Abigail Scott, a current senior at Black Hills State University, knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in business after watching her mom build and manage her own. In spring 2026, Scott, a double major in business administration (marketing specialization) and music education, gained hands-on experience in the business world through an internship with InovaSkin, a growing local skincare company.
InovaSkin was founded by Dr. Tugba Ozdemir, a professor of biomedical engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. After discovering hyaluronic acid binding peptides, Ozdemir created a formula that naturally works with the skin to restore hydration. After getting the business running, Ozdemir decided that InovaSkin needed to work on their social media outreach and contacted BHSU where she worked with the Career and Development Center and the School of Business to find a marketing student to intern at InovaSkin.
"Black Hills State University's School of Business has an emphasis on entrepreneurship, which was very important to me as both a professor and entrepreneur," Ozdemir said. "My conversation with them really supported and assured me about searching for an internship."
The request reached Dr. Sangbong Lee, associate professor of marketing, and he shared the opportunity with his classes. Eventually, Lee reached out to Scott, a student in his Digital Marketing class, and encouraged her to apply.
"I was considering applying when Lee announced it to the class, but I did not know what the summer was going to look like for me yet," explained Scott. "But then Lee had reached out to me individually and said that I would be a really good fit for this internship, so I decided to apply."
After going through the application and interview process, Scott was selected for the internship where she worked alongside a small marketing team at InovaSkin during the summer. During her internship, Scott worked remotely creating social media content and helping communicate complex scientific information to consumer audiences.
"Although Scott did not have a strong scientific background, she had learned about the science and translated it into appealing visuals that captured what I was envisioning for our brand," explained Ozdemir. "With minimum directions and instructions, Scott had fulfilled our expectations."
Through the support of the Career Development Center and College of Business, Scott gained hands-on experience applying her marketing coursework in a professional setting with InovaSkin.
"This experience has shown me great evidence that the students at BHSU are very responsible, hardworking, and talented, which is why we would be interested in carrying on internships with other students," said Ozdemir.
"I have had a lot of different experiences working in retail, tourism, athletics, and band, but this internship was completely new to me that I would have never realized was so interesting to work in," said Scott. "As a student, I would encourage others to try new things that put them outside of their comfort zone. It has made me a more well-rounded student, and that looks better to employers in the future as well.”