Part of our internship program involves each intern writing a weekly blog about a particular topic they’ve learned or discovered. Today, Drew Gowan, interning with us this summer from Hanover College, has tackled the blog:
In addition to helping with our Kids Riding Bikes programming, Drew has had the opportunity learn about the business side of nonprofits during his time at Nine13sports.
I recently had the opportunity to shadow our founder Tom during one of his afternoon meetings. It was something rather exciting and a little different than the usual day at Nine13 considering there were no bikes involved.
I am studying economics and business at Hanover, so it was a treat for me to be a fly on the wall during Tom’s meeting. I wanted to learn more about the business side of running a nonprofit and this was a perfect opportunity. To my surprise the meeting wasn’t anything like what I had assumed from the multitude of TV shows had prepared me for (not that there aren’t business meetings like those). There were no suits or big tables with lots of people around them. It was actually just two guys (and an intern), dressed normally and having a conversation over a cup of coffee. Before we got there Tom told me the thing he strives to get out of these meetings is a connection, a new friendship that can foster success and assistance immediately or later down the road for both parties.
I found it intriguing how easily the conversation flowed. If I hadn’t previously known, I would have assumed Tom and Dane had known each other for years. They just chatted away, mainly about Indy, a city that they both loved very much and cared to change for the better. Obviously they also shared the story of each others respective businesses/organizations and how they could help each other. The meeting ended with the exchanging of business cards.
That day had nothing to do with bikes, so it was an abnormal day at Nine13 for me, but I also learned a lot in a short amount of time about different aspects of going about business. And I am lucky to have gone with Tom to that meeting, and very lucky to be an intern at Nine13sports where I work with some awesome people and continually grow as a person.