Gail Stephens

“Going to college was the changing point in my life. When I tell people about it, I almost get tears in my eyes because I learned more and experienced more than I ever thought I would. I was 38 years old when I quit work and started at UAB full time, with no previous college experience. In fact, I had to start with the Math 097 class because I’d never had algebra in high school. I wound up going through business calculus and realized, between the ages of 38 and 41, that, ‘Hey, I’m pretty good at math, and I even like it.’”

The people who grew up with Gail Stephens probably could not have imagined her becoming the chief operating officer of a major Birmingham insurance company. For that matter, they probably could not have imagined her becoming president of the UAB National Alumni Society (NAS). But Stephens has taken on both positions this year, adding another chapter to the story of a late bloomer who began to thrive when she enrolled at her hometown university.

Stephens focused on a clerical curriculum in high school and started as a secretary at the Sevier, Fowlkes & Jackson insurance company, which has been in Birmingham since 1918. She had worked there for 17 years when she decided to quit her job and attend UAB full time.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing, but her memories of college go well beyond the School of Business.

On her approach to learning at UAB: “Nancy Walburn was my guidance counselor, and she was a great influence on me. What I loved about her so much is that she encouraged me to touch different areas of school. For example, I took a drama class for non-majors, and I was able to role play and learn a lot about myself. “I think it’s so important that you not just take an elective, but that you really look at it as an opportunity to broaden your knowledge beyond your major. I remember in my freshman year, being able to learn about English literature, reading things at age 38 I never thought I would read. “The whole idea of college taught me to be disciplined, and I definitely have taken that with me through my career. I try to be organized now. Whenever I look at a complex report, I might want to go, ‘Oh, no!’ But then I realize it’s just a task, and college taught me that learning is a journey. You might not know a lot about a subject at the beginning, but you can learn it, like using building blocks.”

About earning a degree from the ground up: “I will never forget telling my husband that I thought I would never be able to pass calculus. And he said, ‘You don’t have to do that right now; you just have to get through Math 097.’ I’d never thought of it that way. But he said that 097 would get me ready for algebra, and algebra would get me ready for the next class, and so on up to calculus. Once I looked at it as a learning process, I loved it.”

After completing her degree, Stephens returned to Sevier, Fowlkes & Jackson and worked in sales before becoming a manager. She was named COO in January 2006.

On her approach to managing: “I think I have a lot of empathy, and I think I understand employees so much better than I would have because I have been in most of their shoes. The majority of salespeople never really started toward the bottom of an organization and worked their way up. But that’s the way I did it, and completing my college degree opened the door for me to go into sales.”

On her role as COO: “I’m in charge of all of the functions in the office. Administration, hiring and firing, and reviews . . . I think I cleaned out the refrigerator this morning. “And I’m still on the sales side. I’m still a producer; not as much as before, but I continue to have a large book of clients.”

About the Sevier, Fowlkes & Jackson agency: “We are an independent agency, focusing on property and casualty. We are not a direct writer of insurance, like State Farm or Nationwide, but we represent a lot of companies. We have been in business since 1918 and have earned a solid reputation of stability and service to our customers."

On changes from the Compass acquisition: “We are now under a corporate umbrella, but day in and day out, not a lot has changed for most of our employees. We were successful before and only see in the future the opportunity to be more successful and the potential for growth in our industry. “Integrating one business into another is always challenging. But it's a great opportunity for us to partner with the bank in providing to customers our expertise in the insurance industry. It is a relatively new concept, and it involves a lot of education on both the banking and the insurance side about exactly what both of us do.”

Stephens takes over as NAS president after serving on the board of directors for 14 years.

On her role as NAS president: “I love the whole idea of giving back to my school. I’m so proud of the way the Alumni Society has grown in just the time I’ve been involved, and we’re giving more scholarships than we ever have before. Several years ago, we were brainstorming about benefits, looking at what we can give our alumni. To me, the best thing we can do for our alumni is to show them the wonderful scholarships we offer for students who come to UAB. All of us enjoy the benefits offered by the Alumni Society, but that’s not the real reason you join. It’s all about scholarships, helping those who are willing to learn.”

On new additions to the campus: “I took a tour at Homecoming, and it was amazing. I had seen the new recreation center before, but on the tour I also got a chance to see the new dining hall and the new freshman dorm. The whole Campus Green area is going to be wonderful. “I was especially excited to see the kids in the dorm. When I was in school, most of my friends were traditional college-age kids. Even though I was older, I went to school during the day and really got to know the younger kids. I could tell many of them wished there had been more dorms and other places besides apartments to live.”

On her goals for the coming year: “I would like to challenge our alumni to join the society and really be active. I want to encourage people to come to functions and take part. It’s wonderful to rekindle old friendships. “Tracy Smith is a young woman who is now serving on our board. She and I had gone to school together, but we hadn’t seen each other for about 16 years. We immediately began talking about school, and we realized how college does bond you. “Your classmates will reappear in your life, and the Alumni Society is a great way to keep those memories alive.”