Introduction
This week, I’m taking a moment to reflect on why I do what I do. A lot of what we do in our lives is a result of a countless number of events that led up to it. Over the weekend, I took an introspective look to remind myself why I came into product management, what led me to blog, and what led me to coach other product managers.
What is my origin story?
Believe it or not, my career did not start with product management, let alone even something in the technology space. My first job was actually in food service. Cashiering, taking orders, making drinks, etc. My second job was an eCommerce operation working out of the owner’s house. Taking orders, sourcing products, customer service, etc. This followed up with my third job, also an eCommerce operation, same day-to-day, but on a warehouse-level scale.
My fourth job after that was an a SaaS / contact center operation for multi-family rentals. This is where my product management career officially started, but not from day one! Day one, I actually ran implementations — basically, onboarding clients onto the company’s SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform. We used a highly customized instance of Salesforce as the SaaS’ “backend” to translate client’s needs into configurable setups within the platform. Some time down the line, I joined their tech team as product; it wasn’t even on my mind that product was actually a role and accidentally found my career going down that path. (Believe it or not, many product managers find themselves in product by accident; more on that in a bit). The rest is history, product role after product role.
But wait, what’s the point of outlining past roles before came into product? How do any of them connect to a career in product management?
The answer is simple: they all dealt with a product. That’s it. It’s that obvious.
Each role had one or more products that were a solution to a problem that someone is willing to pay for.
In food service, the problem is that people are hungry and/or thirsty and the solution is to buy food and/or drink.
In eCommerce, the problem is that people are looking for goods and/or services that may or may not be available in a physical store (or, perhaps they don’t want to have to go into a physical store) and the solution is to shop online.
In SaaS, the problem is that some group of customers is looking for a solution a given problem, but doesn’t want the same pros and cons over a traditional software. Thus, SaaS delivers an alternative to traditional software.
The last one, I know, was a little vague, but the point is less about the specifics and more about that product management exists whenever there is a problem to be solved for people looking to solve them.
Ultimately, that is what led me to product management. Even if by accident, my experiences all converged into a single purpose: to find solutions to people looking for them. Thus, product management.
How’s that lead to blogging and coaching?
Throughout the decade I’ve been (officially) in the product management space, I had many opportunities to work with people across organizations — my own team, other internal teams, and external (customers) teams. I’ve acted both as an independent contributor and as a manager of other product managers. That mean’s I’ve seen a decade of stories, scenarios, and situations.
And that means I’ve felt and heard the problems of many product managers, myself included.
“I don’t feel like I belong here.”
“I feel out of place.”
“Am I really cut out for this?”
“I’m afraid of saying something stupid.”
“I’m afraid of making the wrong move.”
“I don’t know what we’re actually talking about.”
“There’s a gap between what I’m saying and what others are understanding.”
“People don’t take me seriously.”
“Others aren’t sure what product managers actually do.”
“I miss chances to bring the product to a better place.”
“I’m being overlooked for promotions.”
What do all of these have in common? Or, what do they all result in? (Quick side note, this is a skill great product managers have — digging and finding the root cause of problems.)
Product managers aren’t getting the pay raises they want.
When a product manager frequently finds themselves saying one or more of things like the above, it usually means they are feeling imposter syndrome, feeling unheard, feeling unappreciated, invisible, misunderstood, etc. All of these have a (very) undesirable end state: less money earned.
If people don’t appreciate or understand the value you provide, why would they promote you? Why would they give you a pay raise? Why would they keep you onboard? The place each of those doors lead into is ultimately you’re not getting the money you want.
It wouldn’t even matter if you know all the product management theory in the world, if you’re thinking anything like the quotes above, then more than likely something is holding you back from getting the money you deserve.
Fun parallel, if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, or any number of other product management resources out there, you’re probably seeing the similarities between a product and yourself.
If a product doesn’t solve a problem that someone’s looking to solve, then why would a customer buy it?
If you don’t solve a problem that your company’s looking to solve, then why should they give you more, if not any, money at all?
And that’s why I blog and coach.
I help product managers get their next raise.
I help people like you overcome the things getting in the way of the money you deserve as a product manager.
I help you believe in the value you bring to your products and teams.
I help you show others how you help them with their problems.
I help you make it as easy of a “yes” as possible when you ask your manager for a raise or promotion.
I help product managers get the pay they deserve.
Can you help me?
Maybe yes, maybe not. The root of product management is building solutions to problems that customers want to solve. The key operative there is “want.”
I can help you, but only if you’re ready… only if you truly want to get to the next level and not just think you want to.
If that sounds like you, click the 1-on-1 Coaching button at the top right of this page to reach out to me. Answer a few questions, and I’ll reach out to schedule our most important call: a discovery call.
In no more than 15 minutes, you’ll learn a bit more about me. I’ll learn a bit more about you. Together, we’ll make sure you’re in the right place before we go any further.
So, if you’re looking for help getting paid your worth, reach out! And if not, that’s okay, too. But, if you ever need help, especially from someone who’s more than likely been in your shoes before, you know where to find me.