Brigitte Gabrus

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1. Tell me a little bit about you, who is Brigitte outside of work?

I’m a born and raised Californian, who moved to Seattle almost 8 years ago. Outside of work I spend most of my time with my husband, Sean, and our goofball of a dog, Odie. He’s a mini Bernedoodle with the biggest personality and just entertains us in the most amazing ways every day. The thing I miss most about California is the sunshine, so you’ll find me sunshine seeking all summer in Seattle - whether it’s spending time on the water, camping, or just soaking up the rays in our backyard. We bought a house last year, so I’ve gotten really into interior decorating, and we also love hosting board game nights and teaching new games to our friends! I also have big feelings and big emotions, so I’ve been known to cry at commercials and feel all the feels if a close friend moves away. I used to try to suppress those emotions but I’ve learned to love that side of me!

2. What do you do for work?

I’m a Director of Product Management at Highspot - a tech startup in Seattle. In my current role, I’m working on developing a new V1 product, as well as leading a team of product managers who are building out the strategy and technical definition of feature areas for our customers. I partner heavily with design, engineering, user research, and our customer facing teams to help understand customer pain points and create impactful and innovative solutions for our customers in their day to day work life. Our company helps sales and marketing teams have the most effective customer conversations, and (shameless plug) we just raised a new funding round (Series E) and with that recent funding we have been named a ‘Unicorn’ startup, with a company evaluation of $2.3 billion.

3. As a female, what are some of the biggest obstacles you have faced within your industry?

As a woman in tech, especially a younger woman, I’m frequently surrounded by male peers who are often quite a bit more technical and more senior than I am. Additionally, in the product management role, my job is to influence and lead a team with product direction and strategy, without having ‘direct influence’ on my team (aka none of the engineers, designers, QA, or other team members report directly to the product manager). In previous roles, especially earlier in my career, I’ve been faced with comments like “well looking like that, you can’t possibly be technical, so I’ll wait to talk to someone on your team who is” or dealing with engineers who have challenged my direction because they thought I didn’t understand the technical complexity of what we were building. However, I’ve found that the company and culture you’re a part of really matters when it comes to that level of toxic masculinity, and I’m very happy that in my current role and job, it’s not something I have to deal with at all.

I also think that showing my full-self at work has been such a newfound source of pride for me. I now proudly tout my “non-engineering” background in at work now, because while I do think it’s important for product managers to work closely with engineering and learn about the technical side of their space, our main job is not to be an engineer, it’s to be a product manager - leveraging customer insight and data to lead the team on product strategy and direction. The strengths I have in my empathy and big emotions, help me connect with my customers and understand their pain points and needs. So I remind myself that I’m here to do what others on my team aren’t doing, and that’s to bring customer empathy and direction to our projects, not write the code.

4. What women in your life inspire you and why?

I’m incredibly inspired by two friends and former colleagues of mine, Teresa Thomas and Anya Stitz, as well as my sister, Emily Rapp, who are all incredible product leaders and badass women. They have taught me so much about advocating for myself, taking up space at the table, and being my true, unfiltered self at work.

5. What advice would you give to women who want to pursue a new life direction -- whether that be moving to a new city, pursuing a new career path, starting a side hustle or choosing a new major in school?

My sophomore year of college I failed a math class. It was the absolute hardest class I’ve ever taken (Part 2 of Multivariable Calculus) and it was required for my major at the time. Failing this class in hindsight was the absolute best thing that could have happened to me, because it pushed me into my new major, Cognitive Science, and gave me a newfound passion for understanding human behavior with technology. I never would have discovered Cognitive Science and I honestly don’t think I would have pursued a career in tech, had I not changed majors.

So my advice to anyone waiting to try something new, is that you’ll never have the answers you’re looking for waiting for something or someone to push you. The only way to learn what life could be like on the other side, is to do it. And I’d you fail, well, sometimes failing can be the absolute best thing that’s ever happened to you. So you might as well fail and learn instead of sitting around waiting.

6. How do you balance a job, personal life and passions? Is there such a thing as balance?

I saw something this week that really resonated with me about how we evaluate our careers or jobs. The obvious things to think about are “what is my job title/status/role?” and “what is my compensation?”. But evaluating the right job also needs to involve “What will my physical health look like?” “What will my mental health be like?” “Is this something I love doing?” along with title and compensation.

For me, my days are jam packed, and frankly I wouldn’t change that. But as soon as I log off at the end of the day, I shut my work brain off and I don’t log in again until the next morning. I think a key to this is clear communication and trust with my manager, who knows that if I can’t get to something during the day, it’s not going to get done. Because I just don’t have the capacity to work after hours when I’m so go-go-go during the day (especially in a pandemic!) So I’m able to do a job that challenges me, while still preserving and protecting my recharge time.

7. What are some ways you implement self-care?

Spending time playing with or snuggling my pup Odie is one of my favorite ways to relax! He instantly makes me forget about stressors because he demands all the attention, so I can’t help but focus on him! I also find a lot of rejuvenation from weekends away (these days, not so much) especially without cell service!

8. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders, movers and shakers?

Don’t try to fit into a mold or expectations of what you think is needed for that role or that job. Find something you enjoy doing, and bring your whole self along with you!

9. How can women advocate for each other?

Some of the people who have advocated for me and given me the most opportunities have been men, so don’t shy away from learning from a male mentor! There are so many men who want to open the door for more women in their space. Look for the ones who attend female conferences, or speak up about diversity, equity and inclusion at work, and ask for their help and support.

Also, remind yourself that if you break into that field now, every woman after you will get to see a piece of themselves in that field now, and may be more open to pursuing a career they didn’t think was possible until they saw YOU in it. That’s a pretty powerful motivator if you ask me!

10. How can women advocate for each other?

One of the ways I’m trying to do more for the women around me and in my field, is to think deeply about intersectionality and all of the different ways women face challenges - especially those who don’t have as many dominant traits as I might have. Yes, I’m a woman, but I’m also a white, straight, cis, able-bodied woman and that comes with so many privileages that other women don’t have. So for me, being involved in activities to advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in all areas, not just gender, are ways that I aim to pave a way for a more equitable future for all women.

11. What is your power color and why?

Yellow! Must be all that sunshine I miss from California, and I really just don’t think you can be mad when you’re looking at yellow, so it’s my way of bringing sunshine with me.