Img 0043 1 1.jpg [https://fp-cms.directus.app/assets/b9375f79-d451-44b7-a54e-bf2d08035b70.jpg?width=768&height=768] Paul Nickles, Campus Manager At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a University of North Georgia student found himself back in his childhood home working on a LinkedIn profile. After hesitantly answering a message from the Fresh Prints recruitment team, he watched one video from them that absolutely floored him. It was a Harlem Shake Video. Yep. If you expected an inspiring TED talk or a podcast clip, we’re sorry. Well, not really. That video was of our Director of Sales, Jacob Goodman, giving us his best moves for the Harlem Shake trend back in 2013. It was a part of the Campus Manager recruitment process because… why not? Fresh Prints has always believed in having a good time at work. That video was one of the many fun parts of the recruitment process that applicants went through in 2020 before they were chosen to be our Campus Managers. “I remember watching it with my jaw on the floor thinking: “Hell yeah. How do I immediately join this company?” Paul recalls, “It made me so happy because I realized that these were not your average corporate people. It felt like if I worked at Fresh Prints, everybody would be real with me and I’d have a lot of fun working. And I was right.” Paul describes what he does as simplifying the process of customizing apparel for his clients. He figures out what people want and makes it happen for them. “My first semester as a Campus Manager sucked, though. Not gonna lie.” He recalls. People mainly create merch for events. With the 2020 stay-at-home orders and the uncertainty and fear in the air, it was tough. A lot of organizations were trying their best to create a sense of normalcy. People were struggling with huge things like losing jobs, being scared for their loved ones, getting sick, etc. In the middle of unprecedented times, Fresh Prints honed in on individually shipping custom orders. “Summer camp, rush, and events like that got canceled. But with our new capabilities we realized we could still do custom apparel and get it shipped directly to the homes of every person who was supposed to be a part of those events,” said Paul: “We also offered huge discounts because we realized that merch was something people looked forward to getting. We were more than happy to adapt our way of doing things if it meant we were helping.” Paul credits his manager, Dylan Gilbert, for being a key character in his love for his work throughout lockdown. “This job taught me so much. I went from watching Dylan take the lead in my client meetings to him trusting me to lead all of them on my own in just a few weeks,” said Paul: “He really cares about me as a person too. There was a week last year when I was going through a tough time. We spent our meeting talking about how I was doing and he offered to take up my week’s work for a bit.” The Campus Managers that work with Dylan proudly call themselves, ‘Team Dylan.’ With his help, Paul was able to sell ~$60K worth of apparel in just 4 semesters despite the pandemic. But Paul defines success as seeing a stranger wear something he helped customize. “It’s so cool to think that I work at the company that did that,” said Paul. “I got them that cool graphic. Helped set a kick-ass price. Made sure they loved it and placed the order!” Paul also enjoys the flexibility that comes with being a Campus Manager. He’s able to place design requests on his laptop after morning class and they’re always ready by the afternoon. Just in time for him to show his clients. For any urgent Fresh Prints work he cannot get to, he asks his team for help. According to Paul, all you need to have is enthusiasm and an urge to learn on the job. Being a Campus Manager pushed him out of his comfort zone a lot and at the end of the day, he says he is better off for it. He is learning and meeting so many people who end up becoming his friends. “Thinking about the last 2 years is kinda crazy,” said Paul. “I feel like Jacob in that video. Is that bad?” Not at all, Paul. “I’m in a good spot. I’ve marked myself as that reliable custom apparel guy and I’m doing better each semester. Personally and professionally. I feel like I’m dancing.” Dance on, Paul. Dance on. (Cue fade-out music)
