Job history: Sarah started her rail career in customer service with RailAmerica. She retained that role after Genesee & Wyoming acquired RailAmerica in 2012, then moved into G&W sales and marketing in April 2019 as a manager. She rose to assistant VP of sales and marketing in 2023 and has maintained that role for the Upper Midwest division since.

Why she's influential as a leader: Sarah leads two sales professionals on her team, but also mentors junior sales team members and salespeople in the company's other regions. She goes out of her way to spotlight the impact of the folks she leads. She took on the responsibility of being a mentor to women members of the sales team in G&W's national region. Under her leadership, the Upper Midwest division evolved from one of the lowest scorings on G&W's biennial customer feedback survey to one of the top two in the latest iteration on the survey.