How I Got Hired in Product with Rachel Rush

Aug 29, 2023

Ever wondered how to step into the world of Product Management? Curious about what the role entails?

Today’s guest host, Becca Moran, speaks with Rachel Rush about how she stepped into a career in Product.

They discuss:

  • How Rachel overcame imposter syndrome and learned on the job
  • Her experience of growing along with a startup (including acquisitions and going public)
  • What the role of product manager entails and what it takes to succeed
  • Practical tips on how to step into a product role
  • And much more!

About today’s host: With 5+ years of experience leading startup product teams and almost 10 years in the DC tech scene, Becca offers a wealth of valuable insights. She is currently the Vice President, Product & Engagement at Procurated, where she leads the product, design, and engineering functions for the company

About today’s guest: Rachel Rush, Senior Product Manager at Xometry Inc working to make the sourcing of custom manufacturing easy. Based in the Washington DC area, she has worked in product management for five years. After trying a couple of different careers she settled into Product Management when she realized she would be empowered to solve problems, making a change in how people live and work. She believes that Product Managers are the voice of the user and are responsible for building the bridge between end users and top executives. This puts PMs in the unique position to challenge conventional thinking by demonstrating alternative workflows to overcome obstacles that users face every day.

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Transcript
Tim Winkler:

Hey, listeners, Tim Winkler here, your host of The Pair Program.

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We've got exciting news introducing our latest partner series Beyond the Program.

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In these special episodes, we're passing the mic to some of our savvy former

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guests who are returning as guest hosts.

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Get ready for unfiltered conversations, exclusive insights,

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and unexpected twist as our alumni pair up with their chosen guest.

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Each guest host is a trailblazing expert in a unique technical field.

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Think data, product management, and engineering, all with a keen

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focus on startups and career growth.

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Look out for these bonus episodes dropping every other week,

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bridging the gaps between our traditional pair program episodes.

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So buckle up and get ready to venture beyond the program.

Tim Winkler:

Enjoy.

Becca Moran:

I'm Becca and this is how I got hired.

Becca Moran:

How I Got Hired is a series of interviews where product managers share how they

Becca Moran:

landed great product roles from PMs who made a career pivot into tech

Becca Moran:

to those with more formal training.

Becca Moran:

How I Got Hired captures the various ways to open doors into the world of product.

Becca Moran:

We'll be talking about each guest's recipe for success, what motivated

Becca Moran:

them to get into product, how they prepared for the interview, and what

Becca Moran:

they did to set themselves apart.

Becca Moran:

Today, my guest is Rachel Rush.

Becca Moran:

Rachel is a senior product manager at Xometry, where she's

Becca Moran:

worked for the last six years.

Becca Moran:

Xometry is an online marketplace for custom manufacturing.

Becca Moran:

Rachel, welcome to the show.

Becca Moran:

Thank you for having me.

Becca Moran:

So Rachel and I worked together at Xometry, um, for about a year and a half.

Becca Moran:

Um, so I had just been promoted to director of product when you joined,

Becca Moran:

um, on the customer support team.

Becca Moran:I think that was the fall of:Becca Moran:

And, um, then I left, um, to join curated a few months after you were promoted

Becca Moran:

to the associate product manager role, which is what we'll be focusing on today.

Becca Moran:

So excited to share that story with everybody.

Becca Moran:

So, before we get into that, I thought it might be fun to do

Becca Moran:

a little bit of an icebreaker.

Becca Moran:

I know this is.

Becca Moran:

Um, something that we used to do when new people would join our team.

Becca Moran:

So I thought it would be fun to.

Becca Moran:

To share with our audience, so, um, we're going to do 2 truths and a lie,

Becca Moran:

um, and I can kick us off, um, with mine.

Becca Moran:

Are you ready to guess?

Becca Moran:

Yes.

Becca Moran:

All right, let's see how good of a lie detector you are.

Becca Moran:

All right.

Becca Moran:

So, um, my.

Becca Moran:

3 things all go together, so, um, growing up, I had 2 of the following.

Becca Moran:

A pet bird named Pigwidgeon, a dog that couldn't bark, a three legged hamster,

Becca Moran:

which I'm gonna go with the bird.

Becca Moran:

Good guess, but unfortunately you're wrong.

Becca Moran:

Um, the lie there is that I did not have a dog that couldn't bark,

Becca Moran:

although my best friend growing up did.

Becca Moran:

Uh, she was the inspiration.

Becca Moran:

Uh, I had both a bird named Pigwidgeon, uh, which is a Harry

Becca Moran:

Potter reference for everyone.

Becca Moran:

Uh, who's a fan and, um, yeah, I had a three legged hamster who, um, did

Becca Moran:

not have three legs when, uh, I first got this hamster, but, um, hold one of

Becca Moran:

those, like you remember the James Franco movie 127 hours where he has his arm

Becca Moran:

caught in the rock and slices it off.

Becca Moran:

My hamster basically did that, um, in his little hamster

Becca Moran:

wheel, but it is a happy story.

Becca Moran:

Like he lived for a long time after that.

Becca Moran:

Um, it was a, you know, a survivor story.

Becca Moran:

So, good.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Um, all right.

Rachel Rush:

What about you?

Rachel Rush:

All right, my turn.

Rachel Rush:

Um, okay.

Rachel Rush:

I've always wanted to run a marathon.

Rachel Rush:

Um, I'm a foodie and I love to travel.

Becca Moran:

I'm going to say the lie is that you have always

Becca Moran:

wanted to run a marathon.

Becca Moran:

Of course.

Becca Moran:

I

Rachel Rush:

greatly just like exercise on every level.

Becca Moran:

Um, I share that.

Becca Moran:

Well, I like exercise.

Becca Moran:

The idea of running a marathon to me is just, I mean, props to those who do it.

Becca Moran:

It's just not anything that has ever, um,

Rachel Rush:

I get very bored when I try to go running and I usually quit.

Rachel Rush:

Like, before I get physically tired because I'm mentally not

Becca Moran:

able to, yes, yes, I completely understand that.

Becca Moran:

Um, I said recently that I think anyone who runs more than one marathon is crazy.

Becca Moran:

Cause I'm like, okay, you got the points, check the box, good for you.

Becca Moran:

Um, why run more than one?

Becca Moran:

And then people that run ultra marathons, like, don't even talk

Becca Moran:

to me, I just don't understand.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Um.

Becca Moran:

Cool.

Becca Moran:

All right.

Becca Moran:

Well, let's, uh, let's get into your story.

Becca Moran:

So, um, as I mentioned, the, the story we're going to talk about today is really

Becca Moran:

kind of how you got your start at Xometry.

Becca Moran:

Um, so let's start at the beginning.

Becca Moran:

Um, maybe kind of my first question to you is was your customer support

Becca Moran:

role at Xometry, was that like your first real job or did you

Becca Moran:

have other positions before that?

