Sara Milles Gupta ‘02 (CCS Biology): Committed to Unlocking the Full Potential of Individuals and Creating Meaningful Life Experiences
This entrepreneur, founder of Startwise Coaching, provides insights to CCS Dean Sherwood on the future of higher education
“StartWise is built on the belief that work and life goals are tightly interconnected, and getting unstuck often requires a blended approach that can address both areas.”
—Sara Milles Gupta ‘02 (CCS Biology)
Sara Milles Gupta, a 2002 CCS biology graduate who also studied biochemistry, is now a dedicated executive coach, living on the outskirts of Lisbon with her husband Roshan and their two young boys.. Sara made a visit with her family to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in Fall 2024. During her trip, she met with several university leaders on campus, including Tim Sherwood, then-Interim and recently appointed Dean, College of Creative Studies. In addition to re-connecting with her alumna mater, Sara’s visit to campus was to reiterate the commitment made by Sara and Roshan to the Gupta Family StartWise Scholarship they established at UCSB in 2018 to support first-generation college students studying abroad in under-served countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Sara was a first-generation student and studied abroad in Denmark as part of her undergraduate experience.
“...[A]s a multi-cultural family, we see first-hand how important and personally enriching building awareness and acceptance for other cultures can be. This is why we wanted to focus our scholarship on emerging regions like India, Africa, and Latin America. Since my early travels, I have spent time in these areas and the experience is so profound and valuable.”
—Sara Milles Gupta ‘02 (CCS Biology)
During her gathering with Dean Sherwood in the very-familiar-old-marine-barracks building where Sara roamed as a student, she spoke of her passion for StartWise Coaching she founded in 2018. Prior, she worked as an executive for over 20 years with small technology start-ups to Fortune 100 big-box retailers that spanned North America, Europe, and Latin America. As she continued to build and run teams over the years, Sara became increasingly aware that work and life goals are tightly interconnected, eyeing a transition to become a conduit to assist others with their interconnected professional and personal journeys. Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, she understood the work it took to reach one’s goals as well as what it takes to launch her own business. “I find it very fulfilling to assist my clients to clarify their purpose and drive meaningful results aligned with their goals,” commented Sara. Several years later, Sara—who holds an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Credential—is happily engaged with her circle of clients and is actively involved in the executive coaching community, including as an active member of the International Coaching Federation.
“I always took a bit of a unique path in life and the ability for me to be more self directed and hands-on with my education at CCS really appealed to me. The fact that I was able to not just study in my field, but also participate in research was huge.”
—Sara Milles Gupta ‘02 (CCS Biology)
Sara shared her experience at the College. “When I heard about it, I was instantly interested in the hands-on learning aspect as well as the access to an advisor and the ability to craft my classes to meet my interests and major,” replied Sara. Sara felt supported and guided in a way that was really important as a first-generation college student, and also felt encouraged to think big. “I was given direct access to professors and researchers who were some of the best in their field. I remember sitting with my advisor one day discussing his work and thinking to myself, how incredible the work was that he was doing, but also how amazing it was that I got to spend one on one time with him discussing it. I think that played a bigger role in my future success than I realized at the time,” reminisced Sara.
“CCS more closely mimics real life,” Sara continued. “When you go into your professional career, you do not simply follow a structured format. You have a manager, you have projects you need to complete with others, you have ideas you need to test and iterate on. These are all experiences you get to have at CCS. It taught me early on to think of my manager at work as an advisor and mentor, and to leverage them as a thought partner. I sat in on lab meetings and saw how researchers presented their work and how people questioned their work and how they responded to questions. This happens a LOT in the workforce. I saw just how long it took to test an idea and bring people along in your findings. All of these skills are needed to succeed in a professional world and I think the format of CCS provides a unique opportunity to learn these skills in parallel to your education.”
“One thing CCS taught me was that I was not built to be a researcher. This was actually a great gift as it helped me direct my job search after college.”
—Sara Milles Gupta ‘02 (CCS Biology)
CCS experiential learning allows students to follow their passion and curiosity. For Sara, “One thing CCS taught me was that I was not built to be a researcher. This was actually a great gift as it helped me direct my job search after college. I will save you the long story and share that I ultimately ended up going into technology. I went into the business side of tech, running a number of global sales and business strategy teams. So while not in the sciences, I can say with very high confidence that the style of thinking and the skills I gained from studying the sciences at CCS prepared me very well for the complexity of technology and building and growing fast paced startups.”
“In a nutshell, higher education should evolve to become a lot more like CCS.With increased automation and efficiency coming through Artificial Intelligence (AI), building expertise will be very important, but it will be even more important to know how to apply your expertise and innovate in the real world.”
—Sara Milles Gupta ‘02 (CCS Biology)
Dean Sherwood and Sara engaged in a discussion on the direction of higher education and how CCS should plan for educating the next generation of artists, scientists, and leaders. “In a nutshell,” said Sara, “higher education should evolve to become a lot more like CCS. With increased automation and efficiency coming through Artificial Intelligence (AI), building expertise will be very important, but it will be even more important to know how to apply your expertise and innovate in the real world. Much of what we do and how we live will be reinvented in the coming decades; how we grow food, how we produce water, how we think about and create art will all be different. This next generation of college graduates will play a huge role in shaping our new world. But in order to do that, they need to have a foundational understanding of AI and technology but also a point of view on how to apply it in their field. This could be through creating policy to help regulate technology or through creating new ways to use technology in their field.”
"Universities have a responsibility to help students understand and embrace the truly human parts of themselves, the parts that can never be replicated by a machine—-soft skills like empathy, creativity, ambition, strategic thinking, diplomacy, entrepreneurial skills.”
—Sara Milles Gupta ‘02 (CCS Biology)
Sara continued, “Universities have a new and profound responsibility to prepare students for this next technological leap. Additionally, universities have a responsibility to help students understand and embrace the truly human parts of themselves, the parts that can never be replicated by a machine—-soft skills like empathy, creativity, ambition, strategic thinking, diplomacy, entrepreneurial skills. These skills will become increasingly important in the next generations.
Sara and her family moved to Portugal several years ago where they enjoy living on the perimeter of Lisbon. “It fits our family’s multicultural lifestyle, enjoying old and making new traditions as well as building community with people from different social backgrounds and life experiences. My own work and life goals are interconnected, and I couldn’t imagine a better place for us all while assisting my clients with their own interconnectiveness,” grinned Sara.
Sara was one of 50 stories written to celebrate the College’s 50th anniversary in 2017-2018, showcasing the rich history of the College. We look forward to hearing more from Sara as her life and work unfold.
CCS invites its alumni to visit campus and connect with us whether it is an ad hoc or a planned trip. A highlight for alumni when they enter the building is to see their class photos taken at All College that hang on the walls. Our doors are always open!