{"id":12103,"date":"2021-12-01T19:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T03:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/?p=12103"},"modified":"2026-02-19T17:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T01:43:45","slug":"triplets-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/2021\/12\/01\/triplets-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"Triplets Graduate with Triple Majors in Entrepreneurship, Finance, and Management"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Kristen,
Kristen (from left), Michael, and Kathryn Saba are third-generation Cougar graduates.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\"Kathryn,
Kathryn (from left), Kristen, and Michael Saba at the congratulatory billboard in Vancouver, Washington.\n(Photo courtesy of the Saba family)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Kathryn<\/a>, Kristen<\/a>, and Michael<\/a> Saba, three is a powerful denominator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The triplets from Brush Prairie, Washington, graduated in May from WSU Vancouver with triple majors in entrepreneurship<\/a>, finance<\/a>, and management<\/a>, becoming the third generation of Cougar alumni in their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if there have ever been triplets who triple majored and graduated from the same university,\u201d says their dad, Raymond Saba. \u201cIf there are others, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s very rare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Saba triplets\u2019 accomplishment, at least, is locally famous. To congratulate them, Raymond purchased advertising on a billboard at a busy intersection in Vancouver. There\u2019s plenty of laughter when the family describes how he unveiled the surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know about it, either,\u201d says Karen Saba (\u201978 Int. Des.), their mom. \u201cWe had gone out for dinner that night. He said he had to do something, and he started driving around in circles. I thought he was lost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe finally looked up,\u201d says Kristen. There was the billboard featuring a picture of the triplets in their caps and gowns with a congratulatory message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the siblings, it was a fitting way to commemorate their educational journey, which included a pandemic, but was also marked by years of cooperation, loyalty, and joint study sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a saying, \u2018If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together,\u2019\u201d says Kathryn. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of our motto.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motivated and entrepreneurial<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The triplets followed their mom, aunts, and grandmother to WSU. At WSU Vancouver, they earned a reputation as motivated students who scheduled their classes together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey work as a team,\u201d says Donna Paul<\/a>, associate professor of finance and academic director for the Carson College of Business at WSU Vancouver. \u201cThey come across as a strong unit, but also as distinct personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristen has a creative side. Two years ago, she founded Saba Productions, which makes videos for product marketing and company branding. Michael is drawn to finance and analytical questions. Kathryn is the organizer, with strong administrative and people skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the one who would remind us that our homework was due, or that we needed to be studying for the test next week,\u201d Kristen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe get asked a lot about how we get along,\u201d Kathryn says. Their camaraderie is genuine, the siblings say. \u201cWe love working together,\u201d Michael adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Saba siblings participated in Washington\u2019s Running Start program, taking community college classes while they were in high school. By the time they started at WSU Vancouver, they had already earned associates degrees in business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future business plans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship was a natural major for the triplets, who can picture themselves running a company together someday. They challenged themselves with additional majors in management and finance and a communications minor. Scholarships from WSU and outside sources helped the siblings extend their time in college and graduate debt-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with local companies as business consultants was a highlight of the Sabas\u2019 Carson College experience. Through WSU Vancouver\u2019s Business Growth Mentor and Analysis Program (MAP)<\/a>, they were each paired with a different company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou work with a team where everyone has a specialty,\u201d Kristen says. \u201cYou are given a business mentor who really knows their stuff, and then you put your skills to the test to help the company grow and succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathryn\u2019s team worked with a local winery. They won the 2020 Best Team Award for their project, which included a step-by-step implementation report for upgrading the wine tasting room, a complete brand design, and budget projections and timeline for completing the recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael\u2019s team researched new software for a contractors\u2019 association, and Kristen\u2019s team worked on advertising, promotion, and lease options for a dance studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assistant Professor Alex Kier\u2019s<\/a> entrepreneurship class was also a favorite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took us through everything we needed to know to start a business,\u201d Michael says. \u201cHe even had us create an elevator pitch, so if we were meeting with prospective investors, we would be able to pitch to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of being \u201cthe Saba triplets,\u201d the siblings\u2019 paths are starting to diverge. Michael completed an internship at Boeing and was offered a spot in the company\u2019s early career business skills rotation program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristen is interested in expanding Saba Productions. And Kathryn is scouting out ways to use her administrative and people skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to explore and go our own ways for now,\u201d Kathryn says. \u201cBut we definitely want to start a business together in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Kathryn, Kristen, and Michael Saba, three is a powerful denominator. The triplets from Brush Prairie, Washington, graduated in May from WSU Vancouver with triple majors in entrepreneurship, finance, and management, becoming third-generation Cougar alumni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[634],"featured_media":18161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[429,605,425],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12103"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18836,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12103\/revisions\/18836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12103"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author?post=12103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}