University Of West Florida (UWF) Internship Program with Lion Aerospace International Corp (LAI)

 

Lion Aerospace International Corp (LAI) is proud to partner with the University Of West Florida (UWF) to provide internships opportunities that allow the student to gain experience and skills in an international business environment.  LAI Interns have the opportunity of learning what it takes to start a business, acquiring the necessary entrepreneurial skills and important people skills which are often overlooked in the workplace.

These internships are helpful for anyone looking to run a business or practice one day, or even just developing a more marketable “You”.  LAI internships are designed to help equip students with some of the necessary skills for any workplace environment. Our interns are given opportunities that expose them to tasks and projects that allow them to assist in problem-solving.

Intern Testimonies:

Kokomo M. – 2015 Spring LAI Intern

During my time interning at Lion Aerospace International, I acquired a lot of key workplace skills. The LAI team were friendly and always willing to answer questions or help me through a process I was unfamiliar with so that I always felt important and needed. I learned a lot about time management while completing individual projects as well as projects I worked on with others on the LAI team. LAI has a small business environment that ensured I always had a task at hand.

I also learned a lot about important workplace programs, like Swiftpage, Act, Access, and Excel. I’ve realized the importance of having a convenient digital database like Act to store company contact information. I have also learned how to manipulate large quantities of information through Excel and how to create other documents such as order forms, invoices, and the like with the program.

LAI will hold weekly meetings about developing yourself as a more marketable person as well as realizing the importance of a relationship with your client/ customer. I recently attended a law school admissions seminar where I was able to meet with the people who either accept or reject your applications for the school and was able to practice implementing the skills I had learned from the meetings.

While interning for LAI I have learned universal professional skills that I will be able to apply to any workplace environment. Overall the experience was a fun and educational one and I sincerely hope future interns are able to take away as much as I did.

Cora B. – 2015 Summer LAI Intern

Being an intern at Lion Aerospace was a very rewarding experience.  Because the company is growing, many opportunities were presented to be a helping hand in.  Because the company is a small business, there is room for sharing ideas and seeing them blossom.  During my time, I was able to revamp the marketing for a section of the company called USA Aircraft Brokers, including e-mail flyers, mailers, and display signs.  I also shared a thought on building relationships with Fixed-Base Operators (FBO’s) in the area to help market our services to a more direct target market.  Within the next week of sharing my idea, I was able to take part in visits to local FBO’s with the owner.  The owners of Lion Aerospace have a great understanding of people and want the best for their staff, allowing them to strive in the areas they are strongest at.  Everyone at the company is a delight to work with and I would not trade my experience for anything.

Oscar G. – 2015 Fall LAI Intern

Working at Lion Aerospace International for the last few months has been nothing short of a pleasure.  Chris and his wife Janaina have been informative, flexible, and instructive.  During my time at LAI I learned a variety of business techniques and technical skills within the realm of Aerospace.  Chris and Janaina were always respectful of me, my education, and my time.  Along with the numerous skills, I learned Chris and Janaina routinely put me in positions where I would have to manage my own time successfully and where I would work independently as well as part of a team.  Chris and Janaina never micromanaged or were overbearing and always made an effort to help me with an issue I may have had while I was working there.  They are both personable and wonderful people and any UWF student who took the time to become their intern will certainly learn a lot.

Andrew B. – 2016 Spring LAI Intern

I started my internship in December 2015 and I knew that this is the type of job I wanted to do as a career.  My supervisor, Chris has been an outstanding mentor and has guided me to become successful in both the aviation community and in my personal life.  The traits that I have learned from this internship are; how to communicate with many different types of people, how to work in a timely fashion, and how to be a professional in an international market.  All of the skills that I have learned throughout the internship has allowed me to become a better person outside the office.  I have used all of these traits both at school and at my workplace.  While using these skill I have become a better student and a better worker.  Due to this internship, I have recently received a promotion at my current job and been inducted into the Political Science Honors Society.  I would overall say that my time at Lion Aerospace has been the best experience I have had during my educational career.  Chris is not only the owner of the company but also a mentor and friend.  Because of this, I will never forget my time working here as an intern.

Eduardo M. – 2016 Spring LAI Intern

Working as an intern at Lion Aerospace International has given many skills vital to being competitive in the workforce. I was given a lot of flexibility in managing new projects and business development initiatives unique to the industry. Because of the small business mindset, I was able to work closely with Chris, my supervisor and the co-intern Intern, Andrew on my ideas and was able to implement some of them. The focus on personal development and building relationships are seen as the most important factors which portray how the company is ran. Overall, the experience was a memorable one and I would recommend this position to anyone who was interested.

 Yami R. – 2016 Summer LAI Intern

With the time I spent working at Lion Aerospace and with Chris over the summer, I wish my internship would have lasted longer!  This is the place to be if you are a student that prefers to gain one-on-one practical knowledge on how a business with international connections is run, improve your capabilities with Excel, and speak with contacts all over the United States. There is a receptive atmosphere here where questions are not only answered clearly, but they are encouraged.  For my first internship, I could not be happier about aligning myself with Lion Aerospace!

