Software products are one of the biggest drivers of business growth today. With the world’s IT spending projected at $3.8 trillion this year, Gartner predicts Saas and enterprise software spending to increase by another 8.2% in 2020 — making it the fastest growing segment in tech.
Product and Design leaders play a key role in this success as they balance customer needs with business goals to design, validate, launch, and scale digital products.
Last week, we asked 8 women from companies like Shopify, FreshBooks, Dot Health, and TWG amongst others to share how they lead teams, overcome challenges, and influence decisions as product managers, product design leaders, or founders.
Although we champion International Women's Day, we believe that women's accomplishments should be celebrated
1. Huda Idrees
Huda is the Founder and CEO of Dot Health, a platform that gives Canadians secure access to their health data. With a background in Engineering, Huda was previously the Chief Product Officer at
What makes a great product leader?
"To be good at making products you have to effectively live in two worlds concurrently. The world as it is today and the utopia you’re designing towards. Being able to contain those two worlds in your mind and being comfortable with that uncertainty is key. Listening more and talking less is another very important quality I’ve observed."
How do you build resilience to challenges you encounter as a founder?
"Challenges are part and parcel of being alive, doing business, and running a company. At Dot Health, we're up against a myriad of challenges that sit at the unique intersection of government, technology, and people. If I were going at it alone, I likely would've given up a long time ago. I'm really lucky to work with an incredible group of people - all of whom are much smarter than me at everything. A group of people with a powerful mission can push through any brick wall. It's my team that keeps me going!”
2. Daryna Kulya
Daryna Kulya is the Co-founder of Open Phone, one of the few companies accepted to Silicon Valley's Y-Combinator. She was previously a product manager at Vidyard and at Deloitte’s Innovation Lab. Daryna is also well-known for bringing the tech community together as the Founder of Product Hunt Toronto.
What was your inspiration behind Open Phone?
“We saw fellow business owners use their personal phone numbers for business (and absolutely hate it). We wanted to give them a supercharged business phone in an app on their existing cell phone. This way they protect their privacy and look professional to clients.”
What’s the most important quality in a product leader?
"Insatiable curiosity. Consumer needs and expectations change very quickly and if you don't evolve with them, you'll stay behind."
3. Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is the Founder of Brazen, a UX research consultancy that has worked with Mozilla, Shopify, and Wealthsimple. With a
How do the findings of your UX research lead to better product decisions?
"I find it very valuable to include clients as observers in UX research sessions. It sparks great conversations and helps them build empathy that can far outlast the current project.
It’s also key to show clients how to actually use the results of the research to make smarter decisions; I always create tangible, specific recommendations based on learnings, and answer any questions on how to implement them."
What is the most rewarding aspect of starting your own consultancy?
"I love having a high degree of ownership over my work. When Brazen does work for a client and I later see that they've released a product that has clearly incorporated research results, it makes me feel proud."
4. Lindsie Canton
Lindsie is committed to improving education as a Product Designer at Prodigy Game — a learning platform for math, and as the Director of Product Design at Bridge, a training program that levels-up female engineers and designers.
What is your biggest learning as a design leader?
"I would be remiss in not giving some credit to The Nightingales of Raw Signal Group for their valuable advice: Slow down and set up your team for success instead of trying to do more work yourself. This sounds obvious until you're in the middle of building something new that you care deeply about.
If you build a supportive environment where the mission, vision, and values of the organization are communicated properly and take time to recruit the right people, they'll feel more autonomous, aligned with priorities, and empowered to do their best work. That's what happening at Bridge right now, and I couldn't be prouder."
What is your go-to strategy for building consensus amongst stakeholders?
"I often see brainstorming being used as a default approach, which leads to group consensus being anchored around a dominant idea or a dominant person. I prefer more inclusive approaches
5. Claudia Cornali-Motta
Claudia Cornali-Motta is a Product Manager at TWG. Her projects include CBC's Winter
How do you continue learning as a Product Manager?
"Being naturally curious is a key trait for a Product Manager. I work hard to cultivate a large network of friends, colleagues and professional contacts who work across a variety of industries. I believe there is something to be learned from everyone. However, balancing curiosity with focus is just as important. You don't always need to know everything. Focus helps you prioritize where to delve further today and what can be learned later."
How can employers create more inclusive workplace cultures?
"Don't place that responsibility on your employees. It really needs to come from the leadership team. Think long term and ensure that inclusive practices outlast leadership changes at your company."
6. Lindsay Rothman
Lindsay Rothman is the Director of Product Management at Freshbooks, invoice and accounting software for small businesses. As the Founding Director at APM Toronto, and an Activator at SheEO, Lindsay also dedicates her time to empowering others.
How do you enable your team to identify the highest impact ways to spend their time?
"Defining impact or customer value can be hard when we’re exploring ideas that venture outside of we’ve done in the past. I ask questions like: “What needs to be true for a project to have the impact we expect?” By having that discussion, we identify implicit assumptions and try to validate them by doing research or running experiments."
How do you avoid burnout and make space for life outside of work?
"I’m constantly evaluating my work volume relative to my capacity. It sounds robotic but it’s true! I’m not shy to make it known that I need help if I’m over capacity. Doing so helps me have energy to do things outside of work."
7. Amy Thibodeau
Amy is the Director of UX for Shopify's App and Partner Platform where she leads a fantastic team of designers, content strategists, and researchers to improve e-commerce for merchants worldwide. Prior to this, Amy led content strategy at Facebook with over a decade of experience creating digital products.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your role at Shopify?
“Helping to steward the careers of talented people is incredibly rewarding. I'm surrounded by smart, kind people, who are motivated to build great experiences. That I am able to play even a small role in helping them achieve their own career goals is a privilege and a responsibility I take very seriously.”
8. Stephanie Nguyen
Stephanie Nguyen is the VP of Product & Design at Flashflood where she is reducing food waste and the Director of Women Who Code Toronto. Previously, she led design at
What is your biggest learning as a product design leader?
"I've learned that that fires will happen and you will encounter times when you feel less confident. However, by taking a deep breath, showing that you have your team’s back, and by stating that you can resolve it together, culture becomes stronger and those heavy items don’t seem so big to overcome."
How have other people impacted your growth?
"One mentor in