INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIST & PRODUCT MANAGER

My title was Lead Trader for the Chicago branch but I was also ‘moonlighting’ by finding and fixing our inefficiencies through technological solutions. I even cut out our vendors’ representatives and worked with the developers directly.

“So you’re the product manager?” one of the devs asked me.

“No, I’m a trader. What’s a product manager?”

“Look it up, I think you’d be good at it.”

I researched it. Shortly after I assembled a YPN workshop at the firm with a Design Thinking professor from Stanford. After re-evaluating my goals and design-thinking my life, I realized the firm wasn’t prepared to give me the mentors I needed to become great at my dream job. I networked, learned what devs and PMs felt differentiated a great PM from a good PM, and decided I wanted to learn how to code.

So, I took a big risk and left a promising career behind. I went to Tokyo and joined Le Wagon’s software engineering bootcamp for entrepreneurs. We learned seven languages in nine weeks, and we each built three websites from scratch. I was obsessed.

Having proved my aptitude for tech and my willingness to take intuitive risks, I returned to NYC and immediately started working at a digital agency as the sole product owner. I wore almost every hat while I was there, worked with clients in four new industries, and often questioned whether I was cut out for Product.

After a year of intense learning, I moved into FinTech to combine the knowledge from my previous career and my new career. I was recognized as someone who sees patterns in chaos and was tasked with executing multiple mission-critical, time-sensitive products. My ability to visualize frameworks without guidance gave me opportunities to build blue-sky, AI-heavy, highly regulated Onboarding and KYC products across the US and International Private Banks. In less than four years at JP Morgan, I quickly moved up the ladder from Senior Product Manager, to Product Owner, to VP of Product. I also mentored female and non-binary founders across 16 industries (who were building towards their initial launch) through JP Morgan’s Techstars partnership.

I left JP Morgan in November 2024 due to a cultural shift and disconnect in my team, and I spent some time investing in my growth and education. I reconnected with my love of learning by brushing up on my SQL, R and French; taking Google Coursera courses; and to upping my tennis game from a level 1 NTRP to a level 3. In early 2025, I had a kismet opportunity. I met a rockstar founder while I was considering founding a company in the tourism space; she was building a new travel app with an innovative algorithm. We decided to join forces and now I’m working as Head of Product & Partnerships at Ask Alba.

If anything - I hope my story shows that your career is supposed to be exciting, it’s supposed to make you want to wake up in the morning, and it’s not a clear cut path. I’m still always looking for opportunities to learn, mentor and grow - if you think my story is in sync with yours or your needs, please reach out!

Warmly,
Sabrina