If I were to explain what I do professionally, the short answer would be "Product Manager." In reality, I'm just somebody who loves technology. The urge to create something bigger than one's self is one that I grapple with daily, and I've found over time that if I'm not actively pursuing a project I care about, I'm not genuinely satisfied.

I've been a Product manager for over 5 years now, and I don't think there's a job in the world which suits me better. I've bounced between designing, coding, and even web ops over the years, but I've never felt fully satisfied doing one piece of the puzzle. The thing I like about Product Management the most is being able to touch all aspects of a product and apply a lifetime of tinkering to creating something cool or useful.

While I am technically a proDUCT as opposed to proJECT, more or less all of my jobs have incorporated both in some form or another. I personally don't think those skills are mutually exclusive.

I've been trained in and work almost exclusively in agile scrum development, and I've worked in a number of unique workplaces, from agency environments to ecommerce. In terms of project management tools I mostly prefer JIRA, but I've worked in a large number. As long as I have my Kanban boards and burndown charts, I'm comfortable.

I think my development background gives me an advantage when it comes to managing timelines. I've probably had a history of being a slight development sympathizer, but as any project manager, I'm not afraid to push when things need to get done.

My career in tech actually started as an Adobe Flash developer, but of course times have changed. I've come a long way since Actionscript, as I moved from frontend to backend to even web-ops.

To this day I'll still do quick frontend freelance jobs on the side, and sometimes I'll even get to break into some code in the workplace. I've been granted Git access to some of my last jobs, and it's pretty rewarding to start crossing your own tickets off the list. I'm not saying I'm a Javescript wizard, but more often than not I can get the small stuff done.

I started using Python to power some of my own ideas and side projects. Of course, that led me to start digging around linux shells to get the latest version of Django set up, which inevitably brought me to modifying everything about my servers that I could.

Before I was anybody, I was drawing webcomics in Photoshop for fun. Creative Suite is second-nature to me, which is probably a relatively minor (and common) skill for my job title, but a skill nonetheless.

I would never call myself a designer. I actually do have a graphic design heavy education background, but I'm not exactly making Picassos over here. I have an educated understanding of what makes things look good or bad, and my history of working with luxury brands has opened my eyes to pick up on a lot of design nuances. These days I've limited my design execution mostly to production design or making odd portfolios with cartoon characters.

I've come to terms with the fact that we all have a limited time on this earth, and I chose to use my free time as productively as possible - by doing things I love. If I'm not freelancing or working on my own side-projects, I'll usually have something that I want to improve on. Something about sitting on the couch and watching primetime TV after a day's work never seemed appealing to me.