About
“Marie is one of those incredibly skilled leaders that possess a great deal of product knowledge, management skill, and the ability to deftly manage the demands of her product team, engineers, and the demands of the clients.”
— Cross-functional peer, Customer Success
I love helping teams build products that people want to use. In more than 20 years of product work, I led product for a platform that generated over 80 percent of one company's revenue within two years of launch. I've guided product through multiple acquisitions and delivered 36 percent year-over-year sales growth. What I enjoy most is helping product managers grow into confident decision-makers.
How I Got Here
Before I ever wrote a product spec, I wrote the software itself. I worked as a programmer, then as a people manager. I also had an entrepreneurial itch. One of my degrees is in entrepreneurship, so eventually I acted on it. I started my own software business and ran every part of it myself, from client work to delivery.
I loved building things for people. I did not love being the salesperson, negotiator, and accountant on top of it. Those were never my strengths. So I went back into the corporate world, where I could focus on product and let other people own the rest. That experience still shapes how I think, because I know what it costs to run a company.
Growing Through Change
I've spent most of my career helping organizations grow while they were still changing. I've led product and engineering through multiple acquisitions, and I've helped companies move from project-based delivery to a product-led way of working.
I care most about how organizations make decisions. That takes clear ownership, operating rhythms that hold up under pressure, and enough structure for teams to move fast and stay aligned. It's the work I keep coming back to, no matter the company. I've done it everywhere from two-person teams to large, established organizations, and each size has taught me something different.
AT A GLANCE
Experience
20+ years in SaaS and enterprise product
Background
Former founder and programmer, from 2-person teams to enterprise organizations
Education
Master's in Product Management and Bachelor's in Computer Science
Market
B2B and B2B2C SaaS
Focus
AI product strategy and operating model design
Style
Remote-first, cross-functional leadership
AI, Before It Was Trendy
I built my first AI-driven product over a decade ago, long before generative AI showed up on every roadmap. That early experience shaped how I think about AI today. AI has to earn its place by solving a real problem. I hold it to the same bar as any feature.
Years later, I led the first generative AI product capability at one of my organizations. I worked closely with engineering and data science to build something that reduced client workload. That work taught me that the hard part of AI is deciding where it belongs in someone's workflow.
Never Done Learning
I believe you never finish learning. Staying curious is how I keep growing.
That belief is part of why I went back for a master's degree in product management, with a computer science degree already behind me. The coursework pushed me in directions I didn't expect. It sharpened how I think about negotiation and how I approach financing decisions across a product's life cycle. It also changed how I lead teams through territory that is new to all of us.
That same instinct shows up in the certifications I've earned, everything from agentic AI to accessibility. I like to stay a step ahead of where the field is heading.
Design From Day One
I care about accessibility as much as I care about the roadmap. I earned my CPACC, a certification in accessibility competencies, because I wanted to understand it well. Accessible design belongs in a product from the start, and it helps everyone. It makes a product clearer and more forgiving. It also makes the product easier to use under stress or distraction, which is most of us on most days.
I want design involved from the very beginning of a project, before the decisions are made. Some of my best work came from insisting on that early, even when bringing design in later would have been easier.
Hands-On, and Proud of It
I like being deep in the details of a project, working closely with my team, and understanding exactly what's being built and why. I also like stepping back to think about where a whole portfolio needs to go over the next few years. Most people are drawn to one or the other. I've never had to choose.
What I'm proudest of is the people I've helped grow into stronger product managers. I've hired people without traditional product experience and backed them with real ownership from day one. I've watched people go from unsure of their own judgment to confidently pushing back on me in a room full of executives. I coach people through that shift, from asking permission to owning the decision.
Where I Am Now
I'm currently building free AI-powered tools for other product managers. Product work is often invisible to the people making decisions about headcount and promotions, and the tools help make it visible. They are part of a growing suite that covers problems like weekly reporting to leadership and writing clear engineering tickets.
I'm also doing contract work evaluating generative AI systems. I set up AI assistants and test how they reason, where they break down, and what it takes to govern them responsibly. I've always wanted to know how things work, and this work takes me inside the machinery. It has given me a ground-level view of what AI can and cannot do.
What I'm looking forward to most is building a team again. I want to mentor product managers, give people ownership early, and help them grow into confident decision-makers. I also want to build great products, the kind that mean something to the people who use them. I want to bring all of that, along with a current hands-on understanding of AI, back into a product leadership role.
Outside of Work
Outside of work, I spend time with family, read constantly, and enjoy board games with the people I love. I also share my life with several cats, who treat every video call like it's for them. If you've ever had a cat walk across your keyboard mid-sentence, we probably have a lot to talk about.