Hi, my name is Seiko Murphy. I’m Marilyn Murphy’s 19-year-old niece.
I have lived in Japan my whole life with my mother who is Japanese and my father who is Aunt Marilyn’s brother. For most of my life, my father has brought to me to the US every year to visit family including Aunt Marilyn. She – and her career – have been my inspiration since I was a little girl and I’ve always looked up to her.
I went on her WOW trip to India a year ago and I remember how fun her job seemed. I asked her many questions then, but I wanted to know more about what she does behind the scenes. I saw the fun and exciting parts, but I knew there was much that had been done in the office to make it all happen. I am very interested in a career in the travel industry, so a few months ago I asked if I could do an internship at her company. I thought it would be a great opportunity – so I gave up Magic Mountain, Sea World, and Disneyland…now that’s commitment!
| 1st day | Monday, March 11
I jumped out of bed at 6:00 am, got ready, and after waiting an hour for Aunt Marilyn, drove to the office. First thing I saw was a world map on the wall full of photos from all over the world – which made me want to get on a plane and go on a WOW trip right away! Gabriel, Howard, and Ellen were already there, and I soon figured out what Aunt Marilyn was talking about when she warned me that Gabriel and Howard pick on each other like brothers. It was hilarious to listen and watch – like a live comedy show! The work atmosphere was amazing, everyone was focused on what they were doing, although there was lots of laughter from time to time. I had a nice view out the big window in Aunt Marilyn’s office.
My first assignment was to do research for Kenya participants about how to get a visa. My first thought was “Ugh!” – remembering how much I hated the process of getting my visa for India last year. My parents used to do those things for me, but this time they made me do it myself. But having had this challenge, I knew I could help travelers avoid the hassle I had endured.
| 2nd day | Tuesday, March 12
I woke up excited to work on the list of assignments Aunt Marilyn had given me which will keep me busy for the rest of the week. The most exciting project of today was thinking and researching a WOW trip to Japan in 2020 or 2021. It was more difficult than I thought because although I do travel around Japan, it’s my home rather than a travel destination. I got the chance to think of what travelers would enjoy and special things to make it a WOW trip.
As exciting as that assignment was, other projects took up most of my day. Getting adhesive off embroidered WOW patches to make them easier to sew onto duffel bags, taking price tags off bottles of Kiehl’s spray to give to customers, and doing dishes! How exciting!! I learned that these chores are not just at home, but also in the office. My internship has homework!
Seiko learned that there’s a lot of gruntwork that goes on behind the scenes – but there’s often a reward at the end of the day. Sometimes, it’s ice cream!
| 3rd day | Wednesday, March 13
Today I got a day off from work because my friend from Japan who was in San Francisco was coming to visit me here in LA. Everyone teased me that I’m already taking a day off on my 3rd day of work. (I think they’ve forgotten that I’m actually on vacation!)
A visit to LA can’t be all work and no play! It was a great day at Santa Monica Pier!
| 4th day | Thursday, March 14
Today, 3/14, was Pie day!! (Or, pi day.) Back in Japan, 3/14 is White Day – when you give back to the people who gave you chocolate on Valentine’s Day. I never heard of Pie Day before, but I was very excited because Howard was going to make three homemade pies for us…which unfortunately turned out to be only two pies because he ruined the crust for the lemon meringue pie. His coworkers did not let him go easy on that AT ALL! (But not in a mean way…)
However, today was not one of my best days. Just before going to bed last night I learned that I didn’t get the job that I applied for back in Japan. I tried to deal with it as well as I could but I couldn’t get in touch with my best friend from high school. Also, the video project I was working on for Aunt Marilyn wasn’t going as well as I wanted to … and everything seemed to be going wrong. Aunt Marilyn and Gabriel called on me during their Facebook Live presentation and I was so focused on my video project that it took me a few seconds to figure out it wasn’t a rehearsal. I had no idea what to say, and almost spoiled a surprise that I was supposed to keep secret.
I was feeling all these emotions, but I remembered a comment from Aunt Marilyn (she’s a smart lady!) saying, “you can walk through neighborhoods of sadness or disappointment, but you don’t have to build a house there.” So, although I had negative emotions, I walked through and past them. Howard’s delicious pie made me feel better, too!
| 5th day | Friday, March 15
Today was packed with stuff to do. I made progress on my video project which I have been putting a lot of time into this whole week. I self-taught video editing and I usually make fun videos for myself and my friends, but I had a blast creating one for Aunt Marilyn. Making something from scratch, making your vision come to life, and making people smile is an amazing feeling and it is also the same with Aunt Marilyn’s company. The core of her work is pleasing the customers and making their wishes come true.
