LaurenOutLoud

I used to be funny. Now I work in tech!

Somewhere between teaching improv and wrangling product roadmaps, I discovered that both worlds share the same beautiful chaos. Nobody has a script. We're all just getting better at working without one.

I'm an accidental Product Manager who brings an unconventional toolkit to technical challenges. I hold a Master's in Library and Information Science, two decades of diverse experience, and a background in running an improv theater.

Yep, I went from teaching people to embrace failure on stage to helping teams embrace iteration in tech. The parallels are eerily similar, just with fewer mime exercises.

Before tech, I owned and managed AdLib Theatre, a beloved improv theater in Central Florida. There, I learned that the best products, just like the best scenes, come from really listening to your audience and not being afraid to pivot when something isn't working.

These days, I'm the Head of Product at amazee.io, where I'm building our AI product portfolio from scratch. An AI Assistant built with privacy-first and open-source principles, AI infrastructure services, and evaluation systems that actually tell you if your AI is working. I'm doing this with distributed teams across three continents, limited resources, and the kind of cross-timezone, resource-constrained chaos that startup life within a company entails.

Most people followed the traditional product management path. I carved my own. Turns out reading a room transfers directly to user research. Pivoting when a scene bombs transfers to shipping fast and iterating. Getting people to say "yes, and" rather than argue about edge cases? That's just stakeholder management with better energy.

The Library Science degree taught me information architecture before it had that name. The improv theater taught me to facilitate without needing to control everything. Parenting taught me that the most creative solutions come from working around constraints you can't change.

My unconventional path isn't a fun backstory. It's why I can ship products. Plus, both fields involve me saying "yes" while internally screaming, "Oh no, what now?"

When not turning technical complexity into shipping products, I binge-read books, consume podcasts, and take long walks.

And yes, one of my greatest parenting accomplishments still stands: I taught my kids to spell using only curse words. Not all heroes wear capes! Some of us just have creative vocabulary lessons.