Emily Vakos: Age, Family, Career, Marriage, and Relationship With Anthony Rizzo

Emily Vakos is best known to the public as the wife of former Major League Baseball star Anthony Rizzo, but her story extends beyond her marriage to a famous athlete. With an academic background in nutrition and food management, professional experience connected to nutrition and real estate, and involvement in charitable activities, Emily Vakos has developed an identity of her own. Her relationship with Anthony Rizzo began in 2016 while she was connected to the Chicago Cubs’ nutrition program, eventually leading to their engagement in 2017 and marriage in 2018. More recently, the couple entered a new stage of family life. This article explores Emily Vakos’s age, education, career, family life, marriage, charitable work, and relationship with Anthony Rizzo while separating documented information from unsupported online claims.

Quick Bio: Emily Vakos

Who Is Emily Vakos?

Emily Vakos is an American nutrition and food-management graduate who became widely recognized after her relationship with Anthony Rizzo. Unlike her husband, whose professional baseball career placed him constantly in the spotlight, Emily has generally maintained a much more private public profile. Her connection to baseball began professionally rather than through celebrity circles. During her time studying at Arizona State University, she became involved with the Chicago Cubs’ nutrition department as an intern. That experience became particularly significant because it was during the Cubs’ time in Arizona for spring training in 2016 that she met Rizzo. Her professional background makes her more than simply a baseball player’s spouse and helps explain why nutrition became an important part of her early career.

Emily Vakos Age and Early Life

Information about Emily Vakos’s exact birth date and childhood is limited in reliable public records, which means some commonly repeated biography details should be treated carefully. Several online profiles have identified her birth year as 1994, but those claims are not strongly supported by an authoritative public source. For that reason, it is safer to describe her age using the commonly reported information rather than presenting an unverified birth date as established fact. Details about her parents, siblings, and childhood have also remained largely outside the public spotlight. This privacy appears intentional, as Emily has not built her public identity around revealing personal family information. Consequently, searches for “Emily Vakos age” often produce conflicting results, while verified information about her education and career is considerably clearer.

Education at Arizona State University

One of the better-documented aspects of Emily Vakos’s background is her education. She attended Arizona State University and studied nutrition and food management. Her academic interests eventually connected directly with her professional experience. Nutrition education can involve food systems, health, dietary practices, and the management of food-related programs, giving graduates several possible career directions. For Emily, that education became especially relevant when she gained experience with nutrition in a professional sports environment. Her university background also helps distinguish her career story from the simplistic description of her as “Anthony Rizzo’s wife.” Her studies provided a foundation for the work and interests she pursued before and after becoming publicly associated with the MLB star.

Her Early Career and Nutrition Experience

Emily Vakos’s career received an interesting connection to professional baseball when she interned with the Chicago Cubs’ nutrition department. According to People, she was completing her studies when she became involved with the Cubs during their spring-training period in Arizona. The experience put her in an environment where nutrition, athletic performance, and professional sports naturally intersected. It also became the setting for her first meeting with Anthony Rizzo. Earlier information about her career has additionally connected her with food-related projects and school nutrition experience. Although she has not maintained a highly public professional profile, her background shows a consistent interest in food, wellness, and nutrition before her marriage attracted wider attention.

How Emily Vakos Met Anthony Rizzo

The beginning of Emily Vakos and Anthony Rizzo’s relationship is closely tied to the Chicago Cubs’ spring-training environment in 2016. Emily was working as an intern with the organization’s nutrition department when the two met. People has reported that Rizzo initially pursued her despite receiving a fake phone number, a detail that has become one of the more memorable stories associated with their relationship. Their connection eventually developed into a serious relationship. At the time, Rizzo was already an established MLB player with the Cubs, while Emily was developing her own professional direction. Their relationship therefore began before she became regularly recognized as a celebrity spouse.

Anthony Rizzo’s Proposal to Emily Vakos

After dating for roughly a year, Anthony Rizzo proposed to Emily Vakos in 2017. The proposal took place on a boat on Lake Michigan and included fireworks. Rizzo publicly announced the engagement in June 2017, describing himself as extremely fortunate to have found someone with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life. CBS Chicago reported that he had carefully planned the surprise and that Emily did not know what was coming. The engagement attracted considerable attention because Rizzo was one of the Chicago Cubs’ most popular players at the time. The couple subsequently began preparing for their wedding while continuing their relationship away from much of the public speculation.

Emily Vakos and Anthony Rizzo’s Wedding

Emily Vakos and Anthony Rizzo married on December 29, 2018, in South Florida. Contemporary reports from CBS Chicago and ABC7 Chicago confirmed the wedding after the couple had been engaged for about a year and a half. Several of Rizzo’s Cubs teammates and former teammates attended the celebration, including David Ross and Dexter Fowler, while other members of the Cubs family were also present. Country singer Brett Eldredge performed during the couple’s first dance. Rizzo later shared his happiness publicly, describing the occasion as a magical day and expressing appreciation for the people who celebrated with them. Their wedding marked the beginning of their married life after a relationship that had developed relatively quickly.

