I’ve always been a woman with a plan. At any given age, I could have told you where I wanted to go to school, what I wanted to study, and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And while the answers have continuously changed, I’ve never shied away from giving it my best guess. This has served me well in two ways: I haven’t allowed uncertainty to stop me from just trying things out, and I haven’t allowed pride to stop me from letting go when something wasn’t right for me.
By the time I was a senior in college, I had gone through dreams of studying architecture, pharmacy, and chemical engineering and had finally landed on mechanical engineering. I had also blazed through a variety of work experiences as a retail sales associate, summer research intern working with clean water systems in Panama, and quality assurance engineering at a huge manufacturing plant (to name a few). I had most recently started working at a small, non-profit consulting group helping local small businesses and entrepreneurs commercialize new technology. That internship opened my eyes to entrepreneurship in a way that I had simply never been exposed to before.
The energy and passion of the clients I worked with were unlike anything I had seen in any of my previous roles. So, when I was faced with the choice of pursuing a traditional engineering career or joining a fellowship with Venture for America (VFA), which would allow me to work in a growing startup in a city with a developing entrepreneurial ecosystem, the choice was clear. At the time, I was also grieving the recent loss of my father and spent quite a bit of my time ruminating over the makings of a meaningful and fulfilling life. Though I didn’t—and still don’t—have it all figured out, VFA spoke to my desire to have an impact on people’s lives and create something to leave behind in this world.
With my decision made, and awkward Thanksgiving conversations trying to explain what I was doing with my life out of the way, I began to focus on where I would actually work and what kind of role to pursue. I, once again, leaned on my experience and gave it my best guess. Taking what I had learned from my experiences up until then, I pieced together this list:
- I enjoy looking at the bigger picture
- I care about people and leading human-centered projects
- I crave variety
Looking at the Bigger Picture
I love tackling big, ambiguous problems and trying to make sense of them one piece at a time. I had always felt a surge of excitement reading through a problem on an exam, parsing out the bits and pieces that I knew how to approach in order to develop my strategy from there. However, that excitement quickly faded once I had to actually perform the integration or write the essay based on my perfectly-crafted outline. Throughout college, I enjoyed learning high-level theory, but I knew that a career-focused day in and day out on technical minutiae wasn’t going to be for me.
Caring About People and Leading Human-Centered Projects
My hands-down favorite class in college was called Art of Making: An Introduction to Hands-on System Design and Engineering which focused on the principles of human-centered design and rapid prototyping. This class opened my eyes to how I could combine technology, creativity, and empathy to create useful solutions to real human problems. The class culminated in a capstone project where 11 other students and I prototyped a wearable solution to empower deaf and hard of hearing children to more deeply engage with music. It felt incredibly gratifying to have a hand in improving someone else’s life, even if it was in a seemingly small way.
Craving Variety
While interning in consulting, I loved that I never knew what our next client would bring with them. One week I was researching regulations for a liquor distillery, and the next I could have been completing a competitive analysis for new prosthetic technology. Not only did variety in my work keep me from feeling burnt out, but it pushed me to constantly learn and adapt to the changing needs of a client.
I feared that going down the traditional engineering path would silo me, inhibiting growth and exploration of other areas and roles I might find interesting. I had seen so many people who seemed to be “stuck” in roles at companies that told them to stay in their lane, and I resolved that I never wanted to feel like this. I’ve always seen adaptability as one of my greatest strengths, and I wanted to be in a role and company that would allow me to use it.
When I found Leverege, I knew it could be a great fit. As with most things in my life, I took a leap of faith with the knowledge I had at the time, and I’m so happy that I did.
Growing Into Product Management and Building What Matters
The first several months simultaneously feel like yesterday and a lifetime ago. I started out as a technical project manager and shadowed a number of fellow project managers to get up to speed. I learned a lot of technical skills like how IoT works (device integrations, endless connectivity options and sensors) and understanding the technical capabilities of the Leverege Stack. I also learned a lot about the project management side of the role - good written and verbal communication standards, building trust with internal team members and external stakeholders, storytelling and crafting compelling narratives for presentations, how to keep a team efficient and organized, and the thoughtful attention to detail that's required for delivering a valuable, high-quality product.
