Newsletter 3 - Great to have you here!

Life lessons, Product & the Podcast.

Welcome back to the latest in life & Product. I have a LOAD of thoughts that I want to share today - there's been a lot happening this week! There's also a lot of feeling in here, so I hope the lessons and musings resonate with you and each one of you can take something inspiring from this week's edition.

PS. I'm back on the road! Skip to the end to find out where!

Life Lessons

It doesn’t matter how often it happens, change is never easy.

The time that I really realised this, is when I was sat in Las Vegas airport, waiting to board a flight to Hawaii - a moment where I should have been sat there smiling at just how incredible my life is - and I couldn’t stop crying.

I had just finished the most incredible 3 week road trip with my parents around the US, and I was going back into the unknown. Flying to a place I’d never been before and where I didn’t know anyone.

This isn’t unusual for me - I’d already spent 1 year travelling at this point, going to a tonne of new countries without knowing anyone. It just doesn’t matter how often I've done it - it can still be so difficult

As I get ready to hit the road again, I’ve been experiencing the bittersweet feeling of change again. I'm super excited to go away, and I'm so ready for it - but I will miss everything that I leave behind. My family, my home comforts, the ability to see my friends whenever I please.

The difference is - it is a little bit easier to go through change this time. Here's why:

1. I know what to expect. I know (kinda) what I’m getting myself in for. Instead of jumping completely into the unknown, I’m going away in my van (safe space) to countries that I have been to before
2. I have someone to go with. I’m going to be travelling with my boyfriend, and that constant of knowing that you have someone around that you feel comfortable with and can rely on - makes a huge difference.
3. I am really ready for it. I’ve been in the UK for 5 months now. As much as it’s been an amazing summer - I am really ready for a change. I’m ready to be back in the warmth, by the ocean, out in nature. When you really see the push and pull factors, change is worth it.
4. I have evidence that the change will work, and I will be OK. I wanted to travel for years. Yet before I left, I didn’t know if I would actually enjoy it. Obviously, it turns out that I did - but I still didn't know if I would enjoy every place I went, or like all of the people. No matter what, now I have built evidence over time that I can handle change, and adapt when it isn't working for me. This evidence makes it so much easier to conquer any nerves that exist.

These 4 tips also apply if you're going through any transformational change at work:

• Set expectations on what the new reality will look like
• Make sure people have others to go on the journey with
• Lean in to the push factors so people feel ready for it, and know why it is needed
• Build small pieces of evidence that the change will work

I still go through the change curve every single time I go anywhere. I am now just more resilient, I don’t dwell on it so much, and the curve doesn’t run so deep.

Product Lessons

OK, so these aren’t really just product lessons. This week is my business' 2nd Birthday! So here’s my reflective take on how it has gone.

When I first started out, my aim was to pick up some work to earn enough to be able to travel for as long as possible. I didn’t really aim to build a business or a freelance career. Within a few months I realised how much I loved being able to work with a variety of clients and help them to embed best product practices, and well - the rest is history (kinda).

In reality, the rest is just evolving and the best is yet to come.

My first year was all about learning how to run a business, work with clients and learn what made me tick. My second year has been an amazing journey of working out exactly what makes me thrive and where I can add the most value. My business has expanded in so many ways. I now coach, write & speak - all things that I didn’t have on my agenda a year ago.

Highlights:

✨Consulting with 3 incredible companies - helping them with everything from Strategy to Org set up, and helping one to launch a completely new brand and customer experience - bloody loved the experiences and people that I got to work with this year

✨Coaching 7 incredible Product people to become experts in their craft and grow their career

✨Writing 8 articles (and remembering how much I love writing)

✨Starting a Podcast and recording 12 amazing episodes with Michael (I love it when you meet people that you just click with and are inspired to do more)

✨Getting back on the stage and starting to talk on everything from Product Culture to the evolving Product Management role + landing my first international speaking event

I have absolutely loved this last year. Not only have I been able to grow my business in so many ways, meet amazing people and pursue some incredible opportunities - but I also learnt so much about what I wanted in my personal life and was able to create that for myself.

My agenda switched from wanting to see as many places as possible to focussing on places that give me energy, making strong connections & prioritising my friends and family in the UK and a bit more stability.

I didn’t realise how much my needs would evolve and adapt over time, but they do - we all grow and change as people. I really make it a mission to clearly reflect on my values, where I think I’m succeeding and anything that has changed, at least, once a year - to make sure I can keep giving myself what I need.

Highlights from this year have been:

🚐Travelling around the USA with my parents

🍷Visiting friends that I met in Argentina in Hawaii

🌵Going to Mexico for Dia de los Muertos to see my best travel friend & then meeting a Swiss man who is now my boyfriend

🦒Going on Safari with my Mum and Dad for my 30th birthday

🚐 Buying my own campervan!

👰Being able to spend the summer in the UK, catch up with friends and family and see everyone so happy at some incredible weddings

I forever feel so lucky that I get to live this experience, and can constantly shape my life based on what is working for me. I truly believe that no matter in which elements we do this, we really do become the best versions of ourselves & offer the most to everyone around us.

The Podcast

In this episode we were joined by Nick Jemetta. For those of you that don’t know him, he has an amazing mission, to make work 1% better each day. Nick has many areas of work that he cares about including mental health, creating amazing leaders and helping teams to become amazing at Product. He shared so much with us including how to talk about mental health, the importance of human skills in Product, and how to really move teams through transformation.

I really took a lot from this episode, and I think everyone will learn something new from it. Enjoy, and as ever, please leave a review or subscribe if you do!

Listen Here

Have an amazing weekend, I’ll certainly enjoy mine in sunny Switzerland!

Evie xo
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