“For my career choices, I was trying to find a place where I can have an impact on other people, which wasn’t about money or fancy lifestyle at the end of the day. I’m not a ladder climber either, I don’t care if I can be a CPO (Chief Product Officer). I care about building great products that help people in small businesses. So I think it’s applicable for the current students too that you identify the ultimate goal of your career and you find your own ways towards it.”
Sarah Raux (MSI ‘08) is a Staff Product Manager at Qualio. Sarah graduated from University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor degree in Anthropology and Computer Applications in 2004. She started to pursue a Master in Information Science at University of Michigan in 2005 with a passion to integrate her interpersonal skills with technology and graduated in 2008. Sarah started her User Experience Designer position at PeachWorks in August 2011. It was through her role there she had a wider exposure to roles in the tech industry and transitioned into a Product Manager within PeachWorks. After almost six years, she moved to another startup named FarmLogs as a PM bringing several products from 0 to 1. In the past six years, she had been leading product teams in Beyond, Ripple Science and Brightwheel, ranging from products for research to education. She joined Qualio in October 2023.
1 What was your career plan in college?
I began my academic journey at Notre Dame, where the undergraduate program I enrolled in was like LSA at Michigan. It is comprehensive rather than strictly within any specific school or field. This structure allowed me to pursue a social science degree alongside my pre-med track. I was encouraged by my parents to pursue medical school so I chose pre-med track, which definitely did not turn out to be where my passion aligns (laughter).There had been so many moments I found uninspiring and mentally taxing just waking up and going to my pre-med classes. And that was how I realized I truly wasn’t drawn to a medical career. I said to myself, “I can do organic chemistry for the rest of my life, but do I really want to. In the end I still need to work but I want to find value out of it and feel productive.”
I had always been fascinated by anthropology, not only for its exploration of diverse cultures but more so for the methodologies anthropologists employed to immerse themselves in societies without influencing them. It turned out that this was the field that resonated deeply with me. When exploring other options outside of pre-med track, I happened to take a programming class. A pivotal moment occurred when that professor pointed out that the goal of that class wasn’t just to teach programming but to enable communication with programmers. This insight stuck with me and aligned with my natural inclination towards interpersonal skills and learning about people. Though it was too late to switch to computer science fully, I bridged my interests by taking several computer science classes. This blend of anthropology and technology led me to the School of Information, where I discovered the perfect synthesis of my two passions: learning about cultures and applying a technological lens. I absolutely loved both sides of this career and I had shifted my focus since then.
I didn’t start my career until after getting my master’s degree. I had kids quite young – my first child was born when I was 22. So I went through grad school with little kids and pregnancy which I don’t know if I would recommend to people now (laughter). I feel very fortunate that I could stay home with my kids until my daughter was in kindergarten. And it was during my graduate study at School of Information that I started to get exposed to industries that I wouldn’t have even thought of before. My original planned trajectory was doing anthropology with museum studies to bring technology into museums. What I didn’t comprehend at the time was there are multiple approaches to getting there – You don’t necessarily have to be in Museum Studies to work in a museum field. As I learned more about usability and user research from school information, it led me to my first UX job.
2 How would you recommend students in college or graduate school to figure out their passion?
My son is a sophomore in college and he had asked me exactly the same question. He had been panicking about securing an internship and figuring out the next steps of college. I definitely think that is critical but on the other hand I always encourage him to prioritize exploring his passion. It’s neither about outperforming your peers nor getting an internship in a more prestigious company. Just like I could have done medicine in my college for a number of reasons – my mom wanted me to, which is never a good idea (laughter) and physicians are well paid. I’m thankful that I did not stick with that path. And it’s totally fine if you switched your trajectory half way.
One of the things we talked about a ton in product management is “what’s the problem you’re trying to solve for” and “how you build solutions around that”. Same can be applied for career choices. Things will always turn out better by focusing on what’s the problem you’re actually trying to solve. For my career choices, I was trying to find a place where I can have an impact on other people, which wasn’t about money or fancy lifestyle at the end of the day. I’m not a ladder climber either, I don’t care if I can be a CPO (Chief Product Officer). I care about building great products that help people in small businesses. So I think it’s applicable for the current students too that you identify the ultimate goal of your career and you find your own ways towards it.
My daughter is senior in high school and I definitely understand why she tends to think“I’ve got to be in the Ivy League”. I’ve been in my career for over a decade. I can count on one hand the number of successful people I’ve worked with that went to Ivy League. I never wanted to convey the idea that school is not important. But rather career choices can serve you better when it fits in your long-term life picture better. It is counterintuitive for young adults to think that they need to think about 50 years from now to figure out their career. While some may envision a future with a million-dollar home, you can find motivation from other aspects.
