Team Spotlight: Julie Martin, Head of Product
Our ongoing Team Spotlight series introduces our UX designers and product managers.
Get to know Julie
Julie’s the Head of Product at StashAway and a formidable Product Leader. She juggles minute details with ease and yet is always able to zoom out to the big picture in both the business metrics and user experience. With her keen eye for data, she guides her team of Product Managers at StashAway to increase their precision in requirements and make decisions with clarity.
Outside of work, she‘s an avid globe-trotter, an experienced equestrian, and a real cookie connoisseur!
How did you get into Product Management?
By wanting to improve the product myself.
Up to the end of my studies, I didn’t know what Product Management was. I studied Political Sciences, Mathematics and Finance, loved entrepreneurship and wanted to become a Venture Capital investor.
Back in 2016, I led the Ops function in a small startup launching in Singapore to discover what it was to work in a startup. As their Product and Tech team was in Berlin, there was significant friction and delays in making improvements to the product, while we were receiving customer feedback from the field. This triggered my curiosity and interest for the Product function, and I decided that my next experience would be in Product.
What attracted you to join the team at StashAway?
I didn’t know anyone inside before joining StashAway, but from the first interview I felt strongly aligned with the team’s values and ways of working. There is a lot of transparency internally, combined with a team avid to learn and progress. You can join and make an impact from day 1.
What’s one unique thing about you that you bring to the role?
A mix of experiences. I have worked as a Product Manager in startups in Europe and Asia, and also started my career in Investment Banking and Venture Capital. My previous job was in an eCommerce fashion company. I can adapt to different business models/companies and help to get things done 🚀 For instance, during my time in eCommerce I learned a lot about growth, acquisition funnel optimisation and the general customer lifecycle, which is also useful in order to optimise a funnel and conversion on investment products.
What do you wish you knew one year ago?
Take a break. Even when we could not leave Singapore and travel due to Covid-19 restrictions, taking time off is important. Otherwise responsibilities accumulates, we start to be less focused and always thinking about next launches and this can lead to burn out.
What do you hope to achieve with the StashAway product?
I joined StashAway last year, when the product was already in the market and very simple to use, making it easy for beginners to invest. While I am helping to develop our investment products offering to meet customers’ needs, I hope to achieve this in a streamlined and simple way.
Do you have any tips for someone just starting out in product management or design?
Just one: empathy. Don’t assume your users want the same things you or your internal stakeholders do, formulate your hypothesis and test them out! This looks like a book advice but in reality you are faced with a lot of suggestions and pressure from different stakeholders within the company, so never lose sight of the end users of your product.
StashAway is hiring! Visit our Careers page for a sense of what it’s like to work with us, or check out open positions.
