BYU Marriott School of Business MPA alumna Anastasia Jespersen knows you can’t do everything you want all at once. However she’s learned through experience that life has seasons, and each one comes with the opportunity to prioritize different parts of your life. “You just have to consider where you are and what your priorities are at that time in your life,” she says.
After Jespersen completed a bachelor’s degree in accounting from George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia, she moved to Provo to attend Brigham Young University. “I came right out of undergrad to the MPA program,” she says. “The program itself really helped me to see what was possible. It was a time in my life when I needed some direction, and my peers and professors in the program were amazing examples.”
Jespersen graduated from the MPA program in 1991 and married her husband, Paul, that same week. Her husband’s work often included travel, so they decided together that she would put her professional career on hold to be at home as they started a family.
“I didn’t have a job, but I worked extensively with parent-teacher associations and on different boards for the school district and community in a consulting capacity,” she says. “My degrees prepared me to be able to do those things. I frequently pulled from everything that I had learned in the MPA program and my bachelor’s degree in accounting.”
When her youngest child graduated from high school, Jespersen felt that it was time to move forward in other ways. “There are different seasons of life,” she says. “I absolutely loved being at home with my kids when they were young, and I love working now. I wouldn’t say that’s right for everyone, but it was right for me.”
She prayed for inspiration on what to do in the next season of her life. “I had a very clear answer that I needed to go to the BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School,” Jespersen says. So, she reached out to a professor from her time in the MPA program for a letter of recommendation and submitted her application. She was accepted and began her studies. “I loved being in law school, but I wasn’t certain what I would do with the degree until I connected with the G20 Interfaith Forum [IF20].”
IF20 is a small but well-connected international organization that works with members of different faiths in countries around the world to discuss global concerns. As Jespersen began working with IF20, the president of the organization told her, “The Lord brings the right people at the right time—you see it happen over and over again.”
Since IF20 is a global organization, Jespersen’s work schedule varies wildly from day to day, stretching into the early or late hours to accommodate different time zones. Sometimes she is planning a conference in another country; other times she’s processing reimbursements or networking with international contacts.
“Being able to use my education and knowing that in some sense it is divinely directed is just really cool,” Jespersen says. “Despite how crazy my work is, I love doing it. A lot of my spare time is just kind of more of what I’m doing anyway.” Indeed, much of her free time is spent volunteering at LDS Earth Stewardship or working with the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics to help keep alumni in the loop on what’s going on.
There have been many seasons in Jespersen’s life: attending grad school as a single adult, volunteering in her community as a stay-at-home mom, earning a law degree as an empty nester, and now working full-time. She says, “No matter where you are in life, it’s important to be involved in your community and in making an impact on what’s important to you.”
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Written by Melissa Een
