Oct 28 2024 42 mins
Today, I'm connecting with Jackie Rabec, Product Manager at Google. Jackie’s product leadership story is all about transitions—from corners of the globe to non-linear career paths and reframing impact beyond just our work. In our conversation, we discuss: The importance of “doing your homework”; Growing up in South Africa and following her mother’s path into medicine; Definitive decision-making versus directional decision-making and how it guided her transition from medicine to tech and product; Visualising your career as a pond of lily pads; Her journey from being the first PM at Heidi Health to a non-health tech product role at Google; Moving from the balcony to the dance floor and back again as a product leader; Lessons from transitioning from a 40-person startup to a global corporation; How to avoid overcomplicating product by indexing on three things; Her vision to improve healthcare access and delivery in low-income countries and under-resourced communities in countries like Africa.
Find Dr Jackie Rabec:
Dr Jackie’s Northstars and Frameworks:
- The Balcony and the Dance Floor
- Lenny’s podcast
- Tim Ferriss
- Kirsten Mann (Chief Product Officer at Prospection)
- Peter Cronin (Founder and Director at Prospection)
- Paul Redfern (Chief Product Officer at Big Picture Medical)
- Dr. Thomas Kelly (CEO and Co-Founder at Heidi Health)
- Waleed Mussa (CFO and Co-Founder at Heidi Health)
- Yu Liu (CTO and Co-Founder at Heidi Health)
- Trung Ton (Partner at Foundry Health)
ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch:
- So good we named him twice: Paul Redfern (Chief Product Officer at Big Picture Medical)
- Eliza Hillary (Senior UX Designer at RACV)
Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show?
Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.
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A note from your host, Laura:
My goal for Calling Operator 2.0 is to open-source stories with startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people tackling similar challenges. I want this podcast to open a line for operators in Australia and New Zealand to learn from each other—diving into the execution behind big ideas, pivotal career moments, successes, failures, lessons and personal stories.