Mirrors: Olivia Holmes, Sr. Product Manager at The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
The AdaMarie Mirrors reflect back to us the many roads (often winding, never smooth) to success! Real stories of real women to see yourself reflected in. At first, you’ll see Olivia in this mirror, but eventually, we hope you’ll see yourself.
Welcome, Olivia Holmes!
Sr. Product Manager Olivia Holmes goes 'Meta' as she reflects on her career journey! From attending the Grace Hopper Conference in undergrad, coding for Apple, to now building tools to help fight infectious disease threats, Olivia recalls the diverse interests that have shaped her fulfilling career.
Getting to Know You:
Field of Work: Infectious Disease
Major/Minor: Computer Science modified with Neuroscience
Expertise In: Product Management
Current Company: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Job Title: Sr. Product Manager
One-liner about what you’re working on: My team and I build tools that help researchers detect and discover emerging infectious disease threats.
Currently geeking out over: Vintage pendant lights - I just moved into a new apartment and am on the hunt!
STEM hero (alive or dead!): Jane Goodall
Tell us about your professional journey – how did you get where you are now?
I was put on the career path that I still am on today in no small part thanks to the Grace Hopper Women in Computing Conference.
Through this conference, which I attended as an undergrad, I landed my first internship at Apple and began my software/product journey. After I graduated from college, I moved from the east coast out to San Francisco and joined Apple as a part of a rotational program for new grads. After several rotations, I landed on an iOS software development team, building applications for Apple retail stores. Because of the small size of the team and my own proclivities, I naturally took on some product owner responsibilities, which allowed me to get my first taste of what product management would be like. While, as an engineer, I loved being able to build things, after 4 years at Apple I eventually decided to make a bit of a career jump and try my hand at product management full time. At the same time, I was eager to work on a product with real social-impact and so was so lucky to find a home for this work at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative on their Infectious Disease team. Over the past 5 years, I've had the opportunity to mature my product manager skill set, learn about a field that was completely new to me (metagenomics and bioinformatics tools), and build and grow a product that empowers researchers around the world to help discover disease threats.
We’re also curious to know your personal story and upbringing. What has made you “you”?
I am originally from a small town in Connecticut. Growing up, I always loved school and loved learning (a true nerd at heart, from day one!).
While I loved my biology and math classes, I also loved my English classes and always had my nose in a book. In many ways, I think this is reflected in the work that I do now - as a product manager I get to dive deep and learn about new areas, talk to people who are experts in their field, and build something that (hopefully) makes a difference for the people doing the truly impactful work - in my current role, infectious disease researchers.
That work is inherently cross-disciplinary and allows me to tap into many of the areas I loved as a kid.
We know that real life isn’t a smooth and linear journey. What was your initiating moment that led you to your calling - can you tell us about that moment, what helped you move forward, what you learned/discovered?
I don’t think many kids have a “calling” to be a product manager when they’re growing up, and I certainly had no idea that it was even a career path. I didn’t even really know what software engineering or computer science was until I was in college.
I often didn’t know how I would use the skills I was learning or what that would look like “in the real world”, I just knew that it was something that I enjoyed learning about and doing.
Being one of very few women in my major at the time didn’t help either. The moment that I felt like I could really succeed and feel confident in my abilities was during the completion of my senior-year thesis. As a part of this project, I worked hand-in-hand with an incredible mentor, a professor in the computer science department, who helped guide and encourage me to pursue a career in this field and to do something interesting and good with my degree.
Having a champion who believed in my ability made a huge impact on me and it certainly propelled me down the path I am on today.
You’re a working woman in a performance-driven industry. Where do you find balance?
I need a healthy dose of Bravo, snuggles with my dog Goose, and long walks (preferably by a body of water!) to help me maintain balance.
If you were something in Outerspace, what would you be?
I would be Asteroid 325, the planet from The Little Prince, so that I could see 44 sunsets in a day.
Anything else you’d like to share?
There are a couple of product management resources I'll plug here because they just have such great, applicable content that is accessible at any level. The first is Lenny's Newsletter, an email newsletter that shares insightful, down-to-earth interviews with leaders in the field. The second is Reforge, an online platform that has amazing product learning resources, templates, etc. Both are great places to dive in if you are a new PM or interested in honing your skills further - I frequently reference both of them!
