By Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – “Challenge and challenge the status quo”

Magali Muratore joined Tory Burch LLC, a New York fashion brand in July to become its executive vice president.

Muratore, who left Capital One, where her position was as senior vice president and chief Information Officer of Retail, Direct and Small Business Banking, said that it’s not about perfection.

“Change can be a positive thing. With it come new challenges and possibilities.”

Muratore discussed the power of changing with Reuters. Below are edited excerpts.

Q. Q.

A. A. This was the first time I learned about data integration.

My motivation was to drive change within large companies and combine strategic vision, customer-focus, and engineering execution.

Q. Q. How have these changes impacted your technology strategy for a company?

A. Capital One was founded in 2001 to design and create physical and virtual workspaces.

Our company was built to be a modern technological company. This allowed us to quickly identify and respond to stress in the system and use data and software for reimagining new ways to think and scaling up our solutions quickly for customers and associates.

Q. Q.

A. A. A meeting might occasionally pause for a quick wave or “hi” from a pet to say hello to them. When planning events for teams, we try to be family-friendly.

To create small group sessions via remote, I modified the in-person lunches so that they could be held remotely. This allowed me to speak directly with them about their problems and we discussed context.

These sessions allowed me to communicate with the team and connect in a way that was not possible before.

In response to the comments from the associates, monthly meetings were scheduled and Airplane-Mode Fridays (a 4-hour block each Friday meant to be meeting- or Slack-free) in order to give the team the space it needed to care for themselves and their loved ones.

Q. Q. You say so.

A. A.

These values were reinforced by the pandemic, which also taught me how to lead more effectively. These are the reminders that I have received about emotional well-being.

It includes creating safe spaces for associates to talk about their wellbeing and offering resources such as additional coverage for virtual health appointments including mental health visits in order to improve mental health support.

A pandemic also reinforced the importance of showing vulnerability. It showed how vital it was to present myself authentically, be vulnerable, admit my failures and show more compassion.

It has served as a reminder of how crucial it is to change, grow, adapt and bring your team along on this journey. We have all learnt a lot about resilience, communication, and how important well-being is in our daily lives.

Q. Q.

A. Be open to all possibilities.

I wouldn’t have been able to develop, learn, and finally find my passion if I hadn’t followed a strict career plan.

You would be surprised if you told me that at graduation I would work with Fortune 500 companies to support large-scale tech transformations. However, my professional career has consisted of being curious and open to exploring new possibilities.

I have learned that every experience can be a learning opportunity.