First Week of Work at Coca Cola

My first week of work (not counting training at Atlanta) for Coca Cola was June 7th - June 11th.


This is what I wore for the first day of work on Monday! Tony got up early with me and took my picture! My first day of work I left around 6:45 AM and arrived at work around 7:30 AM. Since I had taken a tour, I knew where to go and who to ask for. When I arrived I met with Ron and the new summer intern at Coke, Justin. We looked through our manuals to go over the structure of the program. Next, Justin and I did a lot of orientation paperwork.

After orientation videos and paperwork, Tricia (my coach) took Justin and I out to eat at Cafe Rani, located on Magazine Street in Uptown. Uptown, and Magazine Street specificially, is a hip area in New Orleans. It has been gentrified and many young people live there. People who live there ride bikes, drink Chai tea, and are environmentally conscious. We all ate sandwiches at the cafe. Eddie (Justin's coach) met us there to talk with Justin and go over the program. While Tricia is an Account Manager (takes care of Coke customers), Eddie is a Business Development Manager (gets new Coke customers). So eventually, I hope to work with him too so that I can learn his work.


At the end of the work day on Monday, Tricia took me to a part of the Coca Cola plant to get my car. The Coca Cola plant has its own mechanic shop to work on all the cars and trucks used by Coca Cola employees. Here is my company car! It is a Ford Fusion, not sure what year. But it has everything I need! I'm very thankful for it. I've turned in my application for a gas card, and I hope to receive it soon.

On Tuesday, Tricia and I spent time in the office. She did some paperwork while I watched training videos and worked in my manual. In the afternoon, I attended the annual Summer Kick-Off Sales Rally. All Sales employees headed across Lake Pontchatrain to the Northshore into Covington (the town north of Mandeville). The sales rally was held in an indoor soccer facility that was decorated with Coca Cola signs and banners. Awkward middle school cheerleaders opened the rally with "Coke cheers!" If you will notice the man in the black polo, his name is Charlie, and he is the boss of the entire Southern Louisiana region (New Orleans, Mandeville, Metairie, Kenner, Thibadeax, Iberville, etc). He ran most of the meeting.

During the meeting, receptionists and other administrative employees danced with flags and threw stuffed soccer balls into the crowd.

Here is me, sitting at the back of the sales rally. I was a little late because I got lost.

After the sales rally, we were served a fish fry buffet outside the soccer arena. We ate at big tables under tents. Here is a picture of Tricia and I. Best friends already!!! In the background on the left is Ron. He is my rotational manager (my manager for this year while I am working in restaurants). He is a DSM, the position I will earn after my program.

At Coke, for sales employees, Mondays and Fridays are usually office days. The other work days are spent visiting clients. Our plant recently absorbed another plant in Louisiana, and we gained MANY new employees. So there are no cubicles available for me. However, next to Tricia's desk is a small counter with cabinets used to hold office supplies. So I took it over and made it my workspace. Here is a picture:

Here is a picture of me at my makeshift cubicle. I am wearing my first Coca Cola polo. On Friday, I arrived early at 7 AM to work in my manual and finish up some training before everyone else got there.

Overall, it was a beautiful first week of work!! The most important thing that I learned was: I have so much to learn!!!! This will definitely be a challenging and fascinating program!!!