Sanjay HathiramaniJournal #1
It is my second week working for VeeV Spirits and, so far, I am having a blast. The office is made from sustainable materials including bamboo floors, and is shared with the ‘Environmental Media Association” as suitemates. I have been given my own business cards, which are printed on recycled paper of course, and every email that leaves my Outbox is complete with an email signature that reads “Save trees… print only if absolutely necessary”.
The office only has 8 employees, including the founders, which work in the Los Angeles headquarters. The first couple of days involved getting trained and oriented regarding the product and company attributes. Since Day 1, I have been invited to jump on to every important conference call, and been included in most meetings the founders agree to, which is quite exciting.
My work so far has involved liaising with the marketing team, going to eco-friendly events that VeeV sponsors and spearheading the creation of a digital marketing campaign with a social media spin. This has involved me doing market research into comparable companies, and then pulling together the best practices of the industry.
I am also in the midst of finding out whether the legal structure of VeeV Spirits can be changed from an LLC, to a B Corp. This involves a stipulation that the management must make a decision on—not only based on profitability, but also based on the effect it has on society, the environment, and other externalities.
Journal #2
It is my sixth week working for VeeV Spirits and this is definitely the most fun job I have ever had! I have been to many events for worthwhile charities and green organizations that VeeV has donated product for, in addition to visiting many of our local accounts to raise awareness for the product among our target demographic.
I am in charge of setting up a company-wide Community Service Day for all the employees of VeeV’s LA office which entails maintaining trials and removing non-native plant life at the Ballona Wetlands. This is our chance to give back to the environment even more. Everyone is pumped to have this team-building experience coming up.
I had a meeting with some lawyers today to discuss the legal structure of VeeV Spirits can be changed from an LLC, to a B Corp, and it looks like we are going to go through with the transformation meaning that an addendum will be added to the partnership agreement stipulating that the management must make decisions not only based on profitability, but also must take into account the effect on society, the environment, and other externalities.
Other than this, I have been spearheading VeeV’s digital marketing campaign by managing all of their social media and interacting with our online community of fans. I do this quite regularly in order to increase engagement, awareness and the trial of our product.
Journal #3
It is my last week working for VeeV Spirits and I don’t ever want the summer to end. I have been enjoying this internship so much, it is going to be difficult to leave. Just this week, one of the Managing Partners took me on a boat belonging to and steered by the founder of Tom’s Shoes (the socially responsible shoes that boast 1 pair given to a child in Africa for every pair bought). The opportunity to mingle with all these young entrepreneurs that are very socially minded is amazing.
Beyond this, we just got VeeV into Ralph’s and Pavillions – which are two California supermarket chains. I was asked to do a sampling, which basically involves me standing in one of these stores trying to sell the product (but without giving tastes, because it is against Califonia state law). I managed to sell 16 bottles in 3 hours, which my bosses found very impressive. It made them wonder why they didn’t utilize me sooner in this regard.
VeeV has grown in the past 10 weeks since I have been here. It announced a nationwide roll-out of its product and made strategic alliances with Lexus Hybrid and Virgin America. In the fall, VeeV will also be available on all Disney properties. Actually, one of my meetings this week is with the head of social media at Virgin Airways. I am going to convince them that we should use our commonalities surrounding eco-friendliness to launch a joint campaign on Facebook in order to leverage each other’s online fan base.
The VeeV employees have become a family to me as we all have the common goal to revolutionize the alcohol industry into becoming more socially responsible.
