Episodes

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

AI is transforming the way we work, but building great AI products takes more than hype. In this episode of Productly Speaking , Karl Abbott talks with Dina Atia, an AI Product Manager at Microsoft, about how to navigate the ...

What if the thing you are closest to is actually what is blinding you? In this episode, Karl talks with Jake Bowen-Bate about the quiet, human challenges of building products in fast‑moving environments. Jake shares what it r...

What happens when all the advice you followed turns out to be wrong for the job in front of you? In this episode, Karl talks with Katie Tamblin about the lived reality of building products inside what she calls “chunky corpor...

Episode Summary: In this episode of Productly Speaking , host Karl Abbott sits down with Lee Fischman—seasoned developer, product manager, executive, and author of How to Excel at Digital Product Management . Lee shares decad...

Welcome to Season 4 of Productly Speaking! In this short kickoff episode, host Karl Abbott introduces the theme for the season: Why do products fail and what can we learn from those failures? We’ll explore the hidden risks, o...

Have you ever put something on a roadmap knowing, deep down, it probably was not going to happen on that date? In this episode, Karl talks with Janna Bastow about the uncomfortable truth behind most roadmaps and the moment sh...

What happens when the people building your product do not work for your company, and still feel deep ownership over every decision? In this episode, Karl talks with Reese Gifford about the lived reality of building products i...

What if being a great product manager had less to do with sounding smart and more to do with getting your hands dirty? In this episode, Karl talks with Ali Rakhimov about a product career that started far away from tech title...

What if your path into product management started behind a coffee counter, in the middle of a global pandemic? In this episode, Karl talks with Flora Taagen about a journey into product management that looks nothing like a st...

What if you were already doing product work years before you ever heard the job title? In this episode, Karl talks with Adil Hussain about a path into product management that started with a teenage side project and quietly gr...

What happens when the thing you worked so hard to build starts quietly working against you? In this episode, Karl talks with Kevin Bailey about the hidden cost of high‑growth success and what burnout really looks like when it...

What really happens when sales and product have to sit in the same room and agree on what matters? In this episode, Karl talks with Richard Cawkill about the lived reality of working at the messy, often misunderstood intersec...

What if the biggest risk to your product isn’t what you build, but how you talk about it? In this episode, Karl sits down with Austin Fuller to unpack the very human tension between product and product marketing, and why gett...

Have you ever ended a workday exhausted, knowing you were busy all day, but unsure what actually moved forward? In this episode, Karl sits down with Keith Allen Johns to talk about the invisible weight product managers carry ...

What happens when two product people stop chasing perfection and start talking honestly about the job? In this episode, Karl is joined by Evie Brockwell and Michael Palmer for a wide-ranging, refreshingly human conversation a...

What do ice skating, a broken leg, and product management have in common? In this reflective season finale, Karl and Danielle look back on the first season of Productly Speaking through a story neither of them planned to tell...

What does great product work look like when everyone actually trusts each other? In this episode, Karl and Danielle sit down with Johannes and Callum for a candid conversation about what really happens when product, design, a...

What if solving a hard product problem did not require days of meetings, just two focused hours and the right people in the room? In this episode, Karl and Danielle talk with Teresa Cain about the real moments that led her to...

What happens when you stop looking for the “right” answer and start sitting with the mess instead? In this episode, Karl and Danielle talk with John Cutler about a product career that never followed a straight line. John shar...

What does it really take to say no to a huge deal and mean it? In this episode, Karl sits down with Adam Strong for a candid, thoughtful conversation about the messy reality of product work and careers that rarely follow a st...