At a Glance
What book is on your nightstand?
The American Heiress
[by Daisy Goodwin].
What movie do you recommend to everyone? Crash: the message in it is really powerful and I think it’s probably even more relevant today.
What’s the first thing you do after work? I go out and play with my dog [Trinity, a Siberian Husky] or take her for a walk.
If you couldn’t live in Alaska, where would you live? I’d live somewhere with a lot of the same traits. There’s a reason I’m here.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
A red fox.
At a Glance
What book is on your nightstand?
The American Heiress
[by Daisy Goodwin].
What movie do you recommend to everyone? Crash: the message in it is really powerful and I think it’s probably even more relevant today.
What’s the first thing you do after work? I go out and play with my dog [Trinity, a Siberian Husky] or take her for a walk.
If you couldn’t live in Alaska, where would you live? I’d live somewhere with a lot of the same traits. There’s a reason I’m here.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
A red fox.
Off the Cuff
Julie Saupe
ulie Saupe has been the president and CEO of Visit Anchorage since 2007; she has worked to develop visitor industry opportunities in Alaska for more than twenty years, including positions at Explore Fairbanks, Travel Alaska, and the Mat-Su Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Alaska Business: What is your favorite pastime?
Julie Saupe: Can I tell you what I like to say I do? [She laughs.] I like to think of myself as an avid hiker. I just don’t get out as often as I should to really apply that to myself, but when I do have spare time, I would like to be somewhere up in the mountains. My absolute favorite hike is Portage Pass Trail.
AB: Is there a skill or talent you’ve always wanted to learn?
Saupe: ’ve always wanted to do watercolor, and then I always wished that I had more musical talent than I do.
AB: What’s your go-to comfort food?
Saupe: Ice cream, if I’m at home, but I actually relish saltine crackers. I can’t keep them in my desk.
AB: Other than your current career, if you were a child today, what would your dream job be?
Saupe: I am fascinated by heavy equipment and heavy equipment workers—the trucks with the tires that are taller than you. I think that would have been a fabulous career.
AB: What is your favorite way to exercise?
Saupe: I like classes… I like being in a group setting with music and other people.
AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform in concert today?
Saupe: I’d love to see the Beatles in the middle of Beatlemania. If I could be sixteen years old again and in that moment, that would be fun.
AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Saupe: Probably the recent addition of an apple-corer both at work and at home; I eat a lot of apples and using this little gadget makes me feel a little indulgent on almost a daily basis.
AB: What are you most superstitious about?
Saupe: If I’m following a sports team (and I’ve got a few favorites, though I’m not rabid about any), and if I don’t watch a game and they lose, I feel like it’s my fault.
AB: What are your best and worst attributes?
Saupe: Others have told that I’m authentic. And the worst attribute: in a group setting I like to not be the decision maker, so I’m one of those that can end up in a group going, “Oh, no, really, you decide.” 
Images ©Kerry Tasker