10 - Shayla Hill
Shayla Hill is a Senior Design Program Manager at MongoDB
Welcome to Design People! We celebrate design people all around the world and share their inspiration, everyday essentials, and important lessons. After reading this, I hope you can learn something or at least smile 😄.
Meet Shayla
Today, meet Shayla Hill! She’s a senior design program manager at MongoDB. I’m lucky to call her my teammate and friend.
Outside of work, Shayla loves to go to concerts and plays. She’s also a huge college football fan so she’s always going to games and watching games. One of her favorite activities is taking her dog, Willow, on a really long walk to explore parks or trails.
But first, new to the term design program management? Here’s how Shayla explains this concept to her family.
“I like to explain program managers as the conductor of an orchestra, or the navigator of a ship, or an architect. We strategize how to get the work done and manage all the operational pieces to support the team so they can actually do the work.
Take the ship analogy - we tell the crew where we’re going and what we might encounter, make sure everyone’s rowing in the same direction, and help overcome obstacles to stay on path.”
Shayla’s Journey to Design Program Management
Shayla’s journey did not start out in program management, but actually account management in advertising.
“I graduated with a degree in marketing. I thought I would work in corporate. But, I graduated in the middle of a recession so it was really hard to find a job. I ended up taking an internship that referred me to an advertising agency.
I started out on the account side as a liaison between the clients and the team. But, I realized I didn’t want to be the face to the client. Not only was it stressful, but I also felt unauthentic and disinterested.”
It was actually her manager that gave her an extra push to think about switching careers. Shayla even remembers that her manager pointed out, “It sounds like what fills you up is project management.” Next, Shayla transitioned into a hybrid role as an account person and a program manager.
“In the end, I had to do both roles for a long time - over a year! I got burnt out in the agency world and went to Georgia Tech. My role was to oversee digital transformation strategy and execution. It was too technical though and I missed the UX and design side. And that’s how I wound up at MongoDB! It offered the UX side, the design side, and the opportunity to work in a product space - which is something I hadn’t experienced before.”
Shayla’s Take on the Role of a Design Program Manager
When Shayla and I talked about the role of a design program manager, we talked a lot about 3 main responsibilities: planning, recalibrating, and supporting.
Planning
“The most important, but underrated job of a design program manager is planning - like organizing tickets, mapping timelines, or managing bandwidth. A lot of what we do is behind the scenes and most of times, people don’t notice this until you don’t have someone doing those things. But honestly, that’s how you know we did a good job - things run so smoothly, that our role is invisible.”
Recalibrating
“Constant recalibrating is one of the most challenging tasks as a design program manager. You work with so many people, so many different personalities, and so many different working styles. It takes a lot of intentionality to build relationships with each person so you can build rapport, get comfortable, and get into a rhythm together.”
Supporting
“Emotional support plays a huge role in my every day. Typically, I’m in the trenches working with each person - whether that be designers or even engineers. I get to see your experience from a whole different level and go through successes, problems, or stresses with you.
In times of stresses, I try to do a lot of listening. Sometimes people just want to feel heard. Other times, people are looking for solutions and I’ll talk through possible things to try. A lot of times, it’s figuring out how to have difficult conversations.”
☀️ Q&A
What’s your biggest tip to someone who wants to make a career transition?
It’s okay to change your mind. Never feel boxed in. Even in the direction of paths in college or careers - they almost seemed linear. But, I don’t know if that’s realistic because people change their minds and get exposed to new things.
I want to make sure that people know it’s okay to change their path. The important thing is that you’re fulfilled in the work that you’re doing. Whether you’re 1 year or 20 years into your career, it’s okay to change.
No experience is ever a waste because you learn from each experience and there’s always transferrable skills. Take my account management experience for example, I learned so much about navigating relationships and communication. I use many of these skills in my every day as a design program manager.
Thanks for reading this edition of Design People! If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with a friend 😄. If you know someone you’d like to see featured next, please let me know!
- Allison