Why did you choose VCU for your Bachelor’s ?
Coming out of high school, I actually wanted to play college baseball, so I looked at a number of different places. Then, when I made my first visit to VCU, it was obvious that this was the place for me. I love the urban setting, but yet it's kind of juxtaposed with historical buildings and whatnot. Just from an environmental standpoint, it really felt like home. Then on the athletic side, I had similar feelings—it just felt like the right place. 

Why did you choose history?
I originally came to VCU to major in real estate. Then, I took my first business class and realized that it was not for me. I got through that first year and then took a step back to think. Working with my student-athlete adviser at the time, he asked, “What do you like to do?” Well, I love history, and that’s how I got into it. It was really just the passion and an interest in it, not really knowing much else at the time. I was taking a few introductory, 100-level classes, and stayed with that interest going through. Then I stuck with it.

What are your takeaways from the program?
I think the program itself does a really great job of really opening you up and helping you to develop skills that can really help you do anything. Certainly some core research and written communication, but other things like problem-solving, which is applicable in any kind of setting, even business. 

What was your experience like?
It was really awesome. We had an intimate setting as you advanced through the major. In the 100-level classes, you’re around folks who are taking it to take it, but as you get to the higher levels, you’re around folks who have similar interests as you. To me, the pursuit of history was really awesome, so I enjoyed it. I think one of the pieces that was the best was the faculty. Everyone was different in their own way, but clearly, from a similar characteristic standpoint, focused on the student experience. They were obviously very passionate about what they were teaching. I never felt [staleness] from any professors. Clearly, they had a love for their specificity and it came through in the teaching. 

How did you get a job doing HR at Capital One?
Similar to jumping into history, I loved athletics, so I studied sports management in graduate school and then worked in collegiate athletics at a number of places. I started at Harvard and then I was at Northeastern University, from there I transitioned from athletics into student and career development and relocated back to Virginia, where I was working at the College of William and Mary in career services. That was where I first got exposed to Capital One as a company, through the pursuit of information in order to help students learn more, or get through an interview process, or even negotiate an offer. I was just trying to arm myself to help them and just pocketed that information.

I worked at a couple of other companies in organizational development and then HR. I was lucky enough in 2021 to get a call from Capital One to step into a role that encompassed everything I had done, helping early career talent, which is a direct correlation from working with students in their first roles, or helping to support them through the completion of internships.  

What is it like working there?
It’s really awesome. I’ve been here for over three years and it is 100% a company that talks the talk and walks the walk as far as inclusion and belonging, as well as performance. One of the things I love is that there is a great balance of, “We care for you, we want what’s best for you,” and also, “We need you to perform at a high level.” It’s the first environment I’ve found that’s similar to athletics in that way. The coach really cares for you and wants everyone to be the best, but, in the end, we need the lineup that will help us win the game. I think Capital One does that really well, and it comes through everything that there’s care for the associate or employee, and also a pursuit of high results and excellence. I enjoy it. I think it’s a company that values creativity and problem solving, and it’s a place where you can constantly innovate and fail without fear of something happening. That constant pursuit of excellence really sits well with me. 

What do you love most about your job?
It’s a chance to utilize all the experience I had before Capital One. It also provided me with the opportunity to develop relationships with early career individuals and students at a really crucial time in someone’s career. The opportunity to help folks feel at home and then, in turn, hopefully perform their best, is really awesome. That’s the part I love, day in, day out. 

If a student wanted to be in a similar line of work, would you recommend the program you did or a different one?
I would recommend history for a couple of reasons. Whether it’s at Capital One or somewhere else, someone who wants to work in human resources has to be strong in numerous facets. One would be the ability to research. As a human resources professional, it’s typically not the best practice to take things at face value. To hear an argument or a statement, it is important to not take it for what it is, but then also ask that question of, “Why?” is very important to ensure that you’re empathetic to the situation, and to also have that pursuit of the truth, or some other type of conclusion that is backed by evidence, research, or data. That’s something that an HR professional should be driven by, data-driven decision making. 

There’s a misunderstanding by many who look at history and think it’s narrow in the sense of, “Who, what, and when.” However, you could take any singular event and dice it into a million pieces, where one question leads to another. What I learned here at VCU studying history is that you can take any one thing and look at it from at least 1,000 different lenses. Rather than stare at it and say, “This is the thing that is,” the first question is, “Why?” That can lead you down so many paths. As an HR professional, that’s important, because you’re constantly looking out for the employee or associate experience, so the ability to stop and ask. “Why?” and get after the data driven facts, make those decisions super important. 

The second piece of this is written communication, where it is helpful to be clear, transparent, and declarative. In your writing or even messaging, whether it is a Slack or G-Chat message, it is important to be very clear. History taught me to be very declarative in all of my statements, so I don’t say, ‘I think,” or, “Maybe,” but instead, “This is what the research says.” 

What advice would you give to current and future students?
Be open-minded. You can do almost anything by studying almost anything, but if you’re open-minded to the skills that you can develop while studying history, and how these skills can be applicable to anything, it really helps you enjoy it more. Broaden your mindset so you begin to think about how these skills and this information can help you in the future, which helps you see the real world application even more. 

If you could do it all over again, would you? Or something different?
I definitely would. I’m one of those people that thinks it all worked out well in the end, but I would have started earlier. I didn’t start studying history until my second year, so on the back end, I had to take a lot more classes. I wouldn’t change it, I just would have started sooner. 

Closing remarks/final thoughts?
There’s still a very narrow interpretation of what the study of history is, but there is an importance to studying history and what it can do for you, particularly in a workplace. If I were talking to someone that doesn’t know what to do in college, I would recommend history because you can learn some cool things while developing some skills that will help you in the future.