David Parkinson came to the UO Sports Product Management (SPM) master's degree program looking for a way to help people stay safe while enjoying the outdoors. Like all SPM students between their first and final year, Parkinson is spending the summer at a paid internship in the sports product industry. Parkinson's internship took him to Quito, Ecuador, where he is working on a men's line of cycling gear for Tatoo Adventure Gear. A veteran of the United States Air Force, Parkinson was named a Tillman Scholar at the University of Oregon in 2016. Parkinson shares highlights of his internship experience in the story below.
During my internship at Tatoo Adventure Gear, I have had the opportunity to do many different things and see many sides of the business. My first month, I had the opportunity to work in the factory with developers, designers, and graphic designers. Although my main project is rolling out a new men's cycling line, I have taken on numerous small projects too. These include researching and sourcing new OEM (original equipment manufacturer) products from overseas, as well as small projects to be manufactured in the factory here in Ecuador. These projects have given me the opportunity to learn the challenges of working with Asian factories and provide insights into some of the quirks of developing products and relationships overseas. Additionally, in the factory, I have done patterning, marking, sublimation, grading, quality control, graphic design, packaging design, and even fit modeling. It has been a crazy ride so far.
One thing that has surprised me is how much my opinion is valued. When I first arrived at Tatoo, I was given my summer-long project of developing a new men's cycling line. As I tried to learn Tatoo's product development process, I quickly noticed that it was a lot different from what we learned. Tatoo had not been working with a product concept, consumer insights, or even a seasonal line plan. This became very apparent as I looked at the different designs planned for the women's line. There was no story to be told as the different models had very little, if anything, in common with each other. I asked permission to develop a concept to unify both lines and dug deep into the biking consumer in order to find that concept. Based on what I found, I created a concept presentation to present to the owners and designers that I felt resonated with our target consumer. This generated a lot of excitement with the designers because I gave them the freedom to be creative within the concept. The owners loved the idea so much that they decided to scrap their planned women's line in order to unify it with the story being told with the men's line. We are now in production of both lines and expect them to be in store shortly after I leave.
The value of my opinion did not just end with product. Recently, I was invited to attend a strategy planning meeting with the CEO, COO/CFO, CMO, and an external business development firm. Needless to say, I felt completely out of place. However, thanks to the strategy class (taught by SPM faculty member Damian Vaughn), I understood what was going on and was able to offer my opinions on a couple of strategic decisions. I found that my ideas were taken seriously and generated a lot of discussion on the right course of action to take. I was invited back to future meetings and have been encouraged to continue to speak up.
The following day I put insights from our marketing course to use when I was invited to a website design meeting with the executives, general managers of the seven stores, and programmers. Again, I was surprised at how much my comments and ideas influenced decisions. I have now transitioned to working with marketing and merchandising, where I am developing content and Facebook campaigns to promote the product lines as they go to market, as well as other various small marketing campaigns, including aiding in the design of a new company website.
My advice to my fellow students—and anyone who is considering SPM's master's degree program—is to continue to look for ways to provide value and don't be afraid to speak up—even if it's outside your area of responsibility. You never know how your ideas may impact important decisions or lead to even better ideas.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship with Tatoo and my time here in Ecuador. I have learned a lot and had the opportunity to see the entire business from design to production to commercialization. I would definitely say coming to Ecuador was a great decision. Of course, I've had a lot of fun outside of work as well, taking advantage of the easy access to high altitude climbing Quito provides by summiting multiple 15ers, a 16er, and getting within 150 meters of the summit of a 6,263 meter (20,564 feet) volcano. The people, the culture, and the food have been great and will definitely be missed once I return home. Ecuador is one of the best kept secrets of South America.