Alumni Spotlight Lilia Aghzafi

Lilia Aghzafi, Chief of Staff to world tennis champion and entrepreneur Venus Williams and three-time UNCW alumni shares her success story.

It was an unconventional path to Cameron for Aghzafi as a 27-year-old transfer student. The TV show One Tree Hill brought her to Wilmington in 2010 where she toured the campus out of curiosity. Lilia, “fell in love with the city and campus quite quickly.” When doing research for a university several years later, UNCW and more specifically, Cameron, were at the top of her list. She says “I loved all that the Cameron School of Business had to offer like the Cameron Executive Network, which I had not seen offered in other schools. Being able to do a double degree with Communication Studies was also very attractive.” While at UNCW Lilia was heavily involved in campus life as a member of the Cameron Executive Network and Transfer Student Organization, an Academic Mentor at the ULC, Projectionist at Lumina Theatre, and later as a Graduate Assistant in the Office of International Students and Scholars. She graduated with her B.A. in Communication Studies in December of 2015, her B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and Leadership in 2016, and went on to pursue an MBA, graduating in December of 2021.

After graduation, Aghzafi says that it was skills developed at the Cameron School of Business that helped her to land her current role with Venus. “The International MBA program taught me about the industry in a way that I can read company decks, know what to look for and ask the necessary questions. The experience the professors have transferred from their domain, whether it was on Wall Street, the Chicago Stock Exchange, or a Fortune 500 company has helped me to participate in business conversations more easily.”

In her current role, Lilia says the best part is that there are no “typical days.” Working for someone like Venus Williams means that she wears a lot of hats, from taking calls with the Topspin Consumer Partners team, to participating in investor calls with Palazzo.ai, an AI home visualization company co-founded by Venus, to coordinating events/photoshoots, to things like escape rooms and karaoke for fun. “Working with Venus allows me to be in meetings with people that I never would meet who have incredible experience and impact on the business world. It is like I continued my finance specialization in a real-world setting.”

When it comes to real world applications, Aghzafi says that “communication is key.” Being the gate keeper to Venus’ private and business life means resolving issues before they can reach her attention. Often this means finding quick solutions, making mistakes, and learning from them. She says, “being a chameleon is essential” and that “you have to be tough, and not take things personally.”

Cameron is honored to have an alumna like Lilia. Her grit, charisma, and ingenuity are an inspiration to students for generations to come.

Special Notes from Lilia:

Would like to thank my mentors: Dr. Mike Walker, Dr. Clay Moffett, Dr. Nivine Richie, Dr. David Glew, Mike Ruwe, Dr. Jennifer Fernandez-Villa, Amy Stello Lekeu, Dr. Martha Andrews, and Dr. Taylor Alison Swift.

To the housekeeping team: Thank you for always helping in Lumina Theater and the ones in the library for making us laugh in the middle of the night while preparing for exams.

To the Port City Java Team in the library: thank you for all the coffees, muffins, and laughter from early mornings to late nights!

Finally, my Vintage Values at University Landing Family: Kristie, Terry, Kristen, the Lindas, Henry, Kailynn. Miss you all.