How long have you worked for Brightspot? What brought you here?
I actually started as a client. I met Brightspot in 2019 and fell in love with the product. I worked for a media company and we were trying to switch to Brightspot. We started the process and then, because of economic factors in Argentina, we had to stop the project. In 2020, I ceased my previous work and began working with Brightspot from Argentina as a contractor. Then, my family and I moved to the United States in 2021, and I started as a full-time employee with Brightspot. To be honest, from the moment I started working alongside Brightspot as a client, I was really impressed by all the possibilities it offers to editors and content creators, the flexibility of the CMS, and, of course, the people behind the product. When I was a client, I could tell that the team was something special because you can see it when you interact with everyone. That only continues when you are with the company.
Can you tell me about the current project you are working on and your role on the team?
At the moment, I’m focusing most of my time on a project for Chicago Public Media. I’m also providing post-launch support for PitchBook, Lexipol and some tasks with the L'Opinion team in France. Fortunately, all of these projects are in the media market, which I love. I started working as a product owner in media companies, so I love that I'm still able to work in the industry.
Usually, as a product manager, we work as the bridge between people on the customer side and with our teams internally. Most of the time, I’m helping to make things happen—as in organizing the project—helping with information and gathering up each client's requirements. From a personal perspective, working with media also allows me to keep in contact with journalists, editorial teams and newsrooms, which I love.
What inspired you to become a product manager?
I started working many years ago from a content perspective but always within the realm of product management. I like the role because it allows you to keep the interaction with a variety of people and different roles, from engineers to designers, sometimes marketing, sales, content teams and others. The diversity of profiles and projects you can encounter when you’re working in this type of role is fantastic.
What is your biggest strength as a product manager and why?
I believe that one of my greatest strengths is trying to make everyone feel comfortable working towards achieving objectives together. Many times when you work on a project, it comes with some pressure, deadlines or challenges. I really like to try to make sure teams don't feel that pressure. I enable them to give their best from a place of comfort. I try to keep them happy, try to keep them informed and try to keep them organized. That's one of the things that I am good at. I’m convinced that the best results can be achieved when people are really motivated and really comfortable. It’s not only the professional aspect. Communication and skills are really important, but also, the empathy with the people that are working with us on a daily basis. We spend a lot of time working with the same people—it could be months or years—so trying to keep the good mood on the project and also being super clear, helping with information, etc., I think that it’s one of my biggest strengths.
How have you grown professionally since starting at Brightspot?
Definitely moving to a new country and starting my career in an entirely new market had many challenges and changes, of course. I think changing from working for a media company to a technology company like Brightspot allowed me to learn countless new things and work with different processes in a very agile and effective way. I love it and I think that was my biggest thing I've learned: how to work in a different way, in a different market and in a different industry, too. I think that I’ve gained a lot of new knowledge since I’ve started here.
What advice would you share with people who are starting their careers in product management?
The first thing I would recommend, not only in the role of product manager but with management in general, is always try to stay calm. From a personal perspective in terms of work, try to also be honest with yourself, with your clients and with your team. Above all, be curious. Because after that, everything else comes naturally, right? Being curious helps you to learn new things to get information to understand the processes and understand other people. Specific skills will come naturally as you learn things in school and after the experience of working on other projects you are going to gain speed. Also, when it comes to communication, it’s important to give context to your ideas and being super analytical will help make the things better not just for you but also for the team.
Besides the people, what is your favorite part about working at Brightspot?
This is a great question, but also a difficult one. For me, companies are made by people. Brightspot is a great company thanks to the people who work with us every day, so it’s really difficult not to mention that. Everyone that works here in the Brightspot family contributes something. The culture that we’ve created as a company is 90% of the success. That being said, what else besides the people? With this type of work, it’s really hard to feel bored. I love every project. They all have their own challenges and characteristics so you cannot get bored. You are always learning something new and working with different people, and the work is always giving you more value and information. That’s super fun for me. Each project and client is really unique and different at the same time and I really enjoy the diversity of challenges and projects in my role.
What are your favorite activities or hobbies to do outside of the office?
I’m a huge fan of sports, especially soccer. I haven’t found a place to play regularly yet here, but I’m eager to do so. I also like playing tennis, but I love sports in general. We live in Arlington, which is full of trails and places for biking so I really like to go for family rides and visit places. We try to leave every weekend, as we still consider ourselves "tourists" in the area, so we're getting to know every little town and places nearby in Virginia, Maryland and other areas.
What is one skillset that you'd really like to learn?
I would love to learn to code and help engineers with projects. I don’t know if I will ever achieve it, but it’s something that I’m very curious about and would love to do. Outside of work, I would love to learn how to sing. I love singing but I’m awful—I'm terrible at it. Sometimes I hear myself and I almost die when I hear myself, so I would love to learn how to sing.
Settle the debate for us. Who’s the greatest Argentinean footballer of all time? Maradona or Messi?
This is the most difficult question that you've asked me. The first thing I always say with this topic is it’s hard to compare Maradona and Messi because it’s like comparing the Beatles to Coldplay, right? Two different eras, two different historical times. It’s impossible to compare one to one due to the context. Personally for me, Maradona has always been the greatest from an epic point of view of soccer and life, right? He came from poverty to reach the highest levels of the game in a different era, much different from Messi. He did incredible things with the ball and the teams that he was playing for. Most of the teams had few resources, right? So, from the beginning to winning the World Cup with Argentina, Maradona had to struggle with a lot of challenges. With that said, Messi undoubtedly right now is the greatest of all time. He has won everything individually with every single team, including our national team. In his personal life, Messi is the perfect father, husband and son—it's great. From a purely football or soccer perspective, Messi is more physical and I think he’s faster. Maradona was a little more skillful and flashy, but not as physical. I love them both, so I don’t know, it’s difficult to say!
