Balancing Engineering Management, Side Hustles, and Porsches with Kelly Vaughn

We all have at least one friend who somehow finds enough hours in a day to have a full-time job and take on several side projects. How can you successfully juggle a career, side hustles, and make time for your passions?

Kelly Vaughn, Engineering Manager at Spot AI, has some thoughts. She is leading a diverse, fully remote, global team that spans from California to India. Kelly keeps her management style flexible to account for the quirks and personality types of her team. When she's not steering the ship at Spot AI, she's advising several startups and working as a consultant. Despite doing it all, she finds time for reading, cycling, and her passion for Porsches.

In this episode, Kelly talks to Chuck and Robbie about her experience leading diverse global engineering teams from agencies to SaaS companies, juggling several side hustles, and collecting Porsches. 

Key Takeaways

• [01:22] - An intro to Kelly Vaughn.
• [02:16] - A whiskey review - Barrell Craft Spirits Grey Label Dovetail 15.
• [09:07] - Kelly's current roles at Spot AI and her projects.
• [12:23] - The difference between leading teams in an agency versus in a corporate environment.
• [19:26] - What are the challenges of managing an international team?
• [22:26] - What's Kelly's favorite leadership book?
• [26:40] - Kelly speaks about her love of the Porsche Brand.
• [44:25] - Kelly talks about her cycling challenge for childhood cancer research.

Quotes

[13:37] - "The speed at which you work at an agency versus a SaaS company is vastly different because of the way that you're working. You're working with multiple clients directly versus having any number of customers." ~ Kelly Vaughn [https://twitter.com/kvlly]

[16:26] - "I think what's important to remember is when you're looking for metrics for growth, you need to look beyond just the quantitative metrics and really find a way to measure the qualitative metrics as well." ~ Kelly Vaughn [https://twitter.com/kvlly]

[21:59] - "What I'm doing to manage Team A is not going to be what I need to do to manage Team B. Finding out those differences and the personality quirks is what I've been focusing on so I can make sure they get what they need, in the structure they need it." ~ Kelly Vaughn [https://twitter.com/kvlly]

Links

• Kelly Vaughn Twitter [https://twitter.com/kvlly]
• Kelly Vaughn LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyvaughn/]
• Spot AI [https://www.spot.ai/]
• Barrell Craft Spirits Grey Label [https://www.barrellbourbon.com/barrellcraftspirits]
• Sherwin Williams [https://www.sherwin-williams.com/]
• Porsche [https://www.porsche.com/]
• George Stag Jr [https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/our-brands/stagg/stagg-jr.html]
• First 90 Days [https://hbr.org/books/watkins]
• Acotar [https://www.goodreads.com/series/104014-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses]
• Book of the Month [https://www.bookofthemonth.com/]
• Barbarians at the Gate [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/781182.Barbarians_at_the_Gate]
• The Big Short [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26889576-the-big-short]
• Michael Lewis [https://www.michaellewiswrites.com/]
• The Premonition [https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56790170-the-premonition]
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21343.The_Five_Dysfunctions_of_a_Team]
• Spanish Love Deception [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54189398-the-spanish-love-deception]
• Astro [https://astro.build/]