Advertise on podcast: Black Epics

Ronke Majekodunmi has had an impressive career in Product working in the legal, eCommerce, and finance industries all leading up to her current role at Paypal. In this episode, we chat about a key product skill, coalition building and why that skill is so important for PMs to develop. You can learn more about Ronke on her website and I recommend you tune in to her podcast, Product Magic.

Brylan is one of the cofounders of 7th Ave, a knowledge-sharing platform for Black professionals, creatives, entrepreneurs, and students. Brylan has a background in Product Management and has used the skills he developed as a PM, building 7th Ave. In this episode, he shares so many gems on entrepreneurship, product development, and funding. You can learn more about 7th Ave at http://www.pullupon7th.com/. Download 7th Ave in the app store today: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/7th-ave-learn-share-grow/id1550600474

Laide is a Product Management consultant with a wealth of experience. She has a background in Electrical and Computer Engineering and worked as a Product Leader developing consumer audio technology. We discuss her recent article, "Power Users: Distill Signal from the Noise."

Black Epics Season 2 is kicking off this week. Stay tuned for more exciting interviews with amazing Product Managers.

Tonya is currently a Senior Product Manager at MongoDB. We discuss her career path from Computer Science teacher to Product Manager.  Tonya recently made a career transition to a new Product Management role so we discussed in-depth how she prepared for her career transition.

Vince is currently a Product Manager at Mcdonald’s Corporation. Prior to his current role, he studied at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and founded his own company. We discuss turning failure into a positive, building kiosks for Mcdonald’s, and his recommended product resources.

Rafael Balbi Jr. is a Principal Product Manager at Vimeo. Prior to his current role, he’s worked in Product at Squarespace and LiveAuctioneers, empowering creators and small businesses. We discussed key learnings in becoming a Principal Product Manager. We also chatted about his preferred Product Development process.

Ayo Omojola is currently the VP or Product at Carbon Health. Prior to his current role, he built core capabilities for Cash App and founded several companies. We discuss how he knew it was time for his startup to pivot, quick product feedback loops in the healthcare space, and his personal approach to investing.

Sasha Kai Parker is currently the Head of Product at Seed&Spark.  She’s worked at startups, agencies, and large corporations on a variety of types of products so we chatted about how she approaches product strategy, what a good strategy looks like, and creating space for innovation.

Darrel Frater is an entrepreneur building TheClub. TheClub is a livestreaming platform for live djs and virtual parties. We discuss his path to building multiple products and what’s up next in his founder journey. If you would like to chat with Darrel online, you can reach out to him at Darrel Frater on Linkedin.

Kasha Stewart is currently Head of Product at The Walt Disney Company where she’s focused on their Movies Anywhere product.  Kasha studied fine arts at Howard University and has a MFA from Chapman’s film program. She began her career working in Post Production but later transitioned into Product. We discuss overcoming imposter syndrome in the midst of career transitions, how she developed her career roadmap, and reshaping struggling product teams.

Jammal Dorsey is currently working on the Covid-19 response for a nonprofit organization, Resolve to Save Lives. Jammal has many years of healthcare experience so we discuss what it’s like to be a PM working in healthcare, some of his favorite product experiences, and the different tracks available to people interested in being a PM in healthcare. If you would like to chat with Jammal online, you can reach out to him at Jammal H. Dorsey on Linkedin or on Twitter at @JammalD_06.