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Bowling Green State University
Nic Stouffer
This past summer, Student Painters was truly my family. Being taught the skills to successfully run a business as a college student is an opportunity that not many people my age are accustomed to. To then also be coached and taught by those who really want you to succeed as a person and those who really want to see you grow, is another aspect of this program that will stick with me forever. I personally ran a $70,000 business with a profit of around $10,000. This was a huge accomplishment in my personal life. I would not be able to say any of this if it was not for the family like atmosphere that the staff and other managers provide throughout the process. I would recommend this program to anyone who is willing to work hard and put in the effort to move themselves up the ladder as a leader and as a person. Thank you Student Painters!
Ryan Thobe
Working with Student Painters has been a great experience for me this summer. I successfully ran a $56,500 business this summer booking over 40 jobs and gaining a personal profit of over $8,000. While I was hoping to achieve a higher profit, I am still very happy with my results. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, and I couldn’t be prouder of myself. This internship helps show you the reward of hard work and teaches you all the fundamentals that are required in a business. While at times I felt like I was overwhelmed and wanted to quit, but I was able to take on my responsibilities and finish out the summer. I credit part of this to all the other managers driving each other and supporting each other.
Kaitlyn Kirkpatrick
This Internship has given me confidence that if there is something I want to do, I can do it. In the beginning when I had $8,000 sold in March, I was very excited and proud of my $8,000. I had no idea what was to come or how much I even expected to sell. When preseason was over I had $20,000 sold and I was once again ecstatic about how much I had sold. At the end of June, I was worried I wouldn’t even have enough to make it to August. I have $53,300 in Sales at this point. This internship has provided me with knowledge on how a business runs behind the scenes. There was a lot to take away from this job such as customer communication, time management, and leadership. I have noticed I have become more outgoing and more motivated in
Brett Fassett
Student Painters is the best internship for motivated college students to prove to themselves what they are capable of. I was given the opportunity to manage my own business that I was fully accountable for. I learned about marketing, sales, leadership, communication, time management, and all other business principles by going out and actually doing it. When I first started in the spring I was nervous, unsure, and not 100% confident. By the end of summer, I happily went back to Bowling Green State University for my third year of college after running my own $80,000 business. The amount of knowledge I have gained, skills I have polished, relationships I have built, goals that I have accomplished, and discovering what I am capable of over the past six months have made this internship opportunity incredibly worth it. I highly recommend challenging yourself with this internship if given the opportunity. A tremendous amount of help is given. You just have to trust the process, believe in yourself, and make it happen.
Austin Lesak
Coming back to Student Painters for my second year as a regional manager was the best decision I made. Being only 23 years old and saying that I helped mentored 4 college students and ran a business too, is a great achievement for myself. This internship is not for everyone, but I would still suggest that everyone try this out if you would like to run a business in the future or just to try something new instead of working at the same old summer job and not really learning anything. I have had a lot of ups and downs in this internship, but I will never regret doing this. With coming back my second year to student painters I helped oversee about $300,000 and ran a $71,000 business while profiting about $25,000. Learning so much from my first year doing student painters was great but coming back my second year with student painters was even better! I am very excited to start the full-time position for my third year with student painters and ready to learn even more. If you have ever thought about running your own business after college is over or trying to learn something new, then Student Painters is the internship that you need to get that ball rolling.
Aaron Lewandowski
Thus far this season I have learned so much about myself and my abilities that I never could of acted on in a classroom. This internship truly gives you an opportunity to test yourself in a variety of ways from being a leader and hiring marketers and painters to being a business professional. The most rewarding part about this job isn’t the great money you will earn, but the thanks you get when you get done painting a home and realize that their large investment in you paid off and that they are truly appreciative of your hard work. The training this company gives you sets you up for success. Wanting to be an entrepreneur myself in the future made it a no brainer to try this out. This job isn’t hard but does require hard work to be successful like any other business. The support system from the company is amazing, I really like everyone I have met and worked with inside the company starting from the President all the way down to other branch managers as well as the people at Sherwin Williams. Before this I was really worried about life after school and finding a job let alone one that I like. I have already received a few job offers this summer and am now i'm not worried at all about finding a job because I know what my abilities are and how far I can push myself thanks to Student Painters. I highly recommend anyone who's up for a rewarding challenge to take this on.
