Chloe Akers and Justin Oller can attest to Shakespeare's edict that all the world's a stage. Whether they're mushing with Dallas Seavey, hiking on Matanuska Glacier or sitting by the sea in Seward, these two UAA theater alumni see the state as a wide-open performance venue.

Which makes them great additions to the team at Salmon Berry Tours. The local tourism company — founded by Alumna of Distinction Candice McDonald, B.B.A. '05, M.S. '08 — hires Alaska residents to provide fun, personable small-group tours all year long.

Chloe and Justin may be trained for the theater, but their background directly applies to tourism, too. Just replace the curtains with sliding bus doors and swap the stage for a driver's seat. It's a very different venue, but the spotlight's still on them as they command the rapt attention of their international tour guests.

Theatre in the North          

Though they're from opposite ends of the country, Chloe and Justin's stories interweave in several surprising ways. They both grew up performing in theater, both graduated in the same class from UAA and — inexplicably — both speak Japanese (Justin attended a language immersion school in Anchorage, Chloe double majored in Japanese at UAA). They've never shared the stage, but they do share several lines on their résumés. "We're the same person," Justin joked.

Foremost, though, is their mutual love for their state. Originally from Washington, D.C., Chloe first fell for Alaska on a family vacation at age 13 and vowed to return. After high school, UAA provided a convenient reason to move North. "I came to Alaska to study theater because I knew I'd be happy here," she said.

Within weeks of arriving, she landed her first UAA role as a Scottish kitchen wench in 2010's Chemical Imbalance. She'd end her college career on a more glamorous note, playing the Queen of England (wearing six-inch platforms) in 2015's William Shakespeare's Land of the Dead. "That's one of my favorite stories about my time at UAA," she laughed, recounting her rags-to-riches character trajectory.

Justin, meanwhile, arrived at UAA after performing in local theater productions as a kid in Anchorage. He worked at the visitor's center downtown in high school and through college (he also boosted his tourism cred with a summer job guiding horseback trips through the Chugach Mountains). With a theater background and tourism career, he joined Salmon Berry as soon he was old enough to apply. He continues to appear in local theater productions across the city.

As graduation neared last year, Chloe began thinking of options and decided to follow her friend's path to Salmon Berry. "I wanted to go into tourism because it coincided with theater and I adore Alaska and love sharing everything Alaska has to offer," she said. This summer will be Justin's third with the company, while Chloe is nearing a full year behind the wheel of the Salmon Berry shuttle.

As trained performers, both Justin and Chloe are excellent storytellers and, essentially, that's their professional role as guides. A key difference, though, is there is no script, as every tour includes unpredictable elements. For example, some days belugas are breaching on the Arm, while on others Dall sheep may be lounging by the roadside. "It's just like a show," Chloe noted. "Everything is different every single time. You have to think on your feet and adjust to changes."

Without a script, the tours can also account for the unique personality each guide provides. Salmon Berry exclusively hires Alaskans so they can populate tours with their own anecdotes and memories of life in the North.

"Each tour is based on our own personal experiences in Alaska, our own stories," Chloe noted. "Every tour hears something different. They're not getting some script on a gigantic 50-seater coach from somebody who lives in Montana. They're getting a personalized 13-seat experience with someone who has lived here for years."

Onstage behind the wheel

So how does theater really connect to tourism, one of the pillars of Alaska's economy? Chloe and Justin are both quick with animated — and overlapping — responses.

"Tourism jobs are perfect for anyone in the theater department," Justin started. "You can make a ton of money in a short amount of time."

"Doing what you love," Chloe jumped in.

"And it's fun! I love being outside, meeting new people."

"And I have ridiculous tan lines," Chloe boasted. (extra job perk?)

They rattle off the skills they apply from UAA's theater department, like confidence (Justin: "I have no problem talking in front of groups of any size") and quick thinking (Chloe: "adaptability is a big thing that I brought from theater"). They also cite the ability to memorize facts and figures, the vocal skills to speak clearly with or without a microphone, the presence to command attention and the warmth to connect with the audience.

"The performer in me just likes to make sure everybody is having a good time and is entertained," Justin acknowledged. "More than anything else, that's really what it is — I put on a show for 8 hours." And that's the minimum — longer tours, like Salmon Berry's overnight trip to Talkeetna, run for 24 hours. Plus, rockslides and forest fires can always shut down the highway, adding 'encore performances' to their workday.

Chloe and Justin, meanwhile, get the bonus benefit of connecting with guests from industry towns like New York and Los Angeles without ever leaving Anchorage. One time, Justin had a guest from Manhattan whose career involved connecting recent theater graduates with agents and casting directors. Business card, please!

Regardless of their background, all the guides at Salmon Berry have an incredible opportunity to see and share their state. It brings to mind another old (non-Shakespearean) adage about working hard or hardly working. "It's hard to tell," Chloe laughs in response. "It's a blurred line sometimes. I get to go dogsledding, snowmachining, even ziplining with the CEO for the makers of Call of Duty.

"I've met some really interesting people on some really interesting trips, and none of that would have been possible without Salmon Berry."

So even if you've lived in Alaska all your life, let these capable guides share their take on the state with you. Just think of it like they do — as a small mobile theater performance — and you'll surely be entertained on a hometown tour.

And make sure to ask Chloe about the time a black bear almost stumbled into her house through the front door.

Written by J. Besl, UAA Office of University Advancement