Hi hello, it’s Nichole from Nature Bee! For those of you that don’t know me, I’ve been the co-op student at Nature Bee since September and will be here until the end of December. I’m in my senior year of my BCom degree at the Gustavson School of Business (UVic) and have honestly had such a blast for the past four months here. As my co-op semester sadly comes to an end, I thought it’d be fun to recap what it’s been like to work at a start-up, specifically Nature Bee!
First of all, everyone at Nature Bee is so kind and fun that it’s been really easy to get up and go to work everyday. Katie is probably one of the coolest bosses you could ask for. She’s created such a fun and supportive environment where everyone is welcome to share their thoughts and ideas. During my four months here, I’ve gained so many new skills and tools that gives me confidence moving forward in my professional life. Since Nature Bee is still in the startup phase, the work is very collaborative and I've had the opportunity to wear many hats in my position! Katie always reminded me that I’m free to tell her what aspect of the business I’d like to learn more about and would make sure that I got the experience. I found this to be super beneficial since I was able to get a taste of different career paths I might enjoy over others in the future.
Aside from the vast variety of professional development opportunities at Nature Bee, the culture is what really stands out to me. Not only am I much more aware of how important company culture and values are to me, but I’ve also made some great friends! Since day one, all of my co-workers have been super friendly and inviting into the Nature Bee community. It’s also been incredible to see how much Katie cares for her staff. You can tell by everything she does that she cares that everyone enjoys working for Nature Bee and feels comfortable. I’ve felt truly blessed to be working in an environment where we’re encouraged to share our passions and what we did on the weekend with each other while at work, crack jokes with each other, and jam out to 70’s hits while we frantically prepare huge custom orders. I can proudly say that I would consider my boss (Katie, of course) a friend of mine along with all my co-workers in shipping, production, and design!
I am genuinely sad to be leaving Nature Bee at the end of the month to continue my degree and will miss everyone dearly. Working at Nature Bee has been such a great experience and something that I would like to greatly endorse! I am so thankful to Katie and the rest of the team for such a memorable co-op experience. Although I’m sad to be leaving, I’m also excited for the next co-op student to enjoy such a fun position. Who knows, maybe I’ll pop in every now and then and help out in production ;-)