Rachel Rush:

No, it was not my first real job.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so I, I didn't really know what I wanted to do.

Rachel Rush:

Um, yeah, for a very long time.

Rachel Rush:

. Um, so I worked, um, I worked a lot of jobs, um, Macy's.

Rachel Rush:

I worked for a Wells Fargo home mortgage for a while.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and I guess I was trying different things out.

Rachel Rush:

Because I was still waiting to find that passion that would make you want

Rachel Rush:

to have a full career in something.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so I, I found Xometry actually, I, it was through Indeed.

Rachel Rush:

com.

Rachel Rush:

And I was like, well, this sounds like an interesting company.

Rachel Rush:

And so I applied and yeah, I was almost, it was kind of an accident,

Becca Moran:

I guess you could say.

Becca Moran:

That's awesome.

Becca Moran:

Um, and I guess to kind of to, to set the scene.

Becca Moran:

So at that time, Dometri was, I think probably something like 70 ish employees.

Becca Moran:

Um, recently closed our series be, um, so pretty, like, so relatively early stage.

Becca Moran:

Um, do you remember at that point?

Becca Moran:

Like, was the idea of working for a startup like.

Becca Moran:

Was that a factor?

Becca Moran:

You're like, Oh, this is interesting.

Becca Moran:

I want to go work for a startup or you're like, this is just

Becca Moran:

a job that sounds interesting.

Becca Moran:

And yeah, um,

Rachel Rush:

you know, I don't think it really was a factor because I

Rachel Rush:

don't really think I understood what it meant before I started.

Rachel Rush:

Um, I think I just thought that this sounded like a cool job.

Rachel Rush:

That was different than what I had done before.

Rachel Rush:

Um, And that, yeah, I wanted, I wanted to give it a try.

Rachel Rush:

I didn't really understand fully, I think, what startup meant until

Rachel Rush:

after I'd already started working

Becca Moran:

in Xometry.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, it's funny because, um, so before Xometry, I was with Politico

Becca Moran:

and, um, we always used to say that, like, oh, so we, I worked for the

Becca Moran:

subscription team within Politico, which, um, was created maybe like five

Becca Moran:

years in or so to Politico's business.

Becca Moran:

Um, and we always used to say like, oh, we were like a startup, like kind of

Becca Moran:

like even a startup within the company.

Becca Moran:

And in a lot of ways, like culture wise, it really did feel like a startup is very

Becca Moran:

scrappy, like we were kind of figuring everything out for the first time.

Becca Moran:

Um, and I actually ended up at Xometry because my former, um, boss from Politico,

Becca Moran:

Scott Rothrock, um, joined Xometry and said, Hey, you should come work here.

Becca Moran:

And, um, it was the same kind of thing.

Becca Moran:

Like, I wasn't thinking like, oh, I want to go get a, a real startup job.

Becca Moran:

It was just kind of like, this is a cool opportunity.

Becca Moran:

And I really trusted Scott and his opinion and, you know, I

Becca Moran:

didn't know how to evaluate, like.

Becca Moran:

Is this startup likely to be successful or not?

Becca Moran:

Like, but I, I, like I said, I trusted Scott and I felt like he

Becca Moran:

was a good judge of that and knew kind of what to look for and could

Becca Moran:

see that it was a good opportunity.

Becca Moran:

And I just jumped in from there.

Becca Moran:

So it's, um, it's always interesting.

Becca Moran:

Anytime I talk to people that are like interested in working

Becca Moran:

for startups specifically.

Becca Moran:

Because, yeah, I just kind of jumped into it, not even knowing,

Becca Moran:

like, really what that would mean.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah, I don't think it would have occurred to me to

Rachel Rush:

look for jobs specifically within startups before having worked in

Becca Moran:

one.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, yeah.

Becca Moran:

And that's something I'd like to come back to, kind of that journey from this,

Becca Moran:

you know, Series B to post IPO, because I think that's, um, You've seen a lot

Becca Moran:

of different phases of, of Xometry.

Becca Moran:

So we'll come back to that, but, um, okay.

Becca Moran:

So Xometry is a, uh, early stage startup.

Becca Moran:

You kind of applied based on this Indeed posting on a bit of a whim.

Becca Moran:

And what was, what was the first role that you applied for and what was the

Becca Moran:

initial job you were doing for Xometry?

Rachel Rush:

Yeah.

Rachel Rush:

So, um, I actually got hired as a customer success.

Rachel Rush:

I think we were called advocates.

Rachel Rush:

Um, It was kind of like a customer service position.

Rachel Rush:

If you take into account, there wasn't really a customer

Rachel Rush:

service department at the time.

Rachel Rush:

So, um, I walked in and they were like, we really need somebody to help answer

Rachel Rush:

questions and get on the phone and, you know, kind of just like develop things.

Rachel Rush:

And I went in and I just, yeah, I, I sat in this room with a lot

Rachel Rush:

of really smart engineers and I started picking up phone calls and.

Rachel Rush:

Basically putting them all on hold and then turning to the person next to me

Rachel Rush:

and being like, what does this mean?

Rachel Rush:

Um, because we didn't have any training materials at the time.

Rachel Rush:

But then eventually just like, yeah, picked it up and.

Rachel Rush:

And yeah, and eventually it was me and, um, two other people that essentially

Rachel Rush:

started the customer service department and started putting in some processes.

Rachel Rush:

And, um, I think within 6 or 7 months after that, we had grown

Rachel Rush:

to like a team of maybe a 15.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and that that was when I really got into it.

Rachel Rush:

I was like, oh, I'm not just working.

Rachel Rush:

I'm building something.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, and that's a super exciting phase to be a part of, too.

Becca Moran:

And to me, that's what makes startup roles so enticing is that feeling

Becca Moran:

of like, this isn't just a job.

Becca Moran:

Like, I am actually creating something meaningful.

Becca Moran:

Um, and just how rewarding that experience can be, um, things were

Becca Moran:

like, you might find out years in the future that like, oh, people are still.

Becca Moran:

Following this process that you put in place or using this tool

Becca Moran:

that you help build or whatever is a pretty rewarding thing.

Becca Moran:

Um, and did you have any sort of, like, I don't know, education that was

Becca Moran:

relevant to the role or what, like, any sort of background that that helped or

Becca Moran:

really it was a lot of learn by fire.

Becca Moran:

No,

Rachel Rush:

it really was learned by fire.

Rachel Rush:

I think the thing that would have been most helpful is something

Rachel Rush:

in maybe mechanical engineering.

Rachel Rush:

Sure.

Rachel Rush:

Um, but I do absolutely nothing about that topic.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Um, but such a great opportunity to learn.

Becca Moran:

I know, you know, I came in the same way.

Becca Moran:

I never in my life had thought about really how anything was made.

