A product career built on curiosity and change

Michael joined Capital One in 2021 as a business development associate on the U.S. Card Partnerships team. Now, he’s leading product marketing for Venture X Business, helping shape how Capital One reimagines premium travel for everyday customers.

What’s driven him from one role to the next is a consistent thread: a passion for building products that are honest and simple, a hunger to take on the next adventure before the current one gets comfortable and a sense of belonging he didn’t know he’d find in the corporate world until he found it at Capital One.

Intentional career growth built on saying yes

At Capital One, career growth isn’t something that happens passively. Leaders actively look for where their associates can stretch and when the timing is right to make a move. For Michael, that culture of intentional growth has defined every chapter of his journey at the company.

He started in business development, where his first major stretch was helping land and launch Capital One’s first co-branded card built entirely from scratch. He navigated everything from the initial pitch to the signed contract, giving him a ground-level education in how the market thinks, what customers actually want from a financial product and where Capital One had room to differentiate. 

He loved the work, and he was good at it. But sitting in on those high-stakes pitches and watching a prospect lean into the strategy he’d helped build, Michael found himself wondering about everything that came after.

“In business development, you live in the world of what could be,” he said. “You often don’t get to see the actualization of that, your vision brought to life.”

That’s when his manager asked if he’d be willing to move over to product marketing to see the co-branded card launch all the way through. He said yes immediately. The perspective he’d built in business development gave him exactly what he needed to help shape the final product: a straightforward, simple card that delivered real value to customers. 

“When we launched the card, I felt like I had climbed the mountain I had set out to climb,” Michael said. “I was really excited to figure out what my next great adventure would be. I was looking for something that had an exciting roadmap ahead of it, and the business travel space stood out immediately.”

Building what premium travel should look like

As a product marketing manager for Venture X Business, Michael and his team aren’t copying the playbook that other premium card brands have run for decades. Their innovation begins with one fundamental question: What do modern business travelers actually need and want, and how can Capital One solve for it in a way no one else has? 

Take airport lounge access, a travel benefit that traditionally has a high barrier to entry. Capital One recognized that customers were looking for a comfortable place to rest and recharge before boarding. So our Travel and Lounge teams launched Landings, a new concept that converts airport restaurant spaces into accessible traveler havens with elevated food offerings, private restrooms and high speed Wi-Fi to make those hours at the airport as comfortable as possible.

Looking ahead, Michael hopes his team can build on this momentum, continuing to innovate and elevate the journey for Venture X Business cardholders. “Capital One is coming in and shaking things up,” Michael said. “It’s so fun to be on a team that is disrupting the status quo.”

The team is also shifting how Capital One shows up in the world, bringing cardholders closer to the cultural moments they love like Miami Art Week. “We want to do more than just hand out rewards,” he said. “It’s about showing up in the moments that actually bring our customers joy, and becoming a natural part of how they explore the world.”

Developing skills in unexpected places

Michael’s growth at Capital One hasn’t only happened within the work itself. A few years in, he stepped up as co-lead of Out Front Greater Washington, Capital One’s LGBTQIA+ Business Resource Group. The role allowed him to show up for his community while strengthening the key professional skills he relies on in his day job.

Public speaking had always made him nervous. But leading community events and presenting strategy to national teams gave him a repeated, low-pressure place to practice. The muscle built gradually, and the confidence followed him back into his product marketing work.

“Practice does make perfect,” Michael said. “Out Front set me up to drive conversation and present in front of a large audience.”

Influence was the other piece. Working across senior leadership on Out Front initiatives made it easier to navigate that same terrain in his daily role. Presenting strategy to a VP, making a case confidently and pushing an idea forward became easier over time.

Building more than a career at Capital One

For Michael, every role, every launch and every new challenge at Capital One comes back to something simpler than strategy or innovation. It’s the feeling of being somewhere that actually wants all of you.

“It allows you to show up as yourself to work every day, exactly as you are,” he said. “Feeling empowered to do that allows me to take that light and shine it on others.”

Don’t just follow a career roadmap—build a brand new one. Experience a place where you can bring your whole self to the journey. Find your next destination and explore open roles today.