Degree/Year: Professional Writing with a Digital/Technical focus, 2014
Company: Northstar Recycling Company, Inc.
Position: Senior Marketing Manager
City/State: East Longmeadow, Massachusetts + remote in Lansing, Michigan

Northstar is a fifth-generation recycling company that focuses on helping manufacturing and distribution facilities turn waste byproducts into strategic business opportunities. I am responsible for implementing and managing the company’s B2B marketing initiatives. I create content that helps educate clients and prospects about our service offerings
and recycling as a whole. Daily responsibilities range anywhere from managing the website and blog to creating new sales tools and
PR campaigns. 

At its roots, marketing is understanding who your audience is; what they need; when, where and how to reach them; and why they should listen to you. In other words, marketing is rhetoric. As a student in MSU’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, I not only received tools to address the who, what, when, where and how, I also learned to communicate with a purpose and make my audience understand why they should listen to me. In my marketing career, this translates to understanding the reasoning behind a marketing campaign or new tool.

“I also learned to communicate with a purpose and make my audience understand why they should listen to me.”

My advice for Spartans seeking success is to try new things. Make yourself uncomfortable, follow your interests, and understand that failure is a beautiful learning opportunity and chance to try something new.