A Day in the Life of a Product Director at DHARMA with Soph H.
💡 What’s the essence of your role? 💡
As Director of Product: Studio, I steer the vision and strategy for our product, the Studio! This involves defining product goals, managing the roadmap, and collaborating with design, engineering, and marketing teams to bring it all to life.
Responsibilities include:
- Gathering user feedback
- Market trend analysis
- Solving user needs
- Driving business growth
📅 What does a typical workday look like for you? 📅
It’s usually a mix of planning, creative work, and feedback.
Mornings: a few too many coffees while I go through emails and Slack messages.
Depending on the day, we’ll have a team call to check on progress, address any blockers, and adjust priorities.
Then, I brainstorm and sketch new ideas on Figma, catch up with users, and discuss new feature rollouts.
I’m also currently enrolled in Stanford University’s Product Management Program, so my day also involves learning from experts like Jiaona Zhang (JZ) and Anand Subramani.
💭 Which tasks make you lose track of time because you enjoy them so much? 💭
I love wireframing. Our UX designer taught me how to use Figma, which has been a game changer.
The ideation phase for new features — brainstorming and sketching out ideas with the team — user interviews, and demoing new features is one of my favorite parts.
🗝️ What’s one key skill that’s crucial for excelling in your position? 🗝️
Adaptability is crucial for a PM. The product landscape is always shifting, and being able to pivot strategies quickly is essential. Whether it’s responding to user feedback, market changes, or new technological developments, agility is key.
🗺️ Did you anticipate this career path unfolding as it has? 🗺️
I knew very little about this field until a few years ago. My career began as a Business Analyst, which taught me to understand user needs, analyze data, and translate requirements into actionable plans. This led to my next role as a Project Manager.
Those roles were perfect stepping stones into Product Management, which has been my favorite role by far. It combines the best parts of previous roles with the added bonus of creative and strategic thinking.
I really enjoy bringing ideas to life and creating products that make a real impact.
👐 What’s an exciting project you’re currently working on that you’re able to share with us? 👐
Our team is developing a new product that completely streamlines the process of trip organizing. It’s a platform for planning a trip with just a few taps, taking away the usual complexities of group travel such as booking hotels, managing payments, and coordinating with suppliers.
This way, trip hosts can focus on the fun and creative parts of planning a trip while removing the financial and logistical burdens. I truly believe this will make running trips more accessible, effortless, and enjoyable, and I cannot wait for our users to see it!
