Her Story
About Nancy
I’ve built my 18-year career in higher education behind the scenes where strategy, partnerships, and student experience come together to make a lasting impact. After earning my degree in International Business and Marketing from Florida International University, I began my journey as a Marketing Manager and spent a decade growing into a director role within the same department. Those early years shaped my foundation in leadership, contract management, and the importance of building meaningful partnerships that serve a greater purpose.
For the past 8 years, I’ve continued that work at the University of South Florida, focusing on auxiliary services. My role centers on contract negotiations, vendor partnerships, and continuously identifying opportunities to enhance the campus experience for students, faculty, and staff. No two days are the same and that’s what I love most. It’s about connection, collaboration, and constantly finding ways to do better.
One of the most defining moments in my career was taking a leap of faith and relocating to Tampa to step into a leadership role at USF. It was a risk, but one that has shaped me both professionally and personally. From transitioning vendors to building new partnerships and strengthening existing ones, I’ve had the privilege of leading initiatives that directly impact the student experience. Today, I’m focused on expanding retail offerings and developing partnerships with new businesses that not only generate revenue but also bring meaningful value back to the campus community.
Beyond my career, I’m a proud wife and mother of two young children. They are my greatest motivation and daily reminder of why growth, resilience, and balance matter. I’m passionate about leading with purpose, creating opportunities for others, and continuing to evolve both as a professional and as a person.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nancy
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say consistency in my work ethic has really afforded me the ability to grow within my career. I've also focused on always looking at the big picture. We all kind of get stuck in the day-to-day, and it's easy to lose sight of the big picture, but I really try to take a step back sometimes and say, okay, let's come up with a better strategy. What does tomorrow look like? What does the next year look like? And the next 3 years, the next 5 years? Really having that growth kind of mentality has afforded me the ability to really become a stronger leader within my career.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to always think long-term about where you want to be, and not be afraid of starting at the bottom. Starting at the bottom gives you the advantage of really knowing the inner workings of whether it's a department, an institution, or an organization. It affords you the opportunity to grow into a leadership role, and you can appreciate all the different areas and aspects of that organization.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to always stay true to yourself. As we know, there are always changes in this field, so if you stay true to yourself and you can adapt to any change, you will be able to succeed in this career. Always focus on what the right thing is for the students, for the university, and being that advocate is going to afford you the ability to grow in this career.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of our more recent challenges has been changes in leadership. Having the adaptability of change is key, because we never know what tomorrow holds. If this is something I want to continue to do long-term, whether there's leadership changes or not, we need to make sure that we are adapting to these changes and we can work together to make sure that we have synergies and alignment in the overarching vision of what our leadership wants us to accomplish. In terms of opportunities, there's always opportunities for growth. We're always looking for new partnerships that are going to bring revenue opportunities to the campus and new service amenities that will service our students, faculty, and staff. We're actually looking at expanding some retail options for our students, and we're looking at partnering with about 4 to 5 different new businesses that will not only bring additional revenue to the university but also increase that service back for our students.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I'd say transparency and accountability are key for me. Without transparency, you cannot be held accountable, and vice versa. I'm a big advocate of making sure that I know the good, the bad, and the ugly from my team and from our partners. I would rather be proactive in learning of any negative things that may have occurred, and we can find a solution together, as opposed to finding out after the fact and then we're in a worse position because we're reacting rather than trying to solve for a solution.
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