June 13, 2024 – DENTON – Ashlyn Everett’s first internship is a slam dunk.
The Texas Woman’s senior has a summer internship with the Dallas Mavericks. Not only does Everett get to experience working for a professional basketball team, she also gets to experience the excitement of a team vying for an NBA championship.
Everett, who is double majoring in fashion merchandising and marketing, started her merchandising internship the first week in June, right when the NBA Finals were kicking off.
“My first week was so exciting,” Everett said. “Having the first game in the finals take place during my first week was a really good experience for me to see what goes on behind the scenes.”
Even though the start of her internship was atypical in some ways, Everett still had to go through the ropes of learning a new position.
“Overall, the week was spent doing various orientations with other interns and training with my merchandising team,” Everett said. “The day of the first game, we took a tour of all the merchandise stores at American Airlines (Center) and got a feel of what we would be doing that night. For the first watch party I worked in our main store, The Hangar, and got to help customers shop and find what they were looking for.”
Merchandise sales peak during the playoffs so Everett has been busy with customer service duties.
“I have been working on spreadsheets, updating orders and also responding to customer emails regarding their purchases,” Everett said. “As you can imagine, we are receiving lots of orders.”
Everett said there was an amazing atmosphere around the office during the finals.
“Everyone is so nice and excited for the Mavs,” Everett said. “Our CEO Cynt (Marshall) has been incredible at getting everyone hyped up for the finals and reminding us to enjoy and be present in this moment. The first week I was so nervous and stressed to start my internship that I wasn’t being present. My merchandising team helped me become more confident and excited for this time.”
Win or lose, Everett still has the entire summer to learn all facets of merchandising, including product development, inventory management and merchandise boards.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to work with amazing leaders and I am soaking up all the information I get,” she said.