The Printing Industry's Rising Star: Sara Bakke

Editor's Note: The four individuals profiled in this series were named the 2026 Rising Stars due to their passion, their dedication, and the impact they’ve had on the printing industry. In this article, we present Sara Bakke, print production specialist, Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 

One of Sara Bakke’s favorite things is when she walks across the campus of her employer, Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), and spots one of the stickers she produces on a student’s laptop or water bottle. “I’m like, ‘wow,’” she explains. “One of my pieces are literally out in the wild. That is so cool.”

Sara Bakke

Bakke serves as a print production specialist at OCCC in-plant operations. And while her title recently changed, the mission of her job has not. She strives to build a vibrant, innovative in-plant print shop that supports the campus community it serves and pushes the boundaries of how it can utilize print.
Though she’s been at OCCC for nearly four years, Bakke brings 16 years of printing experience to the role. She shares that she got her start at a Staples location, where she spent three or four years learning the fundamentals.

“It definitely gave me a solid foundation for print and applications,” she says. “Starting off, when I was super green, all I did was maybe booklets or really in-line jobs where the machine did most of it. A lot of the first year, I was doing a lot of trimming and a lot of coiling.”

The nature of that work taught her something that may have postponed her print-focused future. “That taught me that this job is very repetitive,” she says. “If I wanted a super exciting job that changed day to day, then maybe print wouldn’t be for me.”

At times, she briefly stepped away from the industry, searching for something more dynamic. But she kept coming back: “I quickly found out that print was kind of where I shined,” she says.

Then she discovered a spark that would help define her path forward: stickers, decals, and wide-format graphics. Her introduction to wide-format came through car wraps at a local Oklahoma City print shop. She also found she really liked making stickers doing decal-focused applications.

Bakke joined the OCCC team after COVID-19 disrupted her previous employer’s supply chain. While hunting for her next job, she spotted a listing at OCCC that felt promising.

Though she was originally hired for a different focus, Bakke soon learned the college outsourced architectural installs such as wall and window graphics and saw an opportunity in that area.

“When I learned that they were doing that third party, I said, ‘Hey, I actually have experience doing this,’” she shares. After a few test jobs, the work became hers. Today, she handles both the production and installation of window wraps, wall decals, and more.

Her biggest impact, she says, has come in sticker production. Prior to her employment at OCCC, she says, the shop produced perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 stickers annually. Now, that number has increased to around 300,000.

“Before I started, they didn’t have any sticker machines or anything like that,” Bakke said. Today, the shop’s sticker and decal production utilizes an Epson label printer, a Mimaki eco-solvent wide-format printer, and a Graphtec plotter/cutter.

Sharing Her Knowledge

Beyond building capability with equipment, Bakke also builds knowledge. She has trained designers to create proper cut files and has instructed OCCC in-plant student workers on the intricacies of print production.

Bakke’s passion for education extends beyond the OCCC campus. Through Association of College and University Printers (ACUP+), she joined the education committee and has taught at conferences and in video sessions for the past two years.

“Going to these conferences and seeing schools submit something for awards that they weren’t able to [compete for] a year ago, all because of something that I taught them — it feels like their award is also my award,” she says.

Bakke also holds a level of persistence that has paid off. When she discovered a foil machine sitting idle — and non-operational — she made a commitment to repair and revive it. “It took two years for me to get that machine up and running,” she says. “But now [customers] want me to foil everything on campus. Not only do I love foiling, but the campus loves it.”

For Bakke, working in a college environment has also presented opportunities for professional improvement. She is currently using OCCC’s tuition waiver program to pursue a degree in graphic design. “I don’t really want to design,” she admits, “but it does make being on the print side a lot easier knowing how the Adobe systems work. In just a few classes, it has made my job a lot easier.”

Looking ahead, Bakke hopes to one day teach print more formally. “I would really love to build a program to teach print around what I know,” she said.

And she loves the industry: “Print is a fantastic industry to work for. A lot of people can be scared to enter the print industry because they think AI is kind of taking over. But AI has been taking over the print industry for years. It is a matter of bending and changing with the industry.”

Stating her case for print’s future, she says it is, “One of the oldest art forms in the world, so I don’t think print is going anywhere. It’s just a matter of learning differently. And I find that really exciting.”