|
 |
Sara Buck Lane '99 and Lani Hancock Staebell '96 work in strategic positions
in Atlanta's booming tourism industry |
Lani Hancock Staebell ’96 and Sara Buck Lane ’99 are no strangers to personal success. Lani – a former Miss Savannah (1999), Miss Dekalb County (2001), and Miss Atlanta (2002) – and Sara – a former Teen Miss Savannah and Miss Cobb County (2005) – are now working together behind the scenes to contribute to some of the successes of Georgia’s largest city, Atlanta.
After graduating from SCPS in 1996, Lani attended Georgia State University and earned a B. S. in Public Relations and Communications. She worked for the Marietta Convention and Visitors Bureau for a while, and then moved to ATCOMM Publishing – the official publishers for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau – where she sells ads for annual publications and works with retail restaurants, caterers, and others in the $38 million dollar Atlanta-area tourism industry.
Sara attended Georgia College and received her Middle Georgia Associates degree then received a B.S. in Public Relations from Georgia State University. Her first job involved helping launch the Georgia Aquarium. She worked in sales and marketing in ticket sales to the military, tour operators, and various group sales. Then she moved to ATCOMM where she works with Lani as an Ad Rep.
Lani says, “I thoroughly enjoy my job. Last night, Sara and I were out with clients at a B-52’s concert and we were thinking, ‘Wow! We’re getting paid for this!’ So, basically, I get paid to have fun.”
One great benefit of working in the tourism industry, according to Lani, is the people. “Tourism has the nicest people.” Sara agrees. “Tourism is like big circle of people that are extended family.”
Lani is married to Eric Staebell, from Iowa, who works in tech systems management as an IT consultant. The niece of current SCPS parent and Board of Trustees member, Susan Hancock, Lani has two sisters, Amanda Hancock ’94, and a younger sister who currently attends Coastal Middle School in Savannah.
Sara, who recently married Chris Lane, and Lani are both grateful for their pageant experiences. “Not only did we meet great people and enjoy wonderful experiences,” Sara says, “through my pageant scholarships I was able to graduate debt-free from college.”
The two fondly recall high school as the best times in life. Some of Lani’s favorite memories include going to Carey Hilliard’s after ball games, working as an office aide for Mrs. Webb, and reading 1200 pages of War and Peace in Mr. Corbett’s class.
“Mrs. Webb was like family,” Sara says. “And I will never forget chemistry teacher Mrs. Maggie Kelly. She used to wear a shirt that read, ‘Chem is try.’ ‘You’ve got to try,’ she would say. And she was right!”
The school cafeteria food, they both agree, was good. “We had the best lunches at SCPS, and the sweet tea was awesome!”
As much as they enjoy Atlanta-area living, they both express great gratitude for SCPS. “I was looking through the Metro Atlanta Resource Guide and noticed that the private school tuition in the Atlanta-area averages $13,000 – $17,000 a year, “ says Lani, with great certainty and obvious Raider pride, “but, none of them offer a better education than what we received at SCPS!”
|
