Sara Derstine

Sara was born in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, an area known for its Amish and Mennonite communities. Her grandparents were farmers. One set raised dairy cows and the other raised sheep. Her father served as a pastor in a Mennonite church, and much of her early life centered around that community. She sang in the choir and remembers music as an important part of church life.

When she was five, she moved to Denver, Colorado wither her older brother and parents for her father’s job. There, her world began to expand. Some of her strongest memories come from summers spent camping for weeks at a time with her “adventurer” of a father. Her family traveled throughout Colorado and into New Mexico, where she spent time hiking and fishing.

During junior high and high school, Sara was bused from her neighborhood to an inner-city school as part of Denver’s desegregation efforts. At the time, she did not fully grasp the broader significance, but she remembers being part of a close-knit school community with dedicated teachers and strong school spirit.

Those early experiences introduced her to new environments and helped shape a sense of curiosity about the world around her.

After high school, Sara left Colorado to attend the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was ready to experience something new and to be in a place where she could start fresh. She began as a biology major but later switched to English, drawn to reading and discussing works by some of her favorite authors like Shakespeare and Chaucer. Currently, her favorite genre is historical fiction.

Shortly before graduating, she met her future husband. The two married and began a life that would take them across the country. They lived in Santa Barbara and San Diego, California; Boulder, Colorado; back to California to the Bay Area, and eventually Massachusetts, where they raised their two daughters, Carolyn and Becca.

During those years, Sara chose to stay home with her children. She was active volunteering in their schools and involved in community groups. As her children left the nest and life began to look different, she returned to work. She started with part-time roles, including medical transcription, and later worked as an administrative assistant at a small engineering firm. These employment experiences eventually led her to ScottMadden.

Looking back, she describes the years of change as formative. Moving between places and roles required constant adjustment. Over time, she developed a mindset that continues to guide her: “Flexibility is key,” she says. “You really just have to stay flexible in your mind, your body.” She sees flexibility as something that allows people to adapt, continue learning, and move forward through different phases of life.

Through her love of travel, Sara has continued to gain exposure to new cultures and ways of life. She has visited Thailand and Singapore, traveled to Ghana with her daughters to see her (also adventurous) mother during her Peace Corps service, and joined one of her daughters in Tanzania for a safari after a study abroad program. More recently, Sara explored Scotland on a hiking trip. Currently, she is enjoying discovering the New England region again after a three-year remote stint in Phoenix, Arizona, involving hiking around the Sonoran Desert.

Reflecting on these experiences, Sara sees a clear connection with the changes in her life. Over time, travel and change have deepened her belief in meeting people where they are, even when perspectives differ.