Coca-Cola 2018 ‘Pay It Forward’ Internship Experience

Nailah Herbert
Aug 14, 2018
3 min read

All seven Pay It Forward (Atlanta) Interns pictured with Victor Ragland (far left), Director of the Atlanta Division, Mike Suco (far right), Vice President of CCBCU East Region, and John Sherman (center), CEO for Coca-Cola UNITED.

2018 Pay It Forward Internship Experience

This past week I had an amazing opportunity to participate in a one-week internship with the number one multinational beverage company in the world, Coca-Cola! The Pay It Forward internship was orchestrated and ran by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc.

I had the chance to meet six other like-minded interns who attend historically black colleges and universities such as my home school, Clark Atlanta University along with other schools, Morehouse and Spelman College and Savannah State University.

We kicked off the week by visiting the World of Coca-Cola located in the heart of downtown Atlanta. At the World of Coca-Cola, we received the full VIP experience tour that was led by an amazing Coca-Cola employee, Kyle, who started off by showing us Dr. Pemberton’s founding innovation process with the first Coke drink. The tour included watching a comical film in the 4D Theatre, walking through the pop culture exhibit and lastly, tasting numerous Coke products from countries including Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

The next stop was the College Park Combo facility where over 30 Coca-Cola products are created and distributed daily. The North Metro and South Metro sales center was one of my favorites stops throughout the week because I was able to sit in on a sales meeting to better my understanding in the marketing and sales business.

The best part about the entire week was meeting all the Coca-Cola employees! Throughout the week all interns were able to meet employees in a wide-range of positions such as the drivers and merchandisers, all the way up to the CEO, Mr. John Sherman. Amid meeting each employee, I noticed they all had a few things in common: A sense of pride within their respective position and their readiness to please all Coca-Cola customers, consumers, associates and employees.

I had the pleasure of meeting many Coca-Cola employees such as Carl Hill, Director of Multicultural and Community Affairs, Jamael Hester, Director of Franchise Leadership, Victor Ragland, Director of the Atlanta Division, Mike Suco, Vice President of CCBCU East Region, Bob Powell, Director of Operational Marketing and John Sherman, CEO for Coca-Cola UNITED.

I absolutely enjoyed and cherished every moment of this internship experience, I am grateful to have been a part of the Coca-Cola family for a week. I hope that other students get the opportunity to shadow, tour and experience every aspect that the Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola UNITED has to offer.

Thank you Coca-Cola!

Love,

Nailah Heard