Diversity in Product: Jacqueline Suttin
Jacqueline is currently a product manager at Inspire, focused on accelerating life-changing discoveries through their vital community of connected patients, where she’s focused on enhancing their platform that serves over 10 million unique visitors annually.
She’s passionate about patient advocacy, empowerment, and accessibility. A first-generation college graduate, she hopes after the completion of her masters program to mentor others and bring more Black women and non-binary people into the tech industry for their valuable insight, feedback, and perspective.
She is currently a mentor at BUILT BY GIRLS that prepares the next generation of female and non-binary leaders to step boldly into careers powered by technology.
We’re excited to showcase her on our Diversity in Product interview series!
We’d love to hear about your journey into product management. How did you become a PM, and what were some of the challenges you faced in securing your first PM role?
Originally I wanted to go into medical school, but found that fixing the gaps in healthcare was where I found my passion. Patient advocacy, accessibility, and education take the back burner in the world of medicine, and technology helps to bridge the gap to make for a more positive and informed patient experience.
I became a Product Manager through my volunteer work in marketing and technology in the nonprofit sector. This led to a lot of focus on exemplifying the voices of the communities around me, which is a central part of being in product.
The first challenge I had was finding a mentor in product that helped me hone my skills into an agile framework and this led to my first role in product management after working as a project manager and freelancer in the digital space.
Finding mentors both within my prior work environment and outside the company was the best way for me to set expectations around the type of Product Manager I would become.
Internally, I started making comments on our software and features from the lens of a Product Manager based on the blogs I had read, feedback from tech leaders in the company, and through scrum-based product owner certifications.
Externally, I reached out to product leaders on LinkedIn and Twitter with thoughtful questions around product management, and this helped me carve out a Product Manager role in my prior company a few months into my job. Taking this initiative helped me break into the industry and improved my self-confidence in knowing the worst thing someone could say is no, and that didn’t have to stop my perseverance in other areas.
What are some ways hiring managers can make that first PM role easier to obtain for people who don’t look or think like them?
A good product manager is someone who can communicate large goals into bite-sized sentences and these come from individuals in project management, data analytics, and UX research traditionally. Product management as a whole is driven by one’s ability to communicate effectively with others and translate questions and concerns cross-departmentally.
In an interview process this really focuses on one’s ability to present big ideas well, and how they approach problems. Technical skills are great to have, but they can also yield biased opinions as well. As a hiring manager, it’s important to check yourself that you aren’t hiring someone based on what you have in common versus what they bring to the role.
Looking back on that first PM experience, what advice would you give yourself?
Be humble in accepting feedback, it is the greatest gift for self-improvement.
Find a mentor that helps you to believe in them just as strongly as you should believe in yourself.
Self-advocacy is important to make sure you aren’t blocking your own blessings.
On the other hand, setting boundaries for yourself is important. When you feel like you’re in a space that is foreign, it is easy to feel that you have to overcompensate, answering quickly to messages and being a “yes” man to projects for the fear of missing out on opportunity. Know that there is power in the silence, there is sound in the silence, and that’s respect for yourself and for others around their time and energy.
Product management can sometimes be an isolating role. What are some approaches you’ve taken to get support?
In product management it’s important to have a strong relationship with your direct report. This starts with setting a weekly cadence for checking in at the beginning and the end of the week for the first three months. This sets you up for better priority management as you begin to understand your products and features, and allows for a positive feedback loop around constructive criticism as well.
Make connections with others cross-departmentally that create a reputation based on your efforts, contributions, and energy that you bring to the conversation. Product management is a unique role in that when Product wins, every department wins. When you create that narrative that a good Product is going to result in better outcomes it allows for better outreach as it becomes a shared achievement and has a better buy-in.
What do you find frustrating about being underrepresented in product management?
Wanting to connect with others can feel daunting if there hasn’t been someone that has “paved the way.” I’m grateful to have amazing leaders in my career and have been part of predominantly female-led teams that when I talk about lack of confidence I don’t have to over explain myself as there is a shared experience in that.
With that shared experience comes impactful advice and when you feel connected to others in those experiences it has better retention in your role, and better output around productivity.
There is definitely a need for more Black women, even more so for Black queer woman, and if you’re one of them and interested in product management or already in it connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on Twitter! More diversity in product perspective and development results in a product that serves more people and thoughtfully addresses edge cases around accessibility.
From your perspective, what’s one thing people should be more aware of?
I think that there needs to be grace with asking questions with ourselves and others. It is very hard for people to ask for help, just as a basic skill, it is also what can be shot down very quickly if someone questions your knowledge for doing so.
Creating an environment of open communication and collaboration starts with showing it in one’s actions in leadership. When leaders publicly shame employees for asking questions, that causes fear and resentment. It’s so important for leaders to be compassionate and to create safe spaces for public discussions.
In previous roles, I encountered leaders that did that frequently and I have been more selective in choosing my next role. A great job should come with a great culture. I joined my current role at Inspire because they encourage people to ask questions and have a collaborative work environment.
Why is it important to find a company whose missions and values align with your personal passions and goals?
If you can feel a sense of pride in what you do, and the products you build and how they help lives, this will make your job and overall career more fulfilling. Remote-first or remote-flexible roles are great add-ons, but if you can’t feel good about what you do at the end of the day, being a product manager won’t fix that, especially when product management is heavily rooted in what the company does at a high-level impact.
What’s the best way for readers to reach out to you and stay on top of what you’re doing?
Please connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinesuttin/ and follow my Twitter account @suttinneat where I regularly engage in Twitter Spaces and conversations around product management.
We’re always looking for new perspectives to highlight, to bring more diversity into product management! If you have someone you’d like to nominate, please send us an email at admin@productteacher.com, we’d love to hear from you!