I also started to create the POE (Program of Events) for Puglia, Italy which made me want to go there really badly. During this process, I learned how to use the Box.com program, which Aunt Marilyn HATES. She started to sound like her brother, (my dad), complaining about how technology doesn’t work. Howard showed me how their registration program works and how they collect data, so I got a pretty good understanding of their operations process.
I also got an employee email address: seiko@thectpgroup.com. And – I learned that my picture is on the home page of her new website. This must mean that Aunt Marilyn has to keep me for good and she’ll never get rid of me!!
|6th day| Monday, March 18
By this time, I’m not jumping out of bed to go to work anymore. Aunt Marilyn wakes me up 30 minutes before we have to leave. Having first-period classes, I’ve trained myself to get ready in 10 minutes so I can sleep as long as possible. (I’ve learned at least one thing at University!) And, although sometimes Aunt Marilyn might not go into the office until noon, she’s up at 6:00 am, working.
Today, I’m trying to catch up with my journaling – which I was supposed to write every day. I’m more a do-it-at-once kind of person, which I’m not proud of. But I took notes of what I did or thought about. One thing I noticed was that it’s hard to get an answer from Aunt Marilyn without reminding her 5 times. She’s always multi-tasking and doesn’t come around to answering the question. By the time she does, I’ve forgotten I even asked, or I already figured it out myself! That is why the best Q&A time was during the drive back and forth to the office where I get her all to myself! Whenever I thought of a question about her business or about her that wasn’t urgent, I wrote myself a note to ask her in the car. I made every second of my trip count as the internship!
| 7th day| Tuesday, March 19
Today is the last day of my internship. Although it wasn’t long, I had so much to learn and I think I’ve learned much more than I have even realized yet. The one thing I felt most deeply is you have to love what you do. I felt how passionate everyone was about their work. Even though I’ve only worked here for 6 whole days, I was tired but very satisfied as well. It’s hard to keep focus and concentrate, but the motivation of loving what you do keeps you going.
What I have to do now is to find my greatest passion, and although travel is one of them, to be honest, I think I have many more passions. I’m too young and inexperienced to decide. I’m so excited!
I want to thank Gabriel, Ellen, Howard, Keanna, Whitney, and of course, Aunt Marilyn, for accepting me as an intern and welcoming into their workplace. It was one of the best experiences, and I will never forget it. I’ll miss all of you, and I’m SURE you’ll miss me (right?)! But don’t worry – I’LL BE BACK!!
Seiko captured our hearts and will always be an important part of the CTP team!
(But first … I must share some of her adorableness with you . . . !)
I met Seiko when she was 3 months old. My brother Ron has brought her to the U.S. nearly every year … so I’ve watched her grow up and have had many precious memories with her through the years!
The girl is all “girl” – she loves to shop and play “dress-up” (and her favorite Aunt Marilyn is only too happy to indulge her…)
I was pleased and proud when Seiko wrote to me asking if she could be an intern. Also a little nervous. I’d had some experience with my step-daughters coming into the office to help in past years … with mixed results. Looking back, I realize that having them help was my idea – not theirs. And navigating the familial relationship (step-mom or boss?) was tricky. I was determined to make Seiko’s internship – since she asked for it – as productive and worthwhile as possible … for both of us.
Weeks before her arrival, I requested that Seiko send me a “resume” of sorts – advising me of her strengths, weaknesses, and expectations. I shared a list of possible tasks and projects, ranging from exciting to mundane. I inquired about her fluency in written English because, even though she is conversationally fluent, I didn’t imagine she had many opportunities to compose and write in English.
Her response came a day later than she’d promised – for which I gently admonished her. She wrote, “I would like to shadow you and just see what you do. I promise I won’t get in the way. Overall, I want to be helpful and I’m okay doing anything anyone would like me to do.”
1. I can speak and write very good Japanese!!! I am good at editing photos and videos. I like writing stories or short articles. I love hearing people’s stories or researching a subject and outputting them. I’m good at presentations (only done them in Japanese).
2. I’m not good with spelling especially on paper because I’m used to Auto Correct on my computer or phone. I’m not as shy as I used to be but I’m still not the most outgoing person in the world. I do get nervous under pressure or in a new atmosphere, I sometimes get overwhelmed.
3. I want to improve my English overall especially in business terms and be able to use them in the future.
4. I want to understand how you arrange your trips and what you have to do to make it possible as well as what you do besides trips. I love to travel and I’m very interested in the industry.
5. It’s the first time for me to do an internship, so I’m a bit nervous but very excited! Thank you for doing this for me it really means a lot for me now and in the future.
