Mojgan Lefebvre from Travelers in "How I Started In STEM"

Hi, I'm Mojgan Lefebvre and I'm Chief Technology and Operations Officer for Travelers. I was living in Iran, which is where I'm from. As you may know, there aren't a lot of opportunities for women in that country, so I decided to leave after 12th grade and on my own I came to the U.S. with just a few hundred dollars in my pocket. I knew that I couldn't really afford to study medicine, so I looked around and because I loved math, everybody was like, 'Well, you should probably go into computer science.' I was like, 'But I've never even seen a computer in my life,' but they're like, 'No, it doesn't matter, you're gonna learn.' One of the best times in the world to be in the world of technology because anything anyone does has some sort of technology connected to it. When you work for a corporation, everything from generating revenue to running your HR organization or running your finance organization has an element of technology to it. A lot of companies are doing transformation; they're transforming themselves to become more and more digital, so that means a lot of really exciting opportunities in the world of technology, really leveraging technology to enable business outcomes and in some cases drive business outcomes. So I love the part where I'm leveraging technology to really take the company to another level.

When I think back to some of the best advice I've gotten, I'd have to say it was one of my managers who really made it clear to me that being successful in your job isn't just dependent on the hard skills — in the case of some, being good at the work that you're doing, whether you're a programmer or an engineer — but it's also dependent on the soft skills, on the communications, on having presence. And so he said, 'Make sure that when you leave a room or enter a room, you have an identity that's just yours and that people remember you by that, because people are impacted more by how they feel once they've had the conversation than necessarily always by the content.' So that's stuck with me. I'd say probably in today's world everybody says 'be authentic.' For me, I feel like that was him saying be authentic and be yourself and have your own specific identity. And I think that's been hugely helpful. You always want to stand out when you can.

So one of the hardest things about being in STEM fields is probably you don't see as many people who are similar to you as a woman. Whether it's in your classes in college, where I was really probably in the five percent of the total class — meaning there were very few women studying computer science at Georgia Tech — or even when you get into leadership roles, while there are many women who certainly enter the organization, for some reason as you go up the ladder the number of women is less. I'm sure some of that is based on society and how it's set up, but some of it is also I find sometimes women take themselves out of the equation. In those years where they're going to have children, that's really when you can potentially start getting into leadership roles, the two things don't necessarily match as well. I think it's critical to have representation. I think probably one important thing is that STEM fields really do contribute to people's economic well-being. I actually see STEM, and specifically I would say computer science, as one of the elements that can be leveraged to make sure women and young girls who are in marginalized communities actually have the opportunity to gain a much better living than their parents necessarily have. That's why I am very, very passionate about Girls Who Code, and every year we actually bring a group of the girls who go through the program into our organization to help educate the women. It's important because when you look up or you look around and you don't see people like yourselves, you may not really enjoy being there or it may not be as much fun. I actually think you should enjoy what you do day to day. Now, even if no one looks like you and they're not around you, I would suggest that you know that you are actually probably setting the model for those who come after you, so don't give up. If you like what you're doing, continue to do it and be a role model.

We spend so much of our time at work — when you think of five days out of seven days, and every day you're there at least eight or nine hours — you want to make sure that you're enjoying those hours, being among people that you enjoy being with, who can also be your friends. I think that's absolutely critical. So whenever you're thinking of joining an organization, I would say don't just focus on 'Am I making enough money? Do I have the right title?' Absolutely make sure that you enjoy what the company does, what their mission is, and that they have the kind of culture that you want to be a part of. Usually, if you just talk to folks who are there, whether directly or going on Glassdoor or many other sites, you absolutely get a feel for the culture of a place. I'd say that's very important to keep in mind. This