A few things I learned at the Women in Product Conference
When I first heard about the conference I wasn’t sure if I should apply. Hmm, another tech conference? Over the past two years I have been to quite a few and I have mixed opinions about these. But this one seems unique — organized by a group of senior women product leaders from the Silicon Valley, it brings together a group of over 350 product women from 60+ companies. Besides, the speaker profiles look amazing. Sure I am in! I wonder what these women have to say about winning in such a competitive space, while constantly juggle between careers and families? I wonder how they remain resilient and take risks in their lives? I wonder if we share similar struggles inside?
Turns out it has become one of the most incredible experiences that I decided to write something about it. Part of me felt obligated to spread out the words and help create a strong community. Sharing a few personal stories from some of my favorite speakers at the conference:
1. “Your next iteration starts now. Product manage your life.”
Frederique Dame was an accomplished product veteran and an early employee at Uber. Her speech was about reiterating life through experiments. Coming from a family of dentists in France, she chose the route of going into engineering despite of her internal fear. She told herself — “well, if engineering doesn’t work out, I will go back to dental school.” She told the audience about her being laid off while on a work visa in California and only landed another opportunity with resilience and courage. It may not sound much, but if you know anything about the US immigration system you will know how scary that must have been. Her life is about taking risks and knowing how to deconstruct them. When afraid, just ask yourself what do I have to lose? Chances are, not much! We all might fail not just once, but multiple times in our lives. Why not handle it with grace and fail elegantly?
When I left my day job to start a company, I was so scared that I didn’t tell my parents about the decision until a year later. “Am I doing the right thing? What if it doesn’t work out?” The fear haunts me still. Every single time I have to remind myself the tremendous learnings I have gained along the way. Focus on the learnings!
“Be daring, fail elegantly.”
“Have a network to catch you when you fall.”
2. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable
Fidji Simo is a Director of Product who leads the product teams in charge of Video, News, and Advertising in News Feed. She told the audience about her being a few months pregnant having to bed rest until the Child was born. All of a sudden she felt so vulnerable. To her surprise, her team embraced her fully for who she is even when she was dialing in video conference from hospital bed wearing no makeup. She had team members telling her they felt deeper connection with her during such tough times. So it is ok to be vulnerable. No one needs to be always perfect and get it all together all the time. In vulnerable moments, people understand you for who you are inside!
I can totally relate to it with my own experience as well. When my dad fell critically ill at ICU a few years back, I had to take months off and worked from the hospital. It was such a tough time, but years later I am still eternally grateful for the overwhelming support I received from the team.
“It is ok to be vulnerable.”
“Nobody is perfect.”
3. Overcome your confirmation bias
Maxine Williams is the Global Head of Diversity at Facebook. She spoke about the confirmation bias through her own personal experience. When she was looking for a nanny for the summer, she decided to hire a student from Stanford. She soon found a candidate from Stanford who seemed to fit all her criteria. Little did she know that the candidate actually lied about her experience and was from a local community college. She confronted the candidate and was told “Would you have hired me if I had told you the truth?” Well, the story had a happy ending, she hired the person regardless and things turned out to be perfect. For a person whose life’s work is about diversity, such confirmation bias still exists. How many times we have that biases ourselves? Why not take the time to get to know the person who might be different, and take the risk to be an advocate. Maxine’s suggestions below:
“Hire for average”
“Remember the person next to you might need to work twice as hard!”
For those of you who are interested in knowing more about Women in Product, check out the website: