Her Story
About Jaci
My main area of expertise is product development, and it's such a rewarding field to be in. I get to start with just an idea of what a product could be and take it through the full life cycle of developing that product, bringing it to life, bringing it to market. It's such a treat to be able to actually see students in the classroom engage with that product and see them light up and have that light bulb moment to help spark that lifelong love of learning. The company I work for currently has over 3,500 different products, which is a mix of proprietary and partner products and a mix of hands-on equipment and curriculum products. I work very closely with our R&D team and our marketing team, and I'm very hands-on with our curriculum development. From time to time, I even put my curriculum writing hat on and author curriculum. No two days are alike - there's a lot that goes into managing the product, from answering questions about how a product will work, to warranty issues, compliancy documentation, design work, and reiteration work. I also try to carve out time every day for what's next, what's coming, what's in the pipeline.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jaci
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to just remember the cause. For EdTech, we're all here for the same cause, right? To further learning and spark a love of lifelong learning in students. But in any job, in any career, it's very possible to get bogged down by the day-to-day. Your day fills up with meetings, and it feels like you often could have just an endless list of tasks. But just get into a classroom when possible and engage with students and watch that spark. It's so invigorating, and it will fill your cup, so to speak, and give you so much drive to get back at it and start thinking of what's the next best thing and how can we tackle this problem and how can we bring this information to students in a way that just really resonates with them. So I would say just to keep your cause, your why, near and dear to you, and that will serve you so well.
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