Ben Kister
I can honestly say that this has been a summer that I will truly never forget. At 20 years old I was faced with more adversity in one summer than some people face in whole years, but the thing that most people can't say is that they succeeded while facing it. At the end of the summer I will be blessed to be able to say that my business has generated over $60,000 in revenue. But that is not the most important number though. The most important number is 130, which is how many people I was able to meet throughout this process doing estimates. These 130 different people showed me a side of myself that I had never seen before in my life, a quiet confidence that had been building within for a long time has now come out to take on the world. Taking on this challenge I knew that it would be hard, that there would need to be a lot of effort into it, and that some days I would want to give in. Beating this challenge though I know that this experience taught me how hard I can push myself, how to lead my fellow peers, and many more things. For anyone that has a drive like none other and has a need in their life to differentiate themselves from the pack, I highly recommend to take on this challenge and step outside the comfort of your own little bubble. There's so many things out there in life that are just waiting for you to seize this opportunity and bring out your fullest potential, so that later on you can look back and say 'I would have never believed I could do that and now I can do anything.
Pat Kurtz
My name is Patrick Kurtz and I have just finished my first experience as an entrepreneur with a crew that produced $67,000 worth of business, profiting over $10,000. I have learned more in one summer than I have in my entire college career. I am currently a senior and was looking for a taste of the real world and this internship has taught me what the real world is like. Life will throw you a curve ball every now and then. That’s when you learn the most about yourself, with hard work and dedication, this internship will set you up for a successful summer and an experience that you will never forget. If you are looking for something that will develop you as a leader, manager, and entrepreneur I would recommend taking on the challenge. Stepping out of your comfort zone is important to success so give it a try and you might surprise yourself.
Robert Moore
My name is Robert Moore and I succeeded in running a healthy business in my first summer as an entrepreneur. I personally ran, with the help of my wonderful mentor Josh Drushel, a $60,000 business and profited over $10,000! If you had asked me 12 months ago if I could run a business on my own I would have laughed in your face because I thought I was too young to do so. I am not even 20 years old and I can go into a job interview tell employers stories of a $60,000 business I ran myself as a freshman in college. On top of just running this business I developed a wide skill-set that I can use in jobs in the future as well as brag about in my interviews. I gained real world business experience that cannot be taught in a classroom and can be applied to every aspect of life. I learned my limits as well as new strengths and weaknesses. I learned leaderships, management, and many other essential business skills during this internship and I challenge anyone reading this to push yourself and step out of your comfort zone and see if you too can win.
Josh Nye
When starting my freshman year at Bowling Green State University, I was looking to take the best opportunities that I could. It was not long after I had started that I was introduced to an opportunity that would let me operate my own painting business. Not only did this sound like an unbelievable opportunity, it would provide me with money to help pay for school and an experience that would look unique on a resume. I decided to take the opportunity and so my journey began. Throughout the classes and training I felt that I had just took a whole school year of classes in marketing and sales, and learned so much more about painting and dealing with customers all in about five two hour classes. I set my goal to sell and produce $75,000 of work while also running a clean, quality business with pleased painters and satisfied customers. During the course of the preseason and summer I faced many challenges and obstacles that push you to the test. With these challenges, I could have either folded up and quit or pushed through to reach my goals. I chose the latter and was able to meet my goal and will have produced $75,000 worth of work. Although numbers may be the most eye popping when reading about this experience, the amount of important skills that were also learned including communication, time management, and organization are unsurpassed. It is a tough and often times stressful internship but between the skills learned, money made, and most importantly being able to put an experience like this on a resume, the benefits will definitely outweigh the sacrifices.
Garrett Schock
If you would have told me a year ago that I would run a $40,000+ business, successfully hire and manage a team of workers, and make thousands of dollars in one summer I would assume it was all a scam and walk away. To be honest when I first joined Student Painters I was a bit skeptical of the process, I mean how could all of that really be true? Well, as it turns out, I achieved all of that and so much more. This internship has given me so many opportunities, and opened so many doors for me that no other internship could ever do. I made over $7,000 this summer, which helped me to be able to afford a top-quality apartment for when I go back to school. It boosted my resume to where I now have multiple companies interested in offering me internships for the upcoming school year. But most importantly it gave me more confidence in myself as a businessman, in my communication skills, and I have also gained so much real world experience that cannot be found anywhere but with Student Painters. I have established a strong bond with so many other successful people that I know will be beneficial later on in life, as well as created lifelong friendships. This internship is definitely not for everybody, it is by far the hardest thing I have done thus far in my life, but is easily one of the best decisions I have made as well. I would encourage anybody who is up for the challenge to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity!
Emerson Radabaugh
My experience and internship with Student Painters has done nothing but exceed every one of my expectations. I was given the opportunity to run my own business that produced more that $55,000 in revenue. I learned more in this one summer about business than I have in all my years of schooling. This internship allowed me to grow as a person and has let me improve many important skills. The experiences that I had during this internship will stick with me for a lifetime and curtaining help me in the future.
