You are the product – Kristina Walcker-Mayer on The Product Experience

Product people have a lot of things in common: we're curious, we like connecting the dots, we try to solve more problems than we create, we get bored easily, we're pretty social (even if we also identify as introverts), and we enjoy looking at things at both a tactical and strategic level. Unfortunately, we're also prone to imposter syndrome, to feeling like we're not as good as we need to be to succeed in our roles. This is something that Kristina Walcker- Mayer, Product Lead at N26, feels strongly about. One of her areas of interest is in understanding yourself and creating the groundwork for success. She joined us on the podcast to share some of her learnings. 

In this episode, listen to learn about:

• Becoming more self-aware
• Knowing your strengths and weaknesses
• Forming a career plan

Quote of the Episode

If you want to grow and become a more senior person, you need to be very self aware and you need to understand what you bring to the table. Ultimately if you see who the people are that make a career in larger organisations, these are usually the people who stand for something.

Related Links

• Follow Kristina on LinkedIn and Twitter, and listen to her own podcast, emploYAY
• Tom Rath's StrengthsFinder 2.0 book
• The Four D's diagram
• 50 Ways To Get A Job

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Our hosts

The Product Experience is hosted by Lily Smith and Randy Silver.

Lily enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Head of Innovation at Go Compare and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol (which now has 800+ members!) and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy has been working as an interactive producer and product manager across the US and UK for nearly 20 years. A recovering music journalist and editor, he launched Amazon’s music stores in the US and UK, and has worked across sectors including museums and arts groups, online education, media and entertainment, retail and financial services. He’s held Head of Product roles at HSBC and Sainsbury’s, where he also directed their 100+-person product community. Randy's book, What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19 is out now, with all profits going to COVID-19 relief efforts.