Intern Ingenuity: McCarthy and Richardson's 2017 Career Tour
7/24/2017 5:10:00 PM | General, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- This is a story about intern ingenuity.
It's about how two rising juniors at the University of Michigan sought to get their feet in as many doors as possible while sampling from the best companies and organizations they had interests in joining someday.
It's about how track and field thrower Maegan McCarthy and softball outfielder Courtney Richardson -- who also happen to be roommates -- experienced 18 mini-internships in a 26-day tour (June 12 through July 7) of the East and Midwest that brought them so much insight in so little time.
"They both got 14 internship offers for next summer as a result of what they did," said Marquis J. Scott, who directs the M-PACT program that is a career center for U-M student-athletes. "And getting that number of internship offers just doesn't happen!"
Maurice J. Washington, the assistant director and career counselor for M-PACT, added, "You are fortunate to get one or two good internship offers."
What McCarthy and Richardson accomplished was so off-the-charts successful that Scott said he's looking to organize workplace tours, albeit more compact in scope, for as many as four pairs of Wolverines next summer.
Kelli Donahue from Michigan's School of Kinesiology was central in helping them with the logistics of the trip that went from Detroit to Battle Creek to Toledo and then Cleveland. Then they headed for Baltimore, New York, back to Baltimore, returned to Detroit and ended up in Chicago.
They visited with members of the staffs of the Detroit Red Wings, Quicken Loans in Detroit, Under Armour, Brooklyn Nets, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Big Ten Network, National Football League, Major League Baseball, Northwestern Hospital, the Chicago Zoological Society and Brookfield Zoo, Kellogg's of Battle Creek, Owens Corning in Toledo, Cleveland Cavaliers, Gatorade, Baltimore Ravens, Coppin State and 670 The Score radio in Chicago.
"It was one of the most amazing experiences in my career," said Scott, the employee relations manager for Wolverines student-athletes since January 2016. "One of the reasons I came to Michigan is for that 'Michigan Difference' we talk about, and I think we now have something that nobody else in the country is doing.
"Maegan and Courtney showed so much passion and dedication to this project. We knew this could be huge for their futures and careers, and it turned out to be. I'm just amazed by them, and they've opened up the door for other student-athletes to do something similar."
Washington said he watched them both realize "a holistic growth period" during the process.
McCarthy said it all began "as a job shadowing trip" to Under Armour in Baltimore, where they could stay with Richardson's older brother, Kyle, who played baseball at Notre Dame.
"Then one day at breakfast," McCarthy said, "we thought, 'What other teams are around Baltimore that would make it more worthwhile?' That turned this into a huge road trip, and we thought about New York City being only a short way away. We brought it up to M-PACT and started to plan stops on our way back home and out to Chicago."
The "McCarthy and Richardson 2017 Career Tour," as they titled it, was financed by their parents, Ben and Dawn McCarthy and Tim and Janice Richardson, and travel consisted of trains and Uber rides. They stayed in hotels and packed as lightly as they could, wearing Wolverines polo shirts and khaki pants to each stop and taking along casual wear. Though, McCarthy admitted to "dragging around an 80-pound suitcase" that she wished she'd thinned out.
"It went like a breeze," said McCarthy. "We learned so much about so many teams and companies."
Richardson added, "It was like a business trip, which is how we approached road trips in softball. It wasn't a vacation. It required discipline. We had to be prepared for each company we went to and do our homework on them beforehand.
"But I want to emphasize that if you want to do this you have to go with someone you can get along with 24/7."
McCarthy said the intricate journey went so well that "it was good for our friendship" and they learned to let go of any small differences.
"We took away something interesting from every place we visited," McCarthy said. "Being in New York City was an eye-opener for me with all the business people dressed to a T, being friendly, doing their jobs, leaving and going home."
Richardson said she also "took away something unique" from every person and place visited.
They were particularly taken by their stops in New York at the headquarters for the NFL and MLB.
McCarthy, from Rockford (Michigan) High, would love to land in the NFL offices someday.
"The NFL stood out to me because they had such a team atmosphere," she said. "Everyone was very young and openly talked to us about how they got to where they are. They have a lot of options going forward."
Richardson, who graduated from Park Ridge (Illinois) Maine South, aspires to work for MLB. Her father played minor league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals organizations, getting as far as Triple-A.
"I grew up watching baseball on his lap since I was 2," she said with a laugh.
Richardson got connected to sport's highest business branch soon after arriving in Ann Arbor.
"MLB stood out to me because they were the people I first had contact with in my freshman year," she said. "Tyrone Brooks, who is in charge of their diversity pipeline, spoke with me then about getting into the front office of a major league club one day. He came to a job fair here and spoke to our whole softball team and was extremely helpful.
"On this visit, I was able to meet with Kim Ng (pronounced ANG), who is one of the most powerful women in baseball. She was an assistant to the GM of the Dodgers and now is in charge of baseball operations at Major League Baseball. I asked her, 'How can I be in your shoes one day? How do I get here? How did you get here?' "
Both McCarthy and Richardson are interested in either marketing or operations positions including scouting and analytics.
They posted on a blog during the trip to share the experience.
"I highly recommend this for an individual who is highly motivated and determined to be successful after their college career," said Richardson. "It takes a sacrifice, but it takes discipline to set up your future."
McCarthy added, "Being athletes, we know what it's like to have that drive and passion. We didn't just go through the motions. We showed up two hours early at times and asked good questions. Employers told us that this sets us apart from other applicants in the future because they know who we are."
McCarthy credited Jerry Clayton, the men's track and field head coach who also works with her on throwing the shot put, discus, hammer and weight, for emphasizing the importance of the overall student-athlete experience to her. Richardson said softball coach Carol Hutchins and her staff also have been instrumental in stressing academic and career aspects to her.
Richardson said, "Hutch has a quote: 'She came here a young girl with potential and left a woman with no limit.' That really rings true to me both inside the sport and outside of sport."
And it rings even louder after their intern ingenuity tour.
Players Mentioned
