Perspective Matters: How Four Women in Leadership Navigate the Corporate Environment
We asked four women leaders at Discover to describe how they navigated a corporate environment from their personal background, identity, or heritage. Here are the unique experiences and meaningful insights they shared.
Susanna, Director, International Markets, APAC
Location: Hong Kong
Pronouns: she/her
As a Chinese female, I found there are a couple critical things in navigating a corporate environment. One of the biggest challenges for me was learning to assert myself and make my voice heard. In Chinese culture, women are often taught to be quiet and reserved, to listen more than we speak. However, I found that working here, being able to speak up and assert oneself is critical for success. In my career, I was lucky to have a manager who encouraged me to speak up confidently, even when I felt unsure of myself.
To overcome this challenge, my manager had given me advice to make a conscious effort to prepare thoroughly for every meeting or discussion, research the topic, and seek out mentors and colleagues who could offer guidance and support.
I also found networking and building relationships are critical. Relationships can be crucial in terms of getting ahead, finding new opportunities, and building a support network. I had volunteered to be the Chairperson of PWIR APAC when it was launched at the end of 2021. Being a part of the PWIR APAC leadership team has given me great opportunities to connect and learn from various senior female leaders in the organization, which has helped me to develop and grow my career at Discover.
Despite these challenges, I have learned to be more resilient. I have learned that success in a US company is not just about skills and abilities, but also about perseverance, flexibility, and a willingness to learn and adapt. It is critical to be prepared, adaptable, and focused on building relationships to overcome the challenges I have faced in my career.
While it’s not always easy, I am incredibly energized by the work I get to do to change the landscape of our company, the community of Chatham and the great City of Chicago in my day to day; I get to learn and work with some incredible people all with diverse backgrounds and different lived experiences. Together, we are all working towards embracing and advancing equity in a way that empowers us all to be a part of the solution.
Kelly, Director Credit Operations, US Cards
Location: Riverwoods
Pronouns: she/her
When I first became a caregiver to my daughter, Isabel, who has a rare genetic disorder, I did my best to hide what it took to work and be a caregiver. I think partly out of self-protection as I was absorbing what her diagnosis really meant, and partly because I was worried that if my leadership knew what I was dealing with they would make assumptions about what I could and could not handle. This turned out to be a huge mistake. After about 6 months of being back from maternity leave, I was pulled into my Vice President’s office to be told I was going to be reorganized to a new department to better support the digital nature of the product. I finally shared my fears about my future with her, and caught her completely off guard, as I hadn’t shared how grateful I was for the stability work was giving me when everything else felt out of control. Looking back on this, it wasn’t on her; it was on me. I hadn’t been honest with my leadership regarding my needs.
That was a turning point for me. I started to be more honest about what I was dealing with at home, and by doing so, I was able to be a better employee and leader. For example, when my daughter started having seizures, I had a big presentation to my SVP, but my mom was nervous about administrating my daughter’s medicine by herself. At the time, I shared this with my Director and he completely understood and suggested I work from home (which wasn’t really a thing at a time). When we kicked off a meeting with my SVP, he inquired why I wasn’t there and for the first time I just said it aloud, “My daughter has been having some seizures and I needed to be home to help with her medication.” Here’s what happened: nothing! He said, “sounds good,” and we moved on to the meeting content.
Life with Isabel has its ups and downs. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, and I need to be available for a doctor’s call at a moment’s notice, and other times I feel like any other working mom. One thing that I’ve found is— if you just let people know what will help you be successful, they will usually accommodate you to make it happen.
Claudia, VP of Strategic Client Management
Location: Riverwoods
Pronouns: she/her
I can’t say I’ve navigated the corporate environment with ease or grace, especially in my younger years. I was very conscious of the fact that I worked in a male dominated environment, and I was one of a few Latinas at my company. There were certainly a few salespeople focused on building acceptance in Latin America but there was not leadership representation for women of color. I was very eager to do well and prove I could be of value. In those early years, I received a lot of feedback on being difficult or emotional, but I was confused because I was also being told I was doing great work.
I was raised by a strong mother who was always very black and white with sharing how she saw things, and often unfiltered. So, this is how I managed work: just tell the truth, be direct and straightforward in sharing thoughts. It was tough for me to hear feedback that I was hard to work with and being difficult. Growing up, I was the peace maker, the middle child, often seeking balance and calm. Suddenly, my straightforward approach became a barrier for further growth. I began to make myself small, limited sharing my thoughts openly for fear of being called difficult, even when I had the right information and could add value to a conversation. I felt lost. Luckily, I had the support of a senior leader who helped me to navigate the corporate environment. He saw potential in me even while I tried to balance out my straightforward approach to ease the comfort of others. He empowered me to take on large complex projects that were driving the growth of the company with a lot of autonomy to learn, fail or succeed. He never criticized my approach or how I phrased things instead he guided me through conflict. In working for him I began to balance my style and became focused on positively influencing others to ensure we had support to get things done. I learned how to work in the way that other people enjoyed working on the projects I owned and over time I was able to overcome all the initial criticisms.
Just a few weeks ago a colleague gave me the highest compliment by sharing that he has learned a lot with how I enroll support from others, resolve conflict with calm and all the while being straightforward. I’ve come a long way and there is always room to grow.
Kristen, Department Manager, Credit Operations
Location: New Mexico
Pronouns: she/her
When I started at Discover, I was convinced a corporate career would not be attainable due to the unique nature of my lifestyle. When you move every two to three years or at the drop of a hat to locations where your work may not be supported, it is very hard to maintain consistency in your career. Combined with the fact that there wasn’t a heavy focus on remote work then had me doubting I would find something that would work with my lifestyle.
I took a leap of faith and joined a program that was specifically designed for the military community with the built in understanding of how military life can impact your work life, which changed the entire landscape of what I thought was possible for me. Since moving away from the traditional consolidated military work at home group, I have been able to lean on my own experiences as a military spouse as well as the experiences I have gained in being exposed to and immersed in different cultures and regions, to not only help others navigating the complexities of the sometimes challenging work life balance while following the military, but also leverage my experiences to strengthen my compassion and empathy for others unique situations as a people leader.
Click here learn more about our PWIR ERG and other Employee Resource Groups.
Inspired to join the Discover team? Explore careers with us.