WKU News

Jinsey Stinson, a senior from Munfordville, initially chose WKU because of its proximity to her home.

“WKU is close to where I’m from,” Stinson said. “Also, I always thought that Big Red was so cute,” she added with a smile. What started out as a pragmatic choice turned out to be an experience filled with opportunities.

Stinson is graduating in December with a double major in Business Data Analytics and Marketing with a concentration in Sales. During her time on the Hill, she has been involved in numerous student organizations, including Beta Gamma Sigma, Delta Sigma Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa, and the American Marketing Association. 

“These organizations have grown me professionally and challenged me, but they’re a lot of fun too,” Stinson added.  “With these organizations, we do a lot of different things, but I feel like the thing I focus on the most is how I make people feel. I think that’s very important, especially in this virtual world where it can sometimes be difficult to make those connections.  My peers - specifically, the people that I’m in those organizations with, are always rooting for me, too. It’s always great to have people on your team.”

Most notably, Stinson has completed three different internships during her undergraduate career, with Nashville Display, T. Marzetti, and Liberty Mutual Insurance. Across the three internships, she was able to gain a wide range of work experience, primarily focusing in marketing and human resources management.

“With Nashville Display, I was on both the digital marketing and sales side,” Stinson said. “With Liberty Mutual, I was more on the sales side. I did a lot of cold-calling and prospecting. With T. Marzetti, I was a Human Resources assistant, so I helped with their hiring process, wrote job descriptions, and dealt with standard operating procedures.”

Stinson has been able to pair her knowledge gained in the classroom, specifically in her sales classes, with the work experience she gained through her internships.

“The classroom really only scratches the surface,” Stinson said. “Whenever you’re in the real world, you’re able to piece things together with what you learned in class. It kind of fills in those gaps and marries your student life with the real world.”

Stinson has learned specific skills and lessons from those sales classes to take with her in life.  

“The presentations make you really good at being around people, even if you’re not a people person,” Stinson explained. “They prepare you for the real-world by helping you to be quick witted and on your toes. Sales has made me more aware of myself and my surroundings, and more aware of how other people around me think as well. With that, I realize that I’m not always right, and I feel like it’s helped me grow personally and professionally.”

Despite her focus on Marketing and Business Data Analytics, Stinson feels prepared to take on any area business in her future career. She credits this to the diversity of her Gordon Ford College of Business coursework.

“What I like about the college of business is that we take classes in a bunch of different subjects, like finance, economics, and accounting,” she said. “With a business degree, you are very versatile, so you don’t always have to pursue exactly what you go to school for. You will most likely work with many different departments depending on the organization you work for.”

Following graduation in December, Stinson is open to a wide variety of opportunities in the business field.

“My goal is to move to Nashville to pursue a career in the field of marketing, sales, and business,” she explained. “I consider myself a people person, so marketing is a way that I can work with people and be super creative. I could be in business development as an executive assistant, or I could do something in recruiting. With all of those options, you can still work with people, and I feel like I’m good at building relationships with people while honing in on my business skills.”

Stinson said the relationships that she built while at WKU have become the most important aspect of her WKU experience.

“The best part about my WKU experience would definitely be meeting people,” Stinson said. “The faculty and staff have been there to help me, and my peers who have been there to support me. I wouldn’t be where I am today or as prepared to go into the real-world without those people.”

For more information about the Gordon Ford College of Business, visit: https://www.wku.edu/business/ 

For more information about a major in Sales at WKU, visit: https://www.wku.edu/marketing/professional-selling.php 

For more information about a major in Business Data Analytics at WKU, visit: https://www.wku.edu/bdan/index.php

For more information about business internships, visit: https://www.wku.edu/business/internships/