Sarah Relyea

My STEP Signature Project consisted of working with the space planning team on preparing for a product line review for their Traditional Cleaning and Commercial Cleaning product lines. I partnered with a planogram analyst intern to complete competitive shops, planogram and space productivity analysis, and consumer insight research to develop go forward recommendations for the Traditional Cleaning and Commercial Cleaning programs. 

I think my work with consumer insights made the largest impact on the way that I view the world. Throughout my education in interior design, I have taken part in a lot of discussions regarding the way that decisions made by the designer can really impact the way a user experiences a space. Within my internship, I was actually able to look at this process from the other end, which really broadened my perspective. I was looking at a final space that has been rolled out, and then analyzing the consumer response to this space to identify areas that need to be changed. 

I was able to leverage multiple data points from different perspectives to create a well-rounded understanding of the way a consumer was interacting with the space, which allowed me to gain a much better understanding of how specific choices can impact behavior. One example is that I analyzed a neuro study that was completed that had consumers shop the overall cleaning aisle, as well as the air care bay within the aisle. This provided key information regarding what areas of the brain were sparking based on different stimuli, as well as what specific areas of the aisle or bay were drawing the most attention. Based on this information I was able to make recommendations to clarify the categories within the aisle as well as diminish background noise to allow consumers to have an easier shopping experience. 

Being able to apply the information that I have previously discussed in my classes in a real life setting really altered my perspective because it provided that moment of realization that the theoretical things discussed can truly make a difference. I feel like moving forward in my practice of interior design, I will have a better understanding of the way people experience space, and of specific methods that I can apply to provide the intended effect.

One of the key connections that helped lead to the shift in mindset that I experienced throughout my internship was with one of the consumer analysts based in Lowe’s. Not only was I able to work with a consumer analyst who was able to provide multiple different types of data, but she was also specifically focused on the cleaning program. This provided laser-focused research based on the program that I was working on, and also allowed me to discover how different data points can become key based on what type of space you are analyzing. The information that she was able to provide me with included who is shopping at Lowe’s for cleaning, what factors play into the decision of where a consumer is going to shop for cleaning, what the current Lowe’s DIY and Pro business looks like for cleaning, and how we are comparing to competitors in terms of the success of our cleaning program. This type of quantitative data really allowed for my increased understanding of how different decisions Lowe’s was making were impacting the consumer.

Another key connection was that of the intern that I was partnered with for my project. She was working as a planogram analyst intern, and was going to school for marketing. I feel like her perspective coming from a marketing background really played well with mine in interior design, as both are looking towards making an influence on people. My fellow intern was someone that had a lot of experience working in retail with marketing influences, and was going back to school to complete her degree, so I think that wealth of knowledge from her experience really contributed to my understanding of how influence can be created. 

Finally, I think the interaction that I was able to have with the head merchant of cleaning was really influential on my understanding of how space decisions can impact the consumer. The lens of the merchant really provided me with a lot of information based on the trends of the market in cleaning, which can sometimes largely contrast some of the data we are receiving from the consumer end. Thus, I think that my ability to leverage all of the different perspectives from the connections that I made really helped me think holistically in terms of the best decisions to make to impact consumer behavior when shopping cleaning at Lowe’s.

I think this mindset shift will be extremely important in my life moving forward, both professionally and personally. In terms of my professional life, I definitely think that some of the analysis skills that I learned, as well as the insights I gained about consumer behavior, will really help me when making decisions about spaces that I will be designing. I feel like I have a better understanding of what questions need to be asked when trying to plan a space to meet specific needs, and I also have more strategies to understand and formulate decisions based on the information that I can gather from my intended audience.

I think I will also experience a change in my personal life from what I have learned from this information in two ways. First, I definitely feel like I am beginning to look at my own consumer behavior in this type of light, and am now much more conscious of how I experience spaces and how I make decisions. This will not only make changes in my personal life as I become more conscious of my consuming habits, but also the analysis of my own decisions can be applied in my practice of interior design. Secondly, I feel like I am able to better understand people around me based on what I have learned. Psychology has always been something that is interesting to me, particularly in reference to interior design, and I feel like I will be able to better interact with others in my future academic, personal, and professional endeavors. 

Final go forward recommendation categories for the PLR process for Commercial and Traditional Cleaning at Lowe’s.

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project.

My STEP project was my actuarial internship with Erie Insurance.  I completed three actuarial projects over the course of my internship in three different areas of actuarial concentration: Dynamic Financial Analysis, Commercial Pricing, and Modeling.  In addition to my independent projects, I also worked on two group projects with other interns both in the actuarial department and across the company.

2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

I think my understanding of the impact actuaries can have on a corporate environment has drastically changed.  Prior to this internship, I feel that I had a good understanding of the role actuaries can have in insurance pricing, but I did not have a good scope of the opportunities for actuarial impact outside of pricing.  By working on the DFA team I gained very valuable insight into how actuaries play a key role in enterprise risk management in both monitoring an organization’s risk tolerance and providing insight into optimal risk mitigation methodologies. My intern project on Live Event Reporting demonstrated how actuaries can use catastrophe modeling to anticipate the impact of a severe weather event on an exposure footprint.

3. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

I think by completing the Live Event Reporting project I was able to experience first-hand how important conveying the information that populates out of an actuary’s analysis is.  Over my project I was able to work with the Catastrophe Operations team to better understand how the information populated through the catastrophe modeling process is used to provide better service to customers living areas impacted by reported weather events.  Not only does the information detail which individual policyholders are at risk, but it also provides important operational details such as which geographic regions will have the highest impact severity.  This information can then be used to more efficiently mobilize resources to help policyholders when they need support the most.

Working with the Catastrophe Operations team was very transformational for me because it allowed me to think about my work within the actuarial department in a broader scope.  Seeing the broader impact of my work and that it will help Erie Insurance aid to individuals who might be experience a devastating loss made me feel empowered and excited about the opportunities to make an impact from an actuarial department.

Furthermore, I spoke to my supervisor following my project presentation and he mentioned that my project was generating a lot of internal excitement due to the cost saving potential as well.  The organization had looked for an external reported system for multiple years but could not find one that fit all their needs.  By building the procedure and reporting system inside the organization as a part of my internship, my manager stated that I also saved the company a large amount of money that would have gone towards an external reporting system.  Hearing that my work had the potential to help policyholders receive improved service and save the organization money made me extremely excited about future opportunities to continue to make a difference.

4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

Prior to my internship, I wasn’t sure that the actuarial career field would be a perfect fit for me, and I was hoping to learn about other opportunities inside the career field outside of the standard pricing positions.  I certainly feel that this internship has given me great insight into other opportunities outside product pricing and changed my view of how actuarial work is used across a company.  This internship has been very transformational for my understand of what an actuarial job entails and has made me very excited to enter this career field after graduation.