With knowledge gained from her MSU education and experiences, Hannah Diggs-King, a senior who is double majoring in Marketing and Spanish, won an internship competition for which she was flown to New Jersey to meet with the company CEO and co-presented with him at a national meeting.
This past summer, Diggs-King worked as a Corporate Marketing Intern for Stryker, a medical technology company headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with locations around the world. She also has worked as a Social Media Intern for Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters for the past two years.
For the Stryker competition, all interns were invited at the beginning of their 12-week summer internship to film and edit a video for an Instagram Reel to advertise their experiences working for the company.
“I credit my College of Arts & Letters internship with setting me up so well with the skills to excel at this challenge,” Diggs-King said. “Working for the College of Arts & Letters has given me experience in branding, logo, fonts, colors, and content creation for all across social media, from Twitter tweets to Instagram Reels. When I completed the Reel and later found out I won, I asked what made me different from everyone else. I was told what differentiated me was that I was able to use the Stryker logo, colors, and fonts in the execution of my video.”
“I credit my College of Arts & Letters internship with setting me up so well with the skills to excel at this challenge.”
Two weeks after winning the competition, Diggs-King was flown to Mahwah, New Jersey, home of Stryker Orthopaedics, to tour this new location, meet with other interns, and for a behind-the-scenes look into videography and promotional material creation. She also had a one-on-one meeting with Yin Becker, Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, where she got to ask questions about the company and career advice.
During her time in Mahwah, Diggs-King also did a side-by-side presentation with Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo. This presentation was for a “Meet the CEO” event where all Stryker interns were invited to ask the CEO any questions. Diggs-King gave the opening and closing remarks for the event.
“I’m so passionate about what Stryker gets to do and be a part of,” Diggs-King said. “I see our products on TV all the time and it’s cool to be able to see a product that I worked on, or in the hospital, you can see our products being used to help heal people. Basically, everyone has been touched by a Stryker product to some extent. Getting to be a part of a broader mission is amazing.”
As a Corporate Marketing Intern for Stryker, Diggs-King helped with the company’s branding, created collateral, and did research. She says it was her global perspective as a Spanish major and as someone who has traveled abroad that gave her an edge in her interviews for the internship.
“As an undergraduate student being able to tell an employer that I have worked internationally is invaluable.”
During the Fall 2022 semester, Diggs-King went on a College of Arts & Letters study abroad to Valencia, Spain, and spent four months in Europe. She not only traveled throughout Spain, she also visited 11 other countries including Austria, Andorra, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland.
“During the Valencia program, I was learning lots of Spanish, being taught daily in classes about Spain, and growing in cultural standing,” Diggs-King said. “I also was given the opportunity to work abroad, seeing in depth what international work looks like. I knew at this point that I wanted to work for Stryker and so I chose to work for an international clinic in the city.”
While interviewing for the Stryker internship, Diggs-King mentioned her experience working for the Sorolla Clinic in Valencia, Spain.
“As an undergraduate student being able to tell an employer that I have worked internationally is invaluable. Not only could I show my Spanish degree as proof that I could provide a global perspective to any role I was hired into, but I also had lived in Spain for four months and had international work experience,” Diggs-King said. “At the end of my internship, my hiring manager told me that it was my global perspective that differentiated me and got me the internship over others.”
Diggs-King found that her study abroad experience gave her valuable insight that was helpful with her internship at Stryker.
“My global perspective aided me in numerous projects within the company,” she said. “I worked alongside international business partners in Singapore, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Australia, Spain, South Africa, and others. I think my global perspective allowed for me to infer cultural nuances and genuinely enjoy conversing with so many individuals from all over the world.”
“My global perspective aided me in numerous projects within the company.”
Undoubtedly leaving a positive impact on Stryker, Diggs-King said she wishes to stay with the company in the future and hopes to continue doing what she is passionate about.
“They’re creating products that make healthcare better, and they are making sure they’re super diverse in what they create,” Diggs-King said. “I just want to do something with meaning. I especially love the healthcare equipment industry and how I’ve gotten to use my global perspective. The perspective that I’m able to put into the different parts of the companies that I’ve worked for has been so meaningful and impactful to me. I look forward to continue doing marketing, but in a way that’s very specialized and unique to me.”
Written by Kelsey Lester