Becca Moran:

Um, after working at Xometry for a little while, like, you kind of get into this

Becca Moran:

mode where you're like, oh, like, what's this, you know, how is this thing made?

Becca Moran:

Like, everything you look at, you're like, was that injection molded?

Becca Moran:

Uh, it's kind of addicting, but, um, that's really cool.

Becca Moran:

And so.

Becca Moran:

Um, and that was to your point, I think a really kind of explosive

Becca Moran:

time of growth at the company.

Becca Moran:

Um, uh, I remember, uh, so Xometry acquired, uh, a company

Becca Moran:called MakeTime in July of:Becca Moran:

And so we had a bunch of new folks on the team and, um, you know,

Becca Moran:

our sales were really growing.

Becca Moran:

And so I, you know, having a bigger customer service team, I think

Becca Moran:

was an essential part of just.

Becca Moran:

Responding to that kind of growth.

Becca Moran:

Um, so what, what happened after that?

Becca Moran:

What was the next role that you moved into?

Becca Moran:

Uh, software

Rachel Rush:

administrator.

Rachel Rush:

So we decided we needed a new ERP system.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and I had made it pretty clear from the beginning that I was Interested

Rachel Rush:

in software, I was taking computer science classes on the side and, you

Rachel Rush:

know, I, I would really like to maybe join the software team at 1 point.

Rachel Rush:

And so.

Rachel Rush:

Because I had so much experience, um, working with the current ERP system, and

Rachel Rush:

I knew a lot about zometry processes, I think, in a way that not a lot

Rachel Rush:

of people in the software team did.

Rachel Rush:

Um, they asked me to come in and help set up the new ERP.

Rachel Rush:

Um, which was really exciting.

Rachel Rush:

And I think that was really my first software job.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so that, yeah, that's when I got the chance to

Becca Moran:

move over.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, it's interesting, um, again, just kind of relating to my own experience.

Becca Moran:

So I initially at Politico, I was in a sales role and.

Becca Moran:

My version of that was, you know, a lot of the elements of the sales role

Becca Moran:

were not really my thing, like making cold calls made me very nervous.

Becca Moran:

And, um, you know, but I kind of got through it and it builds character.

Becca Moran:

Um, but I really kind of gravitated towards.

Becca Moran:

Using Salesforce, I just like, I, it was something that I realized not a lot

Becca Moran:

of other people, uh, on the team at the time, particularly passionate about to

Becca Moran:

say that was passionate about might be an extreme, but, you know, to me, I was like,

Becca Moran:

how can we really leverage this software to the sales team run more effectively?

Becca Moran:

And how can we set up reporting?

Becca Moran:

And how can we start to streamline some of the things that we

Becca Moran:

do using this technology?

Becca Moran:

And so I just really started to kind of lean into that.

Becca Moran:

And, um, I, I will credit that with, like, being the 1st

Becca Moran:

step towards working in tech.

Becca Moran:

Um, and, you know, that kind of led to, I started basically, like, project

Becca Moran:

managing Salesforce, like, integration and implementation type activities.

Becca Moran:

And again, still a world away from like working with our engineering team, but

Becca Moran:

I think it gave me enough of a, uh, a flavor to spark an interest and then help

Becca Moran:

start to kind of connect me with some people in the company and be able to like

Becca Moran:

inch a little bit closer to that world.

Becca Moran:

And so, um, yeah, I think the way that you really immersed yourself

Becca Moran:

in our ERP, which, you know, was a homegrown tool, which was.

Becca Moran:

And I'm sure many folks that work in tech companies have this experience

Becca Moran:

of, um, and we do this talk about this hyper curated all the time.

Becca Moran:

Like, you have the.

Becca Moran:

External facing product, which, you know, a lot of thought goes into making sure

Becca Moran:

that the UI is really nice and it's, um, you know, really user friendly.

Becca Moran:

And then anytime you're, you're also responsible for building kind of

Becca Moran:

like a back end back office tool that people use, like our ERP, which is.

Becca Moran:

What was managing all of the orders coming in and all of that.

Becca Moran:

Um, I guess the nice way to put it would be to say that maybe we cut some

Becca Moran:

corners in terms of how we set that up.

Becca Moran:

So, um, you were really immersed in that and and built a level of expertise on just

Becca Moran:

how that tool worked and didn't work and.

Becca Moran:

Um, went from there, so that's awesome.

Becca Moran:

Um, all right.

Becca Moran:

Well, what, what came after that?

Becca Moran:

What was kind of the, the progression, uh, as you were in that role and,

Becca Moran:

and what were some of the things that you were responsible for in

Becca Moran:

that position kind of day to day?

Becca Moran:

Um,

Rachel Rush:

so we had purchased an off of the shelf ERP system.

Rachel Rush:

So I was asked to basically, um, go through and evaluate it and see.

Rachel Rush:

What it had that we could use and what it didn't have that

Rachel Rush:

we needed to build into it.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so it was really responsible, just making sure that it could

Rachel Rush:

do what we needed it to do.

Rachel Rush:

Um, it didn't work out that great because I determined that it didn't

Rachel Rush:

do a lot of what we needed it to do.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and we eventually realized that it would cost more to build off of

Rachel Rush:

the off of the shelf tool than it would to just fix our existing ERP.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah.

Rachel Rush:

So we, uh, we didn't actually go through with it, but that was

Rachel Rush:

definitely a learning experience.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

And I remember that too.

Becca Moran:

It was, um, You know, something I think that was very well intentioned this idea

Becca Moran:

that, like, oh, you know, in theory, we're doing a lot of things that, um, you

Becca Moran:

know, there are 3rd party tools that are built to manage these types of processes.

Becca Moran:

But I think the reality at the time was that our homegrown ERP

Becca Moran:

was, like, the heart of our.

Becca Moran:

Platform and it was really hard.

Becca Moran:

Like I remember having a conversation one time, um, describing it as like, if, if

Becca Moran:

our software was a body, like the ERP was the torso, how are we replacing the torso?

Becca Moran:

Um, so yeah, that's, that's a real learning experience.

Becca Moran:

So, um, so from there you moved into this associate product role.

Becca Moran:

So, um, I remember a little bit about, um, kind of that transition, but I would

Becca Moran:

love for you to share, um, how that came about and kind of what sparked your

Becca Moran:

interest and, and got you thinking kind of going from wanting to be involved in

Becca Moran:

the tech to, like, specifically the, the product role and product piece of it.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, so.

Rachel Rush:

At the time, I thought I wanted to be a developer, um, so after

Rachel Rush:

we decided not to go with the off the shelf ERP, um, I set up an internal

Rachel Rush:

system to allow, uh, bug reports, basically, and feature requests from the

Rachel Rush:

operations team because I, I understood, at least in our company at that time,

Rachel Rush:

how separate the two departments seemed.

