open happiness

With just 10 days left before I leave the States, I figure it's about time I sum up one of the most impacting experiences I have had over the past year and a half. After three semesters, one summer, and approximately 500 work hours logged, I may be winding down my time as a Trade Strategy and Optimization Analyst at Coca-Cola. It has been a surreal experience to work for a company that has been a part of my life since I was a child. As a baby, I was probably the biggest fan of Coca-Cola there ever was. 

In this year and a half, I have mastered the art of reading promotional ads and understanding how their planning affects sales. I have designed calculator tools on Excel, tested hundreds of pages of data and analytics, and observed the breakdown of sales by customer type. I have spoken with and learned from employees and executives throughout the company--from the treasury division to science and health to public affairs. And I even held the 2012 London Olympic Torch on an archives tour this summer (it was surprisingly heavy).

But the most amazing part of working here has been the realization that Coca-Cola doesn't touch lives just by providing our favorite soft drink or sponsoring our favorite sports team. The most surprising work I found that Coca-Cola does is through their Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives department. Sustainability is one of those buzzwords we hear a lot about these days. Wikipedia defines it as "the endurance of systems and processes." Different companies, governments, and organizations approach sustainability from a wide array of directions. You hear about sustainability when you talk about building new businesses or building new community structures. And if sustainability is about the endurance of systems and processes over time, specifically, the future, every company/government/organization has a stake in that. Because of this, I am sure many companies are doing a lot of work that we do not expect and probably do not even hear about. It makes sense for them because the future success of their businesses relies on people, communities, consumers. And if those communities aren't healthy enough to be consumers, where would the company be? 

I say all this because it is important to note that most work in the private sector aimed at "sustainability" is not always done selflessly. This does not lessen their merit or imply that there is some ulterior motive.

In fact, I think there is enough proof that they do not do it to garner public approval or boost sales. I had never heard of any of Coke's sustainability goals until I had worked here for seven months. And it surprised me because Coke gets so much slack for being an evil sugar conglomerate that is killing us all--you'd think they'd want to publicize the fact that they're doing just the opposite of that with their efforts in water conservation, women's empowerment, and health and well-being initiatives. But the company doesn't do these things because it wants the consumer to think it's some righteous organization out to save the world. They do it because to some extent, it is our responsibility to do what we can the better the world--to reach past ourselves. I read this article back in September, and have been meaning to post it since. I think it gives some great insight to what Coca-Cola does and the idea of "sustainability initiatives."

Well, what would this post be without my own two cent reflection at the end? Learning all of this, being exposed to this side of a large international company, had a pretty profound impact on me. I saw many parallels between what I think I want to do and what it means to work in the sustainability of a large private organization. It made me realize that I don't have to work for the government or a tiny non-profit organization to have an impact. It made me realize that I may actually be able to combine my desire to work in the corporate world with my desire to work at a global level. 

All in all, it has been a very exciting seventeen months. I could not have asked for a better first foray into the world of business and work life. Coca-Cola will always be my favorite beverage company, but now I respect it on a whole new level. I love the company culture and environment here. I love the fact that this company has had such a large global footprint and will always be intertwined with some pieces of history, especially in Atlanta. Needless to say, drinking Coke products will now have a completely new level of sentimentality.