Brett Koop
- Owner/Manager
- BK Coatings LLC
School Information
School: Emporia State University
College Major: Business
Years at College Works: 2012 to 2016
Career Information
Working For: BK Coatings LLC
Title: Owner/Manager
Industry: Home Improvement
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
Manage the entire business. Start up, marketing, sales, accounting, and production.
What Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?Starting my own company and making it work.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
It was a life changing experience that helped me mature as a person and businessman.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
College Works Painting has made my transition into running my own company so much easier than it would have been if I had not done the internship.
What do you want to tell your clients about what it meant to work with them and how it has helped you get to where you are today?
Thanks for giving me a shot – to all clients.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
Pretty much everything is a numbers game. Do not get discouraged.
How have the friendships and networks you built during CW affected you?
I have been in a wedding where both bride and groom were in College Works Painting. I have many friends still to this day that did College Works Painting. I also am dating and run a company with someone I met doing College Works Painting. It has changed my life for sure.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
Everything is a numbers game. Do not get discouraged. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains.”
Many college students struggle to choose between an internship specific to their target industry or doing CW. What advice would you give them on this subject if they wanted to enter your career field?
No matter what you are going into, every employer is going to like seeing an internship like this. It proves maturity, good work ethic, and perserverence.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
Learn as much as you can while being an intern, because there are no safety nets once you are done with your internship. Sales is the most important thing to learn to be able to feed your production machine.
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
My first Cancun trip doing the Top Gun excursion – zip lining and ATV riding through the jungle and swimming at the Senota was pretty awesome!
Last words of wisdom?
You get out of the internship what you put into it. So just go as hard as you can because it does not last long.