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"In business school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I felt like the black sheep because I didn't want to do finance or consulting.

When I got the chance to do the generalist consulting program at IBM, it was the spark I needed to find where I fit.

Working in UX and learning how to use design thinking to solve problems was an amazing foundation, but I still felt a desire to get closer to what I was building. Truthfully, I felt a little insecure just being a designer.

So, I did a coding bootcamp and got a job in software engineering for 2 years. I did well but found that software engineering wasn't really the way my brain works. It was more systematic and mechanical, but I like leading teams, talking to customers, and solving problems. Software engineering felt isolating to me.

With my background, Product Management seemed like a great fit. Since transitioning, I've done three product management roles, took Reforge's growth course, and just started a new gig at FullStory.

I believe not specializing in one role has allowed to me stand out. Pivoting careers helped me build technical experience, UX/UI experience, and growth experience, all of which make me a better product manager.

My biggest learning in my career is to understand who you are and what environments you like. What stage of company do you want to work for next? What role and impact do you want to have? What are you looking for in a hiring manager? If you don't know what you want, it's like you are blindly throwing darts. Be intentional and unafraid of change."

- Brian Ng, Senior Product Manager at FullStory

Career paths aren't linear, nor should they be. We should always be exploring our options and assessing our current direction.

Sometimes, it's ok to take one step back to go two steps forward.

Sheryl Sandberg managed tens of thousands at the Treasury. She left to manage a team of four at Google.

“There are so many times I’ve seen people not make that jump because they’re afraid they’ll 'move backward.' ...If you can financially afford it, and you’re gonna work the next, I don’t know, 30 years, who cares about ‘going down?" - Sheryl Sandberg