About Me
How it All Started… Way Back When…
It all started when Ms. Clement, my Grade 5 teacher, gave us a school planner that had the 5 days of the school week on 2 pages. My job was to write down homework assignments due dates and upcoming tests and quizzes. I didn’t stop there though! By Grade 7, that was my default mode of operation and this habit was fully formed. I bought planners that would have one page per day to outline all the activities I had and all the work I needed to do. They helped me organize my life! Through high school and university, I was planning events for charities, started not-for-profits to raise awareness on social issues, worked with NGOs, and became a board member for a few of them.
It wasn't until I started working for a for-profit corporation that I learned about “project management,” and realized that all those things I had been doing for events and causes were project management-based. My manager, Paul Locke, took a chance on his naive intern and allowed me to go to a 3-day workshop on project management and let me take on project management tasks for several initiatives within our team. The 3-day course was way too overwhelming, so I paid out of pocket for a 3-month course that taught the fundamentals and provided toolkits for project managers. Wow, did I learn a lot this time! I realized that I knew some of the basics of project management through trial and error of past projects, but now I could refine my technique using a known methodology. Even more eye-opening was that I came to truly comprehend why some of my projects had failed! I took all this knowledge and lexicon back to work and started working for and with great project managers. This gave me the opportunity I needed to build my own experience at a corporate level.
Project Management in the Corporate World
I was in tech project management for over 12 years. From tactical project management (features developed in teams in a rinse-and-repeat fashion) to strategic projects (program management) which is where my passion lies. I’ve worked at 2 companies on almost 30 projects and successfully helped teams deliver their products while managing both up and down the corporate hierarchy.
If it's not clear by now, I love project management! I get to see everything from a bird's eye view, tackle problems, and unblock teams to deliver. I run projects with a deep sense of ownership and not just as a facilitator of events. I’m a type-A or a strong D personality, so my articles will be direct. The way I approach solutions is not the only way of doing things, and there are plenty of other great ways of achieving similar results.
Where am I Now?
I decided to stay home with my kids after my husband and I exhausted our parental leave. Am I still project managing? Well, you can take the project manager out of the organization, but you can’t take the project management mindset out of the person! I currently manage our home - a few examples include renovations, massive amounts of de-cluttering, growing organic vegetables and practicing sustainable gardening, property management, planning vacations, finances, budgeting, and coming up with Montessori-type learning for my kids. I stay on top of all of this using various tools (stay tuned for a blog post!), but it is definitely managed! I have To-Do lists, personal OKRs, and project boards for me and my husband to run our lives.
Yes, I can go overboard, and I’ve learned to ease up when it comes to my personal life because trying to project manage a family can lead to frustration all around. My expectations have relaxed so that there is a good balance of happiness and productivity. I have also become kinder to myself in this process of growth.
Writing this blog is my “me time”. It started as 15-minute chunks a day - that’s all I could afford with the kids at home full-time. Now, as both the kids have started school, I have a bit more time for writing these blog posts. When I go back to work, I’m hoping to continue writing these articles as a way to keep educating myself about project management best practices.
A Few Thank You's
Many people have supported me throughout this journey, but I would like to mention a select few who have helped me kick this off the ground.
First of all, I would like to thank Detan Oyedele for inspiring me to start this blog (she has a podcast around product management so go listen to it next!). I had an idea of creating and teaching a project management course, but it felt too ambitious for the time and energy I wanted to allocate at this time. It was with Detan's guidance that I started writing a blog as a potential precursor to a course.
All the editors for my initial launch of the blog - thank you!! Thaththa (which means father in Sinhalese), for the lifelong guidance and for whom I owe all my early project management insights. He taught me from a very young age to be organized, to strive to be my best, and most importantly to always lead with compassion. Irene Schleicher, who motivated me to turn my intentions into actions, gave invaluable advice and has always been a voice that I truly respect and admire. She has diligently edited my first round of articles. C-Fox (Catherine Fox), a friend and mentor whom I respect tremendously, took the time to review and edit the first version of the articles and helped me find my writing voice. Finally, to my husband, the love of my life, my technical sounding board, the person who encouraged me to take a risk on myself and pursue this project, and the person who has always supported me throughout whatever I do in life.
Thank you to all who have helped and continue to inspire me in all that I do! <3