Archive for the ‘work’ Category

My Life in Clip Art 08.03.10

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

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Currently

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

I am a summer intern at Eastman in Kingsport, TN. My project includes 12 weeks of research and reporting on the potential leverage points for a new plastic in a new segment. Much more information than that and I would have to kill you.


You can, however, see information that is available for public consumption here:
tritan innovation lab
I desire those billiard balls on the concepts page!


I am impressed with Eastman’s business decision framework, resources made readily available, cross-disciplinary information sharing, and friendly environment. My team is awesome to work with and I am absorbing so much. This experience is a great complement to my work history and a welcome chance to apply the concepts I have been studying.

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Summer Draws Near

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

At this time in 2009, I was about to start auditing courses (Statistics, Accounting, and Economics) in order to prepare for returning to school. It seems like ages – I have been pursuing my MBA for about a year. In a month, I will begin my marketing internship with Eastman in Kingsport. It’s impossible to write about a year in graduate school in one post; I should have made entries as I went along. But I am not ashamed of saying I was a bit busy. The first half of this adventure was covered up in late night desktop modeling, making great new friends, learning the 4 P’s, the-Chile-trip-that-never-was and the-insane-Lima-trip-that-replaced-it, my term as president of our NAWMBA chapter, national conference at Walt Disney in CA, my first consulting gig at East Tennessee Foundation, one million PowerPoints, having been assigned a great team every single time, social media for Martina McBride, red carpet……


I have had so many great experiences this year and I can’t wait to see what else is in store. It will be difficult to leave Knoxville in May, but I am excited to see what is in store. I am still not sure what my project assignment is. I have a lot to learn this summer, not only about marketing, but where I want to be in 2011 as well.

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South American Saga

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

I am home. My budget was blown, my luggage (and my business casual wardrobe) was lost, and my trip was an utter fail. But with all that went wrong I still feel lucky. News comes in from Chile, people are still waiting to get out of Santiago, and many are trying to get in to reunite with families. I understand that my problems are nothing comparatively. It’s difficult to find a balance between properly respecting the tragedy and telling the crazy tale of the-mba-trip-that-never-was.


Like many others, my plane to Santiago u-turned very close to our final destination, stranding me in an airport for hours with a dozen+ mbas and thousands of frantic worried travelers. The language barrier was a nightmare. My flight schedule was Atlanta to Lima to Santiago. In my time zone: 5pm Friday to 3am Saturday. At 1:30, an 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile, killing hundreds, displacing over a million, and shifting the earth’s axis. A few hours after leaving Peru, I was back in the airport looking for information, a suitcase, and a way outta there. This was the beginning of a horrible relationship with the airlines. I wandered the airport for about 12 hours until we were given a hotel room to wait in until decisions could be made. Basically, the Santiago airport was closed into the foreseeable future, the mbas were stranded and completely confused, and the locals and our families in the US were desperate. Meanwhile, joe worked at home to find me a flight.


I was told my luggage was never in the system and no one would be able to find it. I left the Lima airport in miserable shape (prior to my trip, I had slept 4 out of 48 hours thanks to finals week) and desperate for a bed and a shower. Many, many calls later (and Joe’s trip to the Knoxville airport) things begin to work out. From the hotel, at 6pm Saturday, I found out i would be flying Lima to Atlanta Monday at 1am. I spent the evening with 3 other mbas (Mark, Brian, Sally Rose) in Miraflores in Lima. I managed to buy some clothes and get a shower and a short nap. The hotel provided a dinner buffet of Peruvian fare accompanied by traditional music and dance. Then an hour by the rooftop pool with an excellent view of the city and some time to calmly reflect on what was going on around me. And then I slept for 11 hours in what felt like the softest bed imaginable. I am so thankful for this 16 hours in between the days of airport madness. Because everything was so stressful, it was difficult to get in the moment and enjoy the city. But I am happy that I had this experience and that I took a risk and left the airport. And really thankful that I was able to get back in and on a plane the next day.


Sunday, I left the hotel at 10am in order to get back to the airport and to the luggage office that closed at noon. A nice cab ride over along the coast made me optimistic. Sadly, I spent hours talking to everyone in the airport remotely associated with luggage. The airport baggage office pointed to the airlines. LAN and Delta each blamed each other and bounced me back and forth. Finally, I was told to wait until 10pm when the Delta office opened. With 9 hours until i would be able to get any help and 12 hours until my flight, I hit the lounge for a Pisco Sour. Then dinner at McDonalds (couldn’t resist). About this time, I started to get a little stir crazy. I was in a huge space surrounded by a ton of people, all speaking a different language and felt utterly alone. So back to the lounge, another Pisco Sour. I met some Canadian girls from my future flight and we wasted time until Delta opened – they with stories of a 6 month trek through south america and me with my shitty airport fiasco.


The place I had been pointed at to get a boarding pass and find my bag – the office i had waited for? Still no clue what that door went to because it never opened. So I went down to Delta’s check in counter to find a huge queue snaking through the airport. I got in hoping they would be able to print my weird-ordered-from-some-lady-at-knox-airport-not-sure-this-is-gonna-work boarding pass. Luckily, the line went quickly. They started printing my ticket and looking for my luggage. No they didn’t have my bag, LAN must have it, maybe it never left Atlanta, no LAN has it, oh they don’t have it, oh here in the computer its in Fort Lauderdale and when I land I should fill out a claim in Atlanta. At this point: please just give me a ticket. I got a seat request that could be turned into a boarding pass at the gate. I quickly stifled the panic – nothing had worked so far, how could I possibly think there would be a seat on this airplane? Less than two hours until takeoff and I still had no boarding pass?! Then I get through security and find myself at the gate. with pat, senor-mba-airport-horror-story, and what does he have? the same kinda seat request – I felt doomed.


