Alumni Profile: Sara Randall Paul, BBA '05, MBA '09

Moving from West Hartford, Connecticut to Anchorage, Alaska was quite the culture shock for UAA alumna Sara Randall Paul.

Her mother, who grew up in Hong Kong, came to the United States to attend college in Oregon. She traveled a great distance for her college education and encouraged her eldest daughter to do the same.

Sara came to UAA in 2001 on a gymnastics scholarship and competed with the Seawolves for four years.

Unlike many college students, Sara knew right out of the gate that she wanted to major in business. Even in high school, she had an interest in advertising. "I knew where I was headed," she said.

A former student-athlete, Sara admits that her schedule was grueling at times, especially when it came to getting her prerequisite classes out of the way. "I had a lot of help along the way. My parents, coaches and advisors all helped keep me on track."

"Coming to UAA on scholarship gave me a sense of responsibility and ownership of what I was doing. I felt like I was getting paid to compete in gymnastics."

Some of Sara's best memories at UAA are centered around her time on the gymnastics team. "My teammates were like family; it was like having a dozen sisters. We shared so many laughs and great experiences. Looking back, I realize that I was pretty fortunate."

A double major, Sara graduated in 2005 with two Bachelor of Business Administration degrees, one in marketing and one in management.

After four years of hard work, Sara opted to take the summer off after earning her undergraduate degrees. That fall, she landed a job with the Nerland Agency, an advertising and marketing firm in Anchorage, where she's currently an Account Executive. Her main clients include Alaska McDonald's, Midas Alaska and Kelley & Canterbury, LLC, an Alaska law firm. "I never get bored working here. No day, or hour for that matter, is predictable - it keeps me on my toes."

Though coming to Alaska was a shock at first, Sara has grown to love The Last Frontier and has no plans of leaving Alaska or Nerland anytime soon. She said that Nerland values work-life balance, family and community involvement. "I could last forever in this type of agency setting."

Her favorite part of her job is growing relationships with clients. "Nothing beats a happy client," Sara said. "It comes when you're doing good work to help their business grow; happy clients make everything worthwhile in the end."

After a couple of years in the field, Sara decided to return to UAA to pursue a Master of Business Administration, which she earned in December 2009. "I'm a nerd; I love to learn. I would be a student for the rest of my life if I could." It took Sara three years to complete her master's degree while continuing to work full time at Nerland.

Sara became close friends with a handful of her fellow classmates from UAA's MBA program. She said that on the first day of class, the professor asked the class if anyone was new to the program. Sara was the only one to raise her hand. The professor then told the class to pair up in groups. Sara scanned the classroom to pick her group and immediately noticed "the girl with the planner," who was paying strict attention and taking copious notes. Turns out, "the girl with the planner" was also new to the program but didn't raise her hand. The two automatically clicked and are now the best of friends.

During her time at UAA, Sara noticed a shift in students' perspectives. "There seems to be an increased level of respect for what's going on at UAA." She said that when she first came to UAA, a lot of students planned to be here for a year before transferring out of state. But between her sophomore and junior years, she noticed that those same students were coming back to UAA. "There's a lot of love for UAA in the community. Things are happening at UAA that people think only happen at the Stanfords of the world."

Sara also sits on the UAA Alumni Association Board of Directors and chairs the Membership and Marketing Committee. Jeff Roe, current UAAAA president and former Nerland Agency client, encouraged Sara to get involved with the Board in fall 2009. "We're trying to take the bull by the horns to launch a successful membership campaign. There are a lot more ways to stay connected with UAA now than ever before."

Sara married her husband Russell in 2008 and gained a 10-year-old stepdaughter, Nadia. The family recently added a new furry friend, Duke, a Tsi Tzu/Poodle mix. Sara stays active by playing on an adult league soccer team and is training to run a half-marathon this summer. She hopes to someday teach at UAA. "It would bring me full circle."