In this regular feature, we hear from women academics and professionals about their lives, their faith, and the way it all intersects. Pull up a chair and join us as we chat with marketing professor Sandy Jap.
Welcome, Sandy! Tell us about yourself.
Name: Sandy Jap
Current position: The Sarah Beth Brown Professor of Marketing at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University
Schools attended: University of Florida (GO GATORS!) BSc and PhD in Marketing
A few favorite things: I am an adventurous eater and love spicy food — anything but frog legs works for me. My hobbies are tennis and paddling (kayaking and stand up paddle boarding), roller blading, biking. I hate winter!
What was the hardest part of grad school and what kept you sane?
I really enjoyed graduate school. I was single with no obligations and could work on anything I wanted whenever I wanted. I found my colleagues and classmates fascinating. For me, the hardest part was becoming adjusted to the very liberal environment that is academia. I was not prepared to discuss politics and was completely unaware of what was happening in the marketplace, pop culture, basically, anything outside of the non-Christian world that I was in. My sanity was helped by a group of four very wonderful Christian women who were going through graduate school (PhD, medical school, CPA) at the same time. We bonded over common challenges and were at similar stages in our Christian walks and faith.
What do you love most about your job right now?
So many things! First is the freedom to work on what I want, whenever I want, with whomever I want! The second huge blessing is being in a mode of always learning and investigating — my work is not only satisfying, it’s also rewarding. Finally, tenure! Knowing that I can no longer be evaluated through a formal process has really reduced a lot of unnecessary stress and tension.
How does your faith inform the way you think about or do your work?
It certainly makes me more empathetic, as I see others through His eyes. It also keeps me humble (any success I’ve had is the result of God’s generous blessing of my efforts and a healthy dose of miracles along the way) and helps me not take things too seriously. I used to care a lot about what others thought about me, but now I know that God’s opinion is the only one that matters.
