How My Finance Internship at Ethan Stowell Restaurants Gave Me Valuable Real-World Experience

One of the fastest ways to learn is to apply your theoretical skills in a real-world setting. This past summer, I did exactly that when I interned at Ethan Stowell Restaurants in the finance department.

Ethan Stowell Restaurants is a large restaurant chain in Seattle consisting of 20 different restaurants, and each restaurant has its own unique theme. The theme is based on the location and culture of the neighborhood in that area, so within Ethan Stowell Restaurants, there is a diverse range of cuisines that include Italian, Asian, Mexican, NY style Pizza, and American concepts. The wide variety of restaurants meant that as an intern, I had the chance to tackle several projects and push myself to learn new things about an unfamiliar industry. From helping the CFO create the 2020 budget to reconciling credit statements to researching potential restaurant loyalty platforms, my internship helped me develop critical skills to be successful in the real world. Here are the three main ways I left my finance internship with tangible skills and valuable experiences:

I built on the skills I learned in classes to generate real deliverables.

Coming into Seattle for my junior summer internship, my prior finance experience included taking a financial accounting class and participating in the 3-week intensive Tuck Bridge Program. The skills I acquired from the classroom include reading balance sheets, creating a cash flow statement, and marketing strategies to generate a broader customer base. Going into my internship, I knew this would be a great opportunity for me to apply the skills into a real-world scenario. Throughout most of the ten weeks, I worked very closely with the CFO on budgeting for 20 different restaurants. Through using Excel, I created a proforma statement for each restaurant by pulling together past balance sheets, cash flow statements, and rent lease agreements to calculate future revenue and expenses. As a final cumulative project, I combined my knowledge from working closely with all 20 restaurants into creating a draft proposal for a bid for a new, exciting restaurant space.

I learned about a new industry – including how successful restaurants are run.

This past summer was the first time I had ever worked in the restaurant business. Coming in, I did not understand how the restaurant business model works and what makes a restaurant successful. However, I saw this challenge as a learning opportunity to expand my horizons. Some key takeaways I learned through working at Ethan Stowell Restaurants is the importance of location, hiring staff, and the type of funding used to open a restaurant – all factors that tie into the analytical background I already had.

For location, it’s essential to understand the geographic market trends and how that affects the pricing and demand of a restaurant. Everything from the menu items to the atmosphere of a restaurant are influenced by the income levels of that geographic area, so it’s important to calculate accordingly. Hiring the right amount of people also requires close calculations – even the time of year influences how many people should be staffed at any given time. Finally, there are several ways to fund a restaurant. Some methods, like debt financing, gives the owner more autonomy when it comes to making decisions related to the restaurant. While there are countless other details that go into establishing a successful restaurant, my internship opened my eyes to these important factors.   

I had the chance to explore my career interest in marketing by contributing to an exciting project.

Prior to my internship at Ethan Stowell Restaurants, I had already completed a marketing internship at a venture capital firm where my role was to understand our customer platform and how to market projects to them. After working in a marketing role last summer, I considered marketing as a potential career choice. I expressed my interest to the President of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, and he helped me get on board with the Loyalty Platform project by introducing me to the VP of Marketing, who allowed me to apply my interest in marketing with a real-world project.

My role in marketing involved looking into loyalty programs that align both with the company and customer goals. For example, from a company perspective, we wanted to find a program that has strong security to prevent theft and fraud and could protect customer information. From a customer perspective, we wanted to make sure we had flexibility with rewarding points. Since each restaurant has its own unique concept and menu, we had to make sure the points were awarded fairly, and the customers can easily understand how they can earn rewards. Through working on the marketing project, I learned what contributes to a product that can satisfy and retain customers, while also meeting company needs.

My internship at Ethan Stowell Restaurants allowed me to gain real-world experience in a wide range of areas. The projects I worked on allowed me to apply the finance expertise I gained from the classroom to real projects; I learned what it takes to open and operate a successful restaurant; and I explored my interest in marketing with a hands-on project. I’m grateful that my experience at Ethan Stowell Restaurants provided me with tangible skills and valuable experiences, and I plan on carrying those skills into my future career.