How to Transition from Coding Bootcamp to Product Management

What Was your Background Prior to Product Management? What Got you Interested in it?

I started my business that was originally a production company, but I grew it into a digital marketing agency right out of college. I worked for a couple of years, just freelancing, then I started it and it was really trial by fire. I grew it the best that I could, and I did quite well, but I felt kind of stifled in production and digital marketing. I started it because I really loved filmmaking and then it just became a job. The films that I was making were videos that were not interesting to me anymore, so that’s what actually got me interested in coding originally.

In the coding bootcamp, I was pretty much the product manager for the final project that I pitched to the cohort, got selected and built that with my team. That was when I realized that my skills as a producer translated pretty directly to the skills needed for product management, especially coupled with my business and people skills. It all made sense once I knew the word for it really.

After Joining Product Gym, How Many Interviews Were you Averaging a Week?

They come in waves, but definitely between five and ten interviews a week. I’ll say even compared to producing jobs that I was applying to like content creator jobs that I was more than qualified for, I was not even getting nearly that kind of response from that. One of the biggest things that I got from Product Gym was the job hunting process which I was completely unfamiliar with, especially because in my entire career, I’ve been working for myself.

What Would you Say to Anybody That’s Considering Joining the Product Gym Program Right Now?

If you’re considering joining Product Gym, just do it. It was worth every penny. I’m making it back in spades, so it wasn’t even about the money at a certain point. It was so helpful to have coaches to lean on, have resources at my disposal, and just having support in a process that’s inherently kind of heartless and just terrible.