Baked in business
by Michelle Mondo
It all started more than 40 years ago — with Fiesta Oyster Bake and a glance.
Daniel Huerta (B.A. ’83, M.B.A. ’98) looked across the crowd and spotted Helen, the woman who would become his wife. She was a student at another nearby university, but Fiesta Oyster Bake was the place to be. She was there with some friends.
During their 41 years of marriage, their ties to St. Mary’s University only grew. They watched their two daughters, Allison Huerta Strater (B.B.A. ’11, M.B.A. ’16) and Kristen Cuellar (B.B.A. ’13, M.B.A. ’21) walk the graduation stage and their sons-in-law Sean Strater (B.B.A. ’11, M.B.A. ’16) and Rick Cuellar (M.B.A. ’21), all become a part of the St. Mary’s legacy. The extended family also includes another alumnus, Sean Strater’s brother, Zachary Strater (B.S. ’15).
Sean Strater and Allison Strater each had their own reasons for choosing St. Mary’s. He came from Dallas on a Men’s Soccer scholarship, and she found the community she was looking for in her hometown of San Antonio.
“When I stepped onto the St. Mary’s campus, the culture, the community, the beautiful old buildings, just blew me away and stole my heart,” Allison Strater said.
The couple met in their first class of their first semester: an 8 a.m. Economics course. Their undergraduate and graduate years in the Greehey School of Business were formative ones as they absorbed the Marianist traditions.
“St. Mary’s shaped who I became as an adult,” said Allison Strater, now an assistant vice president at Lockton. “It has a special place in my heart.”
“St. Mary’s shaped who I became as an adult. It has a special place in my heart.”
— Allison Huerta Strater (B.B.A. ’11, M.B.A. ’16)
Sean Strater agreed, adding that his giving spirit today grew from his time at the University, and propels him to stay involved. When he isn’t working as a director at USAA, Sean Strater is the University Alumni Association’s representative on the Board of Trustees. He has previously served as the Fiesta Oyster Bake Chair and the University Alumni Association President.
“St. Mary’s gave me a lot of opportunities,” he said. “St. Mary’s gave me scholarships. I met my wife there. I met some fantastic friends. And it just was a really great experience for me. I want to pass that same experience on to others.”
Sibling connections
Both their younger siblings came to campus, partially because of the elder siblings’ time there. While Zachary Strater also received a Men’s Soccer scholarship, he was the outlier academically, studying Physics instead of Business.
Now, Zachary Strater is in Indianapolis working at Rolls-Royce on the safety and reliability of components for the F-35B fighter jet. He credits his professors, in particular Professor of Physics Richard Cardenas, Ph.D., for the trajectory of his career.
“He helped me get my first internship over the summer, and that really set me up for where I wanted to go in my career,” Zachary Strater said.
Kristen Cuellar noted the size of the Business classes as being one of her reasons for joining her sister at St. Mary’s. She toured other schools but felt she would be just a number. St. Mary’s boasts a 13-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. She knew she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and study information technology. When Kristen Cuellar was little, she often shadowed her dad at his USAA job. Her goal was to get the same kind of job. She is now a senior data product manager at SageSure Insurance.
“St. Mary’s helped me do that,” she said, adding the University’s mission spoke to her as well. “The familial values of the Marianist community in the Marianist Leadership Program tied my faith to the University’s mission of helping people and having service at the forefront.”
Couples in class
The Straters said their time together in the MBA program brought back undergraduate memories, adding that the structure of the program even helped their marriage.
“There was focus and emphasis on how to be a leader,” Allison Strater said. “Those skills helped us in how we communicate with each other. We grew a lot professionally and personally.”
Thomas Madison, Ph.D., the Ed Boyle Professor of Accounting, saw firsthand how the Straters grew during the program and embodied the University’s community spirit, including in his graduate-level Accounting class.
“The class worked best when students developed a sense of community and shared responsibility for mastering the material,” he said. “Sean and Allison Strater contributed significantly to the accomplishment of that through their willingness to engage in and lead class discussions, energetically organize and present group work, and engage in genuine dialogue with all associated with the class.”
“St. Mary’s gave me a lot of opportunities. St. Mary’s gave me scholarships. I met my wife there. I met some fantastic friends. And it just was a really great experience for me. I want to pass that same experience on to others.”
— Sean Strater (B.B.A. ’11, M.B.A. ’16)
The Cuellars enrolled in the MBA program after the Straters. Rick Cuellar knew of the St. Mary’s experience through his and her family, attending elsewhere for his bachelor’s. He liked that he could study data analytics specifically and is now a senior product data manager at CDW.
The couple credits the MBA with propelling them in their careers and marking personal milestones too.
Both were promoted after obtaining the degree and “Jonah got to walk the stage with Kristen,” Rick Cuellar said with a laugh about their oldest son.
“I was 8 months pregnant then,” Kristen Cuellar added. Jonah is now 3 and they now have an 11-month-old, Simon.
The Straters also want to share their love of the University with their kids as well, Maeve, 3, and Harrison, 10 months. They are already part of the community through the family’s volunteer efforts. Everyone gets together, including Daniel Huerta and Helen Huerta, during Fiesta Oyster Bake to run a booth.
“Our children will be involved in St. Mary’s growing up just because we are, and I hope they learn the value of community and giving back through our work and see the strength that St. Mary’s brings,” Sean Strater said. “St. Mary’s really helps you understand that there is value in every life through the Marianist charism. There is value in the greater good, and our job is to push ourselves and those around us for that greater good.”
