LotusFlare’s mission is to design, build and continuously advance SaaS products that simplify technology and deliver valuable outcomes to enterprises. That’s why developing and nurturing the growth of Product Managers is vitally important to the company and the customers we serve.
Roslyn is a Group Product Manager who has been with LotusFlare for 2.5 years. She is the product lead on multiple B2B2C projects and specializes in driving the product strategy and roadmap for consumer facing experiences. She is also the head of the LotusFlare Americas Social Committee where she strives to increase engagement with colleagues outside of work to build a stronger community.
Tell us more about your career before LotusFlare.
Before I came to LotusFlare, I was a consultant for a large consulting firm. I loved the dynamic culture, the opportunity to meet and learn from people with vastly different experiences, and of course…the travel perks. However, I found it was challenging to be passionate and obsessed about the work I was doing.
What led you to your career as a Product Manager?
I started to think about the brief moments where I became excited about my work as a consultant and took note about what made these moments exciting. The common theme around these moments was the sense of ownership – being the go-to person for a specific area, being able to make my own decisions and seeing the outcome of those decisions, being responsible for driving a project forward, and taking the initiative to collaborate with others to bring about success. Once I realized this, I spoke to peers in various roles and did research to look at what types of careers really embodied these aspects, and I found myself in product management. I haven’t looked back since.
What does your typical day at work look like?
One of the reasons why product management is so fun – but challenging – is that there is no “typical day” if I’m completely honest. You definitely have to be adaptable and flexible as a Product Manager. A day could range from doing research on your market and competitive landscape, to working side-by-side with an engineer brainstorming solutions for a technical constraint, to organizing project timelines, to putting out fires with your customer.
What are your key responsibilities as a Product Manager?
If I could bucket my responsibilities into my main overarching goals, it would be as simple as:- Make the customer happy (your business customer, your end consumer, etc.) by working towards the outcome we have agreed upon- Make the team happy (your direct reports, your engineering team, your leads, etc.) by working collaboratively and making the most of peoples’ talents
With these in mind, the actions I take in my role become clear. The business customer wants more engagement with their app? Let’s list out the pain points of their target customers and brainstorm ideas around this. The engineering team is having trouble understanding what is being asked of a specific feature? Let’s write a detailed PRD and work closely with them to address any questions they may have. It’s really about figuring out how to make your team and product successful, and doing it.
What’s the most meaningful part of your job?
Definitely the people I work with. I always tell people that the engineers I got to work with made me into the Product Manager I am today. I get to work with the best engineers who are crazy smart, super hardworking and passionate, and have the most positive attitudes.
The truth is that when I first started as a Product Manager at LotusFlare, I had very little technical experience and didn’t even work in the tech industry. The engineers took out large parts of their day to walk me through foundational technical concepts and would explain technical problems they were working through in detail. They invested in my growth and put their faith in my ability to learn, and that helped me become a better Product Manager for future teams. Every day, everyone on the team (engineers, PMs, leads, designers, etc.) collaborates together to help others’ individual growth, which in turn helps our entire company grow.
If you are interested in working with us please check out our Careers page for more information.
