Meet a Beamer — Beth Murdoch, Product Manager
Background
How did you get into Product Management?
After graduating from The Ohio State University, I worked several advertising and marketing related jobs. I’m quite the data nerd and I always knew I wanted to further my education so I began pursuing my MBA at Case Western Reserve University with a focus on market research.
Relatively early, I realized that I couldn’t just finish a research project and hand off the results. I was always thinking about what is next. I really enjoyed looking at the results, finding themes, and thinking about what strategies should be pursued based on those results. I wanted to own that part of the business, not just participate in one piece of the process. I was fortunate to have a mentor that suggested I try some Product Management classes and from the very beginning I was hooked. Until that point, I had no idea that such a career path even existed and given that my second concentration in that program was already Information Systems, agile product management seemed to be a no-brainer for me.
What brought you to Beam?
I was pursuing this degree during the rise of the tech bubble and graduated just after the peak in May 2000. As a result, technology jobs were not being filled and I was offered a Product Management position with a consumer products company, American Greetings. I was initially hired as an Assistant Product Manager and quickly progressed through a variety of positions of increasing responsibility over 12 years. I am grateful for this opportunity as these roles enabled me to grow my managerial skills as I was recognized for my ability to manage a business and develop others. Although I learned a lot in those roles, my biggest career mistake was staying there too long. My husband and I had grown our family with the birth of our son in 2006 and given that we were raising an only child, we thought it would be nice to raise him near his cousins who lived in Hilliard and were close in age. Six years later, we finally made that decision and moved back to Columbus. At the time, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for someone to jump from consumer product Product Management to Agile Product Management but fortunately, I landed a role at Alliance Data that allowed me to build relationships across the organization, ultimately landing a role as a Product Manager focusing on digital self-service. I gained a lot of experience in that “wagile” development area, ultimately getting frustrated with the bureaucracy and long development horizons that led me to search out an opportunity with a much smaller, more nimble organization.
I saw a role here at Beam and in order to learn more, I asked Mo, a contact from my Alliance Data days, to meet up for coffee. The values, nimble organization, autonomy, and the ownership were exactly what I was looking for. I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I left Hopewell that day. I knew I would be disappointed if I didn’t land a PM role at Beam!
Working at Beam
What do you enjoy most about working at Beam?
I was hired as a Product Manager here at Beam in November 2019. Beam is a great place to work because of the people. I am humbled to work with such an amazingly talented team. Everyone is collaborative, empathic, and ready to jump in to help out whenever needed. There are always new challenges so things never get stale. I especially enjoy collaborating with stakeholders across the company to launch solutions to problems that help grow our business. I believe one of the reasons the people here work so well together is that every potential employee is interviewed to determine their fit with our core values, referred to as GRITT (Growth, Resilience, Initiative, Tenacity, and Team first.) These values are the driving force behind our culture and dictate how we interact with our teammates, stakeholders, and business partners. It is refreshing to see everyone, from the founders to the newest Beamer, exemplify these values. Beam is the only company I have ever worked for that walks the walk in that these core values are strongly reflected in Beam’s culture. I personally appreciate that our team culture also values flexibility and work-life balance. I love working in an environment that sets clear expectations and provides me with the autonomy to complete my work where and when I need to based on my personal work style and other outside commitments.
“Advice”
What is some advice you would give someone who wants to apply to Beam?
If a GRITTy culture appeals to you and you think you have what it takes to become a Beamer, I would suggest you lean into your tenacity by relentlessly monitoring our job postings. We are a fast paced rapidly growing company in every sense of the word. If you don’t see that perfect role posted today, look again tomorrow. Be resilient and don’t give up. If you see a role that appeals to you but you aren’t sure if you have the relevant skills, connect with some Beamers personally or on LinkedIn. We are a friendly group and always welcome inquiries from other talented people. That sort of initiative could help you land your dream job and I assure you, working at Beam will help you grow your skills.
Fun Stuff
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
When I’m not working, I am focused on leveraging my skills in gathering stakeholder feedback, identifying problems, and creating strategies to solve those problems to improve our local schools. In January of this year, I began a four year term as an elected member of the Hilliard City Schools Board of Education. When I’m not working at one of these two jobs, I love to travel. Spending vacation time at some new destination with my husband and son is the best way for me to recharge. Somehow we even figured out how to spend a week on the beach during the summer of 2020. Anyone close to me knows that I always have our next vacation planned. I need to get away a couple of times each year as I love exploring the sights both here in the U.S. and all around the world.
