How I Got Into Product: From Theatre Major to Product Leader

I studied Theatre and Psychology at Virginia Tech.

I've always been curious about people: what motivates them, how they communicate, what they need but don't always say.

Theatre sharpened my instincts for storytelling and collaboration. Psychology gave me a framework for observation and pattern recognition. Together, they built a foundation that still fuels my product work today: discovery, facilitation, relationship-building, and solving real human problems.

In 2013, I joined a small web agency.

I didn't know what "product management" was yet... but I was doing it.

I sat between clients and devs, translating vague requests into actual specs. I scoped features, QA'd builds, wrote all the content, and kept projects moving. It was scrappy and chaotic and exactly what I needed. I got to touch everything. I learned how to speak multiple "languages" across design, engineering, and business. I started to see the shape of what product work could be.

From there, I joined a huge enterprise.

And I learned exactly what I didn't want.

The team moved slowly. No one cared about writing clear acceptance criteria. My curiosity around user research kept growing - but leadership kept cutting UX out of the process. I wasn't allowed to run usability tests. Offshore teams were treated like cogs. It was disheartening.

I knew I was capable of more.

I wanted to go deeper.

And just as I was questioning everything, Pivotal Labs reached out.

Joining Pivotal changed my whole career.

It was everything I was craving: collaborative, principled, fast-paced, deeply human.

I learned to pair with engineers. To validate ideas before building. To ship value early and often. To coach clients, say no with grace, and bring structure to chaos. I finally had the words, the rituals, and the muscle memory to do product work the way I'd always imagined it could be.

Since then, I've led product across industries and org types:

Health tech. Defense. Women's health. Startups. Federal contracts. Corporate innovation labs.

What I carry through all of it:

A bias toward clarity and momentum
Deep respect for empowered teams
The belief that product work should feel human - because it is.

That's how I got here.

And I wouldn't change a thing.

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