Rachel Rush:

There wasn't a lot of connection, um, and communication between our

Rachel Rush:

software team and our operations team.

Rachel Rush:

And I, I thought that was a huge problem, um, basically the lack of

Rachel Rush:

understanding of what was going on, um, on either side of the fence.

Rachel Rush:

So, 1 of the steps I took to try to fix that was basically create this system.

Rachel Rush:

For the operations team could just provide feedback to the software team as well

Rachel Rush:

as submit bug reports, and I kind of got my feet wet and development world.

Rachel Rush:

I got a chance to solve a lot of the bugs that came in, uh, triage a lot

Rachel Rush:

of the requests, um, help sort of talk them through with a lot of the

Rachel Rush:

product managers, um, who I got to know pretty well through that process.

Rachel Rush:

And then at some point, um, this was after the merge with make time.

Rachel Rush:

There was a new product in development and.

Rachel Rush:

I think it might have been you who asked me to sit in on a meeting to

Rachel Rush:

determine what needed to be done to make this work with our ops team.

Rachel Rush:

Maybe that was it.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and I started coming up with basically a list of requirements of

Rachel Rush:

like, this is absolutely what like the customer service team needs to know

Rachel Rush:

how to do in order for this to work.

Rachel Rush:

And this is, you know, basically came up with a list of requirements and I, I gave

Rachel Rush:

them to the product manager in charge.

Rachel Rush:

Um, And then helped him create like training materials for the ops team.

Rachel Rush:

And then shortly after that, um, my boss pulled me aside and he was like, I almost

Rachel Rush:

don't want to tell you this, but there's a product manager position opening up.

Rachel Rush:

And your name has come up in discussions.

Rachel Rush:

And if you wanted to, I think you should apply.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and so that was really my first like, huh?

Rachel Rush:

Like.

Rachel Rush:

I got a little bit of experience and I was like, Oh, this is really interesting.

Rachel Rush:

Like I'm actually helping decide what to build and like having real

Rachel Rush:

input and not just, you know, taking tickets and executing on them.

Rachel Rush:

And so I, I applied and I think I did an interview with you and

Rachel Rush:

maybe a couple of the other PMs.

Rachel Rush:

And, uh, got the got the associate position.

Becca Moran:

Love it.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, I, I think it's, um, you know, as I reflect back, um,

Becca Moran:

having the ability to take.

Becca Moran:

Someone from within the company and move them into a product role was.

Becca Moran:

Um, just such an incredible opportunity.

Becca Moran:

I, you know, I think there's a lot of, there's a learning curve in

Becca Moran:

terms of figuring out the business and especially the part of the

Becca Moran:

business that you knew really well.

Becca Moran:

Um, and, you know, I think that for sure.

Becca Moran:

Gave you a great advantage and kind of making that transition and.

Becca Moran:

I think part of it, too, is like, when you see somebody who isn't in

Becca Moran:

a product role, but they're doing lots of product D things and thinking

Becca Moran:

about things with a product mindset.

Becca Moran:

Um, to me, it's like.

Becca Moran:

It's very clear when it's like, okay, this person obviously has potential.

Becca Moran:

And, um, it can be a lot lower.

Becca Moran:

Risk, I think, in a lot of ways, um, and, you know.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Having the ability to have an associate product role where

Becca Moran:

you're saying, okay, and, you know, this person doesn't have product

Becca Moran:

experience, but, um, this is a great opportunity to learn that on the job.

Becca Moran:

And, um, we were in a very fortunate position at the time where.

Becca Moran:

We had some great folks that you could learn from, right?

Becca Moran:

Hunter and Alex and, um, and others, um, who could really.

Becca Moran:

You know, teach you the product things that you didn't know and have that

Becca Moran:

pair really nicely with the business experience that you already had.

Becca Moran:

So I'll

Rachel Rush:

always be grateful for that.

Rachel Rush:

When I think back on that time, I think about how scared I was and

Rachel Rush:

how I was like, I have absolutely no idea how to do this job.

Rachel Rush:

I've had no training.

Rachel Rush:

And like, I went to you guys and you all basically agreed to like

Rachel Rush:

mentor me together and basically taught me what I didn't know.

Rachel Rush:

And I don't.

Rachel Rush:

I think I'd still be here, um, in this position if you guys hadn't

Rachel Rush:

kind of taken me under your wing and said, like, it's okay, like...

Rachel Rush:

You know, the stuff that you're good at will help you with the rest.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so yeah, we were really like a, a team, um,

Becca Moran:

which was a great group.

Becca Moran:

And, you know, I think that that's, I would imagine you could talk

Becca Moran:

to the vast majority of people in product roles and they would

Becca Moran:

tell you their first product role.

Becca Moran:

They're sitting there thinking, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Becca Moran:

Right.

Becca Moran:

Cause, um, you know, this is changing, but there's not a lot of people that.

Becca Moran:

Like, get any sort of education or kind of formal training in it.

Becca Moran:

And so there's no

Rachel Rush:

degree of, like, product management bachelors.

Rachel Rush:

It's just not a thing.

Becca Moran:

Right?

Becca Moran:

Um, so.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, I think, like, that's a shared experience of many

Becca Moran:

people in product roles.

Becca Moran:

And when you're in it, you're like, Oh, my God, like, how could this be possible

Becca Moran:

that I could, like, be qualified for this position when I, like, haven't done it?

Becca Moran:

And there's so much to learn.

Becca Moran:

But, um, you know, I think it, it sometimes takes a little bit of a leap of

Becca Moran:

faith and You know, as long as you have a good group around you, that's supporting

Becca Moran:

your growth and helping you learn.

Becca Moran:

That's a huge part of it.

Becca Moran:

So, um, kind of stepping back and reflecting on that.

Becca Moran:

Do you have any advice for folks that might be in a similar position?

Becca Moran:

Like anyone who.

Becca Moran:

Is that an organization and they're not in a product role, they'd like to transition

Becca Moran:

into one, whether that's within their own company or, or maybe looking elsewhere.

Becca Moran:

What would you tell somebody like that?

Becca Moran:

That's looking to make a transition into product.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah, I mean, I think there's 2 things that really helped me.

Rachel Rush:

The 1st was, I was very, I tried to be very honest and open about what I wanted.

Rachel Rush:

Um, when I was in ops, I said, I would love to move into software.

Rachel Rush:

When I was in software, I was like.

Rachel Rush:

Oh, product seems interesting.

Rachel Rush:

Let me go talk to those people.

Rachel Rush:

And I was very fortunate to have people around me that were willing

Rachel Rush:

to talk to me about their roles.

Rachel Rush:

Um, but, you know, just telling people like you're interested in this,

Rachel Rush:

even if there's not an open position available, um, you know, just putting

Rachel Rush:

that seed, I guess, in their heads.

Rachel Rush:

Like maybe one day when a position's available, they will think of you.

