Life After Alyce

By Nina Butler on July 25, 2019

left to right: Ethan Gainsboro, Katherine Hui, Sabrina Choa, Owen Searle, Sumukh Setty (not pictured: Daniel Starr)

One summer, six rockstar interns and their endless contributions later, here’s how Alyce’s hummingbird will follow them on their journey’s back to school.  

Ethan

Sales Intern
Sophomore, University of Michigan, Undeclared

On my first day, I truly had no idea what to expect. I was excited but didn’t even fully comprehend what Alyce did. What a difference three months can make. Alyce was my first real, 40 hours per week job and I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity and experience. At Alyce, we have four core values that serve as the backbone of the company. The value that resonated with me the most is unwrapping the possibility, which means always trying to be your best self and push yourself to be the best you can possibly be. With any sales team, there is always worry that competition between members can result in a toxic culture and dynamic. Simply put, my colleagues at Alyce could not be any different. Each closed deal for one sales rep is as big of a win for the rest of the team and company. At Alyce, I learned what it means to be part of a motivated team all moving towards similar goals. 

Katherine

Sales Intern
Junior, UChicago, Economics and Psychology double major

I remember when I was first interviewing with Alyce for my internship; everyone I talked to told me about how Alyce was a place where people genuinely practiced its four core values. I remember being somewhat skeptical at the time as most companies claim the same things. However, since coming here, I’ve found that not only does everyone at Alyce genuinely practice these core values both in and out of work, but Alyce, as a company, also sticks to its values as seen in how it has developed and continues to grow its vision and product. I’ve been a part of many meetings at Alyce that always begin with a restatement of Alyce’s mission so that we never lose sight of what Alyce is truly meant to be. With this internship, it has been absolutely amazing and inspirational for me to find such a large group of people who are all guided by these four core values in everything that they do. As a result, I can’t wait to go back to school in the fall and to take Alyce’s values with me, whether it’s giving first by buying coffee and a donut for a friend who’s super stressed about an exam or unwrapping the possibility by continuing to push myself in my second half of college. 

Sabrina

Operations Intern
Senior, UMass Amherst, Business Management and Social Sustainable Food Entrepreneurship dual degree

The people of Alyce embody their core values everyday inside and outside of the office. Gratitude and empathy are often times something hard to find and even harder to learn but that is what I think of when I work at Alyce. The people at Alyce care and spend their days trying to make human connections easier for our customers. In my first week, the amount of appreciation I saw for other people and genuine interactions between people was amazing. These were people that didn’t see the glass half full or half empty, they saw the glass itself in a world where not everyone had one or their glasses were filled with dirty water. Saying you practice empathy and constantly give first is different than actually achieving it, which Alyce does. No matter where I work or what I do after this internship, Alyce has taught me the value of pushing oneself to do better and be better through authentic interactions of openness and acceptance of different perspectives.

Owen 

Operations Intern
Sophomore, Harvard, Economics and Pre-Med

Alyce has provided a workplace unlike any other that I have experienced; instead of being a competitive and uptight environment, I have found Alyce to be a climate that values progress, flexibility, and teamwork. Each and every person that I have met here is an extremely driven individual who holds his or herself to the highest of standards. This alone is probably not rare; most successful start-ups are filled with motivated people. What has really struck me is how adaptable and cooperative everyone is. Although I am officially working in operations, I have been able to sit down, share ideas, and discuss with individuals from finance, marketing, sales, and product. Everyone at Alyce leaves their egos at the door and is open to new ideas and dialogues. I am sure that this flexibility, creativity, and willingness to collaborate has contributed significantly to the growth and success that Alyce has enjoyed since its conception, and I am excited to carry these values with me in my future endeavors. Regardless of what I choose to pursue, keeping an open mind and being willing to work with individuals who specialize in various disciplines often yields the most creative, innovative, and successful results.

Sumukh

Marketing Intern
Junior, Babson College, Business Administration

One thing I have been amazed to experience at Alyce is the voice the leadership gives to every single employee, regardless of role. Suggestions and feedback are taken extremely seriously, and even as an intern, I have been fortunate to chat and bounce ideas off of people from a variety of other departments. In previous jobs, it has often times felt like my voice or other intern’s voices weren’t necessarily heard, but Alyce has consistently proved to be an environment that fosters the opposite and emphasizes seizing the present regardless of who’s idea it is. As someone that runs projects and works with a variety of teams inside and outside the classroom, creating an environment where everyone is heard has become a key takeaway of my time at Alyce. I am excited to return back to school in the fall with this particular value in mind, and make an effort to hear people out and implement their feedback (if applicable and feasible) as much as we can. This also gives me a great barometer for the type of company I want to work for in the future, and make sure that I’m at a place where I feel heard and can make others feel heard at the same time.

Daniel

Sales Intern
Junior, Boston University, Finance

When I first started working at Alyce, I had no idea what to expect. Having never worked at a small business before, the only conceptions I had about startup culture were from watching shows like Silicon Valley; imagine futuristic office spaces filled with young techies in flip flops. At the same time, I had very contrary ideas about summer internships. As a finance major, when it came to how I thought internships were structured, I’d imagine young college students wearing suits and ties and clocking in to a cubicle from 9-5. In reality, I found a nice middle ground to these two opposing ideas. Whereas Alyce certainly has a fun and easy going culture when it comes to attire, workspace layout, and having an abundance of snacks stocked in the pantry, Alyce was also a very professional place where I not only learned a lot but was also surrounded by a lot of hardworking people trying to grow a company. I enjoyed that easy going workplace culture you’d imagine typical of a tech-startup company, while still taking away the type of professional skills and learnings you’d expect from a more formal internship setting. If I had to boil down this dichotomy, I’d say it helped to instill in me the value of culture balance. I’m definitely going to seek out a workplace that promotes this type of balance and focus on values in the future, and if I ever find myself leading a team or company, I’ll look to promote these ideas too. 

Do you have an upcoming co-op or internship you are considering opportunities for? Alyce could be your next home away from home and step in your career! Drop us a line at hi@alyce.com – we’d love to chat.