After experiencing different roles within finance, I felt this strong call to find a function where technology played a bigger role
Ashley is a seasoned product manager working in the digital financial services industry. Along with creating innovative financial products for the digital customer, she is also pursuing her MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. She is passionate about creating financial freedom through digital platforms and believes in health of mind, body, and finances!
Can you tell us about your journey into product management? How did you get started?
Product was one of those things I fell into. My undergraduate studies were at Seton Hall University where I double majored in Finance & Technology. From there, I went to work for a Fortune 500 company in a management rotation program within the corporate finance community. After experiencing different roles within finance, I felt this strong call to find a function where technology played a bigger role and financial knowledge was important. I had a friend who had moved into product management one year before I did within the same company, so I shadowed her and talked to everyone I could to understand why product management was so important. Not only did I realize I could intersect the two things that were important to me (Finance & Technology), I also realized that it used my other strengths (presenting, fostering relationships) and I was sold from there.
Because it was an internal move, I had people that could vouch for me. I was able to leverage my interpersonal skills and knowledge of the industry/company and learn product management on the job from my teammates.
What are some highlights from your career working in the financial services industry?
I would say that one of my biggest highlights is the work that I’m doing at Prudential Financial. There is so much change going on in financial services that companies are embracing technology and really leaning into how it can empower people within the organization and reach customers that they may have never been able to reach before.
The work I do currently is just that — democratizing information that is usually only available when working with a financial advisor and bringing it to the mass market. It has been a lot of fun figuring out how people like to gain knowledge on these financial topics and where they want help (through Financial Advisor) or would just rather work through it on their own (digital platforms I have had a role in building).
What are some trends that are shaping the financial services industry after COVID? Could you also tell us any newsletter/blogs you follow to keep abreast with these trends?
I would say the biggest trend shaping the financial services industry post COVID is the need to integrate technology for internal processes as well as effectively reaching customers and making their financial lives easier.
One of the most immediate things we saw was companies leaning into technology more than they ever did. This has opened the eyes of a lot of firms to think about how technology can help with recruiting, as well as create more business opportunities.
In terms of keeping myself informed of trends in my industry, there are a couple of newsletters that I follow:
The Morning Brew — Daily email newsletter covering topics from Wall St. to Silicon Valley
Emerging Tech Brew — Covering everything new in tech, from the creators of Morning Brew itself
TechCrunch — This newsletter comes out every day around noon and is a great source on emerging trends in tech and start-ups
Bloomberg Technology — Daily to your inbox, Bloomberg is a great place to know global economic news
FinTech Weekly — Great resource for keeping updated with fintech trends and comes out every week
You mention that you are an agilist in your professional description, can you tell us a little about that? How should aspiring product managers train to become well-versed in agile methodologies?
I love agile mainly because the processes and ceremonies involved help you think about software development differently. Agile makes it easier (in comparison to something like Waterfall) for organizations to figure out whether they want to invest in a certain feature/platform (building an MVP) or enhance the product in order to meet KPIs (A/B testing, etc.)
Practice is key. If you aren’t able to practice in your day job, take a feature out of a product you love and think about everything needed to build it. Does it perform a certain task? How does it look? What does it say? Where does it route you to next? Do I need to record this information in the database? Does anyone else need this information?
Then, think about the following:
- How would you go about writing user stories? How would you go about explaining this to your technology team? What are some things that should be mentioned in those stories?
- I did something like this through a certificate program that I took with the General Assembly and I highly recommend it.
According to you, what are some of the most important traits a product manager should have to be successful?
The first one is to ask questions because in order to understand the problem you are truly solving it will probably require more questions than you think to be asked.
Second, get to know how you make decisions. There will be plenty of people that come to you from the various functions & teams that may surface something you weren’t initially thinking about. When unplanned items like that happen, what do you need to get comfortable? Is it a one hour working session? Is it a diagram? Can you make a Pro/Con list?
After you have what you need to make an informed, data driven decision, make sure you socialize with impacted parties to ensure you have all relevant considerations while making a decision.
Could you throw some light on charting customer journeys in the digital age?
There are definitely more things that you have to plan for.
For instance, if an API fails, what should the customer experience be? Do we tell them to come back later or is there something else that we can point to for them to do? Knowing that a human isn’t over their shoulder providing context to every little thing, do we need messaging at special points in the journey to make sure the experience is contextual and relevant to them?
Because you are losing that human to human interaction, there is an emphasis on ensuring that customers do have the information presented to them in a way that isn’t overwhelming yet relevant. If you present something too soon or too late, you are at risk of losing that person’s time and attention.
How do you create alignment between key stakeholders from different teams?
This really depends on where you are at the stage of the project.
If you are in the very beginning, working teams that encompass people from every function (marketing, design, strategy, finance, copywriting, technology) are crucial. They make sure that in the ideation phase all perspectives are involved in the creation of such a product.
If you are in the phase where you are executing (that could be a new platform/feature or an enhancement), I have found it to be very successful to do showcases. At the showcases, senior leadership and members of the working team would be there to provide feedback on the end-to-end experience. Not only does this allow people to see everything in the same context, it also allows us to pivot before too much has been done.
Since you just started your MBA program, can you tell us a little bit about it? What made you decide to get an MBA since you are a seasoned product manager?
I am currently enrolled at New York University’s part-time program and I am so excited about it. I chose NYU because they do a really good job at making sure the only difference between their programs is the length of time that you are looking to achieve it in.
I chose to go to the MBA route specifically with NYU for two reasons.
The first was to further my knowledge in the Fintech industry as well as being a leader in tech. Prior to product management, I was very involved in corporate finance. Over the last two years I have realized that Fintech is where my passion lies so I want to learn more about it. The MBA program gives me an opportunity to learn more about these topics while helping me have the other skills necessary to run an organization one day.
The second reason was the network. NYU has a robust alumni network as well as organizations on campus that look to foster the relationship specifically for technology overall and specifically Fintech, entrepreneurs, and startups. One of the many things I’ve learned as a product manager is that growing and maintaining your network is key, and I feel that NYU has the right network for what I want to do.
What are some of your favorite products from your tool-kit? Products that help you become better at what you do.
A lot of it is advice that people gave me. When I first started in project management I met with a VP at my company and his advice to me was to have a backbone. Even though that is so simple, depending on how political your organization is, it was a helpful reminder. To add to that, I realize that your back bone had to be supported by data points and numbers that would drive the point home. Every time I come up on either prioritizing my own work or someone telling me that they need me to prioritize something, I come back to understanding what the impact is. Is it supporting a marketing campaign (brand level or lower)? Is it a legal or regulatory issue? Is there a deadline that we are approaching for a KPI that we are looking to get some added benefit from? This is something great to do all the time and is also really helpful when you have limited resources.
One thing to remember is that everyone tends to look at things from their own lens. Your job as a product manager is to put all the pieces together. It causes less resistance when you can explain to people why their request can or cannot be prioritized based on the bigger picture.
If you were to give one piece of advice to aspiring product managers, what would it be?
Network and get to know people. From an aspiring PM perspective, we have all started where you are and many are very open to giving back by way of coffee chats and conversations.
From an on-the-job PM perspective, relationship building skills are key. It’s how you get buy in on important things and avoid potential issues.
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