What it’s Like to Work at Blue Planet Eyewear

            So you may be curious what it’s like to actually work at Blue Planet Eyewear. From what followers might see on our Instagram, it probably seems pretty cool to be out volunteering with the team each month going on all sorts of adventures -- and it is cool to work here. My journey at Blue Planet Eyewear has definitely been interesting -- in a good way, of course.

            Let me introduce myself. I’m Sophia Nakasone and I’m from Carpinteria, CA. I’m a student at UC Irvine going into my second year studying business economics and criminology. My first year was quickly ending when I heard Blue Planet was hiring. I actually had no idea what the company was about when first applying. I was up very, very late studying for finals when I saw that Lisa, the CEO, posted on our Carpinteria community Facebook page asking about warehouse associates, and because I was desperate for work over the summer, I emailed her my resume and cover letter. I didn’t really know what the title “warehouse associate” meant. All I knew was it meant cash over the summer, and I was all about that.

            She emails me back a day later and asks me to come into the office for an interview. So, I came back a few days after I settle in after moving back home for the interview. I dressed nicely -- probably too nice to be interviewing for a warehouse job, but again, I didn’t really know what that meant. Eventually, the interview turned into more of a conversation about what I want out of my time here. I had some experience doing some sales and marketing jobs in high school, so I said I could offer some of my limited abilities in that department.

            Fast forward to about a month later, and I sort of end up doing mostly marketing and PR. I think, “Wow, here I am with, like, a real job at 18 years old. People DO this for a living!” I was proud of myself, to say the least. Basically, I’ve been the one behind the scenes on our Instagram, promoting the giveaways, organizing Random Acts of Kindness events, and collaborating with other marketing reps from notable companies. However, I’ve also pulled orders in the warehouse, seen how Blue Planet runs operationally, gone with Matt and the team on Random Acts of Kindness adventures, seen how sunglasses and reader samples are dealt with, done sales spreadsheets, and helped with product development. In a nutshell, I’ve gotten a pretty wide scope of how the company runs and what running a business is like during my summer working here.

            It’s been really eye-opening to have this experience. Because I didn’t have much experience managing companies’ social media platforms, or doing anything marketing-related that actually required directly communicating with reps, it got a little overwhelming at times, but it’s been really good work experience and it’s given me a great idea of what it would be like to make a career out of this. It saddens me to leave my position to go back to school, but I’m very grateful for having this opportunity and it’s taught me a good lesson on how things can happen unexpectedly. Instead of simply being a warehouse associate, I’ve turned my position into more of an apprenticeship to see what it’s like to work for a company like Blue Planet Eyewear.