Rachel Rush:

The other thing that helped me, I think, is just being willing to take on things.

Rachel Rush:

That were not in my job description, I guess, um, yeah, I did a lot of

Rachel Rush:

like mini projects and I helped out on things that I wasn't necessarily

Rachel Rush:

hired to help out on, but gave me great experience and great insight

Rachel Rush:

into these other parts of the company.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and kind of prepared me and showed others, you know, what I was capable of.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and yeah, it's like a lot of extra effort and quite honestly, over time,

Rachel Rush:

but for my case, it, um, it paid off.

Rachel Rush:

And great

Becca Moran:

exposure, I think, right?

Becca Moran:

Like to other people in other roles, like, I think that's something, um, I

Becca Moran:

can relate to as well, going back to the experience that I had at, at Politico when

Becca Moran:

I started doing this Salesforce stuff.

Becca Moran:

Um, at 1 point, I was trying to kind of.

Becca Moran:

We had a bunch of issues at the time with our accounting team who were

Becca Moran:

and are, um, like a team of heroes, just like people that were doing a

Becca Moran:

lot of really tedious work because.

Becca Moran:

It didn't have a great system to, to support them and like

Becca Moran:

closing out the month was just this really difficult process.

Becca Moran:

And, um, you know, I don't know anything about counting, but I spent some

Becca Moran:

time with them to try and understand, like, why is this just so brutal?

Becca Moran:

And, um, you know, I, I think part of that, like.

Becca Moran:

There's there's part of it where you're just you're learning something

Becca Moran:

you're learning a part of the business.

Becca Moran:

You're learning how something works.

Becca Moran:

But then there's the, like, relationship part of it, right?

Becca Moran:

Where you're just getting to know people that you.

Becca Moran:

If you really did kind of just stay at, like, in your lane and not, um, kind of

Becca Moran:

look for those other opportunities to take on projects or solve other problems.

Becca Moran:

You may not get to interact with people in other parts of the company and, you

Becca Moran:

know, I, I think about your experience and you, like, having a great relationship.

Becca Moran:

With.

Becca Moran:

The other teams at Xometry, I think was a really big factor in, in your initial

Becca Moran:

success and maybe ongoing success.

Becca Moran:

I don't know if you think that that's something that's

Becca Moran:

continued to play a role for you.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, absolutely.

Rachel Rush:

I mean, I don't think you can be good at product management

Rachel Rush:

without talking to people and getting as much exposure possible

Rachel Rush:

because that's part of it, right?

Rachel Rush:

Is learning other people's workflows and learning what's going on in other places

Rachel Rush:

of the company and with your customers.

Rachel Rush:

But also just like, the value that I get out of it, um, I've learned so many things

Rachel Rush:

that I didn't know how to do before.

Rachel Rush:

And I've learned about so many things that I didn't understand or even know before.

Rachel Rush:

I mean, I didn't even know what product management really was

Rachel Rush:

when I first joined Xometry.

Rachel Rush:

And it wasn't something I went after.

Rachel Rush:

I thought I was going to be like a developer.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah.

Rachel Rush:

But then when I learned about it, like, it was just a complete change in

Rachel Rush:

direction from me, but I only got there by developing these relationships and

Rachel Rush:

spending time with other product managers.

Rachel Rush:

And then I was like, oh, like, this is like a whole thing.

Rachel Rush:

I didn't know about before.

Becca Moran:

This is a thing product.

Becca Moran:

That's

Rachel Rush:

all I'll say from now on this thing.

Rachel Rush:

I

Becca Moran:

do.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Um, I would also love to talk a little bit about, you know, you have.

Becca Moran:

Moved up through the ranks at Xometry during your time there.

Becca Moran:

Um, so now you're a senior product manager.

Becca Moran:

Um, what has that journey been like, and like, how I guess

Becca Moran:

maybe my 1st question would be.

Becca Moran:

Like, what is that process?

Becca Moran:

Like, was it something that you had to kind of advocate for and say, hey.

Becca Moran:

Here's, here's all the things that I've been doing.

Becca Moran:

I think I should be promoted from associate to product manager.

Becca Moran:

Like, are you being proactive in making a case for it?

Becca Moran:

Or is it more like your manager kind of tapping you and saying, all right,

Becca Moran:

I think you're ready, like, here's, here's the next level and here's how your

Becca Moran:

role and responsibilities will change.

Becca Moran:

Like, how did that work at Xometry?

Becca Moran:

You

Rachel Rush:

know, it's funny.

Rachel Rush:

I think, um, it really depends on what manager you have.

Rachel Rush:

So when I first started.

Rachel Rush:

I not only didn't know anything about product management, I really

Rachel Rush:

didn't know anything about working for a big corporate entity.

Rachel Rush:

Like, I didn't know that, like, people made promo cases and that's how you

Rachel Rush:

ask for promotion in some places.

Rachel Rush:

And I really just started doing as much as I possibly could, as well as I could.

Rachel Rush:

And my manager at the time kind of did tap me on the shoulder and

Rachel Rush:

he was like, you've been doing the job of a PM for a really long time.

Rachel Rush:

I didn't even know you were an associate.

Rachel Rush:

And so I saw your title on an email.

Rachel Rush:

We're going to fix that.

Rachel Rush:

And so I got really lucky to have like a really good

Rachel Rush:

manager who recognized my work.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah.

Rachel Rush:

Um, but then when I, when I wanted to become a senior PM,

Rachel Rush:

I did actually ask for it.

Rachel Rush:

Um, because I felt like I deserved it.

Rachel Rush:

I felt like I had reached the next level.

Rachel Rush:

Um, I felt like I was doing a really good job.

Rachel Rush:

And so that was just a really honest conversation with my manager at the time.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and luckily he agreed.

Rachel Rush:

Um, and I got it.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so yeah, I think, I think with every position, you just have to

Rachel Rush:

figure out how things are done in your department and with your current manager.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah,

Becca Moran:

yeah, I think that's exactly right.

Becca Moran:

There's no kind of standard playbook for how it works in organizations and.

Becca Moran:

You know, while it might be nice to think about, oh, an organization

Becca Moran:

that has, like, all of the kind of.

Becca Moran:

Levels laid out and like a clear set of criteria of what it takes

Becca Moran:

to get from 1 level to another.

Becca Moran:

Lots of organizations do not have that kind of, um, clarity or at

Becca Moran:

least documented clarity around what those different levels are.

Becca Moran:

And even if you do, like, um, yeah, I think it's, it's still takes a level

Becca Moran:

of initiative to really say, like, okay, I'm going to be very intentional

Becca Moran:

about the types of things that I do and the way that I push myself and how.

Becca Moran:

Okay.

Becca Moran:

I look for kind of, like, stretch roles and things that will show my manager that

Becca Moran:

I can point to in a conversation and say, hey, here's here's some things that I've

Becca Moran:

already been doing that are the things that I know a senior product manager does.

