From Testing to Building

I’ve always been obsessed with shipping great products. Starting as a QA, I loved digging into testing frameworks and being the one to spot and sniff out the bugs no one else saw. There’s a thrill in being the last line of defense, the one who catches the glitch before it hits the wild. But after a while, that spark began to fade. I felt like I was on the sidelines, ticking boxes and filing reports instead of shaping what we were building. Craving more say, more impact. Honestly, I’d go to bed frustrated, feeling like I hadn’t made anything that day, itching to create something instead of just breaking it. I wanted to feel relevant.

I wanted more say, more impact. I wanted to feel relevant.

Don’t get me wrong, Being a QA at a Tech company was a goldmine, though. I got to peek behind the curtain, seeing how products come to life, from planning to coding and launching.

But my role? It was quiet, too quiet. Most days were just, 'I tested this today, I’ll test that tomorrow.' It started to feel small. I knew I needed to step up and create, not just critique. I knew I had more to give. That’s when I picked up books like Good Strategy, Bad Strategy, Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, and The Product Book. They flipped a switch; I started learning how to think product-centric and how to ask the right questions about users and vision, not just bugs.

For months, I soaked up everything I could about product management, studying the ropes, digging into roadmaps, and piecing together what makes a product tick. Then came the real pivot, I began juggling QA and PM duties. Suddenly, I wasn’t just poking holes; I was in the mix, building from the ground up. That shift fused my QA instincts with a creator’s lens, and it was a game changer. It’s like I’ve unlocked a new level of understanding.

Now, 36 days into my role as a product manager with a tester’s eye, it’s been nothing but amazing. I lean on my QA roots to catch bugs early and keep quality tight, but it’s bigger than that. I get what makes a product tick, what users need, and how to steer it from scratch to ship and I’m loving every second. I’m not just the bug hunter anymore; I’m crafting the whole thing.

Here’s to building products that matter, one step and one less bug at a time.