Driving to the office on Day 1, I spoke about how important it would be to be upfront and honest about our mutual expectations. If she got overwhelmed or didn’t understand something, she would need to speak up and ask for help. I warned her about my tendency to micro-manage, and about my perfectionism. Both are attributes that had negatively impacted the work experience for my step-daughters in the past. I said I would try my best to avoid doing this with her. (This internship would prove to be a valuable experience for me as much as for her!)
On the day she composed a draft of how to apply for a Kenya visa, I knew things were going to work out just fine. She was thorough, accurate, and fussed over the spacing of the bulleted what-to-do list as much I would have done!
The video project she took on turned out fabulous. Her choices of images, video clips, transitions, and music were spot-on … very similar to my aesthetic. I know the client will be absolutely thrilled.
On our drives to/from the office, she asked good questions. One answer, about how I find my employees, took two commutes to fully explain … sharing stories of all the regrettable hiring decisions I made early in my career.
Another thoughtful question of hers – “What do you NOT like about your work?” – gave me pause. Aside from infrequent lay-offs, terminations or thorny HR issues, there’s very little I dislike about my work. I dislike legal-eze, CPA-speak and reading financial reports. (I will never understand amortization and depreciation, and have given up trying!) I dislike when my passwords don’t work. Oh, and Box.com – I really dislike Box.com!
Seiko arrived to sunshine, after enduring two weeks of wicked winter weather back in the midwest. She giggled whenever Gabriel and Howard went at it (which was often!). Ellen gives a “thumbs up” to Howard’s pie!
Late one afternoon, when I reminded Seiko that she needed to keep a journal in order to write this blog, I noticed how quickly she was typing away on her laptop. I was curious and asked her if she was typing in Japanese or in English. “I’m typing in English,” she explained. “When I was little, my Dad made me write compositions in English and I hated it. He wouldn’t let me play my favorite game until I finished my English work. But now I’m glad he did that.”
She learned a few other things during her internship. I taught her how to pump gas. And counseled her that she must marry a man who could cook. (She’d already figured that out, adding, “He has to be able to clean, too!”)
Seiko learns to pump Aunt Marilyn’s gas! We went shopping at Forever 21, which even had something appropriate for an old lady like me! Ron (an excellent writer), has published the “Far Eastern Murphy Review” for 25 years – documenting his life in Japan and his adventures bringing Seiko to the U.S. since she was a baby.
Seiko … we miss you already! Whatever you decide, you’re going to do very, very well in the world!
All my love,
(your favorite) Aunt Marilyn
Comments??
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7 Comments
Jane Halsey March 24, 2019 at 8:23am
I loved reading this and was impressed with her writing. She created the atmosphere of CTP so well. I wonder if she will end up in the media world. That is my guess. She is lucky to have her Aunt Marilyn.
Patty Karabatsos March 24, 2019 at 9:53am
I loved reading about Seikos internship. Not only does it sound like fun but rewarding for both of you.! She sounds like an amazing young woman,😄
Jim Richards March 24, 2019 at 10:23am
I really enjoyed reading Seiko’s first person account of her internship and the accompanying account from Marilyn. It is nice to read about the aunt/niece relationship and the desire on both of their parts to teach and learn – and the willingness of the WOW team to have an internship. Thanks for Sharing the experience with us! Personally , it has been great experiencing the brotherly love of Gabriel and Howard on the road as well – a great WOW team.
Teresa Whitney March 24, 2019 at 10:30am
What a cool way to share your passion for travel….and with Seiko who I know you adore. It had to be a special bonding opportunity.
Sounds like you both did an awesome job as mentor and student.
I was sooo excited to hear Seiko was researching a trip to Japan which is on our list of places to go back to. I’m sure we’ll have the chemo schedule
figured out by then so Les and I are in!
Great post Marilyn and Seiko!
Ron Murphy March 26, 2019 at 6:57am
I’m a proud papa and a lucky brother! Thank you!
Susan Rosenberg March 26, 2019 at 5:33pm
Yet another clever, touching, insightful, interesting, amusing commentary from the WOW/CTP Travel Club.
Having traveled with Seiko in India, I see her bursting with maturity, advanced skills, beauty and charm.
I wouldn’t have expected otherwise from Aunt Marilyn’s niece.
Jill Stoliker April 7, 2019 at 5:38pm
I feel I know Seiko through Marilyn’s blogs over the years. Now she is all grown up and looks stunning in the vintage sari she wore in India. New Zealand was amazing! I will never forget the STARS; the southern cross, the southern milky way was out in ALL of it’s glory, and even “O’Ryan” (the Irish constellation) was there in the southern hemisphere; however, he was up-side-down and lying down on the horizon. I was chasing rainbows, playing in a rain forest, and enjoying 100’s of waterfalls everywhere! Thank you all for another memorable trip. I also was able to complete my “every trip wish” to see, do, or learn folk dance. This time with local school children.