LA: My First Day.... Working in Downtown LA

Today was my first official day as an intern at Showroom Seven (S7) in downtown LA!!

I woke up extremely early because I wanted to make sure I had an ample amount of time to get dressed, drive in traffic, and get to work before 9:30 (although I work from 10-6pm, I wanted to show my professionalism AKA over-excitement by getting to work early). 

Of course I didn't just blindly show up, I went one day early to "check out the scene" and to get a feel of the area. That's when I met Mr. Victor (my front desk angel). He informed me of the location of the Showroom. It is located on the mezzanine floor of the Cooper Building which houses over 40 showrooms.

He told me that a lot of showrooms are quite busy since Market is coming up and that I will see tons of models, stylists, and celebrities in the next couple of weeks. He was a HUGE help. 

So fast forward ... I got up and decided to wear a casual yet fashionable outfit that said trendy and professional but at the same time not too stuffy and corporate or too lazy and carefree.

I opted for: 

• a buttoned chambray skirt - Forever 21
• a cream silk tank with painted flowers - Route 66
• a taracatta colored cardigan (it can get chilly in the show rooms) 
• handmade brown leather strap bracelets -courtesy of a random vendor at the Starkville spring arts festival, a headband that I made into a bracelet and gold leaf earrings and a turquoise ring. 

I curled my hair and did a signature "Lauren Conrad (the intern queen) twist" for good luck ;). 

I completed the,

"I'm-a-new-intern-who-wants-to-look-the-part-yet-still-display-my-own-since-of-style-all-while-looking-carefree" look with a pair of caged drawstring booties (of course I had a pair of brown flats in my purse).

Dressed and feeling confident, I headed to work.Once there, I was introduced to Valerie (the lady who hired me) who quickly showed me around the showroom, briefly introduced me to the PR girls,(who were working intently on MacBooks) showed me the back office and my (well the interns') desk,

and then she explained to me the two halves of the showroom (sales and press/editorial)

and then put me in the hands of the  oh-so-cool "Mondo"  who put me right to work! (who was rocking skinny jeans, black vneck Tee, distressed boots and a faux hawk) He told me to change out the mannequin** outfits in the Anamaria and Kara Janx sections. When I asked "with what" he looked at me with a DUH face and replied "something cute of course." So I smiled and proceeded to dress one in a fierce structured  pink cocktail dress and the other in a flirty green dress with toulle. (notice the "unintentional" pink/green theme...you can't go wrong with that combo right??) I thought I did a pretty good job. Before I could admire my work and bask in my thoughts about actually being in the city and doing what I loved I was called to do another assignment. Visual merchandising (organizing in lamens terms) the Meghan collection by Pre Fall, Fall1, Fall2. Then I was given the task to press ALL the merchandise in the showroom (so I thought...) mondo happens to have a high position in the company but a low tone of voice so I thought he said "press"- as in steam, when really he said PRICE (checking to make sure all merchandise has a tag w/price so they are ready for the sample sale). This miscommunication was cleared up when I asked him where was the equipment and he informed me that all I needed was a pen and paper. I immediately began working and all of a sudden a tall gorgeous Asian lady came in asked about her "iced coffee" which I was prepping myself to go get since "that's what interns do" lol. But I didn't have to go get it and continued my work. Later on, a stylist came in and i got to assist her with a pull (gathering all the clothes she needed, switching out hangers, and packaging them I to garment bags). After a couple of hours I was instructed to go get lunch and pick up the dry cleaning (which I was actually excited to do since I would have the opportunity to walk downtown)

After my errand and mini break I was back to work finishing up with the pricing ad organizing the showrooms. Towards the end of the day I helped another intern (who is from the NY office) organize the back room.

I didn't mind doing this either as she gave me some tips about interning at S7 AND we even got some cool I LOVE RONSON -- designer Tshirts (left over from a celebrity gifting box) and a cool urban behavior canvas tote bag (interning has it's perks!)

I left the showroom at 6:01 that afternoon..freebies in hand! I can honestly say that I've learned sooo much just in my first day! I learned that you should always wear flats, be very enthusiastic, ask questions, and to be confident (especially with your styling abilities being that I got asked to visually merchandise items to my liking). But overall I am trying to display confidence all while remaining humble. I encourage anyone in this cut throat,fast paced, multi-tasking while A.D.D industry to take advantage of every opportunity and to soak up all the information like a sponge!

xoxo- Robyn