Career Path of a Head of Product at Postal
Shadi's career journey began with a business administration degree from Cal Poly, focusing on accounting to gain "pragmatic learnings" in an unfamiliar field. This foundation, combined with a consistent focus on building "authentic and true relationships" and understanding what motivates others, propelled their rise from entry-level roles at MINDBODY through sales, partnerships, and ultimately, into a decade-long product management career culminating in their current Head of Product position at Postal.
Product Management, Career Development, Relationship Building, Authenticity, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Shadi Majzoub
Head of Product
Postal
Cal Poly
N/A
Business Management & Admin
Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Shadi's career path highlights a diverse range of roles, starting from entry-level positions at Mindbody to her current role as Head of Product at Postal. This demonstrates the potential for career growth and progression within the tech industry.
2. Shadi emphasizes the importance of building authentic relationships and understanding what motivates people. This soft skill is crucial for success in various roles, particularly in product management where collaboration is key.
3. Her background in accounting, although not directly related to product management, provided a valuable foundation in finance and pragmatism. This highlights the benefit of exploring diverse academic fields and how seemingly unrelated skills can be applied to various career paths within the industry
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Please include any internships or jobs you had before your current role.
I studied business administration at Cal Poly, concentrating in accounting. I chose accounting because at the time, I wanted to dive into something I'd never done before and had no experience with, not even conceptually. I wanted some pragmatic learning in an area I knew nothing about, and I thought it would be applicable.
It turns out it has been. Even though I'm not an accountant, having a background in accounting and finance has been useful throughout this role and in daily life.
I wasn't involved in many extracurriculars or organizations through Cal Poly. However, I think just in all the things I did in college, which has helped my career, I've been really focused on nurturing authentic relationships with people, learning about them and what motivates them.
I think that focus on relationships, learning about people's values and motivations, and how I can help them succeed has brought me to where I am now in my career. Getting to know people, relating with them, and motivating them has been key.
From Cal Poly, I started at a company called Mindbody here in San Luis Obispo in late 2011. I worked in a number of different entry-level roles. Again, I think that focus on relationships, learning about what motivates people, and how I can help them succeed, which then helps me succeed, is what allowed me to move up.
From those entry-level roles, I worked in the accounting department. Then I worked in a sales role, as a sales team leader. After that, I moved into partnerships, and then I moved into product.
Product management is now my main career focus, and it's where I've been for the past 10 years. About five of those were at Mindbody, and nearly five have been at Postal. I did product management for Mindbody on a variety of products, learning a lot about how to build things and work with developers. That translated well when I moved to Postal, where I now manage the entire product. I work with our executives, our team, and our customers to build the best products for them.