At a Glance
Sisters of Treason by Elizabeth Fremantle; The Jungle by Upton Sinclair; and Becoming a Leader: Nine Elements of Leadership Mastery by Al Bolea and Leanne Atwater.
What movie do you recommend to everyone you know?
I’m a big Lord of the Rings fan.
What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
Typically, it would be getting one or two of the dogs and either going for a walk or going for a cross-country ski if the skiing is really good… Right now, coming in and not turning on any media, picking up a book, and maybe pouring a nice glass of red wine. [Editor’s note: Bell, who lives in Juneau, was working in Anchorage at the time of the interview.]
If you couldn’t live in Alaska, what’s your dream locale?
I had the opportunity to travel in Patagonia a year and a half ago and hike, and I would love to go back… [or] Iceland: the natural beauty, the people, the connection to the culture.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
So, we’re not talking about my husband? [She laughs.] A large cat, something like a panther or a leopard.
At a Glance
Sisters of Treason by Elizabeth Fremantle; The Jungle by Upton Sinclair; and Becoming a Leader: Nine Elements of Leadership Mastery by Al Bolea and Leanne Atwater.
What movie do you recommend to everyone you know?
I’m a big Lord of the Rings fan.
What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
Typically, it would be getting one or two of the dogs and either going for a walk or going for a cross-country ski if the skiing is really good… Right now, coming in and not turning on any media, picking up a book, and maybe pouring a nice glass of red wine. [Editor’s note: Bell, who lives in Juneau, was working in Anchorage at the time of the interview.]
If you couldn’t live in Alaska, what’s your dream locale?
I had the opportunity to travel in Patagonia a year and a half ago and hike, and I would love to go back… [or] Iceland: the natural beauty, the people, the connection to the culture.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
So, we’re not talking about my husband? [She laughs.] A large cat, something like a panther or a leopard.
Off the Cuff
usan Bell is the Director of McKinley Research (formerly McDowell Group), which has provided quality research to Alaskans for more than forty years. “We’re working in data, we’re answering questions, we’re finding solutions—but what’s exciting is when we’re helping clients make a decision about an investment or a decision or a program that helps them go forward,” Bell says of what she enjoys most about her work. She currently lives in Juneau with her husband, Bob Koenitzer.
Susan Bell: I really love to be outdoors, and having spent more than thirty years in Southeast, I’m pretty all-weather. So if it’s a nice day and I can get out and hike, I enjoy doing that; if the weather gods are favorable and it’s snowy, I cross-country or downhill ski.
AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?
Bell: This sounds so mundane, but I know I use a fraction of what Excel is capable of, a fraction of all these tools we use… I’ve been dying to take a little time to sort of sharpen my own skills and use the tools that are at my fingertips more effectively.
AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
Bell: In my twenties, when I was working in Denali, a lot of people were coming down to Girdwood to learn to parachute. [It] was incredibly reckless to sort of pile in a car with a group of people to come down, to do a training, to climb out on the strut of a plane, and to jump… It was exhilarating, it was liberating, it was really fun. I’ve only ever done it that one time… and I certainly didn’t tell my parents until well after when I handed them a photo.
AB: What’s your go-to comfort food?
Bell: Anything with sausage… maybe it’s a venison sausage, maybe it’s moose sausages. I start with that and see what else is around. But yeah, I think sausage can fix a lot of moods [she laughs].
AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be?
Bell: I always thought that I’d be at some point an English literature teacher, and I may still… I truly love reading and writing and—especially for a kid from Nome—how reading opened up the world at a time before we had computers, and internet, and everything at our fingertips.
AB: What’s your favorite way to exercise?
Bell: It’s easiest for me to get motivated to go outdoors. If it’s a hike, if it’s a ski—just moving outdoors and letting my mind detach.
Bell: Tom Petty.
AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Bell: My husband and I, we buy art and we don’t ask each other: there is just sort of an allowance in our household—especially if we know the artist, many of which are Alaskan—and a support and a recognition that it’s a good decision. We’ve got masks, and sculptures, and some other pieces.
AB: What are you superstitious about?
Bell: I just try not to invite any bad karma in by doing silly things. So, you know, railroad tracks, cracks, thirteenth floors [she laughs]. It just seems like good practice just to heed the folklore. Why bring in trouble we just don’t need on top of everything else, right?
AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?
Bell: I think I help build connections: connections between people, connections between perspectives. I really enjoy that, just sort of connecting things that are disparate. I think my worst attribute is I interrupt. 
