She is originally from Wheaton, Illinois, and ran track and field while an undergraduate at Louisiana State University.
She was an Illinois High School Association state qualifier, earned All-DuPage Valley Conference honors, and was an Academic All-Conference selection.
[5] Sandra Smith began her business career as a research associate at Aegis Capital Group.
Her next employment was as a trader at Hermitage Capital Corporation in New York City, where she executed U.S. equities and options orders, conducted portfolio analysis, and prepared commission reports.
In this role, she covered U.S. equities and derivatives markets, contributed to breaking news and analysis, and reported for Bloomberg Press.