A little bit of everything

I've been called a jack-of-all-trades more than once, and I've come around to it. I started out in nonprofit fundraising, went back to school for design, spent a few years consulting, and now I lead product at a startup. In a normal week I'm planning the roadmap, writing tickets, testing a release, talking to customers, and sometimes fixing something in the code myself.

What connects all of it is listening. Most of my work comes down to understanding what people actually need, and I can't do that while I'm the one talking. So I ask questions, I pay attention to what people leave out, and then I say it back in plain words so everyone is solving the same problem.

I'm also pretty adaptable. Teams change, plans change, priorities shift halfway through a sprint. I'd rather figure out where I'm useful and keep things moving than wait for the perfect setup.