It was a chilly winter morning in Seattle, and I found myself racing through the streets, clutching a cup of hot chocolate on my way to the University of Washington. I was in the final stretch of my Master's in Information Management, and like many in my position, the looming task of landing a job weighed heavily on my mind. As I finessed my resume between classes, a friend—Janani—offered me some advice that would change the course of my career. "You should apply to Product Management roles," she suggested. At first, I was puzzled. I have been a technical writer for over four years. Why would anyone consider me for a PM role?

That conversation, however, opened my eyes. The skills I had honed—business acumen, technical writing, communication, technology, and design—were relevant and essential to Product Management. With this new perspective, I threw my hat into the ring and soon found myself stepping into the world of product management.

But my story truly begins much earlier, as a Technical Writer at Cognizant and later Avaya, where I spent over four years crafting content across industries like Credit Card Processing, Life Sciences, and Telecommunications. During this time, I encountered the User Experience Design concept—a term that intrigued me. Could I transition into something so closely aligned with the user's perspective? 

Shortly before graduation, I secured my first Product Management role at McGraw-Hill Education (MHE), where my multidisciplinary background helped me stand out. I worked on Connect, a homework management platform students and teachers across North America use. It was a fast-paced role where I collaborated with engineers, designers, project managers, and sales teams to build features that truly mattered. One of my proudest moments was stepping into the role of a UX Researcher when the project lacked one. Running usability studies and presenting user feedback directly shaped the product roadmap, helping solve our users' pain points. The initiative paid off, and I earned recognition from our VP and Design Director, cementing the impact I could make as a Product Manager.

In 2021, I joined Starbucks as a Product Manager within their Retail Technology group. This experience was about enhancing the customer experience—whether in the store or through the Starbucks app. One of the key projects I led involved building features around data privacy, ensuring that while we delivered personalized marketing experiences, customer trust remained intact. My role here brought me into close contact with marketers and advertisers, deepening my understanding of AdTech and privacy compliance.

Today, I am a senior product manager at Salesforce, working on Data Cloud and focusing on advertising use cases. This is where brands collaborate on first-party data in a way that balances innovation with privacy. My initial challenge, however, was quite different—winding down Salesforce's legacy product, Audience Studio, to make way for newer, more advanced products. It taught me a valuable lesson: endings are just as important as beginnings. Delivering a smooth offboarding experience for customers ensured they were ready to transition to the future with us.

As I reflect on the theme of The Power of One, I realize that empathy is the common thread throughout my career. As a technical writer, a UX researcher, or a product manager, I have always believed that understanding the user's context is crucial. Once you truly understand their needs, whether writing documentation, designing an interface, or building a product, you can craft a solution that resonates.

The past decade has been a journey of constant reinvention—moving across industries, continents, and roles, all in pursuit of better serving the end-user. Bill Watterson once said, "To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble." I couldn't agree more.

Thank you for reading my story. I hope it inspires those in the technical writing community to explore new paths, take bold steps, and trust that the skills they already possess can lead them to exciting new destinations.