Real Stories for Product Managers
Productly Speaking is where product management gets real.
While many podcasts focus on frameworks, systems, and strategy, Productly Speaking explores the human side of product work. We focus on the messy moments, quiet failures, and hard‑won lessons that surface when uncertainty grows and execution is no longer the hardest part of the job.
Hosted by Karl Abbott, each episode features candid, story‑first conversations with experienced product managers and builders who have been in the t…
Recent Episodes
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July 7, 2026
S6E1: Nobody Said No with Richard Abi Chahla
What happens when you spend eight months building something impressive, only to discover the people who promised to use it actually don't want it? Richard Abi Chahla knows that moment. The deflation. The walk back to the team. The hard conversation about wasted months and sweat equity. In this conversation, Richard shares what he learned from that 2016 failure and how he now uses AI not to build faster, but to learn faster. We dig into the messy reality of validating your riskiest assumptions fi
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May 5, 2026
S5E4: Authenticity Over 'Fake It': Lessons in Leadership and Life with Reese Gifford
At some point in your career, you have to decide who you’re going to be when things are uncomfortable. In this episode of Productly Speaking, returning guest Reese Gifford joins Karl Abbott to talk about authenticity and humility, not as polished leadership traits, but as choices made under pressure. The kind that cost you something in the moment and only make sense later. Reese reflects on entering tech in the late 90s as a young woman with no roadmap, learning early that preparation wasn’t abo
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April 28, 2026
S5E3: Navigating the Complexity of Product Leadership with Rick Lewis
What if the moment everything tilts sideways at work could actually make you better at your job? In this episode, Rick Lewis sits down to talk about the messy middle of change, the kind that knocks the wind out of a team long before it becomes one of those polished “growth stories.” Rick brings stories from big reorganizations, mergers that paired frenemies into one team, and the kind of customer feedback loops that only surface after months of digging. He talks about the small, painfully human
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April 21, 2026
S5E2: Finding Balance in Product Management with Katie Tamblin
Ever had one of those weeks where the roadmap is bursting at the seams, everyone wants one more thing , and you can practically feel your balance slipping through your fingers? This conversation with Katie Tamblin goes right into that moment. Katie shares the kind of stories product people don’t usually admit out loud. There’s the time she walked into a team with seventy‑two product “priorities” taped around the room like a horror‑movie timeline and had to help the organization face the truth ab
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April 14, 2026
S5E1: From Punk Rock to Product Management with Scott McCarty
Ever wonder how a punk‑rock kid hauling amps through Midwest basements ends up helping steer one of the world’s most widely used pieces of enterprise software? Yeah… us too. In this episode, Scott McCarty invites us into the winding, deeply human story behind his career — a life that didn’t unfold in straight lines so much as heartfelt pivots. Scott shares what it felt like when the band he’d poured his whole identity into began losing steam and what it meant to walk away from a dream with no ba
March 31, 2026
Season 5 Trailer: The Human Side of Product Management
Product management gets talked about like it’s all clarity, confidence, and momentum. But most of the time, it’s not. Season 5 of Productly Speaking explores the human side of product work — authenticity, balance, uncertainty, and values. These are conversations about what product management actually feels like when things are unclear, when the roadmap breaks, or when the rules everyone repeats stop making sense. This season features conversations with Scott McCarty, Katie Tamblin, and Rick Lewi
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