PUBLIC COMPANIES
Presidential ambition was always in the cards for Cap One executive

by Joan Tupponce
For Virginia Business
August 2005

Growing up, Catherine West was sure of one thing — she wanted to be a president. Of what, she didn’t know. “I had this notion that it was a job where I could do a lot of good, make an impact in the world.”

Over time, West attained the position she wanted. As president of U.S. Card for Capital One Financial Corp., she manages the company’s domestic consumer credit-card business — currently ranked the sixth largest in the country and Capital One’s largest business line. West, 45, directs all product, marketing and customer-service activities for U.S. Card, which in 2004 had $48.6 billion in managed loans and $7.9 billion in managed revenues, generating $1.4 billion in net income.

Tall and blond, West serves on the company’s executive committee and reports to CEO Richard D. Fairbank. Her success isn’t surprising considering West’s lineage. Her maternal great-grandfather and grandfather were president and executive vice president, respectively, of Marshall Field & Co., Chicago’s venerable department store. On her father’s side, her grandfather was president of a printing company. And just before West was born, her father started his own printing company near Washington, D.C.

Her parents, she recalls, struggled to make the business successful. “We had a modest upbringing. My dad was working hard. He would bring home things to stuff and mail, and we would set up an assembly line.” West describes her parents as “resourceful, very smart and with strong work ethics. At 72, my mom is now CEO of Dad’s printing business, National Target Company.”

She began her career as a management trainee at Chevy Chase Federal Savings Bank just as it was starting its credit-card division. By the time she moved to First USA Bank six years later, Chevy Chase’s division had grown to nearly $5 billion in managed loans, and West was vice president of its credit-card servicing operations. She spent 10 years at First USA — later sold to Bank One — and saw the company’s assets grow from $3 billion to $60 billion.

In 2000 West joined Capital One as an executive vice president in charge of call center operations. In 2004, she moved up to become president of U.S. Card. In this job, West enjoys being part of a team. “I like involving, coaching and mentoring people.” As with any high-ranking job, the demands at times are stressful. For instance, one of West’s biggest career challenges occurred during the past 18 months when industry competition led to 1,500 companywide layoffs, affecting associates in her division. “They were great associates. It was heart tugging for me,” she says. “It was a question of us automating the work and not having the need for the process.”

Her life, she says, isn’t all work. An 8-year-old son helps keep her grounded. Recently, West was supposed to address 400 Capital One executives at an annual meeting, but her son’s end-of-school ceremony was scheduled for the same time. For West, the choice was easy. “My priority was to be with my son. The team can pinch hit for me.”

That attitude doesn’t surprise Linda Rabbitt, CEO for Rand Construction in Arlington, who knows West through their joint involvement with the International Women’s Forum. “Her style is so collaborative. I see why she’s successful,” says Rabbitt.