Hi. I'm Lady Caladium.

That is Obviously Not my real name.

I want to have seen the faces
and know the names
of the people who know who I am.

This space exists because I am a Product Manager.
I can't help but be a Product Manager.

I see problems
and their associated solutions
all around me,
and always have.

My career has led me here,
to the intersection of my life
and my skills.

When I was in crisis,
I used Product Management
in an effort to get my shit together.

My life is the evidence it works.

Gentle Living is me
doing the same thing I always do.

Find a problem. Write it down.
Analyze it. Resolve it.
Make it sustainable. Scale it.

Technology

I spent 8 years working at technical helpdesks.
Talking with you about your critical technology failures.
Calming you, helping your mind work alongside mine.
I could not help you unless I developed this skill.

They said I was one of the best.

In the background, I was suffering, too.

I knew how to calm you,
because I knew how to calm myself.

My job was about the tech.
My work was about you.

The most fulfilling conversations
gave me opportunities
to deliver more than tech support.

I gave you the gift of human connection,
you gave me the gift of knowledge.

Scrum at Work

I was your Scrum Master for 5 years.
Now we made the tech I'd been supporting.

I learned how hard it is.
How much is asked of you.
How much is implied,
demanded without being asked.

I learned about stress,
and how it shuts off your brain.

I learned about lies
and transparency
as coping skills.

I learned so many coping skills,
including radical honesty.

I learned how to get things done
in the most challenging conditions.

Scrum doesn't work
without trust.

Trust requires safety.

Safety at work
cannot exist
when people are afraid
of losing their jobs.

But, we can be agile.

Agile Coping

I spent a year as an Agile Coach.

We were still talking about failures.
Now, they were your own.

Not just failures of technology,
failures because of your leadership.

Leadership is the most
personally vulnerable
role in business.

Every conversation,
every publication,
is judged.

Your words
have the weight
of our children's futures.

Your decisions
will inevitably
impact somebody
negatively.

At the same time,
your decisions depend
on accurate information.

But nobody gives accurate information
to anybody with that kind of power.

They're much too scared.

You are
typically
between a rock
and a hard place.

For better or worse,
I'm not scared of you.

I saw your humanity.
I nurtured you.
I helped you see reality.

You are more than your title.
You are more than your achievements.
You are more than your impact.

Your value
is in the fact
of your existence.

You are a human being.
Just like me.

Please consider
leveraging your power
in support of humanity.

Disability

I spent 3 years delivering Assistive Technology to you.

And we kept talking about failures.

This time, they weren't yours.
Not at all.

This time, you taught me
about the social model of disability.

You taught me
that barriers
are environmental
not personal.

Agile taught me about the utility of user-centered design.
You taught me about the importance of it.

You taught me
about the beautiful range
of human abilities.

You showed me I wasn't broken
in any way that meant
I could not be happy
and functional. 

I have been clinging tightly
to the gift of that knowledge
ever since.

Your support —
the direct support
of my managers
and peers
in my time of crisis
— was invaluable.

I learned so much in this role.

Thank you.

Gentle Living

This is my next chapter.
My next mission.
It blends my personal life
and my professional skills.

I'm offering this back.
To you.
To our community.

It is my gift. Your validation.
My support of you in your time of need.

This is the way forward in a time of crisis.
It is your roadmap when you don't know what else to do.
It is what I have learned, and been taught.

I also think we can change the world
by living this way.
I'm putting myself out here,
taking this risk,
because I believe in it.
Not because it's easy.

Employment

Please contact me
via LinkedIn
to discuss employment opportunities.