Sandra P. – 2016 Fall LAI Intern

Working as an intern for Lion Aerospace International has been nothing but an amazing experience for me. Chris and his lovely wife are extremely welcoming and, more importantly, are one of the kindest people you will ever meet. I am honored and blessed to have been given this opportunity with two wonderful mentors who have changed my life in so many ways. They will teach you about time management and you will learn about several international business workplace programs like Swiftpage, Act, and Excel. Every morning, there will be a brief meeting to discuss what needs to be done, as well as talking about how to develop yourself as a more marketable person and how to better yourself. You will definitely learn the importance of a relationship with your client/customer and how to communicate with diverse cultures. While as an intern, I helped to revamp the website USA Aircraft Brokers, which I am proud to say is up and running! The focus on personal development and building relationships are seen as the most important factors in Lion Aerospace International. Overall, it has been a rewarding experience and through networking, I now know what career I wish to pursue. Also, you will not be alone and you will make a lifelong friend with whoever you are interning with, as well as always knowing that Chris and his wife will always be there to uplift you.

Dominika T. – 2016 Fall LAI Intern

Being from another country and having English as my second language I was at first worried about my capabilities. However, Chris and his wife Janaina never made me doubt myself anymore and they were always very kindhearted, supportive, and encouraging. Throughout my internship, I have grown up in many aspects and acquired skills that I can apply not only in the workplace but in my personal life as well in areas such as time management, personal development, and communication. There are so many benefits that I have gained working for LAI but I think that the one that stands out the most to me is the fact that they allowed me to be like an employee where I could work on important projects on my own. This gave me valuable insights into how doing business really looks like. For students considering this internship, I would say that they have nothing to lose only so much to gain. I feel very lucky and privileged that I could have experienced interning for such wonderful people and acquire skills that will help me to find a job after graduation. I would recommend this internship even for students who do not plan to work in the aviation industry because there is something for everybody that you can take away from this experience. You just need to grab the opportunity.

Ahmed A. – 2017 Summer A Intern

I would highly recommend this internship for other interns. Chris is a very nice, humble and understanding person. He is willing to give advice to improve others. Moreover, interns will definitely learn a lot as far as interacting with customers nationally and internationally, learning how to satisfy the needs of different customers, and understand the work ethics of international business. Mr. Walls presented many videos for Dani Johnson who is a great motivational speaker and a life changer, so she had a great impact on my personal beliefs about dealing with life and achieving my goals.

Stephanie L. 2018 Fall Intern

When I first heard about the internship opportunity with Lion Aerospace International (LAI) for an International Business/Marketing and Procedure Development Intern, I applied for it right away, and couldn’t be more thankful.  Working for LAI over the past few months has taught me a lot, and helped to grow both individually and professionally.

This internship took it beyond the normal “workflow,” and offered personal development meetings. I began by taking a GEMS Personality test before beginning my internship, which was able to point out exactly what kind of a person I was. In our personal development meetings, we watched a video on the different GEMS by Dani Johnson. The videos went over the different personality types and how we can “polish” our “gems” and honor others for their different personalities. This was very beneficial, because in the workplace, and in life in general, relationships are very important, and it is important to be able to adjust our actions so that we respect others for their different personalities.

When I first began, I knew nothing about the aerospace industry, but they trained me and gave me a lot of resources so that I could catch on quickly, which I did.  I was able to create multiple SOP’s, for brokering, Quantum, Rotabull, and ILS, to name a few. Creating the SOP’s (Standard Operation Procedures) taught me a lot about time management, as I worked independently on these projects, and taught me a lot about the industry and the basis to their business sales and inventory operations.

I began working on their hot stock program for sales as well, in which I created an excel sheet and found and entered historical data to go off of in order to find hot stock and to track it in the future. I enjoyed creating the SOP’s and being able to use my computer skills to my advantage and learn about the different programs they use in the aerospace industry. I also learned how to apply for an export license and the laws surrounding business both domestically and internationally. Also, being able to participate in weekly production meetings was also very beneficial, as I got to hear about current company issues and how the departments operate separately and together collectively, as a whole.

I had the wonderful opportunity to learn about their email marketing program as well. I got to get trained on their “ACT! Swiftpage” drip email marketing program. I was able to see how to set up a massive email marketing campaign, view the analytics, and create an SOP for the program.

Overall, being able to work with both LAI and assist with KAM was a great opportunity and taught me a lot. Being able to get firsthand experience and learn beyond the classroom and books really prepared me for my future job.

Nicholas L. 2020 Fall Intern

My name is Nicholas Valmore Lett and I am an International Business and Economics major from the University of West Florida.  I wanted to speak on the internships that I just finished at Lion Aerospace International (LAI)/King Aero Management Corp (KAM).  Originally I had applied several times because I knew it would be very beneficial for me long term.  Three times must have been my charm because I had finally been accepted and was ready to start my internship even with the problems of Covid-19.  Then Hurricane Sally devastated the Gulf Coast which pushed my start date further back.  I was worried my internship wasn’t going to happen but to my surprise my internship did start.  

While my internship wasn’t as long as I had hoped, I learned so much from inventory to Sales to administration, the importing and exporting of goods nationally and internationally.  Honestly I learned more in my time there at LAI/KAM than many of my core business courses.  In my opinion, this internship would be for any person of any major who plans on working in the private sector especially a business major.  As for the people there was no one I disliked, everyone was nice to me and treated me as though I was a real coworker instead of a student.  I would highly recommend this internship for anyone.

More Information

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