Daily life in the Bellevue office is very different from how we expected it. Everyone is far more laid back then we expected them to be yet are very good at buckling down when they need to. It really shows when the sales figures come out. Daily life really gets going at around 8:15. We check our email, return messages and look at our calender for the day. Depending on which department we are in we check in with oursupervisor for that day and see if they have anyting for us to do. Then we go to starbucks literally every day. Its in another building which blows but it is a daily necessity. Then we come back and do whatever tasks have been assigned to us that day while usually constantly working on the vegas sales conference. We pretty much do that everyday with different odd jobs in between. We have also been working on a presentation we have to do for all the managers at the end of the internship.

Ashley and I pretty much do the same thing so this is a joint blog*

Alex

I don’t feel like I am even close to knowing what I want to do when I grow up. Ive always wanted to be a glass blower but I really, really don’t like being burned and Ive heard that is a common occurrence in a glass blowing studio. I also want to be a cake decorator and work for ace of cakes but I would have to go to culinary school for 3 more years and my parents wont let me drop out of USD. Another one of my dream jobs is to be an interior designer but that again is more school. And then I want to own a subway franchise.

I doubt that I will ever hold one of these jobs but I’m still crossing my fingers on the subway franchise. I do know that through doing this internship I have found that I would not mind working in an office environment. I really want to do something creative because I consider myself to be very creative. I like Gallagher because there is room for creativity and growth. No one here seems to to the same thing everyday and that is really refreshing. I honestly don’t know what my future career is but I do know that I can see myself at Gallagher, especially if my mom lets me take over her book -alex

Since Ashley is my twin we had a very similar fourth of July and I have to agree with her when she says the fireworks were the highlight. We also took part in a lot of the activites we enjoy doing at the lake like boating, tanning and eating fried food. The lake was still freezing since summer came so late this year but that didn’t stop anyone from jumping in or being pushed in the lake. As a family we played a very competitive game of petanque which is a french version of bocchi ball and is very fun to play in the woods because of the varied terrain. There are no rules in Idaho and that is what makes it so fun and relaxing. All in all it was a great family weekend and an ongoing family tradition that gets better with every passing year. It was hard to come back to work on Monday.

It has been great being back at the office. We have been working in sales for the past two weeks but it has been a little slow due to the fact that a holiday is coming up. I have been doing a lot of contract reviews and R cubed reviews to get prepared to switch over to benefitpoint. Ashley and I have been given the task of almost completely planning the entire Vegas sales conference that takes place in September. We have been busy coordinating rooms, conference rooms, cocktail parties and pool cabana’s with Planet Hollywood. I have also been contacting the carriers and dealing with the budget. It has been a lot of work and organizing but it is great that everyone trusts us enough to plan the entire conference.

- Alex

Spending the week in Itasca was a lot of fun. We met a ton of interesting and fun people from all over the country. There was a good balance of both work and play. The leaders did an amazing job of “herding cats” and the accomodations were incredible. We learned all about the Gallagher way and the direction the company is heading. There are some great opportunities in this company and this week really highlighted that. I came back with more friends, contacts and knowledge then I ever expected. This internship has been a great insight into how important insurance is to our daily lives. I would go back in a heartbeat.

- Alex