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Juatise Gathings
Juatise Gathings
01:26

Juatise Gathings

Discover Financial Services

Chicago, IL USA

"We get better as a company when we bring diverse personalities and perspectives to the table."

Career Roadmap

Juatise's work combines: Business, Numbers, and Working with Others

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Day In The Life

Regional Operations Director

I lead the day-to-day operations at a financial services company.

02:36

Day In The Life Of A Regional Operations Director

My Day to Day

I spend a lot of time interacting with people. I ensure my leadership team has the right tools to make sure employees can realize their full potential at work. I spend time understanding customer experience, including problem-solving for any blockers. I also work on budgeting to make sure our expenses aren’t growing faster than the profit or value they’re driving for the company. I also spend time in the community. For example, I coach local nonprofits to help enhance their financial structures.

Skills & Education

Advice for getting started

If you want to work as an operations director, it's important to seek out diverse opportunities throughout a company. People are so focused on upward mobility, which is still important, but it's also important not to underestimate the value of lateral and cross-functional movement. For example, if you're in compliance but you want to gain experience managing a project, then don't be afraid to move over and take a project management position. These experiences help create a well-rounded leader.

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Business Administration and Management, General

    Ottawa University

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life has been direct

  • 1.

    I grew up in the Roseland neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois.

  • 2.

    When I was in the middle of high school, my family moved to Arizona.

  • 3.

    Even though I had gone to a college prep school in Chicago, I saw that even the worst schools in Arizona were better than our best schools in Chicago because of better community investment.

  • 4.

    I graduated from Ottawa University with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).

  • 5.

    I started with Discover Financial Services as an administrative assistant and moved up to lead analyst after a year.

  • 6.

    I stayed with Discover and kept working my way up—I worked as a department manager in New Albany, Ohio, followed by a role as senior operations manager in Salt Lake City, Utah.

  • 7.

    I eventually moved back to Chicago, where I currently work as the regional operations manager for Discover.

  • 8.

    In addition to my work with Discover, I’m passionate about advocating for community investment, particularly starting with investment in our youth.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Myself:

    I can't fully be myself here. I need to temper who I am in order to fit in.

  • How I responded:

    When I first started making my way up in the corporate world, I was often the only African American female in the room. There wasn't much diversity in our leadership. At first it forced me to temper parts of myself. However, I eventually realized—particularly at Discover—that we get better as a company when we bring diverse perspectives to the table. When the company started investing in and celebrating things that make us different, it helped build my comfort level to authentically be who I am.

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