Tyler Starkey
- VIP Host - National West
- DraftKings Inc.
School Information
School: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
College Major: Other
Years at College Works: 2011
Career Information
Working For: DraftKings Inc.
Title: VIP Host – National West
Industry: SportsWhat Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?
Landing a job in Major League Baseball fresh out of college, and honestly getting a degree.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
A ton of experience in networking, customer service, and time management.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
My College Works Painting experience gave me a lesson in confidence, experience, and overall tenacity when it comes to networking, interviewing, and applying my skillset to my job. It was a talking point in all of my interviews, and was a great upsell to my interviewers.
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?
Can’t remember his name, but he was a tough client from the start. Signed the contract and had questions in his mind from then on out. Didn’t think me and my guys could get his house done correctly. At the end of the job, I sat down with him and his wife and he said that despite his concerns in the beginning, he was 100% pleased with the outcome. Great feeling!
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
Time management. Had terrible time management in the beginning of my time with College Works Painting. Learned quickly that I wasn’t going to do well with my management style at the time, changed things around and was more efficient and overall more successful.
How have the friendships and networks you built during CW affected you?
Just overall great experience out of it. Good friends, great experience.
If you had to come up with a one line slogan for CW, what would it be?
I know its cheesy, but work hard, play harder.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
Stick it through until the end. It gets tough in the beginning, you may want to quit, give up, but stick it through. If you work your ass off for 6 months and truly try to succeed with this internship, you will be seeing the benefits many years after you’re finished.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
Any job is going to look positively on business experience. If you’re unsure of what you want to go into, or what internship to take, this experience will build some thick skin, and help you in professional situations. If you put honest time into it you will see benefits.
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
The whole trip to Cancun.
Last words of wisdom?
Knock on doors, make calls, do work, and make sales and satisfaction happen. Celebrate someway at the end of every day, keeps you sane. Look at the big picture and treat all of your painters with respect, they’re the ones making you money. Respect and honesty will get you anywhere you want to go.