What is The Green House Experience? What is your role as a Green House employee? Priz explains this and more.
Why was Green House started?
Green House began with a simple goal: to help as many students as possible.
Just a few years ago, many UVU graduates were struggling to land jobs in marketing. The common feedback? They lacked practical workplace experience. Green House was founded to bridge that gap—giving students hands-on opportunities to build real-world skills and graduate as competitive, job-ready candidates.
What is The Green House Experience?
As Green House grew, so did student interest—so much so that there weren’t enough openings to meet demand. In response, UVU Digital Marketing Professional in Residence and Green House founder David Przybyla (“Priz”) created The Green House Experience.
This 9-week program gives senior capstone students in Priz’s course the opportunity to work on real Green House projects, one-on-one with a student mentor, instead of attending traditional lectures. It’s an immersive, hands-on alternative designed to replicate the Green House work environment and extend its impact beyond official hires.
Not only does this expand access, but it also transforms Green House employees into mentors and educators—reinforcing their own skills while helping others grow.
The Green House Experience benefits you too!
The Green House Experience does more than help capstone students. It helps you too! Ever wonder what the benefit of teaching does for your own learning? Here’s some examples:
Academic and Cognitive Benefits
- Reinforces Your Own Knowledge
- Highlights Gaps in Your Understanding
- Encourages Active Learning
Professional Development Benefits
- Develops Communication Skills
- Builds Leadership and Confidence
- Improves Problem-Solving and Adaptability
- Looks Great on a Resume
Interpersonal and Emotional Benefits
- Strengthens Empathy and Patience
- Creates Stronger Peer Relationships
- Fosters a Growth Mindset
Career-Ready Benefits
- Prepares You for Future Training Roles
- Gives You Portfolio or Case Study Material
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it enough.” - Richard Feynman
At Green House, we believe in mastering what we teach. Feynman, a Nobel-Prize winning physicist, believed true mastery comes when you can explain a complex topic to a 12-year-old. That principle applies directly to marketing. When working with clients—especially CEOs or CFOs—it’s easy to forget they may not understand our marketing terms or acronyms. And they won’t always ask for clarification.
That’s why part of your role as a mentor isn’t just to do the work—it’s to explain it clearly. Teaching others will sharpen your own understanding and make you a more confident, credible professional.
The Green House Experience:
What’s happens before starting:
- All student mentors will be added to a Green House Experience Teams channel
- Externs will be assigned to Green House employees for the semester
- Externs will receive onboarding materials (via Canvas)
What you need to do before starting:
- Go to GH Experience → Extern Activities → TEMPLATE Extern Activity Reporting
- Copy the template to GH Experience → Extern Activities → [Relevant semester] under the extern you’ll be mentoring
- This template outlines the activities you and your extern will complete. It’s also how they’ll be graded in Priz’s class.
- Prepare to meet your extern!
Notes on extern activities:
There are two types of activities externs will complete:
- Part A: Funnel development
- Helps externs generate leads or ideas for future Green House projects. This builds their understanding of the marketing funnel and lead generation.
- Part B: Real Green House work
- Align externs with current GH client work (e.g., Fertilizer Package tasks). For example, externs should attend a client meeting whenever possible—or at least a mentor meeting. Exposure to client interaction is key.
Important:
There are two reports: the Activity Report and the Outcome Report. Sometimes they’re the same, sometimes not.
Regardless, the Outcome Report should reflect what the extern accomplished during their 6 hours/week with you.
Frequently asked questions:
What if there are scheduling conflicts?
At the beginning of the experience, see if you can coordinate time to work together. If, for some reason, this is not an option, determine if the scheduling problem will be:
1. Short-term (< 2 weeks):
Work with another member of Green House to help when you are unavailable. If that is not possible, there are 2 weeks of flex time so externs can make up work if they need to at the end of their time.
OR:
2. Long-term (> 2 weeks):
If the problem will be consistent throughout the 9-weeks, consult Alec and determine if trading externs is a possibility with another team member.
What if an extern disappears?
At the beginning of the experience, establish and encourage clear communication with your extern. If they do disappear and you are unable to get a hold of them, reach out to Alec or Priz as soon as possible.
How do I log extern hours?
Hours are tracked in the Activity Template. As the mentor, you verify accuracy and confirm the hours recorded are the hours worked.
An intern shares that “it feels too easy.”
Priz is completely okay with this. The goal is meaningful exposure, not to overwhelm. If externs leave feeling confident, then the system worked. As long as the externs feel the work is beneficial, there is no problem.
How does the onboarding course work?
Externs will complete a Canvas course. Some parts may be outdated or irrelevant—feel free to direct them to skip what’s unnecessary. You have flexibility.
Final note: Be adaptable
Some mentors haven’t done certain tasks (like funnel development) before themselves, yet are still expected to coach interns through them. That’s okay! Figure it out. Adapt. That’s exactly what the real world requires.