My first experience dealing with customers and users was conducting training on a product I had been involved in developing. The experience working with users was incredibly refreshing and interesting; I sought variety from development. But I left with a lot of questions: Why was the product in this buggy state? How come this workflow was hard to teach? Who expected the customer to support the product with a database administrator, yet had not considered it an unrealistic expectation that increased the friction of the user experience?I started to think differently about the work I was conducting, with a heightened awareness of the customer problems and desired outcomes. It was unreasonable for the product to stop working with missing data, the user doesn't know how to fix it! We don't even know if this complex capability works accurately yet we continually pitch it as a differentiator! Why are we implementing this feature when the use case won't be exercised by the market? I had adopted a Product mindset without realising it.The opportunity to then become a full-fledged Product Manager then presented itself. I leapt at it. I have had failings: diving too deep technically and micromanaging developers, thinking I could unilaterally make decisions and annoying stakeholders. I have had successes: reorganising prototypes into a new communicable brand, testing new technology and executing go-to-market. I have developed an appreciation of and relish the challenge of managing products.My current goals are about developing my craft to practise in a new environment. I'm enhancing my skill set by undertaking a Graduate Certificate in Product Management at RMIT and learning intensely about bringing that product vision to life. If you're looking for an independently driven and curious Product Manager with a diverse range of experience, I'd love to hear about how I can make an impact.