Katy Olson spent her summer as a Business Growth Intern at payabl.'s London office — the first intern cohort the UK team took on. She came from Kansas City by way of university in Atlanta, Georgia, with a background in finance and economics and a curiosity about how different countries work.
"I've always been very interested in different working cultures in different countries," Katy says. "I have a bit of background in the finance and economics sector through what I'm studying at school. The internship was a really good intersection of it and what I would be doing here."
Learning the sales process from the team
Katy worked with the banking team under UK Head of Sales of Banking, James Wright, alongside Business Growth Managers for Banking, Patrick Coleman and Greg Labuschagne. She worked alongside the acquiring team too. Having never worked in sales before, the internship gave her direct insights into what that work involves day to day.
"I definitely think I've learned a lot more about the sales process," she says. "I came into the summer not really knowing anything about sales. Learning about the process, what goes into it, and being able to sit in on prospect meetings and client meetings has been really insightful."
She points to client communication as one of the most useful skills she has added: "Learning how you can communicate with clients to get the end result you want has been really beneficial to learn."
Presentation skills and proof of progress
Katy names her presentation skills as a clear area of growth from her time at payabl., with presenting projects to James giving her a feedback loop she could improve on through the summer.
"James and the team always gave me really good feedback. They could tell that I was improving throughout the summer," she says. "That's definitely something I'm proud of."
What the summer added up to
Katy approached the summer with excitement as she knew she was joining payabl. UK's first internship group. Looking back, she says the experience outpaced her expectations: “I really ended up enjoying my time with everybody I worked with at payabl. It ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be."
Her summer reflects what payabl. aims to give every intern — real exposure to live client work and lead pipelines, direct mentorship, and a team that invests in their growth from day one.
Read more of our company culture and how the team works behind the scenes