How I Started in STEM: Capital One SVP on how to get your seat at “the table”

Biba Helou is the SVP Enterprise Data Platforms and Risk Management Technologies at Capital One where she is privileged to lead a dynamic team that is driving innovation and disrupting the traditional technology service experience.

How I got started in STEM with Biba Helou

How I got started in STEM was I was always really good at math and science in school and I always felt really good about problem solving so I decided that having a career that incorporated math and science was the thing for me at an early, early stage.

I think I knew that I loved STEM when I was in junior high. So I would say, all the way up until about sixth grade, anybody who knew me probably would've thought that I wanted to be an artist. All I'd like to do was read and draw. But in sixth grade, I had a math teacher, Ms. Plumbo, who was amazing. And she really made me love math, first of all. And then I just continued to have really great science and math teachers and decided that was really the thing that I liked to do even more than the artsy stuff that I had originally thought I was enjoying in grade school.

What passion still drives you?

My passion today is solving problems. I like to solve problems. I like a beginning, an end. I like trying to figure out what's going on. I like to do something to fix that thing that is going on. I've changed roles in my career many, many, many times, but that's the constant. There's always something to solve. And so I just love doing that and it feels like every single role in my career path in technology gives me a problem to solve and gives me the opportunity to see what the outcome of that solution to the problem is. And that's what I really liked.

What is your number one tip for someone who wants a career in STEM?

The advice that I'd give to anybody who wants a career in STEM is STEM isn't just one thing. It's the sciences, the maths, the engineering. There are so many things you can do with it. Explore what you really like, think about what you really like to do, and then try a few different things out. And I know, I'm not saying go get five different degrees and then pick the degree that you like the best, because that sounds like it would be a lot of work to do that, but really think about the area, the industry, the STEM field that interests you the most, and start talking to people who already do something that you think you would like to do.

At a minimum, it'll help you figure out what you don't want to do, what you're not interested in, but at its best, it's going to probably peak your interest in something that maybe you didn't even know you were interested in. So build relationships. Be on the lookout to meet people. The other thing is, don't be afraid to experiment and don't be afraid to say you don't like something. Don't be afraid to make a decision that you don't like something and shift to something else that you like a little bit more or tweak what you're doing to it a little bit more.

What was the best advice you received in your career?

The best advice that I ever received is a little different. It was, don't be afraid to use your voice. A lot of times you'll get a job. You'll get a seat at the table. That's a phrase that everybody likes to use, "I want a seat at the table to help shape something or really make a difference." Well, when you get a job, no matter what level you're at, you have a seat at “A” table. It might not be the table, but it is a table. And a lot of times I find people are a little intimidated to use their voice to say what they think, to jump right in to say when they think something is great or when they think something is something that they disagree with. It takes a while in your career to get that confidence to use your voice.

What is the hardest thing about working in STEM fields?

The hardest thing for me in working in the field of STEM is I've traditionally been in a lot of companies and in a lot of roles where it's been mostly men, and I have always felt a little intimidated by that. So just overcoming that. We're all humans and so just really always reminding ourselves that we're all humans and we all have very similar insecurities and we all have different styles. Whether you're working with 20 other women or 20 other men, you're always going to be in a room where everybody has different styles of the way they work.

I mean, in technology in particular, things are changing all the time. So it's always good to take a deep breath and then remind yourself too, like I said before, nobody knows everything. Everybody's always having to continually learn so don't feel daunted by having to learn new things and don't feel daunted by not knowing everything because there's so much out there in technology and the sciences and in engineering that you'll have an opportunity to learn and you never have to know everything. So just keep up with what you love and keep exploring.