Then and now with Google Marketing Partner and Operations Manager Sarah Peterson ’10
By Meckenna Holman '18, content specialist
June 30, 2025 | 8 a.m.
Whether it’s checking your calendar, finding the fastest driving route, setting a reminder, or searching for dinner recipes, one name does it all—on your phone, your speaker, your inbox, and your browser. Just Google it.
Google is one of the most recognizable names in the world—used by billions daily. But behind every product and initiative are individuals who quietly solve problems and find smarter ways to work. Sarah Peterson ’10, a Bethel alum who practically grew up on campus, is one of those individuals. Today, she serves as a partner marketing and operations manager at Google, contributing to the company’s ongoing innovation and collaboration.
Peterson’s journey didn’t start in Silicon Valley, but at Bethel, long before she ever set foot in a college classroom. To understand how she got here—and why she stays connected to Bethel today—it helps to look at where she’s been and who she’s become along the way.
Sarah Peterson ’10 sits with her mom, a Bethel nursing professor, during a parent reading day at Bethel’s former Child Development Center, where Peterson spent her early childhood—building a lifelong connection to campus.
Sarah Peterson ’10 now helps lead partner marketing and operations at Google, managing national campaigns and driving strategic innovation across U.S. retail partnerships.
Then
Bethel was home to Peterson in ways most students won’t ever experience. “My mom was a professor in the nursing program, so I grew up on campus. I went to the Child Development Center back when Bethel still had daycare on campus,” Peterson says. “I was the kid wandering the halls with a coloring book when my mom was teaching night classes.”
Peterson recalls these early memories fondly. “My mom's coworkers were fabulous, and a lot of them were moms themselves. So if they ever saw me looking lost, they’d swoop me up and invite me to hang out with them while my mom taught class.”
Not only were the faculty incredibly kind and instrumental in raising Peterson, but students welcomed her with open arms.
When it was time to make a decision about college, Bethel was the obvious choice. It already felt like home.
— Sarah Peterson ’10
Now
Peterson has traded coloring books for marketing strategy. She’s been with Google for six years, overseeing marketing and in-store promotion campaigns for Google through retail brands like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Costco, and more.
As an operations manager, she sees herself as a chief of staff. “I’m a problem solver. I help our leaders close gaps that exist by crossing teams and levels to get solutions that make my broader teams’ lives a lot easier,” Peterson says. “All with the end goal of improving how Google goes to market in the United States.”
The job requires nuanced communication, a skillset that took root in Bethel classrooms and grew with every conversation, project, and mentor.
During a faculty-led January course in Venice, Italy, Sarah Peterson ’10 gained firsthand insight into global business practices. These three-week international experiences are a distinctive part of Bethel’s undergraduate programs, preparing students for impactful work across cultures.
Sarah Peterson with BethelBiz mentees Hannah Hunhoff, Class of 2024, and Kiera Thurston, Class of 2025, smiling together as part of Bethel University’s business mentorship program.
Then
Despite a mom in nursing, Peterson decided to take her own path as a teacher, hoping to teach English as a second language. “I would have been a horrible nurse,” Peterson says with a laugh. “You would not want me by your bedside.”
Yet she felt drawn to roles where she could help others and communicate meaningfully. Thankfully, Peterson wasn’t alone at Bethel.
“I had professors that were genuinely interested in me and knew me by my name—that was really important to me. I was not going to be successful if I was one of 500 in a class,” she says. As Peterson took the communication courses necessary to gain a teaching degree, her professors noticed strengths she hadn’t even noticed in herself.
“The reason I changed majors to organizational communications and marketing was solely because a professor in each area pulled me aside and recommended shifting my focus,” Peterson says. “They could tell that I lit up when talking about these areas, and the homework never felt like homework because it was fun and interesting.”
That level of care and a new academic direction marked a huge shift for Peterson. “Just to have that touch of real guidance on my future, especially when I was 18—when you think you know everything and you don’t—was really helpful,” she says.
— Sarah Peterson ’10
Now
The calling to help others never left—it just evolved. Like her professors at Bethel, Peterson now plays the same role for students through BethelBiz, helping business students prep for interviews, process group dynamics, and discern their strengths.
“The older I get, the more I want to invest and give back,” Peterson says. “It’s not just about me and my success, but about helping others get there, too.”
One of Peterson’s mentees was Hannah Hunhoff ’24, who’s now an influencer marketing specialist at Best Buy. She reflects on the value of their mentorship at Bethel. “From my first meeting with Sarah, she inspired me to pursue my career with a greater purpose. She taught me the superpower of deeply understanding my strengths and trusting God to write my story,” Hunhoff says. “Sarah was there for my first job offer, and I know she’ll be in my corner cheering me on for the rest of my career.”
