Meet Olga Salem

An instant sense of belonging

From my first interview with the BCG Doha office, I felt that I could relate to the team — their entrepreneurship, their commitment to work, and the collaborative way they behave. You can reach out to everyone, irrespective of seniority. We call ourselves the BCG Doha family, and hang out and socialize like a family too.

As the first senior operations specialist on the ground here, I’ve been involved with a lot of things that might fall outside the traditional operations role—from finance and IT to HR and travel logistics. The entire office shares this go-getting entrepreneurial spirit, which is why we’ve grown so much, so fast. And we’re all very excited about moving to our new office spaces in mid-2022.

An uplifting project

I’m very proud of my work with the Lift Me Up Initiative, an internal BCG project that boosted employee satisfaction and work-life balance, particularly for our Business Support Teams (BSTs). We created a quarterly spotlight to tell their stories, and launched year-end awards for them as well. The teams were thrilled, and I was delighted to be part of something that improved work recognition and quality of life for people I genuinely like.

The allure of Doha

I’d always wanted to work in Doha. I felt that it was a Middle Eastern role model in terms of a city punching far above its weight and creating links around the world.

Doha is a compact city, but it amazes me every day. There are so many things going on, from entertainment to sports and new infrastructure. The F1, MotoGP, FIFA, golf, and padel championships all come here. The vibe is fantastic, and these international events really attract people from all walks of life together.

At BCG, we all feel like we’re growing with the country. We’re surrounded by the city’s vibrancy and energy, and that inspires us in our work. I feel part of something bigger, and know that we’re making a genuine difference.

The science of baking

Timing and attention to detail are important to me, and I bring these attributes to my hobbies too. I love baking, and firmly believe it’s more science than art. Baking is about chemistry and following the recipe with exact timing for good results. I’ve worked as a banker before as well, so being detail-oriented is something that’s part of me. And I bring that to BCG too, where my role is all about finding solutions and optimizing processes.