I fell into product management somewhat by accident, studying computer science and working as a technology consultant before realizing I wanted to bring new products to life. I researched online and interviewed at big companies in Seattle before being referred to a set of technical founders who brought a startup out of stealth mode. This led to my first role as a sales engineer at ExtraHop, where I became the de-facto product manager due to my close customer relationships. I later joined Elastic as the second PM on their team and worked my way up to head of product for their revenue-generating observability product line. My experience has taught me that product management is about aligning the organization around a vision and plan, building respectful relationships with technical leaders, and taking responsibility for making the product successful in the market. I believe that a good PM is a leader who thinks about how to make their product successful every morning and does what it takes to make it happen.