Finding Her Passion and Purpose

The eternal optimist. Those words seem fitting for our very own Starr Bland, associate product manager in the Codman Specialty Surgical (CSS) division supporting our Dural Repair products. Not only is Starr a fashion icon who you may have seen featured as a model on the Today Show, she is someone who has had an incredible 17-year career at Integra with a powerful influence on celebrating Black History and making the most of her opportunities!

As a young child growing up in Queens, Starr learned about Black History through family discussions and her church, while also immersing herself in the rich culture of New York City. Her love of clothing and accessories led her to pursue her bachelor’s degree in retail management from Syracuse University and a career in sales. In the early 2000s, she was intrigued by the growing MedTech industry and joined Integra in 2006 as a Customer Service representative. She then rotated and advanced through increasing roles of responsibility to expand her breadth of knowledge in International Sales Support, Consignment and Commercial Operations.

While the work was meaningful, her sights were always set on joining the Marketing team. She researched, asked a lot of questions and most importantly, made her intentions known of her career aspirations. This is how she learned about Integra’s graduate degree partnership with Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), and the rest is history. She applied and completed her MBA with honors over two and half years while continuing to work full-time at Integra AND taking on stretch assignments! Her persistence paid off in 2023 when she joined the CSS Marketing team as an associate product manager. 

In parallel to her career pursuit, she also helped to start Integra’s first employee resource group, IAAAG, now known as Black Employees United at Integra for Leadership and Development (B.U.I.L.D). As an executive board member, she remains steadfast in their ERG mission to -- celebrate and bring to light the accomplishments of Black Americans through important events and align their work to Integra’s organizational priorities to help build a high-performing culture. 

In addition to B.U.I.L.D, Starr is involved in many other organizations including the Women of Integra Network (WIN) and Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA), where she loves to mentor and help others realize their greatest potential.

When asked what our purpose, mission and vision means to her, she shared a recent story of her Commercial Operations role approving an urgent order for a customer. She personally tracked the order to confirm that it was at the hospital in time for the surgery. At that moment, a patient, their family and the sales rep were counting on her to do the right thing. It fulfilled her to know she assisted in changing a life for the better…. while representing a company that heals brain and body….and from this, a ‘Starr’ was born!