In this interview, product manager Dina recounts her journey from feeling chronic imposter syndrome after transitioning from quality assurance to product ownership, to achieving an out‑of‑cycle promotion and a significant pay raise through Lynne Levy’s Inspired Product Leader program. Dina explains three core practices she adopted: (1) reflective note‑taking after each day’s mistakes to plan improvements, (2) rapid trigger‑management techniques that let her reset within seconds during meetings, and (3) a pre‑meeting ritual of power posture and energizing music to project confidence. These habits transformed how colleagues perceived her, boosted her confidence, and contributed to a promotion to a higher grade level, positioning her for future senior leadership roles. Dina also notes a healthier work‑life balance, less anxiety, and recommends the program for anyone seeking a holistic, leadership‑focused approach to product management beyond technical skills.
Chapters
Dina, it's so good to see you. How are you?
I'm excellent. How about you, Lynne?
I'm fabulous. So thank you for doing this. I appreciate it.
Of course, anytime. Any good feedback I've gotten is because of your program.
So, so let's go through. So when you— when we first met And we had our first conversation. What made you decide to invest in yourself and your product management career?
So 5 years ago, I transitioned from quality assurance to becoming a product owner and then to product management. And even though I was very passionate about the role I played and I loved working with the team. I always felt like I had that imposter syndrome and my 360 feedback was always that I lacked my confidence. Um, and I think to improve on that feedback and get to the next level of promotion, I needed to feel like I was contributing. I was kind of, even though I was contributing, but I felt like I wasn't contributing and I needed that confidence to go up.
Right.
And, um, that was one of the reasons why I actually joined your program.
And then what were, so you went through the program, you had such amazing transformation. What were some of the key learnings you took from it and how did you apply them at work?
So one, there are tons of Kajabi modules that you have are so useful from product management side, from leadership. But the 3 things that I can tell you is one that you shared with us to reflect, reflect, reflect, and don't get bogged down on what went wrong today, but just noted down that something went wrong today. And how you can improve on it tomorrow. So, you know, with everybody being virtual, I would say I probably have like 10 to 12 meetings a day, and I probably screw up 3 that I know of in a day for sure. But rather than just getting upset about it, I make a note of it. And then at night I come up with a plan on how I'm going to improve on it.
Excellent.
For the week, for the day. And I think you encouraged us to do that. Your program encourages us to do that. The second thing that I learned is I was always triggered, possibly because of this imposter syndrome. And you actually gave us techniques to get out of that scarfed phase or triggered phase in a meeting. And I can actually do that now in like a good 10 seconds. And good.
Yes.
Worse. It's like it's 30 seconds. But just because I snap out of it, I can take control of the meeting again.
There we go.
It just makes such a big difference in the way people view me and how they see my confidence again. It's not like, oh, the meeting just went all downhill because I was triggered. The third one is just showing that confidence. And this was so silly, but you use this in every meeting of yours, right? You start your meetings, group meetings with what is your power posture? What is your power pose? And you use the music to pump you up. And I use that before I go into my meetings, especially if I'm feeling like afternoon slump or I'm like really nervous about a presentation. I prepare ahead of time, and I think that makes a big difference in people seeing it as my confidence. And in fact, some of the team meetings, we've actually started playing some music.
Oh, right.
Our engineering team was really shy, and now we, like, you know, start with the music and everybody's excited and everybody's contributing to the meeting.
Yeah. And it makes a difference.
It does. It does bring up the energy level for everybody.
Absolutely. Holy cow. That's awesome. So tell me, you finished the program and tell us what happened then.
So I'm definitely more confident. People view me more confident. Um, I actually got promoted to a grade level higher and, um, that just sets me up for being a group product manager or a director. Next. So that's my next big promotion. And this promotion came out of cycle, and it came with a big pay raise, which is rare during the pandemic. And I will tell you the specific feedback that I got from two people in my 360 review that said, Dina has actually changed in the last six months. Wow. And these people didn't know anything about the fact that I had worked with them previously a couple of years ago. They didn't know that I was enrolled in your program. And, um, this is all— I dedicate this promotion to you, Lynne.
Oh, thank you. I'm so proud of you. You did such— you leaned into your brilliance and who you are. And took that imposter syndrome, put it on the side, and owned it.
Thank you. It wouldn't have been possible without you.
So excited for you. So have— has— tell me about home and getting rid of the anxiety and the stress. Is life better because of it?
Life is definitely more balanced than it was before. I'm actually putting away my computer for most of the weekend. I log in for about half an hour, an hour on a Sunday, but I'm not always thinking about work.
What a big deal, not always thinking about work.
And I'm also not waking up in the middle of the night sweating because I'm anxious about a presentation or something that went wrong during the day. It's— I changed my thinking completely in terms of where I need to be and how I'm getting there.
You have reclaimed your career and your life. I'm awesome. I'm so proud. Oh, so awesome. So let's say because of it, you're shining, you're glowing. Awesome. So let's say, I don't know, you're at a conference or you meet somebody on the street and they say, Listen, what's this program, the Inspired Product Leader? What would you recommend? What questions should people ask themselves?
So, do you want to be just a better product manager? What is your goal in being a good product manager? The reason the Inspired Product Leadership worked for me because you take that holistic approach of not just creating a better product manager, but how to be a better leader, how to be a better communicator, how to be a better team member. And just knowing what your role is as a product manager, and even a little thing of how should you define your MVP. How should you work with design makes such a big difference. And if, if you're just looking for a better product manager, there are lots of programs out there, but if you're looking for a holistic approach and an all-rounded approach, then the Inspired Leadership is the program for you.
Thank you. Excellent. Dina, you are such a rock star. I'm so excited to watch your journey to group, to director, to VP, and owning your brilliance. So thank you, Dina, and hopefully talk to you soon.
