Start Anyway: Meet Sofia Phillips, Leadership in the Public Sector ’25

Sofia Phillips understands that progress rarely waits for the perfect moment. As a 20-year veteran of the North Carolina National Guard, a legislative and government affairs officer and a mother of three, her story is one of perseverance, humor and relentless forward motion.

Long before she enrolled in the NC State Leadership in the Public Sector (LPS) program, she felt the persistent pull of a goal she had postponed for years: completing her bachelor’s degree. Phillips didn’t need a degree to excel in her role, but she wanted one. In addition, she wanted a program that would challenge her, deepen her understanding of leadership, and help her grow into the kind of leader she was determined to become.

“I’ve been in the Army forever, and I know how to lead soldiers when boots are literally on the ground,” she said. “What I wanted was the bigger picture, the why behind what works and the chance to strengthen the parts of leadership you can’t learn from trial and error alone.”

Phillips needed a flexible program that could work around her already demanding schedule. Specifically, she needed a B.A. completion program that could accommodate overseas obligations, job transitions, Army schools, newborns and the constant unpredictability of military life.

Finding the Right Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program

Life never slowed down enough to make room for college coursework. Instead, Phillips decided that waiting for the perfect moment wasn’t an option; she just needed to get started.

“I’m probably in the running for the longest time anyone has ever spent in the LPS program,” she joked. “I got accepted back in 2019 and then proceeded to chip away at classes one at a time like I was paying off daily I-540 tolls in pennies.”

Not only did she want to complete her degree on her terms, but she also wanted to feel as though she’d earned it.

“I didn’t want something that felt like I found it through a sponsored ad. I wanted a real North Carolina university, with real people with leadership experience in North Carolina teaching me … but I also needed to learn from my couch,” explained Phillips.

Choosing the Leadership in the Public Sector Program

When she began exploring bachelor’s degree-completion programs, Phillips never seriously considered anywhere other than NC State.

She first learned about the program from Assistant Teaching Professor Holly Danford. “I knew instantly it checked every box I had. Flexible schedule, strong reputation, and the vibe of a school I was proud to attach my name to,” said Phillips. “And, honestly, I wanted to be part of the Wolfpack. I wanted to say ‘NC State’ when people asked where I was finishing my degree.”

The LPS program delivered more than she’d expected. The substance of the coursework, program structure, and connection to public service were important features that stood out to her. In addition, the program was designed to cater to the needs of working professionals, rather than just accommodate them.

The program’s flexibility wasn’t the final piece of the puzzle; what closed the deal for Phillips was the supportive faculty. “The part that really sold me was the people. The professors genuinely care, which I did not expect from an online program. You can feel it in the way they teach and respond and guide,” Phillips explained.

“I’ve taken classes at other places before, and nothing ever felt this genuine or this human.”

About the NC State LPS Online Bachelor’s Program

The NC State online Leadership in the Public Sector (LPS) program is housed within the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS). A key feature of this academic community is its dedication to preparing ethical, analytical and effective leaders for public service.

LPS is an online, bachelor’s degree-completion program designed specifically for non-traditional students who have already completed some college coursework.

The fully online, asynchronous format of the program enables adult learners with busy schedules, like Phillips, to balance coursework with deployments, professional responsibilities and family obligations.

Experience in the Online Bachelor-Completion Program

For Phillips, her experience in the LPS program, and most notably, her interactions with the faculty, exceeded her expectations.

She spoke highly of the professors she encountered, especially Program Advisor Lashica Waters, whom she referred to as the “guardian angel” of the program. “They actually care. You can feel it,” she explained. “LPS is so amazing because of the truly phenomenal humans running it!”

Throughout her time in the program, Phillips found herself not just learning about leadership, but also reflecting on her own.

“LPS 200 [with Assistant Teaching Professor Tracy Appling] was the first time I slowed down enough to really look at how I lead. I noticed habits I had never questioned, like refusing to delegate because ‘it’s easier if I just do it myself.’ That course made me rethink who I was as a leader and who I wanted to be moving forward,” said Phillips.

She connected deeply with professors who brought real-world experience into the classroom. LPS 315 with Assistant Extension Professor Frank Perry became a favorite. “LPS 315 could’ve been a podcast I would listen to for fun,” she said of his lectures. “His stories landed because he had lived it.”

