Ashley Bennington: Follows her passion for marketing and sales with Disney and Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Ashley Bennington, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, is a senior majoring in Sales Management. During the last two years she has participated in two unique internships.
During her sophomore year she attended the COB Career Fair and found out about the Management Training Intern Program with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. She was selected for one of the company’s 18 internship positions in the St. Louis area from a pool of over 1,000 applicants. Her internship was a very successful experience and she ended the summer with the top sales numbers in the area. Her supervisors were impressed, and she was invited back to be a summer intern again in 2014. She has accepted and began her second summer with Enterprise earlier this month.
“The first Enterprise internship lasted 11 weeks, with several days receiving training in the corporate office, and all the other days working hard in the rental branch. I was fortunate last year and I have enjoyed every moment since returning to Enterprise this summer,” says Ashley.
After her first summer with Enterprise, Ashley participated in another highly selective internship program, The Disney College Program in Orlando, Florida. “I have been a Disney fan all of my life, and I had been dreaming of working for the mouse since my freshman year of high school…After being accepted I found out that I was placed into merchandise within Downtown Disney…I worked in several locations in the West Side of the Downtown Disney area, which helped keep me on my toes each day and introduced me to people from all around the world,” says Ashley.
During the Disney College Program Ashley took advantage of many unique opportunities including a marketing seminar course with Disney marketing professionals. “The class exposed me to many sides of Disney marketing and event planning. This gave me more knowledge within my field and introduced me to some very influential people within Disney’s marketing department,” states Ashley.
Ashley recommends that other COB students consider not only internships, but also taking a variety of classes within COB that may not be required for their major saying, “There are so many amazing class options to choose from in COB, and experiencing more of a variety will help expand your understanding.” She also encourages students to join at least one campus organization.
On campus, Ashley is an active member of Sigma Kappa sorority and Rho Lambda National Honor Society. She is a Peer Leader and COB Student Ambassador and has completed both the Distinction in Public Affairs Program and Commerce Bank Emerging Leaders Program. During the upcoming academic year Ashley will be the Resident Assistant (RA) for the Bears Business Living Learning Community (BBC LLC) in Blair-Shannon. As an RA she will be mentoring freshman female students who are majoring in business.
Congratulations to Ashley on a job well done. We are proud of you!
For more information on the ranked Sales Management program contact the Business Advisement Center at 417-836-5685.