Becca Moran:

Um, and, you know, as a manager, I have a lot of conversations with

Becca Moran:

folks about professional development and I would say, like, a lot

Becca Moran:

of it just boils down to, like.

Becca Moran:

Initiative, um, and and I think prioritization too, because I think

Becca Moran:

a lot of people, like, have the desire and I think unfortunately.

Becca Moran:

Um, especially because a product role can be so demanding, like, you can

Becca Moran:

kind of put your own professional development on the back burner.

Becca Moran:

Um, and kind of get stuck in a place where you're not.

Becca Moran:

Progressing because you're just kind of trying to keep your head above water and.

Becca Moran:

You know, I think it's important for managers to really work with

Becca Moran:

their teams and find ways to.

Becca Moran:

People prioritize that professional development and help.

Becca Moran:

Identify projects that they can take on that will challenge

Becca Moran:

them, um, and give them those opportunities because it can just.

Becca Moran:

In the blur of everything else that's going on, it can be really hard to, um,

Becca Moran:

to put in the, the time to be intentional about your career path and, and moving up.

Rachel Rush:

Definitely.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah.

Rachel Rush:

I think, um, part of being a really good manager is helping the people who

Rachel Rush:

work for you with their professional development and not letting them forget.

Rachel Rush:

Um, or at least that's definitely as somebody that works for

Rachel Rush:

managers, it's definitely like a, something that stands out.

Rachel Rush:

Um, is my manager there to support me or am I there to support?

Becca Moran:

Yeah, exactly.

Becca Moran:

I think it's a great way of thinking about it.

Becca Moran:

Are you personally interested in managing people at some point in your career?

Rachel Rush:

Um, I've thought a little bit about it.

Rachel Rush:

Um, I think so.

Rachel Rush:

I, I like to think I might be helpful and that I've learned some things

Rachel Rush:

that could help some other people.

Rachel Rush:

Um, but I mean, I think it's a trade off, right?

Rachel Rush:

Because if you manage people, that's where A lot of your time

Rachel Rush:

is going to go, and so you might not be managing products as much.

Rachel Rush:

So I think it's, it's almost like a lifestyle choice.

Rachel Rush:

Like, what do you want to be managing?

Rachel Rush:

Um, so that's something I really have to think about.

Rachel Rush:

But yeah, I mean, I am interested in it because I feel like so many

Rachel Rush:

people have gone out of their way to help me and to train me.

Rachel Rush:

I'd like to give that back someday.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah, yeah, it's,

Becca Moran:

um, I, I had the, um, fortunate opportunity when I made

Becca Moran:

the switch over to procurated.

Becca Moran:

So when I left, my role was like, pretty much all management.

Becca Moran:

Um, I wasn't really doing a lot of like, kind of direct product work anymore.

Becca Moran:

Um, and when I joined procurated, because it was a brand new startup.

Becca Moran:

Um, And that was an opportunity for me to kind of like, roll my sleeves up and

Becca Moran:

get back into doing product work and, you know, writing tasks and working

Becca Moran:

with the engineering team and testing new features that they developed and.

Becca Moran:

For me, it was actually kind of like a refreshing point in my

Becca Moran:

career to, like, come back to that.

Becca Moran:

I had missed doing that stuff.

Becca Moran:

Um, and so that's always something that I think about.

Becca Moran:

I remember my boss at the time was like, are, like, are you okay going from, like,

Becca Moran:

managing a team to being more hands on?

Becca Moran:

And I was like, yeah, this is a cool, like, I kind of miss this stuff.

Becca Moran:

It's a cool opportunity.

Becca Moran:

Um, and so that's something that I've enjoyed, you know, I think especially.

Becca Moran:

Depending on the the kind of organization that you work for, um, like being able

Becca Moran:

to have those types of opportunities to do a little bit of everything.

Becca Moran:

Um, I have found that to be a cool experience.

Becca Moran:

So I'm sure it

Rachel Rush:

makes you a better manager as well.

Rachel Rush:

Right?

Rachel Rush:

Like, you got back into it.

Rachel Rush:

You like, refresh yourself.

Rachel Rush:

You're doing the work and now you're able to go back to

Rachel Rush:

helping others in that position.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, it's a good point.

Becca Moran:

And I think that there's always a little like.

Becca Moran:

I don't know, um, not that, like, in my current role, I also manage engineers

Becca Moran:

and I always have this thing about, like, oh, well, I wouldn't want to

Becca Moran:

manage somebody that, like, like, I don't know how to do the things that they do.

Becca Moran:

I've become a lot more comfortable with that now.

Becca Moran:

I realized that, like, that's not a criteria, but I do think

Becca Moran:

it's very helpful, right?

Becca Moran:

Like, I feel like I can give a product person that I manage.

Becca Moran:

Better advice or better insight or whatever, because

Becca Moran:

I understand their job better.

Becca Moran:

Like my, my value not to diminish that the engineers that I manage, but,

Becca Moran:

like, I don't know how to write code.

Becca Moran:

So, like, um, you know, I do think that there's a little bit of.

Becca Moran:

I don't know, I've, I've always viewed it as, like, personally establishing

Becca Moran:

a level of, like, credibility around, like, okay, I want to be able to talk to

Becca Moran:

someone intelligently about the work that they're doing and having done it myself.

Becca Moran:

I think that's made me feel a little bit more confident in those conversations.

Becca Moran:

So, yeah.

Becca Moran:

I'd love to kind of double back, um, as we're nearing the end of our

Becca Moran:

discussion, just to talk a little bit more about, like, this transition that

Becca Moran:

you've seen from joining Xometry at, um, you know, a series B stage to, um,

Becca Moran:

now post IPO, which is just, you know.

Becca Moran:

Going back to what we're saying about working for startups, like, you really

Becca Moran:

never know when you join, like, that, uh, the business is going to be successful.

Becca Moran:

You obviously hope that it will be, um, and I don't know.

Becca Moran:

I think to me, I was, I always believed in Xometry because I just felt like there

Becca Moran:

was such determination around, like, making the business a success and, um,

Becca Moran:

Um, you know, it just really was exciting to see, um, geometry get to that stage.

Becca Moran:

So I would love to hear a little bit about, um, just what that

Becca Moran:

experience was like for you.

Becca Moran:

Um, did any of your responsibilities change as the company was

Becca Moran:

leading up to the IPO post IPO?

Becca Moran:

Like, have the dynamics shifted at all?

Becca Moran:

I'd love to just hear a little bit about that part of your journey.

Rachel Rush:

It absolutely changed.

Rachel Rush:

Um, it's funny when you were mentioning your work with, um, Politico's accounting

Rachel Rush:

team, I felt like I could really relate to that because in the year

Rachel Rush:

leading up to the IPO, there's so many audits and things that you have to go

Rachel Rush:

through and make sure your accounting is completely set up and ours was not.

