“How Elaine Became The Kind of PM She Always Wanted to Be“

What Next With My Career?

I used to really lack confidence in my role. Both in terms of how to have impact, but also how to take the next step in my career as a Product Owner.

I was just execution-focused, doing what I was told to do and felt completely ill-equipped for anything more strategic.

I didn’t even really understand what product strategy or being customer-centric really meant.

To add to my lack of confidence, I also felt overwhelmed by all the information out there.

All the product books I was reading told me I needed to be or do “this” and “that” - throwing a lot of buzz words and generic advice at me - and I didn’t really identify with any of it.

It just didn’t feel relevant to my situation.

Constant Anxiety

As a result, I constantly felt anxious and uncertain about what I was doing day-to-day, but also with my career.

Unsure about how to take the next step - where to even start! - and with no idea what else was really out there, beyond just being a PO.

I couldn’t see a path forward and felt stuck.

Bridging The Gap

The programme helped me rapidly bridge the gap from feeling lost and stuck, to having a very clear idea of the options I had in front of me.

The frameworks and principles I experienced on the programme were things I could make my own.

I was essentially building my own approach to product. My own “shape” as a Product Manager.

I loved the fact that there wasn’t an attempt to give generic advice and pretend to solve every problem. It was more about giving us flexible principles & frameworks that I could then adapt & apply in any role or product scenario.

I always say, you only learn from experience.

Prod MBA pushes you to experience and actually do these things - like speaking to customers, building a product strategy, generating real customer data. This cements the learning so effectively as I went through the programme.

I also loved the Q&A and group sessions! All the students and mentors are really supportive, engaged and curious about each other’s product!

I Felt The Impact From Day 1

Even in Week 1 of the programme, I started to shift my mindset to being much more confident and product-led in my approach.

By talking to random people from my target customer group, I had to put myself out there from the first few days!

The content struck me with so many “aha” moments as well. Henry and the team just cut through all the buzzwords and generic advice to focus on what really matters: Not things like Scrum, but more about the timing of your product, or tactics to differentiate a product.

Prod MBA really just taught me that mastery doesn’t come from making things complicated. Instead, it’s about getting the simple things right.

From PO to Growth PM

I am so much more confident since joining the programme!

Firstly, I joined a new role as a Growth PM. I’d never even thought of this as an option before, but I’m loving the role!

Not only did I find the confidence to apply for something that felt very senior, but I’m doing strategic work that I was completely incapable of doing just a few months ago.

I’m also working on my personal brand.

I can envision myself being an effective product leader and continue on that growth path using many of the tools Prod MBA taught, as well as others I am now continuously picking up on my journey!

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Elaine was working as a PO before Prod MBA, but is now Growth PM at Prolific

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