MIND OVER MATTER

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Five years ago, when he was laying on the floor of his apartment in tears because he didn't have a job yet, Cody Soto could not have imagined or even dreamed about having a director's position in Baylor Athletics.

"I would have told you that you're crazy," said Soto, who's now in his second year as Director of Social Media and Digital Engagement. "Honestly, if you asked me today what my five- to 10-year plan is, I probably couldn't give you a straight answer, because I haven't figured it out yet. Day by day, week by week, I'm figuring out how things puzzle-piece together."

In the same vein, when he "could barely breathe" after an easy half-mile run two years ago, the thought of running a 26.2-mile marathon would have seemed ludicrous. His only prior experience with running was doing the 100- and 200-meter sprints in his one year of track as a freshman at Poth High School.

But, here we are.

After running his first 5,000-meter (3.1 miles) road race in February 2020, Soto did a 13.1-mile half-marathon five months ago in Austin and is now in his sixth week of training for the Dec. 5 Rock & Roll Marathon in San Antonio.

Cody, who had a 13-year-old cousin die of a rare type of brain tumor in February 2017, is running and raising money for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. With September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, you can donate at the Support Cody link.

"Up to this point, it's been about me," he said. "Right now, when people ask me about running a marathon, I tell them about the money I'm raising. It's no longer about me running 26.2 miles.

"The whole time that I'm running and hurting and sweating, I just go back to the thought in my head, 'This is nothing compared to what my cousin and our family had to deal with.' I remember how devastated our families were when Alyssa died. If I can help in any way, that's where my hope is, that however much money I raise will benefit someone's family."

That's the motivation that keeps Cody pushing to train "amidst everything that's going on in my life, whether that's work, school, the heat, everything."

"Just the thought of someone donating towards a cause like this really makes me happy," he said. "That makes it worth it. Because at the end of it all, when I cross the finish line and I've run 26.2 miles, I'll know that I've donated this much money to St. Jude, which is a much bigger deal to me."

Exposed to childhood cancer at an early age, Cody had one of his high school classmates' younger brothers pass away from a brain tumor and a Poth middle-school student who developed leukemia.

It hit even closer to home when his cousin, Alyssa, died of a brain tumor five years ago and her older cousin died of breast cancer about 14 months later.

"As a family, we always remember Alyssa and find ways to keep her included," Cody said. "This is an important month for us just to continue to keep her memory alive and continue raising money."

An Army "brat" whose dad served 21 years in the military, Cody was born in Fort Hood and spent a couple years in Mississippi before the family settled in Poth, Texas, for his high school years.

Cody Soto

Other than his brief stint on the track team, he stayed behind the scenes, working as a basketball manager, filming the football games and even one year as an athletic trainer with the football team.

"Those were my main exposures to being in a team atmosphere," he said. "I always knew my role. I'm the one behind the scenes, never going to impede. The only spotlight I ever wanted was to be in a play. That's always been a strength and a weakness of mine is that I know what I'm good at. I'm not going to try to go 100% at something where I may not succeed. That's why running takes the cake. It shattered all my thoughts of what I thought about myself."

Initially, Cody's Plan A was to major in theater. But, when he visited Baylor for Fall Premiere, he "felt more at home" in the journalism department.

"I felt like they were listening to me. It was more of that intimate setting that I was looking for," he said. "After I visited the theater school, I felt a little deflated and defeated, because I knew I would always be behind. That was so intimidating to me. But, when I went to journalism, I knew it was something that I had some talent in and I could be really good at it in the future."

While he worked at The Lariat as a sports writer, Cody's behind-the-scenes mentality kicked in when he watched what the Athletics Communications staff did.

"I would see the (sports information directors) trying to get the coaches to interviews," he said. "And I just thought that was cool, a behind-the-scenes person that makes everything happen, that pulls all the strings."

Spending his last year and a half at Baylor as a student intern in Athletics Communications, Cody was the secondary contact for men's and women's tennis and even got to travel with them to the NCAA Tournament.

Graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism with a public relations emphasis, Cody spent six months with the Big 12 Conference office in Irving as a communications assistant, serving as the primary contact for baseball and volleyball and conference liaison for social media and academics.

During that time, he worked six different NCAA and Big 12 Championships, including the 2017 Women's Basketball Final Four in Dallas.

After his six-month stint with the conference office, Cody had already lined up a position with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as director of marketing-digital media. But, he decided at the last minute that "this isn't right, I'm forcing this. I need to stay close to my family, somehow."

That path opened up in the summer of 2017 when Sean Doerre, Baylor's primary contact for track and men's tennis, left to take a job closer to his hometown and recommended Cody for the job.

"Sean giving me that recommendation was huge," Cody said, "because it was always my goal or dream to get back to Baylor. I just thought it would be maybe five, 10 years down the road, not six months after I graduated. My entire timeline of my life goals was completely thrown off. When David Kaye offered me the position, it seemed like it was too good to be true."

In his three years with the athletics communication staff, he served as primary media contact for volleyball, men's tennis and equestrian and also helped with women's basketball, track & field, cross country, softball, men's basketball and women's tennis.

Cody Soto

"I never thought I would be anything different besides an SID," he said. "But, as you grow professionally and personally, your talents and gifts start shifting and coming to light."

That career path changed about a year and a half ago when Cody was first approached by Jovan Overshown, Senior Associate AD for External Affairs, about taking the new position as Director of Social Media and Digital Engagement.

"In my head, I had decided no. There is so much work for me to do as an SID, and I'm still learning," he said. "If there is anything I've learned through all of this, it's that I kind of roll with the punches. If the people above you have your goals and your best intentions, if you verbalize that, they will help you get where you want to be."

In his new role, Cody runs the main athletics social media accounts (@BaylorAthletics) by managing the digital communications of the department to share news and information, promote upcoming events, build the Baylor brand and interact with fans as they engage on social platforms.

"It's a challenge, but it's a role that has evolved with me," he said. "It's easy to say, 'Oh, you just run the social media Baylor Athletics page.' But, it's so much more than that now. It's much more campaign-driven – marketing strategy – something I didn't really have experience in before. Now, I'm working collectively with various external teams to help them enhance and grow the Baylor athletics voice and overall Baylor brand."

Currently working on a masters in journalism, Cody hopes to graduate next summer. Beyond that, who knows?

"I will adapt, my skills will continue to evolve as I grow and mature," he said. "I'm only 26 years old, so there's still a lot left in me to get better and to be a better leader and be somebody that can be a resource to everybody. At the end of the day, that's all I want: to be a resource in everything."

Somehow, in between work and his studies, Cody fits in training for his first marathon.

"One of the biggest things about running that kind of distance is you have to train your brain to continue to push you along, just as much as your body," he said. "Right now, I'm getting my body in shape to do it, but I'm also subconsciously trying to work on my mind to comprehend how to push past the physical aches and pains.

"Along the way, I will find the victories in being able to do it, because a lot of it really is mental. You can train your body to go into auto mode and to crank out those miles. But, it is about the momentum in your mind that carries you over."

Cody Soto

MIND OVER MATTER

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