How to Transition from Data Analysis to Product Management

What were your Challenges Trying to Break into Product?

Confidence was a big one, just because everyone I talked to was like: “What are you thinking? You are a data analyst. You’re not going to be a product manager at this age.” That’s when I had to have the conversation with myself. I rely on some of my mentors to remind me that age is not a factor. If you have the work ethic and hustle, I think you can make that happen. I shut down all of the voices outside of me and just zoomed in on my work ethic. I started reading Medium articles and started learning a lot of different things. My first interview was a disaster, but I learned so much from that interview. It definitely changed the game for me and I completely agree with Product Gym’s strategy on interviewing for practice.

After Joining Product Gym, How many Interviews were you Averaging a Week?

I had to start saying no to a lot of companies and even with that, I think I had about 19 interviews a week. I was playing pretty smart, in the sense that I told them we need to move fast since I had offers coming in, and I was about to get a turnaround pretty fast. I also had really good relationships with all of the recruiters as well. With the way that I communicated with them, they knew that they wanted me to move to the next process. So yeah, definitely over 19 interviews a week, which is insane.

How do we go out there and Get more People to Hustle like you? What is your Secret Sauce?

I think my secret sauce is having faith in people and actually doing the work. I think that a lot of people get bogged down in their own mindset; they kind of start listening to their voices inside or whatnot, but I think you just have to put in the work. You have to start preparing; a lot of people that I talk to say that they have to be prepared for a product management interview, but you’ll also learn as you go. Being able to ignore all of the bad voices in your head or even the people bringing you down, and just be willing to put in the work.