Both of us found our way onto the plane: sore, tired, and stinking, yet victorious. And after an uneventful ride back, I landed in Atlanta at 8am Monday. And there was Joe – my hero. He rented a car and drove to Atlanta to pick me up and take me home. Atlanta airport claimed my luggage was sitting in Lima still and I should fill out a claim ticket at the Knoxville airport so that i don’t have to drive back to Atlanta when my bags find their way. Taxi to the hotel where my car was parked and then finally, really, I felt like I was headed home. Drove to Knox airport where Joe had parked and spent more time looking for that damn suitcase. LAN wouldn’t fill out a claim because Delta checked the bag originally; Delta wouldn’t because LAN had accepted me as a passenger and that meant accepting my bag. The best guess is that the suitcase is sitting in some dungeon in Lima waiting with thousands of other bags to get sent to Santiago where they will be sorted at some point. Some point far away, after the Santiago airport opens, after everyone’s bags makes it there, and probably long after my strange baggage claim from Knoxville Delta working through Miami LAN is misplaced or misunderstood. That lost luggage is probably a lost cause.


Now, I am at home with the best husband, back in touch with friends and family through the miracle of cell phones and internet, a dog who wont leave my side, a bed shaped like me with my favorite blanket, water that won’t make me sick, and almost two weeks of freedom until school demands me back. Lucky indeed.


Days later, we are still celebrating my safe return. And laughing about this last little bit of the trip:
we are broke-ass-broke and drinking from a $200 bottle of scotch. Blue label is described at bottom of blends section:
johnnie walker
And here’s the story on that one:
When it became clear that i was stuck in the airport and needed to run all over the place with an extremely heavy shoulder carry-on bag, I went on a hunt for the cheapest carry-on sized bag with wheels. The lowest I could find was $300. But then at the duty free store I found a rollie that was free with the purchase of $220 worth of Johnnie Walker products. So of course I chose the option where I saved $80 and got $220 of free whiskey. Since I had to shop according to customs limitations on bringing back booze: one bottle. I wound up with a bottle of blue label to bring home and a bottle of red label to leave with the 3 mbas staying in Lima.
Just so you know it tastes like silk in a woodfire.


total time from knoxville to knoxville = 72 hours
time of it in a car/bus = 10 hours
time of it in an airplane = 18 hours
time of it in an airport = 29 hours
time of it exploring actual foreign city = 15 hours

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Weekend Downtown

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

After a nice breakfast at Market Square Kitchen, settling in for paper writing at Old City Java.

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NAWMBA dinner

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Went to Litton’s in North Knox on Friday. The food was delicious, as usual, and the desserts were amazing.


It was nice to have a girl’s night and to talk more to the second-year MBAs. There were only two of us 2010ers there. Got some input on the summer internship search and found that someone else is looking for west coast jobs as well.


If you ever get a chance to try a Baby Jane, don’t pass it up. It’s worth packing up half of your meal so that you have room left.


Check out Litton’s.

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Resume

Monday, September 28th, 2009

AMANDA DAWN HINTON

210 Tall Oaks Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37920 ● (828)280-7178 ● chromaculture@gmail.com ● www.chromaculture.com



SUMMARY



I aim to add value with innovative marketing strategies that create new means of dialogue and strengthen the bonds between provider and consumer. Seeking an organization that truly commits to creativity, takes smart risks, incites new thought and action, and leads through team building.



EDUCATION



Master of Business Administration, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

12/2010
Concentrations: Marketing, Logistics



Bachelor of Arts, St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD

05/2004
Concentrations: Philosophy, History of Mathematics and Science
St. John’s Grant Recipient, Outstanding Mathematics Student Scholarship Recipient



EXPERIENCE



General Manager, World Grotto, Knoxville, TN 12/2007 – 05/2009
• Ultimately responsible for strategy and execution for day-to-day operations, employees, and finances of a prominent music venue, gallery, and lounge with half a million dollars in annual sales
• Built sales and reputation by improving products and identity resulting in an 18% increase of gross profits
• Reached for new clientele through design and creation of promotional materials and by implementing new marketing programs
• Decreased shrinkage by 29%, maintained through employee training and inventory tracking
• Developed business processes and reporting for gallery and music events, payroll, ordering, cash-handling, employee reviews, promotions, and terminations
• Created more efficient use of space: re-designed staff areas to ensure faster service, developed and merchandised public area to increase sales and improve customer experience, converted storage to organized workspaces for five



Business Manager, AIS and AAF, Knoxville, TN 08/2006 – 12/2007
• Analyzed and improved financial processes and office systems, including cost tracking and budgeting
• Directed AIS to ISO compliance through improvements in data collection and business documentation
• Led AAF from bankruptcy to profitability by directing a complete restructuring of operations, management, and financial practices
• Served as primary contact for vendors, customers, and union and non-union employees



Assistant General Manager, Books-A-Million, Asheville, TN 10/2004 – 06/2006
• Supervised all aspects of operating a 25,000 square foot retail store averaging $1,000,000 in annual sales
• Merchandised and organized $500,000 worth of inventory resulting in our store becoming a benchmark for the region
• Managed a team of 20-30 employees, including hiring, training, reviewing and payroll
• Protected and reported financial standing through daily sales reporting, preparing store for audit and inventory, and loss prevention
• Maintained a storewide focus on excellent customer service

SKILLS and INTERESTS



MS Office ● Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign ● Quickbooks ● Social Media ● Graphic Design ● Visual Display of Quantitative Data ● Culinary Prowess ● Literature ● Printmaking

ACTIVITIES



• TOMBA: Tennessee Organization of MBAs
since 2009

• NAWMBA: National Association of Women MBAs
since 2009
2010 President

• Beta Gamma Sigma (business honor society)
since 2010

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