Rachel Rush:

And so, um, my job basically changed.

Rachel Rush:

I kind of became like the accounting product manager where they were

Rachel Rush:

like, you're going to take a team and go figure it out so we can IPO.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so that was a big change because I get nothing about accounting, um,

Rachel Rush:

but I kind of just went to their office and sat with them and we

Rachel Rush:

became like this whole new family.

Rachel Rush:

Um, but I think the biggest change is just being in the public eye and.

Rachel Rush:

The compliance and just knowing that the decisions you make have an effect,

Rachel Rush:

not only on you and your fellow employees, but on your investors.

Rachel Rush:

Um, there's always a lot of thought that goes in.

Rachel Rush:

To everything that we do, I think.

Rachel Rush:

From my perspective, timelines have become a little bit more serious.

Becca Moran:

Interesting, you know, like.

Becca Moran:

Like, like, aggressive deadlines or just like.

Becca Moran:

Like, do you have to work faster or is it just like when we set a

Becca Moran:

deadline or when we commit to a date that something will be done.

Rachel Rush:

I think when you commit to a date, you have to make it very clear

Rachel Rush:

whether it's like you're committing or not, because if somebody makes the

Rachel Rush:

decision to go tell investors that we're going to have this thing by like Q2,

Rachel Rush:

you're going to have the thing by Q2.

Rachel Rush:

Like, it's not really an option not to do that at that point.

Rachel Rush:

Um, or at least it's a lot less of an option, and if you fail, you

Rachel Rush:

really have to explain yourself.

Rachel Rush:

So that type of thing, um, you gotta be just like, a little bit more careful,

Rachel Rush:

um, about our planning, but it's not necessarily a bad thing either.

Rachel Rush:

It's kind of forced us to pay closer attention.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, it's I feel like I was talking about

Becca Moran:

this the other day how, like.

Becca Moran:

Um, as I've worked in product longer, I've become a lot more kind of cavalier about

Becca Moran:

like, oh, yeah, it can be done by then.

Becca Moran:

Or we can do this or we can do that.

Becca Moran:

Um, and part of it is just becoming more relaxed about like, like, people might

Becca Moran:

not hold me to that or like, maybe someone will forget that I said that or, you know,

Becca Moran:

people understand that things change.

Becca Moran:

Um, and I don't mean that to say that I'm like, wishy washy about

Becca Moran:

things, but I just, um, I've.

Becca Moran:

I remember working with some product people earlier in my career

Becca Moran:

that were like, very much like, please never commit us to a date.

Becca Moran:

Like, just so afraid of, like, being held to an unrealistic deadline.

Becca Moran:

And, um, but to your point, like, there are a lot of good reasons why,

Becca Moran:

um, you have to be able to have a good read on, like, Is someone interpreting

Becca Moran:

what I'm saying as like a legitimate commitment, or is there flexibility here?

Becca Moran:

And what would be the repercussions if this thing, you know, didn't happen

Becca Moran:

by the time we planned, or if it didn't turn out the way you planned or

Becca Moran:

whatever, you know, the stakes can be, um, higher and just kind of different

Becca Moran:

depending on what stage your company

Rachel Rush:

is in.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah, I definitely used to be 1 of those people who would just never give dates.

Rachel Rush:

I'd be like, you'll have it like sometime this year or something and that could mean

Rachel Rush:

like January or July, but I was so careful just like never say anything specific.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah, and now when I try to do that, they just like keep asking me

Rachel Rush:

until I give them an answer, right?

Becca Moran:

Right?

Becca Moran:

Yeah Yeah, it's it can sometimes be a little bit of like damned if you do damned

Becca Moran:

if you don't like I know I you know, you have stakeholders that are like Okay.

Becca Moran:

Like what's with this, like not being able to give any sort of estimate.

Becca Moran:

Um, and then there, I think there are people that understand like an estimate

Becca Moran:

is only as good as what, you know, estimate when you're building custom

Becca Moran:

software, like, you know, so little about like how things are going to play out.

Becca Moran:

So, um, really you're trying to predict the future a lot of the

Becca Moran:

time and it's just not possible.

Becca Moran:

So, um, Oh, cool.

Becca Moran:

That's, um, that's really interesting perspective and, you know, hopefully folks

Becca Moran:

listening have the opportunity to work for companies, um, that experience that

Becca Moran:

kind of success and that kind of growth.

Becca Moran:

I think it's, um, just an incredible experience to, um, uh, live through

Becca Moran:

and learn from and, and we'll continue, I think, to propel you

Becca Moran:

through the rest of your career.

Becca Moran:

So, yeah.

Becca Moran:

And I, I feel lucky that I got to be a part of that with you.

Becca Moran:

So, um, all right, well, let's, let's kind of round things out with

Rachel Rush:

our,

Becca Moran:

uh, rapid fire wrap up.

Becca Moran:

Um, so I'll just shoot some quick questions at you before we go.

Becca Moran:

Um, so 1st, do you think a, uh, friend, close friend or family member, uh,

Becca Moran:

could accurately describe what you do?

Becca Moran:

Um, No, uh, this is the common answer.

Becca Moran:

I will say, uh, it's I remember when I first started working at

Becca Moran:

Xometry, I really struggled to just describe like what the company did.

Becca Moran:

Uh, and then I, I developed kind of the, like, the version of it for people.

Becca Moran:

The average person who's never thought about manufacturing or didn't have

Becca Moran:

any sort of engineering background and then there was like a slightly more,

Becca Moran:

uh, technical version for people that like, add a little bit of context.

Rachel Rush:

I remember talking about that.

Rachel Rush:

I think we were all in like a room trying to figure out our elevator pitch

Rachel Rush:

because we kept having multiple pitches.

Rachel Rush:

It was like the 1 for people who had heard about like manufacturing and

Rachel Rush:

the 1 for people on the street because it just never worked for everybody.

Becca Moran:

It's like if you knew what a CAD file is.

Becca Moran:

You're in one category.

Becca Moran:

If you don't, you're in the other one.

Becca Moran:

Um, all right.

Becca Moran:

What is one, like, product or tech, uh, word, phrase, lingo, buzzword type thing

Becca Moran:

that you wish you never had to hear again?

Becca Moran:

Oh, um,

Rachel Rush:

stakeholder management.

Becca Moran:

Ooh, interesting.

Becca Moran:

Very

Rachel Rush:

broad one, but I think it comes with some negative connotations.

Rachel Rush:

Um, which is not necessarily true.

Rachel Rush:

I love my stakeholders.

Rachel Rush:

I think I get along with them fairly well, but it can be challenging.

Rachel Rush:

And when people talk a lot about like this topic, like I see people

Rachel Rush:

offer like LinkedIn classes and stakeholder management, like this

Rachel Rush:

is how you manage these people.

