Advertising and marketing student Hannah Douglas scored a work at Hormel Food items immediately after graduation.
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—You can not score if you will not just take a shot. It is legitimate each on the courtroom and in everyday living for Western Michigan University university student-athlete Hannah Douglas, who will graduate on Saturday, June 25, with a bachelor’s degree in food items and client deal items marketing and advertising and a occupation waiting out west.
Basketball was not at first in the playing cards for Douglas, who excelled on the court docket in superior faculty in the Detroit suburb of Walled Lake but hadn’t been recruited by any main educational institutions.
“I arrived in this article because I wished to arrive as a pupil. I knew I was intrigued in organization, so it was among listed here and Michigan State. But Michigan State was a small too large for me and much too near to dwelling,” she states. “Western just feels like house.”
Douglas, heart, cheers on teammates through a game.
Once she made it to campus, even so, she was not pretty ready to give up on her hoop desires. She listened to about tryouts and made the decision to give it a shot.
“I really was just heading to see what would take place. Simply because actually, I feel if I failed to do that, I would have in all probability regretted it,” Douglas suggests, remembering the surreal moment when she received the information she produced the team. “It was great and I am so grateful they allowed me to join the team—just a small town lady on a Division I basketball staff!”
She failed to rack up a ton of factors or see a prosperity of match time, but Douglas’ grit and dedication encouraged her teammates. They voted to give her the team’s Enthusiasm Award, which recognizes the player who “demonstrates enthusiasm by encouraging her teammates, enjoying tricky and maintaining a profitable attitude,” two decades in a row, in 2021 and 2022.
“I am so passionate about the video game of basketball, but I’m also passionate about my teammates’ success,” states Douglas. “I actually just appreciate placing a smile on peoples’ faces—I truly feel like that is my intent in lifestyle.”
Building HERSELF MARKETABLE
Douglas is a planner at coronary heart, which assisted her manage a fast paced schedule as a DI athlete. She dove headfirst into her Haworth School of Business courses from the moment she arrived at Western, understanding she was intrigued in advertising but doubtful which way it would direct.
Internships and networking encounters aided put the ball in Douglas’ courtroom when it arrived time to pick out a vocation path.
“I looked at all the professors and did my research, and food stuff marketing and advertising is almost everywhere. I imagined, ‘I appreciate meals. I love advertising listed here. So why not just mix the two and commence with the big?’ It surely was an ‘aha moment,'” she says. “When I started off having the courses, I liked it. I beloved the professors I liked the curriculum—it just all fell beautifully alongside one another.”
Douglas also took edge of as many networking prospects as her plan would enable and also finished an internship with Eaton Corporation, placing her promoting expertise to the examination as nicely as finding out digital marketing and advertising and accomplishing some occasion scheduling.
“I was just attempting to press my experienced job as much as I could go with as significantly time as I had,” she suggests. “I took any opportunity and went with it, no matter whether it was a profession fair, important mash-up, nearly anything like that. I undoubtedly owe it all to the (Haworth Faculty of Business enterprise).”
A go to from Hormel Foods to a single of her lessons eventually led to a career offer you for Douglas.
“I will never ignore how they talked about relocation and the way you can go in any course in the course of the firm. That definitely trapped with me, due to the fact I dislike currently being stagnant and I love studying,” she claims. A discussion with instructor Bob Samples, who labored at Hormel for additional than a few a long time ahead of coming into academia, gave Douglas the steering she required to choose the upcoming phase in her profession.
“You absolutely have to place in a good deal of do the job, but you get out what you set in,” says Douglas.
“I just realized it was going to be a great task for me. It was a best suit, and I love the society. I like the people I interviewed with. And then I bought the simply call again expressing I obtained hired it was remarkable. It just felt like it all came together.”
She begins her new work as a foods provider product sales representative at the firm’s business office in Phoenix in July. Her initial calendar year will concentrate on schooling, understanding the ropes from a variety of mentors across the division. It’s a obstacle she feels ready to acquire on many thanks to the capabilities she created at Western.
“The (Haworth School of Small business) is a great position to genuinely push you in the way you need to go, and I owe it all of my accomplishment,” she claims. “You surely have to place in a great deal of operate, but you get out what you place in.”
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