Month: April 2017

I’m actually starting to feel a little swamped by all the projects I’m working on. The difference between working here and school is that all of the deadlines are kind of natural and it’s not like someone will say “finish this by Friday” instead it’s like, there is a project that will require information about these five companies, and there is meeting about said project Friday, and so that information needs to be ready before then. I’ve found that in situations like these no one will tell you to have that information prepared by Friday, they tell me because I’m an intern, its your job to know. I do enjoy seeing how everything is connected in such a systematic way not just within the partnership but throughout St. Louis. Just like with a robot or any complex system. When on component isn’t functioning properly it sets off a chain reaction the same thing applies to the economic activity in the St. Louis region, everything that people are working on here has an impact somewhere else. It’s not like you don’t see the fruits of your labor if I want to know how my work is affecting change I can watch the local news. I think people work harder when they see their work pay off, that’s why people enjoy teaching so much(Teachers feel free to confirm or deny this in the comments) but that’s a book not a blog post. This week I’ve been mostly focused on the anchor tenant search. For all 5 STLVW incubators I’ve made a list of companies who could potentially serve as anchors this list has been sent around to the I&E team and a few other people. They gave me suggestions for some more potential anchors. In the case of Helix the newest incubator the partnership has already decided that it would like to work with a particular company and that is all I’m allowed to say on that topic.  With the other four though, my job is to look at the ” Best Practices Report” I put together which describes the different roles anchors play, and determine how each prospective might fit into the program as an  anchor. For example and SBDC(Small Business Development Corporation) can offer support to the other companies in the incubator and those services can  justify them receiving subsidized rent. Other anchors would serve as a way to sure up revenue so that we can serve smaller more volatile clients with a greater deal of confidence knowing there is still a revenue stream. My other project, the one I started today, is doing prep work for the I&E teams trip to Amsterdam, too bad I don’t get to go. The team is taking a trip to the Next Web Summit in Amsterdam. It’s massive start-up summit were investors and other groups like the partnership look for clients. To prepare for this the team needs the most up-to-date information about St. Louis and and it’s economic advantages it offers start-ups. This is a good example of not being given a deadline. I know that Ginger has a meeting the CEO Thursday afternoon(thank you shared calendar) and she always meets with me on Thursdays so I will need to have some of this done by then.

This week, we only met with Mrs. Hardcastle on Monday and Tuesday, since I’m headed to Memphis. She has given us a lot of resources that we can use as we craft our “businesses” and some of the stuff is helpful beyond just starting a business. For example, one of the activities that we did yesterday was going through a set of cards with various adjectives on them and we organized them into categories of what we wanted our brands to be, not to be, were torn, or it didn’t apply to us. For both of us, and probably a fair number of people, this activity actually ended up with showing not only how we wanted our brand to be, but also who we are (or want to be).

In addition to working on this sort of activity and others to help build our brands, we also made a few more products, nail polish and lip balm. These were both relatively easy and not as dangerous or complicated as the soap was. We took home and can start using them. Our soap is still drying and will continue to for a few weeks.

From here, we can continue working on our brands. Mrs. Hardcastle has suggested a few steps we could take now even if we are unsure if we ever want to start a brand.

I have enjoyed these weeks a lot, though I have found that I like having a certain level of structure to my days, more than what we had with Mrs. Hardcastle. I think if I did ever run my own business, I would have to keep myself very in check and scheduled, or have someone to help me with that.

Los Angeles is too hot for me, the weather here these two weeks just remain me to the time I used to spend in Miami. People can not live without AC.

Here is a programmer who works for Google company came and want to sale his car.  This Mercedes Benz E350 he bought in 2014 and now he want to sale it with the price of 50,000. The mileage of this E350 is under 20,000 miles. Actually I really like this car and I hope I can get one used car like that when I study in college. As you can see he kept it very clean and it smells good inside of this car.

Today was Congress’ first day back since Easter recess. We had a new intern start today, which was exciting, but it was overshadowed by the fact that I got to take a bill to the floor.

Mr. Meadows was co-sponsoring a bill with Mark Sanford, so I got to take it to the Rayburn office building to get Mr. Sanford’s signature. After that, the new intern and I delivered it to the house floor through the coat room, as tradition requires.

This was another instance in which I felt I needed to be wearing a neon sign announcing “I’m seventeen and have no qualifications or degrees, and you really shouldn’t take me seriously.”

I also got to write up the notes that Mr. Meadows will take into a hearing on the famine in Sudan tomorrow. I consolidated a 12 page memo into a one-page briefing–no easy task, especially when each paragraph you omit further describes the suffering of the Sudanese people.

It was a good day.

 

Today was was quite the flurry or excitement at the Capitol complex, because Congress is returning from recess tomorrow.

Today I mostly finished up some tasks that needed to be done before the legislative work begins for the week, like cutting out these place cards and researching bills passed during Obama’s first 100 days for a comparative press release.

But, I want to focus this post on common misconceptions.

1) “Our taxes pay for your (the Congressman’s) healthcare, so you don’t have the right to take away mine!”

Congressional healthcare is quite a complicated system that takes approximately a bazillion things into account like your spouse’s income, your seniority at the Capitol, and your other sources of revenue. In the case of Congressman Meadows, he pays for his almost entirely out of pocket. So while there are many legitmate arguments for cheaper healthcare, that is certainly not one that advances the plight.

