University of Arkansas

Walton College

The Sam M. Walton College of Business

Intern Spotlight: Caroline Rosier

Caroline Rosier

Share this via:

Episode Transcript

00:00 Caroline Rosier: And my friend recommended going to talk to Dr. Thomas, 'cause she's a woman in the supply chain field and she has a very successful career, so she can tell...

00:09 Kara Patterson: Yeah, she does. She's awesome.

00:10 Caroline Rosier: She can tell you what area you'd be best in. I brought her my worries and what I was looking for in a career, and she just let me know that supply chain is very dynamic, so you don't have to stay in one place your whole life.

[music]

00:36 Kara Patterson: We are outside of the Walton Business Building, which is behind us, and today I'm talking to senior Caroline Rosier, who is graduating in May 2020, correct?

00:47 Caroline Rosier: Yes. [chuckle]

00:48 Kara Patterson: Caroline is a member of ASCA and WISE, she's also in the Supply Honor Society.

00:55 Caroline Rosier: Yes.

00:56 Kara Patterson: And she had an internship at Wright Medical this past summer in Memphis. And so, Caroline, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about what you did in your internship this summer.

01:06 Caroline Rosier: I was placed into the Wright Medical Sourcing Department, so I helped them reach their EBITDA goal of $20 million for 2020. The goal with that was to help cost reduction, cost cuts, and so we were transferring some of our products to different suppliers to save costs overseas and stuff like that. So, I helped initiate transfers, so I was given the job of filling out pre-purchase checklists, which is a blueprint in written form of the Wright products, so that the supplier can see what they're looking at and what they need to do for their production line in order to complete the process to the specifications of medical grade products that go in your body. [chuckle]

01:51 Kara Patterson: Wow, that's awesome. It sounds like you learned a lot.

01:56 Caroline Rosier: It was really interesting. Reading blueprints was pretty cool. And just seeing how the products are put together in that blueprint form was... I thought that was pretty informative, learning how to read blueprints.

02:05 Kara Patterson: Yeah, that's awesome. So, I understand that you had a really good experience this summer. Was there anything particularly interesting that stood out to you that you got to do?

02:16 Caroline Rosier: I got to go into a cadaver lab to see the product design and implementation from the beginning stages of before they put it actually in your body. So, I got to go and look at why doctors did the process and procedure before it actually goes on the production line. So, that was just cool to see the raw material of what I ordered and being it put in someone's body before it actually is put in someone's body. [chuckle] So, I found that really interesting and cool, 'cause I got to take pictures and stuff like that, so I was in it. [chuckle]

02:44 Kara Patterson: Wow, that is awesome. Very nice. Did you have anyone that you worked with this summer that maybe inspired you or mentored you?

02:54 Caroline Rosier: Wright Medical is all about having someone with you through the whole process of internship. So, you're given a person at the beginning of the summer, who is your mentor or your go-to, the person you ask questions whenever you have something going on that you're like, "I need help, I don't understand this. Can you explain this more?" And, so I was given Ben Ranin, he was in the sourcing department, and he really poured into me, let me... Showed me the ropes of what it takes to be an employee at Wright Medical, and helped me learn my process and my role as a beginning career person, or a person beginning as [chuckle] a professional.

03:29 Kara Patterson: And I understand that you got to work a lot on Excel, and got some experience there this summer and improved your skills there as well. Is that correct?

03:38 Caroline Rosier: Yes. Everything is Excel-based, which you should know, pretty much, but it's...

03:44 Kara Patterson: It helps to practice, though. Dealing with the real data and use it.

03:48 Caroline Rosier: It was cool seeing it in the real form, not a practice that you've given in class. But seeing how this impacts, what you do on the Excel impacts the actual day-to-day work, and it's with real products that you're like, "Okay, this is what happens when I move something into this category and it changes automatically." [chuckle]

04:06 Kara Patterson: Awesome. So, it sounds like you built pretty good relationships with your mentor and your other team members, I know. And then, I know you were also telling me about how you got to meet some of the VPs and get to interact and have some great conversations with them. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

04:24 Caroline Rosier: Wright Medical is all about your, like I said, it's all about the process of learning and integrating yourself, and learning new things that you might not use it right away, but you can take away for your career if you move somewhere else or if you go... Putting tools in your tool belt, that's what I'd say. And so, the VPs would tell us about their process and how they became VPs, and the skills and the assets they used in order to get where they were today. And I'm all about continuous learning outside of the classroom, so I'd always be like, after they stopped talking, I would be like, "Do you have a book that you'd recommend that you've used as your Bible, that you go to every time you wanna do something or you wanna learn more?" And so, I read one about presentation skills, and it was learning about how to keep your people engaged while you present. And then I also read one about being a manager that a VP recommended, so you can be the best manager possible for each person who's different in your team.

05:21 Kara Patterson: Awesome. So, what has been your favorite Supply Chain class?

05:26 Caroline Rosier: I really enjoyed Transportation and Distribution, because I'm a person that drives down the road and looks at all the trucks that are on the road, the 18-wheelers and just stuff like that. My uncle's in trains, so our family's been into trains for as long as I can remember. It's passed down from my grandpa.

05:41 Kara Patterson: Trains are my favorite, too.

05:43 Caroline Rosier: [chuckle] And so, seeing what is involved in each process, in each mode of transportation, that to get from point A to point B, it's really cool for me to see in front of my face. [chuckle]

05:54 Kara Patterson: Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. Why did you pick Supply Chain as a major?

06:00 Caroline Rosier: I came into Walton undeclared. I know I wanted to do business, but I didn't know what area of business, and Walton gives you a pretty full look at the business world. So you take Intro to Accounting, Intro to Supply Chain, Intro to Finance, so you get to see which class you like the best. And so, I was going into Introduction of Supply Chain, and my friend recommended going to talk to Dr. Thomas, 'cause she's a woman in the supply chain field, and she has a very successful career, so she can tell...

06:00 Kara Patterson: Yeah, she does. She's awesome.

06:00 Caroline Rosier: She can tell you what area you'd be best at. I brought her my worries and what I was looking for in a career, and she was let me know that supply chain is very dynamic, so you don't have to stay in one place your whole life, you can move around.

06:00 Kara Patterson: Yeah, that's great, that's very true. There's a lot of different paths and opportunities there, so that's really good advice. So, speaking of, do you have any advice, any last little bit of advice you'd give yourself four years ago, or an incoming freshman?

06:00 Caroline Rosier: It'll all come in time. You get into college, and you get anxious about... People are pushing career fairs, pushing your resume. But it'll come. It'll happen when it happens. So, you use all the tools that Walton gives you, like the resume career center, you can do mock interviews. So, I went and got my resume looked at at the resume center and that really helped me see what I was doing wrong, to help you be a better candidate and put your best foot forward so you can get that job. [chuckle]

07:26 Kara Patterson: That's awesome, and it clearly worked for you 'cause you had a great internship and I'm sure you'll get an amazing job. So, thank you for talking with me today. It was really cool to hear all about your internship.

07:36 Caroline Rosier: Thank you so much.

07:36 Kara Patterson: Thank you.