Episode 103: Jessie Rosa

Women Leaders in Sports Podcast

In today’s podcast, Patti Phillips shares a great conversation with the Senior Director of Athletics at Auburn University at Montgomery, Jessie Rosa. Jessie’s childhood dream was to be the athletics director at AUM and today, she is not only living that dream - but also inspiring the next generation to follow their own dreams. Like many, her journey to the chair did not come without hearing a few “no’s” first and engaging in some crucial conversations with herself and others. A former dual-sport student-athlete at AUM, Jessie was dismissed from the basketball team during her freshman year. Despite this often being a taboo topic in athletics, she shares openly about how that experience transformed her philosophy about providing others second chances and why, “it’s your responsibility as the leader to set the tone.” In our conversation, Jessie opens up about how she used her institutional knowledge as a selling factor in securing her full-time role as AD and how the process of removing the “Interim” tag from her title at AUM influenced the ways she looks at hiring her own staff. We also talk about how transparency and communication are the most critical components of leadership, why evaluating a candidate’s career trajectory during the interview process matters more than wins and losses and why it’s important for women to “stop considering it and just do it” for aspiring moms in athletics. Don’t miss a moment of this conversation and remember - we are Women Leaders! Head to womenleadersincollegesports.org for more about us and to become a member! Follow us at fb.com/WomenLeadersCS, and on Twitter and Instagram @WomenLeadersCS.