I have a product coach. 🤩 I learn a ton from her.

5 min readMar 29, 2022

What is a product coach?

When I say, I have a product coach. Most people say 🙄: “ What is that? Is that a profession?”

“Coach” is a profession. We know the coach is critical in sports. We know baseball coaches, and basketball coaches, every athlete has a coach or even many coaches.

“Product Coach” from the words meaning a coach who coaches product people. So product people are the athletes in the product. I guess this is why people doubt. Why do product people need a coach? We mostly learn from working. We attend webinars, enroll in online courses, learn from other product people, read books, read articles, listen to podcasts, get certifications, compare notes with other product people, get feedback from our boss, participate in meetups, join communities, etc. Of course, we are not athletes, we don’t need coaches. 🤪

A Product Coach is the same as a coach in other domains.

Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance.
from What is coaching — Ken Norton

Here are more: Types of Product Coaching, from svpg.

Why do I need a product coach?

I was desperate. 😭

I thought I was on the right track in my career. I was stuck in somewhere I didn’t know how to react. I thought I was good enough to get great jobs here but not good enough to compete overseas. I had tried and I failed. I didn’t know why and how to turn it up.

More, I was unhappy. I felt isolated 😞 even with my family.

I NEED HELP.

How do I find a product coach? How do I know there is a “product coach” profession?

This topic is worth another article. See How do I know things I don’t know.

Long Story Short.

I know Ken Norton is a product coach, so I reached out to him. He strongly believes people need coaches when they need them. He recommended me 4 coaches. 👼

Jocelyn appealed to me. She looks so warm, happy, full of enjoyment. She cares about life, not just the career.

I’m an entrepreneur, speaker, and passionate fire-starter dedicated to helping you get to your next level of impact while also having fun. I use my product management background working at companies like Google and Amazon, as well as my training for Fortune 500 companies and startups to help you design the career and life of your dreams.
from Jocelyn Marie Miller

I thought I would reach out to all 4 and then decide which one. When I met Jocelyn, I agreed to join her coaching immediately.

What did I expect from the coaching?

The program I joined is Catapult Dream Job. She has other programs. This one fits my situation.

I expected

How to write a resume
How to do an interview
How to present me

I can google the ordinary things, but I believe she has unique and better ways to do that.

It was a little be scary. 🥶 😥 I worried if I made this decision too fast; if this was just a consolidation of all these techniques; if I just didn’t understand what she would offer.

Ends up. I learn a ton from her. 🥰 I’m happy.

9 companies reached out to invite me to apply via LinkedIn.

3 offers.

2 are my dream jobs.

I thought it would take several years, a few jobs to live in my vision.

I live in my vision. 🖼

Keep learning about data and products. Working closely with teams with an empowered culture creates great products to help people and earn profit. Having the freedom and doing things get me excited.

I connect to people. 👫

I got so much help from others, people in the US, Netherlands, Poland, French, India, etc., and of course, Taiwan. 🇹🇼

They guide me, share information and experience, discuss things with me.

It’s eye-opening. 👀

I feel the love from my colleagues as well. So many lunches/dinners this resignation than the last time. (Last time I just want to leave quietly 🤫 .) It’s not just eating. I see the relationships.

I feel fulfilled with my family and friends. I’m closer to them. 💖