Her Story
About Sophia
Sophia Tedesco serves as the Director of Student Athlete Success and Support at Western Illinois University, her alma mater, a position she will assume in two weeks. She entered college athletics in 2020 during her undergraduate studies and has held several operational and compliance roles, including Director of Softball Operations at the University of Illinois, two seasons as Director of Football Operations at Western Illinois University, and a graduate assistant position in compliance at Western Illinois. Tedesco earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Political Science in three and a half years and her master's degree in Sports Management from Western Illinois University in two years, becoming the first in her family to obtain both degrees. Her early experiences playing Division II rugby, serving as head student manager and social media coordinator for men's basketball, and interning in internal operations shaped her path toward administrative roles in athletics. She attributes her success to the strong work ethic modeled by her parents and values open and honest communication, asking questions, and trusting her instincts while considering others' perspectives. Tedesco advises young professionals, especially women, to take chances on themselves, drawing from her own experience pitching for a director of operations role.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sophia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say for me, the biggest thing is was watching both of my parents. We both work in trades. My mom's a hairdresser, and my dad runs a construction and masonry company, so kind of seeing them grind really every day. Definitely a different lifestyle from athletics, but they know it's kind of the work every day.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The biggest thing for me, it was probably one of the coaches that I used to work for. He was really big on kind of chasing the dream job and not chasing the dream school and the title and the logo. And I think for me I've been at the Big Ten school and I've been at the FCS level and for me it's really more important for me to work with good people and good universities departments rather than a flashy logo, a Nike team, those types of things.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say the biggest thing is kind of take the chance on yourself, especially for me when I was in compliance at Western. That grad assistant was a position and I worked really closely with the football staff and the recruiting coordinator. I kind of pitched myself for the director of ops job to the head coach that's still there now. And so he took a chance on me. So it's kind of you really have to take a chance on yourself first.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say the biggest ones for me are kind of being open and honest with myself and everyone I work with. Obviously I've had kind of my hands in a lot of different things in athletics. You know I'm still young I still don't know everything. So just to kind of ask the questions and you know athletics too there's a lot you're not gonna have the same opinion as anyone else so kind of just sticking to your gut on what you think is right and wrong and then still giving other people the chance to explain their opinions as well.
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