3 How did you transition from UX into Product Manager?
My transition into product management was an organic process. I started my UX career at PeachWorks, where we broke down a monolithic application into individual software components. It was a huge learning curve of the software and startup ecosystem for me. As soon as I designed a new application, I organically moved on to talk to engineers on building it, and ask QA (Quality Assurance team) to test it, and learn how to release it to market. I kept doing my day-to-day work without even realizing there’s a name for my job. And I got my PM title naturally from there.
When asked about my journey during an interview at FarmLogs, my soon-to-be boss pointed out that I was essentially doing what people write books about on product management. Learning on the job, coupled with later readings and understanding various frameworks, has shaped my approach to product management. I am thankful for wearing multiple hats in my first UX job with PeachWorks, which opened several doors and possibilities for my career.
4 What are the skill sets you find critical as a Product Manager?
I think there are three key facets of being a product manager.
One avenue involves a background in design, encompassing usability, user studies, and even graphic design. This approach aligns closely with the user-centric design model.
Another path involves being a subject matter expert, often seen in individuals transitioning from roles in customer support to product management due to their profound understanding of the domain. Personally, I’ve had exposure to diverse domains throughout my career rather than a singular field, and I bring unique perspectives to the table.
The third dimension revolves around business acumen. Many individuals enter product management with backgrounds in areas like finance or business administration. However, regardless of the entry point, two crucial skill sets consistently prove impactful. Firstly, a relentless sense of inquiry, consistently questioning whether an approach, timing, solution, or problem is optimal. Secondly, and perhaps most crucially, effective communication skills. Product management serves as the intersection of various company departments, necessitating the ability to convey user needs to the CEO, support team, and engineers.
I’ve found that technical knowledge can be super beneficial in effective communication with engineering teams. However, the primary focus remains on refining the ability to communicate seamlessly across diverse departments. I make a deliberate effort to learn about technology and coding to speak the language of engineers, and I delve into financial aspects to closely engage with sales counterparts and stakeholders. This learning isn’t geared towards taking over their roles but rather facilitating the alignment of user needs through improved collaboration and communication.
5 What are you looking for from a PM candidate as a hiring manager?
I value communication skills most in my hiring process. Communication in PM is about the ability to articulate ideas clearly, present compelling product proposals, and distill complex user problems into succinct information. Effective communication during an interview is particularly crucial, as it reflects one’s ability to collaborate with stakeholders. I can see progression from more junior like associate PM all the way up to a director level based on the ability to communicate and that writing.
I place less emphasis on the immediate ability to craft an exceptional product proposal on more junior level candidates, as this is a skill that can be taught and cultivated. What matters more is the inclination to delve into understanding user problems thoroughly and the capacity to present these problems before jumping into solutions. We often utilize situation or scenario-based interviews to evaluate it by presenting a problem to candidates and gauging their approach. Those who jump straight to solutions without a deep understanding of the underlying issues may lack a true product management mindset. The difference between problem understanding and solution-driven thinking is a key indicator of a candidate’s suitability for a PM role. While there may not be quantifiable metrics, the gut instinct developed through meaningful conversations during the interview process is also invaluable.
The other two essential qualities I look for are problem-solving prowess and curiosity. A strong PM candidate not only identifies critical problems before devising solutions, but also endows curiosity that drives their interest in solving these problems. Additionally, I will emphasize on the importance of humility in a product manager’s role. It’s about the ability to absorb blame, handle problems, and deflect praise is integral, and resilience in navigating the political aspects of a company is equally crucial.
Transitioning into product management from diverse backgrounds is possible by aligning one’s unique experiences with the key facets of the role. Whether leveraging customer support insights or technical expertise, the focus should always be on understanding and addressing user needs. Practical knowledge of software development cycles, such as familiarity with scrum and sprints, can be advantageous in a software PM context. The ability to articulate one’s unique value proposition in enhancing the user experience is a compelling way to tailor diverse experiences to fit the demands of a product management role.
6 Tell us something that is not on your LinkedIn/resume
There are a lot I can share that are not on my LinkedIn or resume! Because my career is not who I am, and I think it’s important for people to know. I love being a product manager but I’m also a mother of two teenagers. I love crochet, I love keeping my hands busy, I love creating, I love traveling. I grew up in a large family with eleven siblings and this is always my go-to fun fact (laughter). I’m not a dramatic person but I can deal with lots of dramas. It makes much more sense when you know I grew up with eleven siblings right?
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