Tamarra Billings, MBA, CSPO
Tamarra Billings, MBA, CSPO is a seasoned product executive and Director of Product Management, Innovation & Growth at SiriusXM Connect. With more than three decades of experience, she has built a career defined by reinvention, resilience, and results. Tamarra began her professional journey in 1996 with Electronic Data Systems (EDS, now part of HP), working in finance and accounting on global project teams that took her to Australia, Toronto, and extended assignments across multiple regions. While in finance, she became inspired by the project managers who had visibility across every dimension of execution. Determined to expand her impact, she found a mentor and enrolled in graduate school at night—attending classes three evenings a week and Saturdays for three years—while working full-time to earn her MBA in Small Business and Entrepreneurship from Howard University.
After completing her degree, Tamarra relocated from Washington, DC to Texas and transitioned into a product role at Singular Wireless, which later became part of AT&T. Entrepreneurial at heart, she simultaneously pursued her dream of opening a maternity boutique and spa in North Dallas, motivated by her own experience of wanting to feel confident and stylish during pregnancy. She gained hands-on retail experience by working part-time at a mall while launching and operating the boutique for three years. Following personal life changes, she made the difficult decision to close the business and pivoted again—entering the buyer’s program at NeimanMarcus.com, where she stood out as a mid-career professional among recent graduates. She later joined a small covers company that allowed her to travel again, and as a mother of two, she intentionally leaned back into product-focused roles, reestablishing her career in digital and eCommerce leadership.
Tamarra’s return to product leadership began at American Airlines, followed by a move to AT&T Digital in downtown Dallas. She then joined Hilton Worldwide, where she worked on digital check-in and digital key mobile applications—an experience she describes as one of the most rewarding of her career. In 2019, a former colleague recruited her to SiriusXM to help strengthen Agile Scrum practices and bridge the gap between customer requirements and technical execution. She joined as a Senior Product Management Consultant, moved across multiple teams, and steadily advanced into senior leadership. Recently promoted to Director, she now leads a team of six to eight professionals focused on launching connected app experiences, developing forward-looking product roadmaps, and navigating constant organizational change. Known for protecting her team from internal politics while keeping them motivated and customer-focused, Tamarra combines strategic clarity, technical fluency, and entrepreneurial grit to build scalable digital platforms that drive meaningful growth.
• Product Strategy
• The George Washington University - MBA
• Howard University - BBA Finance
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy, Inc.
What do you attribute your success to?
I have a very strong faith, and I've had a lot of loss in my life growing up. I have a lot of people no longer here, and then those that I've given birth to that I want to make proud. That's the motivator. Going to Howard University and completing my MBA while working full-time taught me the point of resilience and that I can do anything. It taught me to be collaborative and be more empathetic to working with other people, and that has really helped me navigate some of the things that I've gone through. I believe that giving yourself grace and allowing yourself to pivot has been a superpower. I'm a Type A personality, and I believe if I do all the things you tell me to do, steps 1 through 10, I'll probably add a few more after that. But I've learned to separate myself from that as I've gotten older and more mature. I would absolutely tell people that you work towards something, but if you see it's not working, have grace with yourself and just pivot. It's okay. It's not quitting, it's part of the growth.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Tamarra has been influenced by mentors and leaders who modeled strength, faith, and perseverance. She credits the individuals who guided her through career transitions and supported her educational pursuits as instrumental in shaping her leadership style and long-term aspirations.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I have so many words I could say, but I believe truly that give yourself grace and allow yourself to pivot. That has been a superpower. You gotta allow yourself to pivot. I am a Type A personality, clearly, and I believe if I do all the things you tell me to do, steps 1 through 10, I'll probably add a few more after that, and then you tell me whatever it is that guidance had mentioned, but I need to do this, and I do that, unfortunately, in my personal life too. But I'm separating myself from that. I'm older, more mature, and I would absolutely tell them that you work towards something, but if you see it's not working, have grace with yourself, and just pivot. It's okay. It's not quitting. No, it's not. And that's part of the growth.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
We have recently reorganized to a different swim lane type of structure, and my area is focused on launching an app with a brand new team of 6 to 8 people. The biggest challenge is keeping them motivated, focused, and collaborative with something that has had some missteps to get launched. I'm in the process of developing a product roadmap for the year, but it appears to be, on a regular basis, that the roadmap has some inputs from leadership saying do this, change this, even though we agreed on it. So it's a constant evangelizing of what the message is that I have lined up, not just the product roadmap in theory, but actual product development and product enhancement and building products that are preventative. If we keep poking at the roadmap, the vision looks incoherent. While I say that to my own team, I'm having to say that to leadership, which is great because they're very open to it, but it is a constant thing. I'm also working with a few people who have just kind of a historical culture, and it's very hard for them to change. So it is a lot of repeating and just keeping them motivated and keeping them focused on the thing and not the noise.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I have a very strong faith, and that's central to everything I do. I've had a lot of loss in my life growing up, and I have a lot of people no longer here, and then those that I've given birth to that I want to make proud. That's what motivates me. I value resilience and perseverance, which I learned through completing my MBA while working full-time. That experience taught me that I can do anything and to be collaborative and more empathetic to working with other people. I believe in giving yourself grace and allowing yourself to pivot, because growth is rarely linear. I'm passionate about mentorship and giving back, particularly coaching college students about how to navigate that transition from undergrad to the real world. I'm looking forward to having more time to pour into young leaders and to formalize that work. As a single mom with two seniors right now, my son graduating from Princeton in May with an economics degree and my daughter graduating from high school, having these two beautiful people about to leave the nest and go fly is everything I'm doing right now. Family is incredibly important to me.
Locations
SiriusXM Connect
Mckinney, TX 75072