Started and accelerated my professional career

I began as a front-line software development engineering at Amazon in Seattle and quickly pivoted in various engineering management roles. When offered the chance at product management role with Amazon’s third-party seller tools group, I took it and haven’t looked back since. I was able to dream big, execute with passion, and train teams in Seattle and Hyderabad, India.

Broadened my skillset and impact

I needed a change of scenery, which brought me down to Silicon Valley working as a Sr. Product Manager at Yelp. I was a part of Yelp’s transition as it “grew up” post-IPO, participating in many C-level, high stakes initiatives. Yelp is where I honed my collaboration skills across the business stack; my superpower was the relationships that I had cultivated with PR, legal, engineering, biz dev and sales.

Learned the value of enabling small teams

I can’t believe we had a product deployed in over 30 countries with a collective team less than 40. You can only deal with that sort of complexity with engaged, empowered individuals running every aspect of the operation. As a member of the senior management team, and owner of the product roadmap for both hardware and software development, I got lots of practice in presenting vision (and how we were doing against that vision) to internal and external stakeholders.

Mindset of continuous learning

Mid-career, I completed my MBA from Portland State University. I appreciated all the new skills and experiences it exposed me to (esp. managerial accounting, who knew!?!). I’ve also dived deep(er) into the world of entrepreneurship; starting two new ventures and helping to found another. Every day I learn something new.