Dakota Albers working at an event for King Mushroom.
Mushrooms, mushrooms, and more mushrooms! Dakota Albers, an Agricultural Business Management major at the Institute of Applied Agriculture, has been working with mushrooms and they have helped define her life in new and interesting ways. In Barclay, Maryland’s summer heat, Albers completed a unique internship at King Mushrooms, gaining new skills and learning valuable information. Although Albers has worked at the mushroom farm for four years, and continues to work there, she dedicated her summer internship experience to learning more about the inner workings of operating a business because going forward she would like to own her own business.
At King Mushrooms, Albers inoculated and picked mushrooms, packed orders, made deliveries, and sold at markets. The specific skills she gained over the summer include handling online orders and working firsthand with creating customer satisfaction. These aspects come together to create a fulfilling and rewarding summer experience, especially regarding her future career.
Albers says she enjoys watching the entire production from start to finish. She says that it is a quick turnaround for the product and she finds it extremely rewarding to see the progress. However, it can be tough work and Albers offers this piece of advice, “Learn to work with what you’ve got. The situation might be less than ideal but overcoming those challenges sets you apart.” She continues, “It drives me crazy some days but it’s a big part of my life. I’ve learned a ton.”
The owner of the company, David King says, “Dakota has grown significantly throughout this internship process becoming an asset to King Mushrooms. By the end of her internship, she has trained numerous employees.” The experiences Albers had during her internship have truly given her insight into what she wants to do in the future. Working directly with the owner of the company, she has gained so much knowledge about running and managing a business. This directly coincides with her pursuits studying business management in the IAA as well.
Albers has worked incredibly hard through her internship and toward her career. She says that the experiences from her time at King Mushrooms have helped greatly in achieving her goals. She has gained quite a bit of knowledge and her newfound insight will aid her in future endeavors as a business owner.
