Hi, I’m Jony, Product Manager at Leaf. I’m based in Newcastle, England.
I’m a multidisciplinary designer by education, having studied at Northumbria University first as an undergrad in Product Design, then as a postgraduate with a Masters in Multidisciplinary Innovation (MDI). This field interested me because it applied the problem-solving methodologies of industrial design to other complex problems outside traditional “design”. It expanded to an area where I thought I could pursue a career in, working anywhere and with anyone.
My hobbies include drawing hyper-realistic charcoal portraits, working out, and freezing my toes swimming in the North Sea.
I love a good craft beer and fish & chips by the sea.
Jony’s Leaf story
I’ve been at Leaf since the 22nd of February 2021, joining straight out of uni.
I started out as a Product Design intern, designing a prototype of a portal for the Client Delivery team to manage campaigns across multiple platforms and create reports on campaign performance.
Thinking only to be at the company for 6 months… 3 months in and I was loving it.
Then Leaf sent me a job offer to become a product manager. Not something I saw myself doing, but I was motivated by the trust and potential that they saw in me.
I have been in that role ever since and enjoyed every second.
One of the most enjoyable parts of my role is those times when the Wins channel on Slack lights up with positive feedback on a recently released feature.
Jony’s favourite projects working at Leaf
I’ve been the Product Owner for a feature called ‘Report Hub’ that will change the reporting game for our internal team and clients, by bringing both parties closer together in collaboration and communication.
Being the Product Owner has meant managing the ongoing design effort and collaborating with key stakeholders from across the company to visualise the end goal and strategise how we get there.
We recently released a beta version, which received awesome reviews from our PM team.
This embodies why I love my job and in particular this project.
Taking it from its infancy and receiving such positive reviews is a great feeling.
I also advise on the Notion project management internal system for the company. It’s fun because it got me working with others from across the business that I had not worked with before. This also gave me an opportunity to massively upskill on Notion.
Jony’s pro tips on…
Life
Trust what others see in you.
Work
My favourite company mantra – People will not always remember what you did or said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
Product Management for eCommerce
Adopt a beginner’s mindset. Approach every situation as though you’re a beginner, regardless of your experience.
Now more than ever, the requirements for performance marketing for eCommerce are constantly changing. Product must keep up as well.
Having a beginner’s mindset has helped me stay open to that change, taking very little for certain.