I was lucky enough to spend my spring break at Quirky, a startup com­pany in New York City that works to make “social prod­uct devel­op­ment” a real­ity.  In other words, Quirky asks any­one from any­where in the world to sub­mit their ideas for inven­tions, and then if that idea is cho­sen, their entire team will work to try to turn that idea into a prod­uct on inon the mar­ket.  Pretty cool, right?  Even bet­ter, I got to take part in the process this week for choos­ing the ideas that the com­pany will work on and so much more.  I had the chance to meet with employ­ees with many dif­fer­ent spe­cial­ties within the com­pany rang­ing from prod­uct design to brand man­age­ment to oper­a­tions.  So much hap­pened in only three days, and as a result, this Princetern­ship has given me a life-changing per­spec­tive about my career search.

When I arrived, I met the other two Prince­ton stu­dents who were involved in this expe­ri­ence with me and we were given a full tour of the new Quirky head­quar­ters.  This office was unlike any­thing I had ever seen: the con­fer­ence rooms had glass walls so that the space felt open for col­lab­o­ra­tion.  The tables in each room were designed by the Quirky team and were sup­ported by unique objects such as sinks, toi­lets, and high school lock­ers.  The main office space was also a large open room so that there was no sep­a­ra­tion among employ­ees and depart­ments.  This setup really cap­tures the atmos­phere of Quirky where every­one works together on all of the steps in the prod­uct devel­op­ment process and where every­one is enthu­si­as­ti­cally engaged in the company’s mis­sion.  This was demon­strated to us as well; even though we were hosted by one per­son, we still had the chance to fully inter­act with over fif­teen other employ­ees and depart­ments.  Our expe­ri­ence really showed the team-oriented envi­ron­ment of Quirky and the hard work that is put in by all of the peo­ple who work there to make their com­pany successful.

Reena, Nikki Laf­fel Kauf­man, fel­low Princeterns, and Quirky Staff

Most impor­tantly, I want to take this oppor­tu­nity to once again thank our alum, Nikki Laf­fel Kauf­man ’07, for mak­ing this Princetern­ship pos­si­ble.  I got my first real expe­ri­ence in busi­ness and I met a wide range of peo­ple who have been valu­able resources in help­ing me fig­ure out my next step in my career jour­ney and to learn about the real types of oppor­tu­ni­ties that are out there.  The peo­ple at Quirky are what really make this com­pany incred­i­ble, and I am deeply grate­ful to have got­ten to spend time with them over the past three days.  Thank you again, Nikki and the entire Quirky team, for mak­ing my spring break unforgettable!