Peterson also reflects on the professional value she has gained through the BethelBiz program. “One of the reasons I wanted to mentor business students is so that I could practice leadership and managerial skills.” When Peterson joined BethelBiz three years ago, she had not yet stepped into a management role.
“The program allowed me to exercise skills like giving critical feedback in a loving way or practicing active listening,” she says. “These are all skills you need as a people manager and as a leader. BethelBiz was a great way for me to start testing and growing my professional skills.”
As a junior at Bethel, Sarah Peterson ’10 participated in a faculty-led January course in New Delhi, India—an experience that deepened her understanding of global markets and cross-cultural communication.
Sarah Peterson ’10 stands at a Best Buy vendor event beside a Google display she designed—part of her role leading partner marketing and retail strategy for major national brands.
Then
Peterson thrived in her organizational communication and marketing classes, but one class—financial accounting—stood between her and a double major. “I took every marketing class I could, but I could not handle financial accounting,” Peterson says. “I eventually dropped it. My mind just didn’t work that way.”
In the setback, Peterson turned to her business professor, Mary Ann Harris, who had mentored her through every stage of college.
“I recall her questioning herself with some of the quantitative analysis material, and I reminded Sarah that she was such a clear leader in the classroom as she worked hard and had a great grasp on marketing and marketing strategy overall—that was most important,” says Harris.
Harris knew that Peterson’s strength was not in the calculations conducted by an accounting or finance department but in her ability to organize programs, connect people, and impact results.
Years later, Harris still sees this issue with a lot of students—a class that doesn’t click or a concept they cannot overcome. “I just remind students like this that one course doesn't define them and that there are many paths to success.”
Peterson didn’t double major—but she doubled down on what she was good at, graduating with a degree in organizational communication that set the course for everything that followed.
— Sarah Peterson ’10
Now
When it comes to her career today, Peterson loves seeing the impact of her work, whether it’s on a website, a commercial, or in a social media post. But Peterson’s success goes far beyond the marketing sector within Google.
With her expanded role as operations manager in addition to her partner marketing role, Peterson determined that new processes needed to be developed and implemented on the national level. “I’m in process management now, and recently created a process that is being implemented across multiple countries.”
She attributes this success to a truth learned through her career: “You are 10 times better in your career when you invest in knowing who you are. Know your strengths, know how to communicate your strengths, know how you operate when it comes to feedback, too,” Peterson says. She frames it another way: your differences are your superpower.
Sarah Peterson ’10 with close friends Sara Gengler (Romsaas) ’10 and Laura Lorentz (Hendrickson) ’10 from Bethel. Their enduring friendship—rooted in shared faith and values—began during their college years and continues to this day.
Sarah Peterson ’10 speaks at Bethel University’s Women in Business event, where she shared reflections on her personal and professional journey with over 50 attendees. The event fostered meaningful conversations about faith, leadership, and mentorship in the workplace.
Then
It wasn’t just Peterson’s career that Bethel influenced—it was also the deep, lasting friendships she formed along the way. Looking back, she says it’s their shared faith that has always been at the heart of those relationships. After attending public school, Peterson found it refreshing to be in a place where kindness, grace, and like-minded values weren’t just encouraged—they were modeled. That environment helped shape her, and it brought her two closest friends into her life.
The investment in each others’ lives runs deep, and it began in a dorm room in college. “Last year when I faced a life-altering moment in my personal life, within 30 minutes of getting a text, those two were there to help me. Dropped everything, all because they knew that I needed them,” Peterson says.
These kinds of friendships are rare. Peterson says, “Friendships that are based in the root values of Christianity and being like Jesus—those are very, very hard to find. I definitely found that at Bethel.”
Now
Living out her faith at Google today looks far different than the spiritual comfort Peterson found at Bethel, but she makes intentional choices to stay positive, focusing on loving others based on her faith principles. She has strategically shared her background, life, and beliefs with her co-workers. Her goal is for others to associate Christianity with the strong character and positive choices that she lives out daily at Google.
The intersection of faith and a career are incredibly important to Peterson. It was one of her primary talking points at a recent Women in Business breakfast at Bethel, a regular event where women in business and communications hear from alumni speakers or panelists.
With confidence in where she is now, Peterson shared with a crowd of Bethel women, “Your career will be an ounce of your life. What sustains you is your faith. You’ll have ups and downs in your career, but the underlying drumbeat of it all, in both your professional and personal life, is your faith.”
She has taken her own words to heart. For her, success isn’t just about where you go, but who you become along the way.
The opinions shared reflect Sarah Peterson and not that of her employer.
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