Caitlyn M. Smith
Frequently Asked Questions
My career path as been less of a straight line but more of a winding road with many roundabouts that have taken me to new and fun places that I never could have expected. With that said, I often get a lot of the same. about my career path and skill set, so I've answered some of them below. Have another question? Feel free to drop it in my contact form!
What does "Emmy Nominated Product Professional" mean?
It means in addition to designing and delivering ground breaking products, I've worked on a number of award winning productions! At ESPN I produced graphics packages for ESPN College Football and The Heisman Ceremony, both of which received Emmy nominations. I also worked on the Golden Globe-winning film ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ and the Annie Award-winning first season of the ‘How To Train Your Dragon: Riders of Berk’
How did you go from entertainment to tech?
While working at ESPN and DreamWorks Animation, I was surrounded by artists that were incredibly talented in their art as well as incredibly technically talented, with Masters and PhDs in Computer Science. I was deeply fascinated by this nexus of art and science/tech and the rest is history!
Project Manager or Product Manager?
Both! I've had success in delivering results and leading teams at a variety of Fortune 500 companies. I'm an experienced professional prepared to take on both responsibilities, and I come to the table with 12+ years of Project and Program Management experience, as well as 7+ years of Product Management.
How did you become a Product Manager (while being a Project Manager)?
At MARVEL I oversaw an operation that was manual, time consuming and expensive. Since many found this mandatory process painful and inefficient, I became obsessed with the idea could and should be better. This passion drove me to learn the basics of product management and create an automated system that saved the company $1M a year, reduced turnarounds by 300% and made everyone involved a LOT happier.
What tools do you know how to use?
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Atlassian JIRA
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Atlassian Confluence
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Smartsheet
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Tableau
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Workfront/Attask
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Figma
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Miro
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Lucidchart
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Google Drive/Microsoft 360
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Currently training in Azure and BI
Have you ever been a people manager?
Yes! While my previous job experience did not include formal management, multiple of my previous roles grew to include managerial duties such as managing daily workloads, annual reviews, helping contractors and interns get hired full time, help ICs navigate difficult situations/relationships or having career planning discussions.
Why did you leave Disney?
When I chose to leave Disney, I was doing Product Management duties in addition to my job for close to 3 years. I realized that the things that made me the most excited to go to work in the morning were on the Product Management side of house. Unfortunately there wasn't space in the organization to pivot, so I had to go outside of Disney to pursue my passions. That said, I'm always open to work for the Mouse again!
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What kind of products have you worked on?
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Mobile apps/apps with physical tie ins/components
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SVOD apps on mobile, web and connected devices
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Website CMS systems
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Desktop web, mobile web and mobile app e-commerce
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B2B and B2C subscription models
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Fintech web and desktop clients.