TOMS Blog

Hey! I’m Charlene, on the Online Marketing team. Three years ago, I, along with eight others, interned at TOMS. The experience linked our lives and changed them, and last month we met up for a reunion to relive our bond. Here’s our story:

In the summer of ’09, the eight of us made the journey to Los Angeles and lived together in a house by the beach, working, playing, eating, and bunking together. At the end of that summer, we parted ways for cities all across the country. I remained at TOMS, landing a full-time job, and my classmates went back to school, work, wherever they left off or dreamed of going. Since then, we have all experienced change, which brought some of these guys back to TOMS, one to work on political campaigns, and others to dedicate their focus to inspirational companies, like Google and Nike. Despite our distance, we’ve remained close and, though some have shared mini get-togethers and quick hellos, we declared this summer the perfect time for an official reunion.

We met up in Portland, home to one of the group, and a new destination to the rest. We explored the city for a few days and then headed up to the San Juan Islands in Washington State for peace and quiet. We reminisced about time we spent together and played catch-up on our current lives; activities interspersed with a few wild adventures, like chartering tiny plane to go kayaking with orca whales! In chats about the place where this all began, I asked the other former interns how TOMS has helped them get to where they are today…

THEN ——-> NOW

Shamus, Creative Intern
On reuniting and his career after the TOMS internship
“I’ve bounced around our fine country a healthy amount in the three years since leaving my TOMS internship. I learned a lot at TOMS, and with those lessons, a lot of hard work and a little luck, I landed at my dream job writing and producing for Nike in Oregon. 

I spend a lot of my time nose-down in my work, but have always kept an eye on what my fellow TOMS interns from ‘09 are up to.

I was shocked when I realized that this reunion was actually coming to fruition, and that I was going to play host - a tall order for a workaholic who can’t cook.

But it happened. We did the damn thing. Seven young professionals (and one patient husband,) all knee-deep in their careers, in all corners of the country, actually made a long weekend of catching up in the Pacific Northwest happen. We dined. We danced. We kayaked with whales. Sort of.

It was an amazing weekend full of Portlandia moments, but when you push all the Instagrams, beer samples and hipster watching aside, what you had was a rare moment where a group of young people put everything on hold to toast the thing that brought them together in the first place. An experience so special, that 3 years later it’s still worth talking about. And laughing about. A lot. This is truly a special group. And I won’t be surprised if we’re plotting again in another 3 years. Long live TOMS.” 




 

Phyllis, Social Media Intern
On reuniting
“It was so good to see everyone and get the opportunity to catch up. We kept saying, ‘We’re all grown up now! Look at us with grown up jobs!’ But it really felt like we were back at the intern house, just hanging out.” 

On her career after the TOMS internship
“Right now I’m a senior blog writer at FindLaw, an online marketing solutions organization for legal professionals, a part of Thomson Reuters. I focus on task and workflow management for our team of writers, with an additional emphasis on training and coaching.

My internship at TOMS definitely gotme interested in social media and how companies use it. My time there was definitely one of the most memorable of my life. I learned a lot about myself, and what it’s like to be a part of a fast-growing business, while enjoying all that L.A. has to offer.”


Ivy, Online Marketing Intern
On reuniting
“The most rewarding part is that we are all and will always be united by our time at TOMS, and can share laughs over all thecrazy weird things that occur when you’re with the same group of 8 other interns in 10 dense weeks.  It’s a crash course in patience and love, and well worth it!”

On her career after the TOMS internship
“I’m currently working at Google in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I help businesses increase online brand presence and communicate their business proposition to the right consumers.  At TOMS, I got a crash course in Online Marketing.  A lot of what I learned was ‘on the fly’.  I do remember our Intern Manager telling us at one point, ‘if you have a question, just ‘Google it’!’  That’s what I truly loved about my internship at TOMS.  I was trusted to take ownership and initiative of projects, and quickly learned how to utilize technology and existing resources to solve problems in a scrappy and efficient manner.”
 

Chelsea, Finance Intern
On reuniting
“Spending 4 days with my cohort of interns in a beach house was a reminder that those relationships we built in the Summer of ‘09 were real; and that these people weren’t just co-workers, but people that I love and care about. It’s amazing what happens to relationships when you couple an intense, fast-paced work environment with a group of college students. I’m grateful to TOMS for bringing us together—as a current employee, I’m constantly amazed by the people that are drawn to TOMS (Giving Partners, customers, & co-workers).”

On her career after the TOMS internship
“Currently, I am managing our costing element of product design and development. I love facing & conquering the challenges that come with a 6 year old thriving company. My TOMS internship has affected who and where I am today in making my number one objective in my career a reality:  Putting my energy towards something I can be proud of, and working for an organization I can respect.” 





Our time together forged a bond that has kept us connected over the last three years. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to reunite again in the future and in the meantime, we will all continue to remain ambassadors of TOMS, the company that originally helped us find our passion, careers and one another.