Southern Regional Tech student brings farm’s skin care products to market

THOMASVILLE — Drew Johnson, a Marketing Management senior at Southern Regional Technical College, embraced a unique opportunity for his final semester.

For the first time in more than a decade, SRTC’s Marketing Management program offered an internship/practicum as a capstone course. Recognizing Johnson’s strong work ethic and aptitude for self-directed learning, SRTC’s Lead Marketing Management Faculty Carrie Viohl proposed this innovative option to him. Excited by the prospect, Johnson eagerly accepted the challenge.

After consulting with Viohl, Johnson chose to complete his internship at his family’s small business, Johnson Cattle Company. This decision aligned perfectly with Johnson’s long-standing interest in his family’s work and his desire to contribute to the family business, factors that had initially inspired his pursuit of a marketing degree. The family has run a cattle operation in Pelham for four years. Most recently, JCC launched a 100% natural, healthy, organic line of skin care products made from their own beef tallow, which became the focus of his internship.

“This product has already changed lives and restored health,” Johnson said. “I’m just letting a great product promote itself.”

The Marketing Management internship/practicum course was designed to engage the student’s own career interests, skills and ambitions. At the beginning of the semester, Johnson worked with his instructor to establish his own specific goals, create a timeline, and develop a detailed plan for success.

“One of the best things about the internship is that success is up to the student,” Johnson said. “The goal of the internship is to learn to think critically, put what you’ve learned into action, visualize strong ethical behavior, and practice doing everything you’d do in the workplace.”

Johnson’s primary objective for the internship was to develop a plan to sell JCC’s products more effectively and efficiently. He set out to place his product into 10 stores and reach as many individual customers as possible, as well as start a continual flow of buyers who love the products. By mid-semester, Johnson had already successfully made it into several stores in Florida and Georgia, and he has no plans of slowing down.

Johnson, who grew up playing sports, said that one lesson from sportsmanship molded his mentality throughout his internship: Don’t let the fear of failure affect the way you play the game.

“Statistically, in sales, you fail a lot more than you succeed,” he said. “It takes constantly striving for your goals before you get a taste of success. The fear of failure will only hinder that and completely block one’s self-motivation, so you must remember that nothing should stop you from striving to meet your goals.”

Johnson said that he has encountered many situations where failure appeared to be his only result, but throughout the internship he realized that failure is far from the worst thing.

“Failure seems very devastating and disheartening; however, because of my failures, I can grow, I can learn, I can observe, I can use that as motivation, and I can truly be successful as an outcome,” he said. “All those attributes, I have learned from this program at SRTC.”

“Choosing Drew as our program’s first intern in over a decade was an easy decision,” Viohl said. “Our Marketing Management program is designed to prepare students for meaningful careers by providing engaging learning opportunities that develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for job acquisition and advancement in this field. Throughout his time in the program, Drew consistently demonstrated that he was not only absorbing these lessons but was also ready to apply them in a real-world setting.

“This internship simply offered him the opportunity to prove his capabilities to himself and to put his education into practice.”

Johnson said that the internship has impacted him profoundly, offering him a personal, up-close view of the real-world marketing landscape.

“This internship has been the perfect ending to my journey through SRTC’s Marketing Management program,” he said. “It’s given me insights and lessons I couldn’t have gained anywhere else. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and would wholeheartedly recommend this experience to every eligible student.”

Not only has it been a game-changer for Johnson Cattle Company, but Johnson said that the impact of his work has extended beyond the family business, reaching his local community, fellow small businesses, and even his church.

“Drew’s success serves as a testament to the power of hands-on learning and the effectiveness of SRTC’s practical approach to education,” Viohl said. “He has set a high bar for future students and demonstrated the real-world value of SRTC’s Marketing Management degree beautifully.”

Spring semester at SRTC begins Jan. 13.

Special Photo: SRTC