Conversations With Black Product Managers: Sayo Hassan Of Neo Financial

Originally published on Medium by Glenesha Grant as part of her "5 Coffees, 5 Days w/ Black Product Managers" series.

Our third feature is with Sayo Hassan, Product Manager @ Neo Financial.

Sayo Hassan is a part of the Product team at Neo Financial (currently on maternity leave) as a Product Manager. Before she went on maternity leave, she worked on the Accounts team (i.e. Credit + Savings account).

I started by asking questions to learn more about Sayo’s story and her journey into the product management field as a Black professional.

G: Can you describe your journey into product management? How did it start and what’s next for you?

S: My journey into product management started at a commercial bank in Nigeria called Sterling Bank, where I worked with Product Managers in the banking space. Specifically on the mobile app.

Before I got my PM role, I worked as a Revenue Reporting Officer and did stuff like review yearly financial goals and so on. But I got a chance to see how the product team, specifically the PMs on the payment cards team, interact with vendors and collect customer feedback as an example.

And it had really intrigued me, so when the opportunity arose for me to become a PM on that team. I took it.

Then I moved to Canada, where I now work at Neo Financial. It is a Canadian fintech start-up that is growing massively. And what I noticed compared to my time as a PM at my previous role is that the pace is different at Neo Financial.

It’s a start-up so the pace is much faster, and it took me some time to get used to that pace, but what I learned at Neo Financial in two years, would have probably taken me like 5-6 years to learn it at other organizations.

As for what is next for me, I’m currently on maternity leave, so I have a lot of time to work on the gaps I’ve identified and the work I need to do to strengthen my PM skills to make myself a more confident and stronger Product Manager.

G: If you have been a part of product management communities, how has being a part of them helped your career?

S: I think communities are amazing because depending on how invested you are and depending on how much time you have; you can gain a lot and you can also give a lot back.

I was a part of Product Calgary, which helped me get my job at Neo. Before COVID, they used to have in-person gatherings and I would go to the talks they had to listen to product leaders who had tons of product experience. And then shortly after the talks, people would get a chance to interact in a room for networking.

That’s where I met my colleague during a talk that featured the former VP of Netflix.

I had a job but wanted to change jobs into product and my colleague had mentioned the start-up he worked at was hiring, from there I got a chance to meet and network with other people on the team, got a chance to be interviewed, and then got the job at Neo.

So, I think PM communities are amazing because even if you aren’t looking for a job at the moment, they can help you network and support you during your job search.

They can be powerful in changing your career and empowering you.

G: What is one innovative thing you are seeing changing in the product management field in the next 5–10 years?

S: I’ve been out of the loop for a little bit cause I’ve been home for the past three months, but an interesting thing that I see my company doing in this field is using frameworks for our products.

We have lots of new products because we are building things from the ground up. Frameworks help give us a 360-degree view of our products. It influences the direction of design, development, infrastructure and so much more.

Outside of my company, I am really curious about the metaverse. Like what does it mean for product and does everybody have to have a stake in it? Especially because we have seen how powerful technology can be and you have to pay attention to all of those things happening within the tech space and its impact on digital products.

G: In your opinion, why do you think we aren’t seeing as many Black men and women in tech as we could?

S: I think there is bias, but what I’m going to answer is not the why, but what Black professionals can do to not be ignored.

For instance, I like what you are doing in terms of putting yourself out there and reaching out to people in the product space.

It’s about reframing your mindset on what you can do to ensure you get into that space. I know that there is bias and unfortunately the world is not a perfect place, but Black professionals in tech and who want to get into tech, can take the necessary steps to ensure that their skill level is at industry standard, try to upskill themselves, network and really just put themselves out there for people to see you.

I truly believe that no matter the race, people will become curious about you once you start to put yourself out there and make your voice be heard and seen.

Make yourself a killer resume that highlights your transferable skills to a PM role and network a lot on LinkedIn, or even join a community that will help you in your product journey.

And finally, I’ll say just apply. It will never hurt to apply as you may never know what the outcome could be.

Advice for aspiring Black Product Managers

With her amount of product experience, I thought it would be beneficial to hear some advice Sayo would have for aspiring Black Product Managers who want a career in tech.

G: What sort of advice would you give to someone that wants to shift careers into product management without a tech background?

S: No matter what you are doing, as long as you are working whether it be at work or even in school, there are always skills that are transferable to roles in tech. You just need to sit down and look at the skills that are needed for product management and then link up what you have done in the past to match those skills.

You can get a side hustle or project to try to gain product experience too. And it doesn’t even have to be about building a product. You could have a blog where you use your writing skills to write about topics happening in the PM field or things that interest you.

Also, volunteering or internships are a great way to break into product. You can get a volunteer role in product design, QA, product marketing etc. Essentially, any roles that work hand in hand with PMs.

Make yourself a killer resume that highlights your transferable skills to a PM role and network a lot on LinkedIn, or even join a community that will help you in your product journey.

And finally, I’ll say just apply. It will never hurt to apply as you may never know what the outcome could be.

G: What sort of advice would you give to Black men and women interested in a career in product management, but don’t see themselves represented in tech companies?

S: Representation is powerful however if you want to get into a space where you don’t see people like yourself, try not to let that stop you, try and look for people that are passionate about helping people like you and reach out.

For instance, you may not know someone like yourself in product but you may know a Black recruiter who is passionate about hiring into product spaces. Try to form a relationship with them because it can help you get your foot in the door.

There are lots of people who are passionate and working to help Black professionals break into this space, so it’s important to reach out to those people.

Originally published on Medium by Glenesha Grant as part of her "5 Coffees, 5 Days w/ Black Product Managers" series.  Find more interviews from the series here.