlthough you may not be majoring in something, its good to try out other disciplines because you never know what youโll like.โ Highstreet was happy to have Savannah join us and appreciates her open-mindedness.
Her suggestions to future interns: โMake sure you understand the expected deadline for projects so that you can manage your time well.โ
Virginia Tech
Michael Taylor
Michael Taylor, a junior at Virginia Tech, spent his summer working in the Accounting departments under Jennifer Nuss, Highstreetโs Accounting Assistant. ย He appreciated her style of mentorship–leading him down a path of discovery instead of passing along a to-do list. Michael helped compile OTS compliance reports for OpenAir daily and quarterly to track user timesheets, approvals, and compliance. He assisted with the company implementation and transition from OpenAir to Una
He took on the responsibility of tracking the accounting departmentโs email inbox and posted invoices as needed. In the final days of his internship, Michael assisted fellow intern, Rhea, in setting up the organization system for FOIA requests in SharePoint. Michael was pleased with his internship and is happy his friend, Peyton Dexter, suggested he apply. โThe internship was greatโIโd absolutely recommend it.โ
Jennifer Nuss, Michael’s supervisor, had this to say about him, “…was a fantastic intern. I enjoyed having an intern that was able to surprise me with the speed and accuracy of his work. He was always eager to take on additional tasks and always delivered quality reports even with little direction.โ
His suggestions to future interns: โTake notes when receiving a task or instructions, it is easy to forget something that was said on a call. Be sure to understand the โwhy to what youโre doingโknow how each task is making an impact to the bigger picture of the company.โ
Peyton Dexter
We were happy to welcome Peyton Dexter back for his third internship in the IT department under Chris Cox, Highstreetโs Lead System Analyst. The majority of his summer was focused on developing a Python scriptโa command line interface programโto automate the new hire documentation process. The program would generate new hire documents and update the inventory tracker as well. He accomplished this despite not taking any Python courses at school, โโฆthatโs what I like about Computer Science, you can teach yourself just about anything.โ
He also helped to troubleshoot, research, and develop the multi-factor authentication between Service Now and Microsoft Active Directory to allow employees to have one central authentication process. One of his consistent tasks was to creating PowerShell reporting scripts for various tasks. As a part of Highstreetโs rebranding, cost-savings, and simplification and consolidation efforts, Michael handled the domain transfer for the new website to a new system.
His suggestions to future interns: โTake notes while on calls, know why someone wants something done can be very helpful to accomplishing a task well, and donโt be afraid to reach out and ask questions. For the High School interns, the college interns are a great resource.โ
In Closing
Each of our interns completed their internship by leading a presentation for the HR team and Highstreetโs CEO, Nick Magliato. Highstreet values its interns and looks forward to continuing to expand our program and invest in the future. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in participating in the Highstreet Internship Program, please contact: humanresources@highstreetit.com.