Sondra Fowler orchestrates an IPO of $4.4 billion, a Sunday school
class of 60
PR Week says she’s the brains behind Conoco’s hugely
successful IPO, one of the 50 most influential women in public relations
and “tough enough to drag a bunch of reporters to the North
Slope of Alaska in December.”
But that tough, powerful corporate manager isn’t the real Sondra
Fowler.
Until you know that this alumna is also 60 third graders’ Sunday
school teacher and that this globetrotting executive loves her tiny
East Texas hometown more than any place on earth, then you haven’t
been introduced to the whole lady.
An old friend of Sondra’s, Irene Shadoan, who worked with Sondra
in public relations once upon a time, offers a starting place: “For
people like Sondra, a 40-hour work week is out of the question.
It would be easy to let work invade her entire life, but she keeps
her balance. She gives back to her community through her church,
bringing to life wonderful Bible stories for the children. She takes
what she does seriously, but not herself.”
Sondra came to East Texas State University because her cousin, Dr.
Don R. Lee, teaches in the science department. She says, “I
knew that if he was connected with ET, it had to be a good school.”
She came here looking to turn herself into her heroine, and that
heroine is That Girl. As in Marlo Thomas’ ‘70s rendition
of what was, at that time, the all-but-unheard-of independent female
professional. Sondra was well on her way when by 1975, journalism
degree in hand, she set out to become a wire service reporter.
After a few years of reporting, the chance to fulfill her “That
Girl” dream came a-calling. A company was offering her the
opportunity of a lifetime, but it was one that meant she’d
have to move to London.
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