Posts Tagged ‘Business Directions inc’

Alice Faye Huff-Idom and the Yarn Resource Catalog

Alice Faye Huff-Idom, a student at University of Akron, recently completed her Pathways into Professional Needlearts (PiPN) internship with my company Business Directions inc.  As part of her responsibilities, Alice has helped create the Yarn Resource Catalog.  Thanks to her, Barry Klein of Trendsetter Yarns, TNNA’s Yarn Group, as well as one of TNNA’s PiPN interns Rylee Tomlinson, the catalog is near completion.  I’ve now contracted with Alice to complete the mock-up.  So good-bye to Alice the intern. Hello to Alice the sub-contractor!

Here’s what she had to say:

Working as a PiPN intern this summer far exceeded my expectations. I not only learned   about the characteristics of unfamiliar yarns, but I learned more about the creative side of marketing and how to create a yarn catalog.

Creating a catalog allowed me to become more comfortable with Excel and how to collaborate with a professional such as Sherry Mulne. The experience with Sherry gave me a preview of what it would be like having a career as a creative marketing consultant and made me recognize my strengths and weaknesses.

I also learned that it is important to meet deadlines for clients including Sherry, to have an open mind and to show that I was willing and able to get the task done no matter how hard I had to work.

Finally, I would like to thank Sherry for welcoming me into her home and sharing her knowledge with me throughout the summer.

This year, we placed the second largest group of interns in the history of the PiPN program.  From California to Peru, the new recruits have already begun their on-site stints.  If you’ve been watching, we’ve posted several blogs from a few of them already, and hope to have more as the summer wears on.

PiPN’s Pathways Open Up Even further

We are continually receiving applications from both host companies and potential interns, so we’ve decided to open our process to matching students with hosts throughout the year.

We’ll still focus our student recruitment efforts towards positions in the summer months, but will maintain an active matching process for fall, winter and spring placements.

If you’re a TNNA host company who did not match with an intern this summer, we’ll be contacting you soon to see if you would like to keep your position active.  If you’re thinking about having an intern in the future, feel free to go to the Host Application and send it in now.  We will be updating the opportunities available on a quarterly basis.

PiPN 2011 interns and apprentices to date

Sophia Adodo
Texas Woman’s University, Denton
The Handwork Studios, Narberth, PA

Dania Carter
Mississippi State University
The Handwork Studios, Narberth, PA

Leah Chapman
RISD
KnitWhits, Emeryville, CA

Necol Dattilo
Kent State University
Stitchgrrl, Akron, OH

Sarah Ellison
Kent State University
Acorn Street, Seattle, WA

Kimberly Esasky
U of Akron
SoHo Publishing, NY, NY

Alice Faye Huff-Idom
U of Akron
Business Directions inc, Columbus, OH

Kelly Kleiden
apprentice
Helen Hamann, Tennessee

Alice Koelsch
U of Akron
Craft Akron, Akron, OH

Kelsey Leib
Kent State University
Stitchgrrl, Akron, OH

Mary Markeshewski
University of Alabama
Tanglewood Fiber Creations, Seattle, WA

Elli McHugh
Eastern Washington University
BeSweet, Sausalito, CA

Christina Musich
Carnegie Mellon University
Colonial Needle, White Plains, NY

Crystal Spann
Mississippi State University
TNNA, Columbus, OH

Heather Stanco
Carnegie Mellon University
Misti International Alpaca Yarns, Arequipa, Peru

Brigitte Tijerina
SCAD
Misti International Alpaca Yarns
Arequipa, Peru

Rylee Tomlinson
Mississippi State University
TNNA, Columbus, OH

Kelsey Tucker
U of Akron
Stitch, Piece ‘N Purl, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

As a senior majoring in Fashion Merchandising at the University of Akron and only two semesters left before graduation, I was not exactly sure where I would complete my internship. Becoming more nervous about finding an internship in the retail industry I began to search elsewhere, so this summer I decided to take a fiber arts class that teaches embroidery, crochet, knitting, cross-stitch and needlepoint. Learning these techniques helped open my eyes to a skill and profession that could benefit me in the future and prepare me for a PiPN internship with Sherry Mulne. Sherry Mulne has a marketing and creative services business called BDi (Business Directions inc), and acts as TNNA’s marketing consultant as well.
Although I have only assisted Sherry for a week, my experience has been fun, interesting and educational. It has also allowed me to use the skills I have learned in the past as a Fashion Merchandising major. So far, this internship is focusing on creating a yarn resource catalog to help professors recognize the elements of the yarns created by the wholesalers within this industry. Besides assisting Sherry with the resource catalog, I will also assist her with other BDi activities.  I may also be able to attend Maker Fair in Detroit at the end of July 2011, where I’ll gain even more knowledge in the world of needle arts.