It’s only been 5 days since Merci Grace, Product Management Lead at Slack, officially announced the creation of the Women in Product Slack group with this Medium post, but it already feels important. [if you’re not familiar with what Product means, travel on down to the bottom of this post.]
Nothing like it has existed before, and the initial response shows that its time has certainly come—in under a week, the group has grown to 215 members across the world. Joining this community has been surprisingly wonderful for me, and I’m certainly not alone. A quick look at Its Slack channel turns up many appreciative comments: “Wow, what an awesome group!”; “I hadn’t thought of that. Thank you!! This group is great”; “This “Women in Product” community rocks!”
Last night was the first gathering of the SF Women in Product. It was organized by Ali Brandt, and it had the same positive energy as the Slack channel. Everyone was excited and happy to meet each other, comparing diverse experiences and roles. It felt as though we had all been wandering through forests, hacking alone on our own paths, when suddenly we hit a clearing and found each other.
This story is replete with heroes when it comes to expanding women’s roles in tech, and in business in general. The women in the group are incredible! The breadth of their skills, knowledge, and backgrounds is so impressive. At last night’s meetup, one woman started her career studying psychology and ended up in human-computer interaction design. Another was debating taking a break from the startup she’s working on to study design (she's already comfortable with her coding). There was the former lit major who used to work in book publishing, then saw the writing on the wall—pun intended—and did what it took to transition into tech. This smart group of leaders will do even more now that they’re connecting with each other.
And of course special attention should go to the hero who made it happen, Merci Grace. “After searching for my community I realized that I would have to start it.” Such a simple statement, but one that shows resolve, hard work, and vision. She continues to see it through and give it shape. There are now 36 Women in Product Slack channels. Whoa.
Finally, a big nod to Slack. The product that allows for this kind of space for people to find each other is clearly filling a human need for community.
Thank you Merci Grace, Women in Product, and Slack. I look forward to seeing all of the greatness that comes out of this group!
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* Product = what is being built. A product manager’s job is to figure out how that thing will be built. Because products vary greatly, and team dynamics vary greatly, the role of product manager tends to vary from company to company. Some PM’s are engineers. Some are more design-oriented, working through the users experience of the product. And some are stronger managers, helping to guide bigger teams towards solutions.