2) Congress has 120 days of vacation each year.

No. Congress has 120 days of recess each year. This is akin to diplomats being given trips home four or five times a year–if you are not spending time with the people you are representing, you most certainly cannot represent them to the best of your ability. When Congress is in recess, the Members are in their constituencies doing four or five events a day. Everyone wants to win reelection–no one is sitting at home for 120 days.

3) The Hill is intimidating

I thought that at first, too. But last week, I heard two senior staffers arguing about whose fault it was that they lost their Snapchat streak. That was the most relateable conversation I’d heard so far, and it kind of made me do a double-take and realize that all these people who write our laws and instruct the Congressmen how to vote are not so much older than me. And not so much more qualified than me.

4) That Congressmen have the power to change anything at the drop of a hat.

Please, educate yourself about what your representative can and cannot do before you call their office and waste someone’s time. If you’re from California, and concerned about Trump’s tax returns, do not waste your time calling a North Carolinian representative.

These days are going by extraordinarily quickly, and I’m quite excited to see what it’s like when they’re back in session tomorrow.

 

 

 

This week, we learned a lot about starting a business, mainly focused on being built from a craft or hobby. On Friday, we watched about a video that analyzed a few similar businesses. One of them was particularly interesting to me (So Worth Loving) and I think if I did ever start a business of my own, I would try to make mine have a similar message, or at least a bigger goal like hers.

We also made and cut our soap. We do a fair amount on our own, with the steps we might take if we were to start our own businesses, and while I’m enjoying it, I do think I would do better in the long run with a stricter-scheduled job like what I saw at ADB.

This week have been marvelous.

I learned how to create my own brand, how to protect it and how to make face mask and soap.

I made the mud mask with Elizabeth. That day’s homework for us is to use the mask and take pictures.(I can’t smile for the picture with the mask on)

This is the logo I designed for my future brand. That bird is suppose to be a phoenix, indicate Chinese Queen(If it is gold, I believe so.). And later through the week I learned that the name shouldn’t be too common. Therefore now, my brand name is BLOSSOMS LOVE. Cause everything I made is full of blooming love to it.

I found out that making soap is just like baking food. (By the way soap & food sort of rhyme. Also making and baking! I’m so smart!!!) Except a little bite more dangerous than it. Since we need to use the Lye, Mrs.Hardcastle purchased it from The Lye Guy. Mixing the lye with water is cool! Can you believe that water could be heat up to 100 degrees with in 30 sec?  Chemicals are ridiculously amazing. <- some of them.

Today was kinda fun because I had a lot of little projects. I delivered some tickets for a White House event this weekend to a few different offices in the Rayburn and Cannon buildings, so it was fun to get to explore the tunnels some more. I also got to go out on the balcony that looks over the mall–only paid staff can access it so Eliza took me out. I also wrote a few letters on behalf of the Congressman and fielded calls from SO many reporters. Mr. Meadows gave a radio interview today that broke some silence concerning the new health care bill, so lots of news outlets were calling to figure out.

The legislative correspondent, Ben, kept telling me that he didn’t have time and to just give them his email. I hope that when I’m 24 I also don’t have time for the New York Times. Jeez.

What’s absolutely crazy to me is how the House (and the Senate, similarly) is honestly run by young people who are recent college graduates. Our legislative staff in the office here are probably all unde thirty, and the six of them get together while Congress is in session to create “vote recs”. This is them each reading the bills and then convening to decide how to advise Mr. Meadows to vote. He essentially follows what they’ve instructed him to do, especially concerning the more minor votes. How insane is that? These staffers are essentially getting to vote in Congress and are hugely influential. I find that amazing.

 

Anyway, hope you have a good weekend! You’ll be hearing more from me on Monday.

Today is very hot as yesterday. I didn’t wear a jacket. We had a big dinner last night. The food is so good. I wish I can help cooking next time.

Today I don’t have many work to do. But there is a Skype meeting in about half an hour in the meeting room between the general manager Billy and Sabrina from Land Rover. They are going to talk about those two cars which has lights problem. I’m gonna take notes by the side of him.

Three weeks in and my fear of getting bored of being at the same place the whole time has been proven merit-less. Part of the reason I think I’m not getting bored is the fact that I feel like I’m doing work that I actually enjoy and I’ve worked so hard on it that at this point I feel obligated to finish. This week was a shorter than my typical week as I was on a college visit for part of it. However, I was able to get some work done mostly on anchor tenants and a semi-emergency project I’m working on now. So now that partnership has committed to the idea of working with anchors it is now time to start finding potential anchors. My job is to look at each STLVW location, determine what type of company would best serve as an anchor based on industry, resources and location. The next step will be determining what advantages the partnership can leverage to make partnering with them a win for both parties. I mentioned earlier there was an emergency project, it is essentially an issue of disorganization. The partnership has to keep track of all of its investments for a host of reasons the main being legal obligations. I honestly believe that the partnerships government affiliation is such a hindrance it probably helps a whole lot more at higher levels of the company though. Anyway, the files for several investments have been lost and so I’m going through the account folders to at least try and find the money that went out, I know the company names so its a matter of putting dollar amounts to names. From there I will likely be setting up digital version of all of this information.  I haven’t gotten to work on the inclusion and diversity initiatives as much this week but I’m pretty sure in the next I&E meeting were going to be discussing working with the Hispanic Regional Chamber which is exciting.