Sam Metz
In 2015 I left Bowling Green State University with a degree in philosophy. I was unsure of my plans after college. With very little money and a dead-end food service job, I took a leap of faith by going to a Student Painters information session. The info-session was held on the third floor of the student union. I entered the conference room in a t-shirt and a pair of dirty jeans. Before getting seated I was greeted by two intimidating business men in suits. These business men talked of success beyond anything I had achieved in the past. Their promises made me skeptical. Their words seemed inconsistent with reality. However, despite my doubts, I took another leap of faith. Before long, I was the manager of my own $60,000 business, I was personally responsible for the full-time jobs of 4 employees, I had a 55% sales success rating and my financial future was looking much brighter than it did as an employee of the Carillon Dining Place. As indicated in the previous paragraph, I am not a business major. Before becoming a branch manager for Student Painters I had almost no experience in sales, management, marketing or accounting. Now, at the end of my summer with Student Painters, I am comfortable selling, estimating and completing a job. I know how to effectively conduct myself in a business environment as I have attended payroll meetings in a professional setting with the CEO of Student Painters. Additionally, I have more to talk about in my next interview than a competitor who probably has not run their own business. Overall, this summer has been very rewarding and educational. By writing this testimonial, my intention is not to convince my reader that this internship is an easy way make a lot of money. The accomplishments that I have listed were not gifts. They were earned through many hours of stress, hard-work, and struggle. That being said, this opportunity is for true entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is defined by dictionary.com as “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk”. If my reader feels that this definition is descriptive of their character then I urge them to take the risk.
Cameron Delben
The journey through running a branch has been an experience, to say the least. I remember the time in October when I had just started looking into the company. The concept of running my own business pulled me in, and the story started from there. Each step throughout the program left me with lessons about business, relations, and life in general. Not only did I become a better salesman and more skilled, but I became more rounded in other areas also. Running a branch required a side of me that I had not fully used before. Not only did I have to get the sales, but produce them. After doing more than 100 estimates, I conversed with many different types of people. Some were fantastic, while others were not as great. I gained patience, understanding, and cooperation skills throughout the pre-season. Although knocking on doors in twenty degree weather wasn’t an ideal Saturday, I knew it had to be done. Later in the summer, activities like power washing for 7 hours or touch ups would come up. Those weren’t exactly my favorite either. However, running a branch takes sacrifice. As a manager, one must do whatever it takes to keep the dream alive. Every day was a new task or venture. Each day was filled with learning and the gain of experience. I would not have chosen any other internship to partake in. Student Painters has made me a better leader. Most importantly, are the lessons that I will take away from this summer.
Marissa Brubaker
Young Entrepreneurs Across America has the power to change you if you let it. When I first started this internship I was looking for something bigger than myself. I wanted to be creative and to have the power to inflict change on peoples lives in a positive way but I was restricted by the jobs I was qualified for as a 20 year old college student. I was drowning in boredom from the ordinary and mundane routine of everyday college life and I wanted to be inspired. Student Painters is more than an internship, it's a community of like minded people and it's an opportunity to bloom into a version of yourself you never thought you could be. I learned how to be confident, handle rejection, and manage all sorts of people all while keeping a smile on my face, especially through the hard times. As a 20 year old girl I hired, fired, and managed people younger and older than me and I excelled at it. I was successful for one very specific reason. If you believe you can do anything you set your mind to...I promise you, you can. You just have to believe it. I told everyone I was going to do it and few people believed me and it was that much more satisfying and humbling when all my hard work paid off. I'm proud to say I built not only my resume this summer, but a $90,000 business from the ground up in 6 months AND paid the rest of my college tuition while I was at it. Believe me, it's not easy, but it's worth it.
Joe Lisa
Going into the summer of 2017 with YEAA-Student Painters I had high expectations from the year before but my expectations were blown away! As a 20 year old I had the opportunity to train, mentor and coach 6 of my peers and help them learn how to run their own businesses and oversaw over $350,000 in revenue. This gave me more financial freedom than most college students can imagine. As a manager I improved my confidence in every situation, built my resume beyond what many employers and customers belief and most importantly gained so much more from this internship than any of my peers in their summer endeavors. All in all I have grown more as an individual, matured in many ways, and set myself up to succeed greatly and to continue succeeding as an entrepreneur and as a businessman. I had cold feet at first not having any clue how to paint or whether I could succeed my first year but with the guidance from my mentor and support from the whole Student Painters team I was able to get to where I am I today! This internship is no cakewalk but with hard work and dedication the experience itself is more than rewarding. If you are business minded or have big dreams of becoming an entrepreneur Student Painters is the right internship to get the know how and take the next step toward reaching your goals.