"[At BCG] you always feel like you can just call almost anyone on their cell phone and they'll pick up, even on vacation, and be like, what's up? How can I help you? That's really valuable."

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A Woman Working in STEM: My Journey

I'm the type of person who needs to find meaning in my work. For me, that often entails introspection and some internal discovery to understand what makes me really tick. But it also means finding a balance, to ensure that I don't get burnt out and can still pursue the things I love. Fortunately for me, I've found both at BCG.

I'm an economist by training, with an interest in computer science. My first job was at an investment bank and honestly, that gave me a pretty sour taste in regard to finance. So, I made a complete switch and I went to a nonprofit foundation. I worked on a couple of different things: helping kids with autism, getting funding for women in developing countries who were dealing with a lot of issues.

At that job, I realized that I loved empirically analyzing why things worked and then building them. And that's what led me to analytics and computer science. I went to grad school for computer science and financial computing, or financial engineering, to understand how economies work and to be able to build on that using code. After I graduated, I held jobs as a consultant and an engineer, and then I wound up at BCG where I've kept one foot in consulting and one foot in engineering, a combination I truly enjoy.

Now, I have two primary roles at BCG, but mainly I'm the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of our analytics practice, BCG GAMMA. I drive the strategy and vision of our technology and software standards for both our own work inside GAMMA and for our clients. As CTO, I am also the proud founder of Source AI, BCG's first AI software which we recently sold to DataRobot. In my secondary role as Managing Director and Partner, I work closely with my clients to figure out what it means to be a digital native organization. I help them define that journey and also accompany them side by side through the process until they get there.

3 Pieces of Advice for Women in STEM

The journey to find your calling is never an easy one, and I've learned quite a bit through the ups and downs of mine. I'd like to share my advice for other aspiring women in STEM in the hope that they too may find their calling.

1. Don't apologize for your personality. Make it work for you.

I give a talk at Girls Who Code about women having the upper hand because we're empathetic. So, when you're doing analytics or coding, having empathy and understanding about how people work gives you the upper hand. I find that women intuitively know how—when we get something into a user's hands—it will make them feel, and I think we need to harness that and use it rather than being afraid of the fact that we may be a little more sensitive. Being your authentic self and integrating your own identity into your work helps you create fearlessly, and ultimately deliver better results.

2. There's no single description of a "STEM woman." So, find what you love.

Don't feel confined to the archetypal description of women in STEM careers. Look, feel, and think however you want. If you love STEM, if you love science, that's great. And I also encourage you to find other sides of the passion that you possess. Mine are running, athleticism, and precision medicine. I want us to get to the point where we can fix our genome. I'm one of those biohacker people. I think you have to recognize all your passions and not be afraid to integrate them into your life, and that's been a big struggle for a lot of women. You can certainly still be in tech or analytics without giving up the things you love. At BCG we encourage, respect and value each other and that means valuing all the aspects of our personalities, experiences, and even passions in and outside of work. It means we get to bring our whole selves to the challenge or situation, and it also means that our clients and our teams get the very best of who we are—that's really powerful.

3. Find an organization that's about the team over the individual.

One of the things that will always stick with me about joining BCG is the culture of alignment and family. I have never been in a company where I really feel like it's more about the whole and the team than the individual. In most big companies, you start feeling pigeon-holed in your career, and begin experiencing the urge to get a better job elsewhere to make more money. At BCG, it's different. You always feel like this is a team, this is a family, this is about us, this is about the value proposition, and this is how we go forward together. You always feel like you can just call almost anyone on their cell phone, and they'll pick up, even on vacation, and be like, what's up? How can I help you? That's really valuable.

That's why I encourage anyone—women and men in STEM—with a knack for solving problems and propensity for making a difference to join BCG. Take a seat, bring your whole self to work, and make a real impact!

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Ready to take the next step in your STEM career? Explore technology engineering jobs at BCG.