I still chuckle remembering moments like asking “What is a sprint?” or “What’s the difference between staging and prod?” It’s been a real journey since those early days shadowing other project managers and getting my footing in both the technical and organizational aspects of the work. Over time, I’ve gone from asking the basic questions to helping shape how we approach product strategy across the company.
Now as a product manager, I get to spend my days doing everything from leading discovery sessions to writing internal documentation, from analyzing user behavior in Amplitude to giving demos to customers. I love the mix of abstract and tangible thinking, and how no two days ever look the same. One day I’m knee-deep in a greenfield implementation of AutoTrace, architecting a data structure and designing a UI, and the next I’m analyzing UX friction to help improve the experience for our users. Every new project feels like cracking open a fresh notebook—endless possibilities and lessons learned from past work to make it better.
One of the things I’m most proud of is helping to build out the product management function at Leverege alongside Hannah White and Corey Chang. We’ve worked hard to develop a thoughtful approach to hiring and mentoring, and I’m genuinely excited about growing our team and continuing to shape what product management looks like here.
Solving Hard Problems with Kind, Curious People
Leverege is intense in the best way. We’re solving complex, meaningful problems that actually impact the way people do their jobs. It often feels like building a plane while flying it, but I love that. The curiosity and drive to learn here is unmatched. Everyone is committed to pushing boundaries and not settling for the status quo. It’s not always easy, but we support each other and find ways to laugh through the chaos.
I’ve always appreciated that Leverege encourages us to bring our full selves to work—and I’ve felt that to be true. Whether I’m sharing wedding planning updates or leaning on my team during family health challenges, I’ve always felt seen as a person, not just a coworker. That kind of emotional safety matters when you’re working on tough, high-stakes problems.
Remote Work, Real Connection
Leverege’s remote-first culture has been a game-changer for me. This morning, I sipped coffee, read a book, and hung out with my dogs before starting work—time I would’ve otherwise spent commuting. I also love the flexibility to travel and care for family while staying fully plugged in. And because we aren’t limited by location, we’ve built an incredibly talented and diverse team. I truly can’t imagine us being this successful without that flexibility.
What makes it work is that we don’t ignore the challenges of remote work—we name them and actively work to build human connection anyway. From our annual summer meetup to the casual “camera on” culture and fun discussion prompts and polls, we go out of our way to maintain trust and real relationships.
Advice for the Curious
If you're thinking about joining Leverege, my advice is simple: be yourself. Be honest about what you care about and what you want to learn. This is a place for curious, adaptable people who aren’t afraid to dive into the unknown and figure it out together. There’s not a lot of room for ego, but there is a lot of room for impact.
I’m still figuring out what I want to be when I grow up—but I know I want to keep solving hard problems with people I respect, care about, and want to learn from. And right now, I get to do exactly that.
~ Quick Facts ~
- My Leverege Shoutout: I joined Leverege around the same time as Lauren Winkler, and it's been an amazing experience to grow alongside her and watch her career arc and development. We've worked on so many different projects together, and she is always amazing at asking great questions, working through ambiguity, and caring very deeply about how our teams work together to communicate well and empower each other.
- Life Outside of Work: My biggest hobbies are reading (primarily horror/thriller and science fiction, but I've been dabbling in more literary fiction...also a big sucker for audiobook memoirs that are narrated by the author!), cooking, sourdough baking, and tennis. I've also recently taken up needlepoint and find it to be the perfect balance of relaxing and mindless while offering a ton of room for creativity.
- Content Recommendation: For people in the product world, Lenny's podcast is amazing. For fun, if you haven't watched the movie The Substance yet, I highly recommend it (but be prepared to be weirded out and don't blame me).
- Could Give a TED Talk About: I’ll give you three topics:
- Mustard belongs on everything, its glory knows no bounds.
- Real Housewives is the greatest TV franchise of all time.
- The ending of the Sopranos is a hilarious and brilliant masterpiece albeit frustrating.
.svg)
