Our Alumni Spotlight series will be an ongoing feature, highlighting former student-athletes and catching up on where their journeys have taken them after graduation. Milena Savich, former Georgia Women’s Golf student-athlete, graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism.
Can you tell us about your current career and what you are doing now?
I work for Nike Inc. as the Southeast Territory Manager for our TEAM division. I outfit high school and college teams with uniforms, apparel, footwear, and accessories. I manage the sales, product, and contractual aspects of those partnerships in tandem with our team dealer account base. I also directly manage our top elite high school sports marketing programs across the country.
How did your experience as a student-athlete prepare you for your professional career?
Georgia provided me with all of the resources in the world to be a successful student-athlete. However, it was up to me to take advantage of that opportunity by being disciplined with my work, organized with my time, and leveraging everything around me to help me grow. I leaned into everything the athletic department provided: strength training plans, educational resources, nutrition coaching, and more. They gave me an incredible circle of leaders to learn from. I had a strong foundation once I graduated because everything was ingrained in me in college. This made it much easier to transition from college golf to professional golf and eventually into my corporate career.
What was the most important lesson you learned from balancing academics, athletics, and personal life during college?
You have to make sacrifices and cannot always do it all. There are games, events, and functions you will inevitably miss during your time as a student-athlete, but the opportunity to represent the G is worth more than you know. It goes by so fast! The pride associated with being a Dawg is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
What’s one thing you wish you had known about life after sports before you graduated?
There will always be people who have “more experience” than you or a “more attractive” resume than you. As long as you believe in yourself and carry confidence in all that you do you will be successful. Passion, drive, work ethic, and an open mind will take you farther than experience ever will.
Looking back, what advice would you give to current student-athletes who are trying to navigate life after college and sport?
Do not underestimate how impressive it is to play a sport in college, let alone at Georgia. It is years of experience that most people do not have. You learn so many life lessons and gain experiences just navigating the matrix of it all. Playing a sport in college shows that you are a competitor, you are coachable, you have faced adversity, you know how to manage your time, you are disciplined, self-motivated, and a team player. Those characteristics are invaluable in the real world. Never lose that competitive mindset.
When you think about your time as a Bulldog, what is one moment that stands out the most?
There are so many to choose from, but as a golf alum I would have to say playing Augusta National. It was an unbelievable experience that Georgia Women’s Golf provided me. It is something I wish I could go back and relive to this day!
