First Day

On my first day as an Intern Manager at Mountain High Creamery, I worked with the Co-Owner, Corley Hughes, and later with other crew members. The first thing that I did was learn how to do the Crew Member Opening Checklist so that I could help any of the crew members if they had a question about the opening. The second thing I learned was how to open the till so that it could be used once the Creamery opens. The third thing I learned was how to serve ice cream: I watched Corley do the first few while I worked the till, then I did my first service of ice cream to a customer. It was not pretty, but I knew that it would look better down the line. Overall, it was a great first day, and there was more to learn in the first week. 

After a few more day shifts, I did my first night shift. The night shift was different in many different ways. Firstly, the night shift checklist for both the manager and crew member was different compared to the day shift checklist because it was about closing the shop and making sure everything was ready for whoever was opening. I worked on the crew member checklist because I had the shift manager working with me, who was working the manager checklist. The crew member closing checklist involved putting the chairs up, bringing the outdoor signs into the shop, cleaning any dishes that were used, and covering the toppings with lids or plastic wrap. I did get a brief rundown on how to do the manager checklist, which I did with supervision the following day. 

During the first group training, we learned everything that had to do with the Creamery. Firstly, the other intern manager, Corley, and I met to discuss what was going to happen during the first training. After that, we met everyone who was working during the summer as a team and went over the history of the Creamery and why it was made, including that every week, there is a new set of flavors that go in the machines. Secondly, every person who was going to work behind the counter had to make one of every ice cream item that we can serve: Penny Hill Cone, Quarter Dollar Cup, Half Dollar Cup, Full Dollar Cup, Cone, and either a Milkshake or Jack Frost (milkshake with toppings). Once everyone had passed, we each got to choose an item that we wanted, and as a whole group, two groups were formed. One group went to make half of an order while the other team watched. The same thing happened with the other team, who made the other half of the order. Once that was done, that was the end of the first group training.

Some days during the next few weeks were either cold, cloudy, or rainy. During those days, the Creamery was quieter than usual, and the best thing to do was to make sure that everything both inside and outside the shop was in order. Each type of weather did create different challenges. When it was cold or cloudy, and when a customer came into the shop, I would always say that “it is never too cold for some ice cream,” which is a text on one of our shirts. When it rained, the challenge was making sure that customers even knew that we were still open by putting out the A-frame signs and opening the umbrellas.

The first project that I completed was the Mountain High Creamery social media calendar. This project began with me creating a calendar and putting down the weekly posts for when the flavors change at the Creamery. After that, it was time to put in holidays that would be used for a story post. While I was looking at the holidays, there was a challenge with finding when the events were happening around the Sun Valley area. Once I found the most accurate website, I added the dates that could have a story post or be used in a regular post on the calendar.