Soaring to New Heights in His Career Starting from Junior Developer in Chile to Now Chief Product Officer in the U.S.

The progression of roles becomes a side effect of the progression of goals, not the goal itself.

Felipe Castillo joined Equifax soon after graduating from college 15 years ago in Santiago, Chile. His career progression took him from starting out as a junior developer to becoming a solutions architect, and then moving to Atlanta and transitioning into various roles within Product. Today, Felipe is proud to serve as the Chief Product Officer for U.S. Information Solutions (USIS) at Equifax.

His journey is a testament to what growth could look like when you put your mind to it. We were so inspired by his story and wanted to learn more about what drove his development and progression. 

We also picked his brain on what type of characteristics or potential talent that he believes would make a great fit at our company. Listen in as he describes those who would likely thrive at Equifax here.

Read ahead to learn more about Felipe’s career story and his thoughts on the power of vulnerability:

What factors and/or who has played a role in your development (career and personal)?

I have a technical background, but I've always felt a strong need to understand the context of the things we were building—its purpose, constraints, and trade-offs. At the same time, I’ve been fortunate to encounter amazing people during my journey at Equifax. Not only managers, but also colleagues who have significantly impacted me. Some were generous with their time to teach me the basics when I first moved to the US, while others challenged me to trust my instincts and take risks. 

Did you ever think you would one day end up in the position you are in now?

You know what? I've never really spent a lot of time contemplating the roles I would play in the future. My focus has always been on the challenges I want to conquer. My evolution has taken me from the excitement of solving a software development problem to transforming a Mainframe to the cloud and, ultimately, to changing the culture of an organization! The progression of roles becomes a side effect of the progression of goals, not the goal itself.

What are your top career tips or advice and lessons learned for those who are looking to grow?

The simple answer is working hard to produce value in the areas that matter the most. But you can’t really achieve that if you can’t make sense out of what’s happening around you and how your job fits in the larger picture. When you are able to find meaning in the work you do, finding the areas that matter the most becomes more evident, figuring out how to produce value is more intuitive, and working hard is easier. You are always going to be better at a job if you feel you are making a significant impact.

Can you speak on vulnerability and the role it plays in career development?

I personally believe that we are all dealing with some level of anxiety in our day-to-day lives. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to complete this task on time” or  “am I the only one who doesn’t know that acronym?” or in my case “I’m not sure how to say this in English”. I have learned that something magical happens when we verbalize those thoughts and make yourself vulnerable. It not only lifts a weight off our shoulders but also influences those around us. Everyone lowers their defenses. This is like fuel for real collaboration; the fuel for personal and organizational growth.

Learn more about available opportunities at Equifax.