Laura Marino, Chief Product Officer for TrueAccord, started her career in civil engineering developing software for reservoir operations and hydrologic simulation. 

When she realized she truly wanted to work in software, she went back to school, got her Master’s degree in management, science, and engineering and has since managed 20 different products across all stages and led product teams in B2B software for more than 20 years. 

Laura knew she enjoyed working at companies in the growth stage, but she realized she also wanted to work for a company with a social mission. That insight led her to TrueAccord, which uses artificial intelligence in debt collection. 

She started around the time COVID-19 hit, which further prompted her to think about how she can contribute more, especially to people who were suffering a lot through the pandemic. 

Laura has watched the role of product management evolve. When she started in the industry, product management fell under marketing, or even engineering, but now she has seen it take off to a new level as people realize the role it plays. 

In this episode of People Driven Products, Laura shares insight into instilling the value of being customer-centric, how product management education is changing, and why it’s better to think about a product manager as an orchestra director — or janitor.