Saint Mary's Newsroom

There are few lifelong Chicago White Sox fans as devoted as Tara Nagy ’18 — except maybe her father, who raised his daughter to root ardently for their home-state team from the time she could first hold a hotdog and do the wave.

So when Nagy was offered a position as a business intelligence analyst with the White Sox this past June, she knew Dad would be proud.

“When he found out about this job, he was over the moon,” she said with a laugh.

Nagy is crunching data to help the organization make wise business decisions in a variety of areas. As a business intelligence and analytics and finance double major, the skills she learned at Saint Mary’s are being put to use on a daily basis.

And, she — and another Saint Mary’s alumnus, Julianne Bartosz ’13, manager of public relations at Chicago White Sox — are always hoping to encourage more women to work on the business side of sports.

Before applying for the White Sox position, Nagy connected with Bartosz — who had previously spoken to her and other Saint Mary’s PR/Business Club members — for advice.

Bartosz, who majored in Spanish and public relations at Saint Mary’s, began working for the White Sox in January 2014. When she was contacted by Nagy, she was excited that a fellow Cardinal student-athlete had reached out to her about applying. While Bartosz played softball and hockey at Saint Mary’s, Nagy played volleyball.

“It was a great opportunity to let Tara know what the culture is like here,” she said. “She was able to get a better sense if she would be interested in the role and then, ultimately, I was able to recommend her for the role. The hiring manager reached out and thanked me for sharing her résumé and then talked to me about her fit for the role — beyond the résumé.

“It’s nice to have another Cardinal in the office.”

Now the two connect within the organization regularly, most recently collaborating at SoxFest, which is one of Bartosz’s biggest projects.

In her public relations role, Bartosz focuses on the team’s off-the-field communications, which involves writing content and press releases and coordinating media for new sponsors, entertainment events, guests at the ballpark, charitable efforts, and community appearances. She also plans various events like the fan convention SoxFest, which recently brought in a sold-out crowd of more than 8,000 fans over a three-day period.

Another new aspect of her job is the White Sox’s inclusion initiative, “BasebALL: One Game for All,” which involves planning various activities and speakers to promote diversity and inclusiveness among fans.

While Bartosz has a leadership role in public relations, Nagy’s work touches many different departments within the organization, including sales, security, advertising, and marketing — the many areas who use data analysis to increase revenue and revamp business or event decisions. One of her biggest projects to date has been analyzing how the number of promotional giveaways could be tied to attendance numbers.

“Data is big in the sports industry,” she said.

Both women love that their jobs are different day-to-day and are constantly challenging them, and both credit Saint Mary’s for preparing them for their careers. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without Saint Mary’s,” Bartosz said.

Nagy agrees. “Dr. Ratajczyk trained me to be an Excel wizard,” she said. “I’m in Excel and Access every day. I use basically all the formulas and techniques he taught us nearly every day at work. I don’t think I would be as successful as I am without him.”

Both alumnae also credit Saint Mary’s for providing them with strong communication skills, which are highly sought after in today’s competitive job market.

Nagy encourages other women who are studying analytics, math, and technology not to be afraid to follow their passions. “If you love it, go for it because it’s so rewarding,” she said. “I’d love to see more women in this field.”

As part of the Game Changers events, Bartosz is hosting events which encourage women to break out of their comfort zones. She said the White Sox are often front-runners for setting trends in the industry, and fittingly they hired one of the first female scouts.

“We have a lot of females in the front office of the White Sox,” she said. “It’s exciting to learn from and work alongside other females in sports. So many people think it’s a male dominated industry, but many females are opening doors for others to follow in their footsteps.”

Nagy has found a great fit with the White Sox. “The culture here is amazing,” she said. “It’s kind of like one big White Sox family.”

Photo credit 2019 Jordan Doyle

After working on national social media platforms, Saint Mary’s sophomore Alec Rudh knows to keep his statements short and to-the-point.

So, in describing what it was like working at the 2019 Winter X Games in Aspen Jan. 22-28, he is concise: “best experience of my life, hands down.”

The sport management and business analytics double major from Hastings, Minn., may not have been at the scene of every jaw-dropping extreme jump or trick, he saw them all from the back end, as he was editing posts for four social media platforms, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Rudh was one of 17 Saint Mary’s business students who had the unique opportunity to be part of the 2019 Winter X Games Student Work Program — led by Saint Mary’s faculty member Zakary Mayo. Based on skills and personal strengths, students were placed into different departments throughout the event and received a variety of valuable skills that will transfer to future careers — and had access to the fast-paced action. The annual action sports event features snowbiking, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and skiing events, as well as live concerts with big-name musicians.

“I was a part of the games so much more than I thought I would be,” Rudh said. “My job was to edit the content, every video for every sport and every athlete, including jumps and slow motion videos, roll outs, and medals.”

As part of an eight-person team dedicated to social media, Rudh helped with up to two or three times for each event, and as many as 10-15 posts per day. “I learned how focused you have to be,” he said. “During live events, my mind was focused. You can’t misspell a word.”

Although Rudh didn’t know much about the X Games going into the event, he now has a tremendous respect for the athletes. “My dream job would be working for ESPN,” he said. “I never thought X Games would be an option until now.”

Although he hopes one day to work in the front office for a professional hockey team, Rudh is looking for any position through which he can use his data analytics skills to assess statistics for hockey, tennis, football, or basketball. A Cardinal tennis athlete, and broadcaster for Cardinal athletics, he also enjoys the communications aspects of sports and is interested in being a high school coach and an athletic director. After his experience with the X Games, Rudh now realizes that social media is another avenue worth pursuing.

“It’s not something I originally considered,” he said. “But now I’m looking at internships where social media work is a component because I’ve had this experience. Anything that gets your foot in the door is valuable.”

Saint Mary’s students make an impact

Two other Saint Mary’s students, Heidi Ledermann ’19 and Blair Sanders ’20 received #IMPACT awards for their work at X Fest, the main festival surrounding the X Games.

X Games Event Development #IMPACT Awards are overall awards based upon the workers’ performance levels throughout the week. Winners of the Event Development #IMPACT Awards are typically nominated by the winners’ supervisors and managers. An Overall #IMPACT Award, as well as Daily #IMPACT Awards, are conferred.

Ledermann cycled between the Snowskate Park, Studio X, and the SoFi X Trials and received Event Development’s prestigious Overall #IMPACT Award.

“I spent most of my time at Studio X, assisting the X Fest emcees known as The Flavor Savers, and helping with the various informative TED-style talks that were put on each day,” she said. “My job was often to entice people to come to Studio X and then interact with them in a positive way throughout the day by scanning their X Games App, giving out free swag, or just asking how their X Games experience was going.” Ledermann received the prestigious Overall #IMPACT Award.

During the summer and winter X Games, and across all participating universities, only one student participant is awarded the Overall #IMPACT Award. Ledermann was chosen for displaying consistent dedication to and commitment to impact the X Games guests in a positive manner.

Sanders received a Daily #IMPACT Award for his work on Jan. 25 of “setting the example of courtesy” while working with the children at the SoFi X Trails within X Fest.