As an undeclared freshman at BYU, Susan Parker Sanders was feeling pressure to decide on a major. Her uncle worked for GTE Financial and suggested to his math-savvy niece that she consider accounting; he even set up an appointment for her to meet with a professor in BYU Marriott’s School of Accountancy.
“During that interview, the professor asked me something that changed my life,” Sanders recalls. “He told me that 50 percent of women end up having to support their families, and he asked me how I was planning on supporting my family if I was part of that 50 percent. I just always thought I’d get married and live happily ever after; I never considered I could end up single, divorced, or widowed. But I knew I’d need a good degree if I ended up working, so I chose accounting.”
Sanders graduated in 1986 with her bachelor’s degree and worked full-time as the controller of Extra Space Management in Salt Lake City. After having her second baby, she opted to be a stay-at-home mom. “I had been doing the accounting for friends who owned low-income housing apartments, so I took over managing the apartments for them,” she says. For the next fifteen years, the ten-hour-a-week job allowed her to focus on her growing family (she and her husband, Todd, have five children) while still adding to the family income.
Over time, Sanders added to her property-management portfolio. “Then I realized that I was going through all the hassle and stress of managing properties while the owners were the ones who really made the money,” she says. “My accountant brain kicked in, and I started buying properties.”
Before the crash of 2008, Sanders and her husband (who graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s in accounting in 1985 and then earned an EMBA degree in 1988) bought thirty houses and flipped twenty-two of them. She continues to manage the remaining eight along with the thirty-two properties she manages for others. “Doing this allows me to make the most of my property-management skills and accounting skills,” she explains.
In addition, she recently became a licensed Realtor. “I love looking for houses, particularly investment properties, as well as helping others find houses,” she says. “It’s a job that truly does allow me to help others.”
Even though she didn’t end up being the sole breadwinner in her family, Sanders has passed on the sage words of advice she received from that accounting professor years ago. Two of her children have graduated from BYU Marriott, one with a MAcc degree and another with a bachelor’s in information systems. “BYU has such an excellent program,” she says. “I learned so much—plus that’s where I met Todd, and I got a pretty good return on that investment.”
“I love accounting, I love real estate, and I love taxes,” Sanders continues. “If you can find a hobby you love and then find a way to make money doing it, isn’t that the best?”