She described LPS 320 with Associate Teaching Professor Dmitri Mitin as the class she is most proud of finishing, and praised Assistant Teaching Professor Holly Danford and Assistant Professor Anna Gibson for lectures that inspired her.

LPS 425 with Director Amanda Edwards also left a lasting impression. “[She] builds space into the capstone that makes you really think. Listening to the interviews and connecting them with the material made leadership feel practical and human, not abstract,” she noted.

Balancing Work, Family and Earning a Bachelor’s Degree Online

Finishing a degree mid-career can be difficult. Phillips had the added responsibilities of parenting children at different stages, holding a demanding position in the National Guard and navigating personal and professional curveballs.

“Balancing a demanding full-time job, family and school was certainly not graceful, but it was possible,” said Phillips.

“I changed positions at my job three times while working on this degree, and each jump came with more responsibility, more people, more travel and more pressure,” she explained. “But I just kept going, because I knew that if I stopped, there would never be a ‘good time’ to pick it back up.”

Quiet evenings were nonexistent. Brainstorming happened in the shower or in the car. 

The whole operation, she quipped, was “held together by caffeine and blind optimism.”

Phillips finished her degree while working, moving positions in her career, raising a teenager, wrangling a toddler, nursing a baby, and yet, she “has tremendous faith that others can do it too.”

Throughout it all, and even when parts of her life felt chaotic, the human connections and connection to the broader university helped her stay the course.

“It takes more effort to feel part of something when it is fully remote and asynchronous, yet I genuinely felt part of LPS and part of NC State,” said Phillips.

Real-World Impact of the Leadership Program

Phillips’s professional role involves advocating for the North Carolina National Guard at the state and federal levels, and it demands strategy, diplomacy and a high degree of emotional awareness. She described it as the most rewarding and demanding position she has ever held.

“I use every bit of focus, emotional intelligence, and the ability to lead with or without a position of authority — which is basically the LPS program applied to real life,” she noted.

Her experience in the program has transformed the way she approaches her own role as a leader, as well as how she evaluates leadership skills outside the classroom. “Now I look at certain leaders and think, ‘Hmm, textbook pseudotransformational leader right there.’”

“LPS sharpened how I think, how I communicate, how I lead and how I navigate leadership across organizations,” Phillips explained. “It made me more intentional, more analytical and more effective. I did not need the degree for my career (although it certainly doesn’t hurt), but I needed it for the leader I wanted to become.”

Words of Wisdom and Her Turn at the Podium

When asked what advice she would give others, Phillips had this to say:

“There will never be a perfect time. You will always be busy. Life will always keep you on your toes, which does make great calves. So start anyway. Take one class. Prove to yourself that you can begin, and the rest will follow.”

In other words, “My advice, for whatever it is worth, is to give yourself the gift of finding out what you are capable of.”

She plans to attend graduation, but not just as a participant. Phillips was selected as the commencement speaker for the School of Public and International Affairs. For her, it feels like an unbelievable, full-circle moment.

“I’ve been spiraling into equal parts dread and regret for submitting a speech that I now have to deliver,” she joked. “It seemed like a great idea until the moment I realized I have to stand up there and deliver it.”

On Becoming Part of the Pack

Looking back, her journey through the LPS program was neither predictable nor linear, but every twist and turn brought her closer to the leader she is today.

“At the risk of sounding sappy, LPS is not just my degree,” she reflected. “It gave me a clearer sense of myself as a leader, what I am naturally good at, and what I need to keep improving.”

“The program let me grow without asking me to hit pause on the rest of my life, and that’s something I don’t take for granted. That’s why I chose the LPS program. And honestly, if I had to do it all over again, I’d pick it every time.”

“The program let me grow without asking me to hit pause on the rest of my life, and that’s something I don’t take for granted. That’s why I chose the LPS program. And honestly, if I had to do it all over again, I’d pick it every time,” explained Phillips.

After years of commitment, self-reflection and hustle, she achieved what she set out to accomplish; she has become a graduate of NC State University.

This December, when she walks across that stage to accept her diploma, she won’t just be celebrating completing her degree; she’ll be celebrating everything it took to get there.

Interested in completing your undergraduate degree with the NC State Leadership in the Public Sector (LPS) program? Visit the NC State Online program page to explore this and other flexible, online options for working professionals.