Posted April 15, 2016 by
Tags:
Internship My Wheaton
Business, Bandages, Liberal Arts Learning
A year and a half ago, I read an article in the Wheaton College newspaper, The Wheaton Record, about the startup company Tru-Colour Bandages, a bandage company comprised completely of Wheaton students and Wheaton alumni that make and sell adhesive bandages matching skin tones darker than the typical beige bandage. I contacted the founder, Wheaton alumnus Toby Meisenheimer '96, with the goal of joining a small team of passionate people and bringing change to the bandage industry. After finding out I was majoring in business/economics at Wheaton, Toby offered me a job on the spot.
Early on, I dug up press opportunities for the company, reached out to influencers, tried to make bulk sales, and actually drove to the post office to mail bandage packs to our customers. Since then, my role has evolved along with the needs and demands of the company. At the moment, I’m the Vice President of Business Development, and I help the other members of the executive team plan how our company represents itself. I also manage some of our larger potential sales deals we are currently working on, both with stores and healthcare systems.
I’ve been honored to use the skills I have learned from Wheaton’s business and economics department during my time at Tru-Colour. Wheaton’s academic rigor, as well as its incredibly talented faculty and student body, has challenged and transformed how I view the business world; I regularly pitch our product to people who have been in the business world longer than I have been alive! My time at Tru-Colour would not have been possible without my Wheaton education, as I’ve learned to weather criticism, endure tough meetings and sales calls, and foster deep relationships with a team. Pursuing a liberal arts education has given me the freedom to learn from many disciplines and to experiment with ideas and concepts that I would have otherwise been unable to.
Wes ’17is a business/economics major with an international relations minor. To learn more about Tru-Colour, visit their website.
Photo Captions: Wes and Toby display a Tru-Colour bandage; representing Tru-Colour on the radio station Faith Marketplace; typical Tru-Colour business meeting.
Photo Credit: Ryan Tolbert, Tru-Colour Bandages