Softball Standout Named Top Financial Advisor
Northwestern University softball Hall of Famer Tammy Williams wasn’t quite sure which direction to take her career after she graduated. She kept playing her sport at elite levels, earned a master’s in business administration, and soon realized she had a knack for both numbers and helping people.
“I loved the challenges around the market,” said Williams, 37, a 2009 School of Education and Social Policy graduate who still holds four of the six school records she set while playing shortstop for the Wildcats. “I thought that financial advising would be a good fit with my personality.”
The match was so good that Williams, who advises nonprofits and families for the Cooke Financial Group in Indianapolis, was recently ranked No. 1 on AdvisorHub’s list of 100 Women Advisors to Watch in 2024. It’s the second straight year she has been included on the list.
“Never did I think I would transition from professional softball to financial advising, but so thankful I took that leap of faith eight years ago,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
As an advisor, Williams focuses on building life-long relationships, providing personalized service, and navigating her clients along their financial path “so they don't have to lose sleep at night, or stress about any of their accounts,” she said.
Working with nonprofits like hospitals, she’s been able to help clients make financial changes to support initiatives like building expansions that allow new mothers and babies to stay together during complicated births.
“Being able to help those foundations grow their assets, and then seeing how you’re actually impacting people’s lives — in the most stressful time of their life — is so rewarding,” she said.
AdvisorHubs’ top 100 list ranks advisors on the scope of their work (measured by assets, level of service, and production), the growth of their practice year to year, and their professionalism (including their community service and team diversity). Her own team of 15, includes a former Wildcat teammate, Adrienne Monka.
Williams’ advising success, Monka said, lies in her ability to connect with people and build relationships, which helped place her at the top of Advisor Hub's list. “She is a fierce competitor, a great teammate, and has a way of bringing out the best in everyone around her,” Monka said. “The same qualities that made her a great softball player are what make her a great co-worker, leader, and teammate today.”
Outstanding in the Field
At Northwestern, Williams played shortstop—a position she hadn’t played at her Missouri high school—starting every game for four years. She was the program’s first four-time All-American and a two-time Big Ten Player of the year, helping lead the Wildcats to the Women’s College World Series in 2006 and 2007.
One of just six players in the history of college softball to score more runs than games played, she was a three-time USA Softball National Player of the Year finalist and was one of four finalists for the Softball Honda Sports Award as a senior.
After graduation, Williams played professional softball for the US Women’s Softball National Team, the Japanese Professional League Denso, and spent seven years with the National Pro Fastpitch Chicago Bandits.
Those experiences “really taught me how to give back and get little girls excited about the opportunity,” she said. “I grew up watching baseball but we give the next generation a chance to see a female on TV playing a sport that they love.”
She credits Northwestern coaches, twins Kate and Caryl Drohan, with instilling confidence and surrounding her with players who helped her thrive. The supportive environment they helped develop is also why she now looks for employees who have played team sports.
“The coaches build this culture where it’s so accepting,” she said. “There are so many different people around you all pulling for your success. That is what immediately allowed me to immediately impact the program as a freshman and throughout my career.”
Williams continues to be active in the Northwestern athletic community, serving as a board member for TrueNU, Northwestern's Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) collective, which allows college athletes to be paid. Founded by another SESP alum Jacob Schmidt (BS11, MS14,) TrueNU focuses on using the NIL to give back to both players and the community through service.
She plans to continue her practice and pursue a certificate in sports entertainment advising to work with athletes or actors who earn large amounts of money but may not have much future job stability. Williams wants to help them prepare for their future sustainably.
“I feel like [this certificate] really blends together my two worlds,” she said. “It'll be fun because I lived it. [I know] the emotions and the psychology around it, not just the financial side. It'll be a good fit for me.”