Photo by: Parker Waters
Muller Follows Father’s Footsteps in Summer Internship
Aug 17, 2018 | Women's Tennis
NEW ORLEANS – Young professionals are encouraged to pursue their dreams when embarking on their career paths, but those paths often have forks along the way. Heading into her senior year, Tulane women's tennis student-athlete Elena Muller is diversifying her experiences before graduation with hopes of making decisions when she encounters those splits in the road.
Most student-athletes cherish their summer months to relax, vacation and spend time with family and friends. Muller pushed those plans back to better position herself for life after tennis by taking on a 10-week international marketing internship focusing on the Asia-Pacific region at Mary Kay, Inc. in Addison, Texas.
Why that industry and why Mary Kay? It's a valid question for Muller, who is double-majoring in English and public relations at Tulane, but she has a simple answer.
"I've always been interested in the skincare industry because my dad is in it, and I basically grew up in it," Muller said. "I really wanted to see what working inside a global company is all about."
Her father, John, was a former tennis player at the University of Connecticut and went on to create his own company, Revision Skincare. After many successful years of growing the business, he sold his creation to a private equity firm. However, Elena's passion for the industry hasn't wavered one bit.
The initiative to pursue the internship was all her doing. She didn't earn any college class credits. She had to apply to specific departments within companies that piqued her interest. She was fortunate to be one of 45 selected by Mary Kay.
"I'm not a business major, so I had a bit of a learning curve," Muller admitted. "I was thrown into it right away working on project after project. I was treated like a full-time employee and not an intern, so it was a lot of fun for me."
Mary Kay's focus in the Asia-Pacific region includes nine countries. Muller made four presentations by phone for the duration the internship, and among other responsibilities provided weekly updates to the company's largest market in the region – Hong Kong – with the emphasis on maintaining a productive and fluent line of communication. It wasn't as easy as it sounds, although Muller knew she had a steady shoulder to lean on when she faced adversity on the job.
"When I told my dad I was struggling in the marketing area, he told me to just stick with it," Muller said. "He said I would get the hang of it and was supportive the whole time. He constantly reminded me that I was capable of doing it. At the end, he told me that now I realize what I want going forward."
Muller credits her ability to multitask and prioritize as personal strengths that led to her internship team's success. Before the experience, she never imagined project management having so many things in common with college tennis. That changed over the course of 10 weeks.
"I really enjoyed the team element," Muller said. "It reminded me of my team at Tulane because everything involves communication. I worked with a small department of five or six people, and we all had to update each other on how what I was doing connected to what they were doing. I felt like I was good at that with my years of experience playing in a team atmosphere."
Like anything, her learning experience had positives and negatives, but like a good leader, Muller found a way to turn the negatives into positives.
"It kind of taught me what I want to do and what I don't want to do within the industry," Muller said. "The challenges were good for me, but there was a lot of data analysis. I'm more of a creative person, so moving forward, I want to explore other fields like brand development."
Finding the good within the bad is a resolution for many in all facets of life. Expected to take on the role of a senior leader, Muller is excited to bring her newfound lessons back to Tulane for the fall semester and apply her knowledge to the Green Wave's teambuilding efforts ahead of the 2018-19 season. The team is in good hands if they absorb the same lesson.
"I had to adjust to doing something out of my comfort zone," Muller said. "Now I have confidence that I can accomplish things as long as I keep my mind focused on it. Even when things seem challenging, I think anyone is capable of doing their best and we can surprise ourselves in the end."
Most student-athletes cherish their summer months to relax, vacation and spend time with family and friends. Muller pushed those plans back to better position herself for life after tennis by taking on a 10-week international marketing internship focusing on the Asia-Pacific region at Mary Kay, Inc. in Addison, Texas.
Why that industry and why Mary Kay? It's a valid question for Muller, who is double-majoring in English and public relations at Tulane, but she has a simple answer.
"I've always been interested in the skincare industry because my dad is in it, and I basically grew up in it," Muller said. "I really wanted to see what working inside a global company is all about."
Her father, John, was a former tennis player at the University of Connecticut and went on to create his own company, Revision Skincare. After many successful years of growing the business, he sold his creation to a private equity firm. However, Elena's passion for the industry hasn't wavered one bit.
The initiative to pursue the internship was all her doing. She didn't earn any college class credits. She had to apply to specific departments within companies that piqued her interest. She was fortunate to be one of 45 selected by Mary Kay.
"I'm not a business major, so I had a bit of a learning curve," Muller admitted. "I was thrown into it right away working on project after project. I was treated like a full-time employee and not an intern, so it was a lot of fun for me."
Mary Kay's focus in the Asia-Pacific region includes nine countries. Muller made four presentations by phone for the duration the internship, and among other responsibilities provided weekly updates to the company's largest market in the region – Hong Kong – with the emphasis on maintaining a productive and fluent line of communication. It wasn't as easy as it sounds, although Muller knew she had a steady shoulder to lean on when she faced adversity on the job.
"When I told my dad I was struggling in the marketing area, he told me to just stick with it," Muller said. "He said I would get the hang of it and was supportive the whole time. He constantly reminded me that I was capable of doing it. At the end, he told me that now I realize what I want going forward."
Muller credits her ability to multitask and prioritize as personal strengths that led to her internship team's success. Before the experience, she never imagined project management having so many things in common with college tennis. That changed over the course of 10 weeks.
"I really enjoyed the team element," Muller said. "It reminded me of my team at Tulane because everything involves communication. I worked with a small department of five or six people, and we all had to update each other on how what I was doing connected to what they were doing. I felt like I was good at that with my years of experience playing in a team atmosphere."
Like anything, her learning experience had positives and negatives, but like a good leader, Muller found a way to turn the negatives into positives.
"It kind of taught me what I want to do and what I don't want to do within the industry," Muller said. "The challenges were good for me, but there was a lot of data analysis. I'm more of a creative person, so moving forward, I want to explore other fields like brand development."
Finding the good within the bad is a resolution for many in all facets of life. Expected to take on the role of a senior leader, Muller is excited to bring her newfound lessons back to Tulane for the fall semester and apply her knowledge to the Green Wave's teambuilding efforts ahead of the 2018-19 season. The team is in good hands if they absorb the same lesson.
"I had to adjust to doing something out of my comfort zone," Muller said. "Now I have confidence that I can accomplish things as long as I keep my mind focused on it. Even when things seem challenging, I think anyone is capable of doing their best and we can surprise ourselves in the end."
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