Rachel Rush:

And I don't really look at it that

Becca Moran:

way.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Um,

Rachel Rush:

like I don't see myself as like managing them, I guess.

Rachel Rush:

Right.

Rachel Rush:

Right.

Rachel Rush:

Um, And so I don't know.

Rachel Rush:

I just feel like for some reason it just, it's a very negative

Becca Moran:

term.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, I, I feel like that implies one that like, Um, stakeholders may

Becca Moran:

always have, like, conflicting, um, priorities or incentives or whatever.

Becca Moran:

Like, it's.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, there's almost a simplification that they're, like, at odds with.

Becca Moran:

What you're trying to do, and therefore need to be.

Becca Moran:

Man, it, like, I don't know if it's.

Rachel Rush:

Like it'll always be a fight.

Rachel Rush:

I feel like when I hear that somebody's saying like, this is how you deal

Rachel Rush:

with the people you're fighting with.

Rachel Rush:

And I'm like, why are we assuming that we're fighting?

Becca Moran:

Can't we all be friends?

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

And it's hard.

Becca Moran:

You know, I think there is.

Becca Moran:

A lot of what you've shared today, I think, taps into a more enlightened

Becca Moran:

mentality around, like, really embracing the needs of the business that can be,

Becca Moran:

um, surfaced from within the business.

Becca Moran:

Right?

Becca Moran:

Where I think sometimes there's more of this, like.

Becca Moran:

Externally driven priorities or, like, leadership driven priorities and.

Becca Moran:

Um, I think sometimes these.

Becca Moran:

Like, almost grassroots within the organization, the kinds of

Becca Moran:

things that stakeholders often bring up to product teams.

Becca Moran:

Sometimes they have to take a backseat to those other types of priorities.

Becca Moran:

And I think that can be a real missed opportunity.

Becca Moran:

Um, for businesses to get great ideas from the people that are just, like,

Becca Moran:

in the trenches every single day.

Becca Moran:

So.

Becca Moran:

I, I love that answer.

Becca Moran:

Um, how often do you actually talk to customers or users?

Rachel Rush:

Oh, no.

Rachel Rush:

Um, , so I don't talk to customers as often as I should.

Rachel Rush:

Um, I will admit that upfront.

Rachel Rush:

I do talk to our employees every day who use our software.

Rachel Rush:

Um, we're lucky that we've gotten to the point where we have a research team.

Rachel Rush:

that does talk to our customers.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so when I have scheduling conflicts or drop a ball or just don't have time,

Rachel Rush:

um, they can kind of do interviews and record them and send them to me.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so that's been a really big help, but yeah, I, I haven't

Rachel Rush:

talked to customers yearly as much

Becca Moran:

as I should.

Becca Moran:

I think it's a common refrain.

Becca Moran:

It's like everyone knows you should be doing it more, but it's hard.

Becca Moran:

It takes a lot of work to get those conversations scheduled and,

Becca Moran:

um, to do it in a thoughtful way.

Becca Moran:

Um, this is, this question was not intended to shame you.

Becca Moran:

All right.

Becca Moran:

Next question.

Becca Moran:

What book or person has been most influential in your career?

Rachel Rush:

Book or person?

Rachel Rush:

There's so many people.

Rachel Rush:

I kind of credit my career to, um,

Rachel Rush:

it's hard to pick one book, so I might go with people.

Rachel Rush:

Um, so, you know him well, um, Michael Dixon was actually the

Rachel Rush:

person that first hired me and he was also the person that recommended

Rachel Rush:

me to work with the software team.

Rachel Rush:

And he was really the person who first kind of like explained to me that it

Rachel Rush:

is possible to change your career and it is possible to like, Learn on the

Rachel Rush:

job and like move through organizations and be helpful and partially because

Rachel Rush:

I never worked for a startup before, but I just never worked for anyone

Rachel Rush:

who really had that attitude.

Rachel Rush:

Um, it was always like, this is what we hired you to do.

Rachel Rush:

This is what you do like clock in clock out.

Rachel Rush:

It was never like, oh, you have this other idea.

Rachel Rush:

That's so great.

Rachel Rush:

Like, go run with it and then we'll like, reward you for it.

Rachel Rush:

That was like, almost like a foreign concept.

Rachel Rush:

Yeah.

Rachel Rush:

So he really was like, I think he's really the one that gave me like the

Rachel Rush:

first big opportunity to kind of prove myself and like, made it seem like

Becca Moran:

I could.

Becca Moran:

Yeah, that's awesome.

Becca Moran:

I'm a huge Michael Dixon fan.

Becca Moran:

I think he's done.

Becca Moran:

Incredible things for and it's just someone who I've continued

Becca Moran:

to have conversations with, who just always provides great

Becca Moran:

perspective and just super smart.

Becca Moran:

And, um, yeah, it's another 1 of those people that I think.

Becca Moran:

Knows the business so well from just really immersing himself

Becca Moran:

in all different parts of it.

Becca Moran:

Um, and is a really great example of how.

Becca Moran:

That mindset, um.

Becca Moran:

Can really just do wonders for your career of that.

Becca Moran:

Um, all right, last question when you were a kid, what was your dream job?

Becca Moran:

Oh, I wanted

Rachel Rush:

to be a rock star.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

Did you ever learn to play an instrument or like this thing or anything

Rachel Rush:

like that?

Rachel Rush:

No, I, I learned the piano, but I was never very good because I didn't practice.

Rachel Rush:

Um, I did like the oboe and band.

Rachel Rush:

I did chorus for a really long time, but I wouldn't say I was particularly, the oboe

Becca Moran:

is known to be like hard rock, you know, rock oboe,

Becca Moran:

. Rachel Rush: I know.

Becca Moran:

So it wasn't like a dream I really went after, but in my mind I

Becca Moran:

was like, you know, center stage in the stadium with a guitar,

Becca Moran:

. Becca Moran: Yeah.

Becca Moran:

I love that.

Becca Moran:

That's incredible.

Becca Moran:

Um, you know, you're, you're center stage.

Becca Moran:

At, at Xometry, you know, it's like kind of version.

Becca Moran:

Yeah.

Becca Moran:

You're a Xometry rockstar.

Becca Moran:

So, you know, I love it.

Becca Moran:

Well, awesome.

Becca Moran:

Um, we'll wrap here.

Becca Moran:

Thank you so much, Rachel.

Becca Moran:

This was really fun.

Becca Moran:

Um, kind of.

Becca Moran:

Walking down memory lane with you and, and sharing the story with others.

Becca Moran:

I hope, um, folks get a lot out of it and, um, yeah, awesome.

Becca Moran:

Awesome to connect.

Becca Moran:

Thanks for being on the show.

Becca Moran:

Always good to hear from you, Becca.

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