Miles of Learning

By Rachael Kosinski ‘18

Two Foster College of Business students traveled the country as summer interns for ConAgra Foods. Mitch Kuldell ’16, a business management and marketing double major from Swansea, Illinois; and Abigail Becker ’16, a marketing major from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, tested their professional skills while learning ConAgra store brands HyVee and Publix.

Kuldell covered a territory of 21 HyVee stores across Nebraska and Iowa, while Becker worked a route of 12 Publix Grocery Supermarkets in the Southeast. Over the miles, the two students learned about themselves and corporate environments in which they hope to work.

“I soon became best friends with my car and Delta Air Lines,” quipped Becker, as she recounted trips to Omaha, Nebraska, and other locations for training, networking and presentations to senior leadership.

Kuldell focused on generating ConAgra product sales in 21 HyVee stores in his territory, and that experience solidified career goals.

“My internship helped confirm that sales is what I want to do after college,” he said. “I was so happy I took Bradley’s professional selling courses because learning sales processes really helped me hit the ground running in a real work environment.”

Becker noted the valuable experience that she received from challenges she faced throughout her internship.

“You learn to deal with objections and rejection, especially when pitching to managers while in store,” said Becker. “As a professional sales student at Bradley, I was prepared for this by the professional selling course where we were taught how to deal with different objections, and I encountered these objections on a weekly basis.”

Both Kuldell and Becker were able to show their skill and dedication to their internships through their accomplishments over the summer.

“My coworkers and managers liked to see that interns are well rounded in addition to hard working in school,” Kuldell said.