Married Life With Anthony Rizzo

Since their marriage, Emily Vakos has largely remained away from the level of media attention that surrounds Anthony Rizzo’s professional career. That privacy has made detailed information about their everyday life relatively limited. The couple have, however, appeared together at public events and charitable activities. Their relationship also continued through major changes in Rizzo’s career, including his 2021 trade from the Cubs to the New York Yankees and his eventual departure from professional baseball. Rather than frequently discussing their marriage in interviews, Emily has generally supported her husband while maintaining her own interests. This balance between public appearances and private family life is one of the defining characteristics of their relationship.

Emily Vakos’s Career Beyond Baseball

Emily Vakos’s professional identity has also included real estate. Public biographies have associated her with real-estate work after her earlier experience in nutrition and food management. This career direction gave her an independent professional path outside baseball. Some online sources describe her as a real-estate broker, although detailed information about her current professional activities is limited. Because Emily has kept a relatively low profile, claims about employers, income, and business activities should not be treated as confirmed unless supported by reliable records. What can be established is that her education and early professional experience were centered on nutrition, while later public profiles have connected her with the real-estate industry.

Emily Vakos and the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation

Charity is another important part of Emily Vakos’s public story. In 2023, she participated in the TCS New York City Marathon while supporting the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation. New York Road Runners officially listed Emily Rizzo among the notable participants and recorded her finishing time as 3:47:54. The foundation is closely associated with Rizzo’s long-running charitable efforts involving families affected by pediatric cancer. Emily’s participation demonstrated that her involvement with the foundation was not limited to appearing beside her husband at events. Completing a marathon also represented a significant personal athletic accomplishment while helping raise attention for a cause closely connected to the Rizzo family.

Family Life and Children

Family has become an increasingly important part of Emily Vakos and Anthony Rizzo’s story. After several years of marriage, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child in 2025. Reports later confirmed that they had expanded their family. MLB’s coverage of Rizzo’s 2025 retirement specifically showed him with his young son, Anthony Jr., during his return to Wrigley Field. This marked a new chapter for the couple after years of marriage and Rizzo’s demanding baseball career. Emily and Anthony have also shared affection for their dog Kevin, who became part of the family’s public story. Nevertheless, the couple have kept many details about their child and home life private.

Anthony Rizzo’s Retirement and a New Chapter

Anthony Rizzo’s retirement from professional baseball in 2025 changed the family’s public circumstances considerably. After 14 MLB seasons, Rizzo announced his retirement as a member of the Chicago Cubs in September 2025. His career included three All-Star selections, four Gold Glove Awards, a Silver Slugger Award, and a historic 2016 World Series championship with Chicago. The Cubs also announced that he would remain connected to the organization as a team ambassador. For Emily Vakos, his retirement represents a transition away from the intense travel and schedule associated with professional baseball. Their family can now enter a different phase of life while Rizzo maintains a connection with the Cubs and his charitable interests.

Why Emily Vakos Continues to Attract Interest

Interest in Emily Vakos continues largely because her life combines several subjects that attract online readers: celebrity relationships, MLB history, nutrition, real estate, philanthropy, and family life. However, the most useful way to understand her is not simply as Anthony Rizzo’s wife. Her academic training, nutrition experience, professional interests, charitable participation, and family role provide a broader picture. At the same time, some details frequently repeated online—particularly exact birth information, net-worth figures, and claims about private family matters—are not consistently supported by authoritative sources. A reliable Emily Vakos biography should therefore distinguish confirmed facts from speculation and respect the privacy she has maintained throughout her public life.

Final Thoughts

Emily Vakos has built a life that extends beyond her connection to Anthony Rizzo. Her education in nutrition and food management, experience with the Chicago Cubs, later professional interests, charitable participation, and family life all contribute to her public story. Her 2023 New York City Marathon performance particularly demonstrated her personal commitment to the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation. Meanwhile, Rizzo’s 2025 retirement has opened a new chapter for their family after years shaped by professional baseball. Although Emily continues to maintain considerable privacy, the verified details available about her show a woman whose identity includes education, career interests, philanthropy, marriage, and family—not simply her status as the wife of a former MLB star.

FAQs

1. Who is Emily Vakos?

Emily Vakos is an American nutrition and food-management graduate best known publicly as the wife of former MLB player Anthony Rizzo. She has also been associated with real estate and charitable activities.

2. How did Emily Vakos meet Anthony Rizzo?

Emily met Anthony Rizzo in 2016 while she was interning with the Chicago Cubs’ nutrition department during the team’s spring-training period in Arizona. Their professional connection eventually developed into a relationship.

3. When did Emily Vakos marry Anthony Rizzo?

Emily Vakos and Anthony Rizzo married on December 29, 2018, in South Florida. Several Cubs players and former teammates attended the wedding celebration.

4. What does Emily Vakos do?

Emily studied nutrition and food management at Arizona State University and gained experience in nutrition-related work. Later public profiles have also associated her with real estate.

5. Does Emily Vakos have children?

Yes. Emily Vakos and Anthony Rizzo expanded their family with their first child. Rizzo publicly appeared with his young son during the Cubs’ 2025 celebration of his retirement.