The product manager’s journey from Individual Contributor to Chief Product Officer

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TLDR

Kimberly Bloomston’s journey from individual contributor to Chief Product Officer at LiveRamp demonstrates the key transitions and skills needed at each level of product management leadership. Her path highlights how responsibilities evolve from hands-on product development to strategic business leadership, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning, vulnerability, and strong relationship-building skills.

Key Topics:

• Career progression stages in product management, from IC to CPO
• Transition from tactical to strategic responsibilities at each level
• Evolution of stakeholder management and leadership requirements
• Importance of vulnerability and continuous learning in product leadership
• Role of business acumen in product management success
• Critical skills needed at different career stages
• Value of cross-functional understanding and relationships
• Impact of organizational structure on product leadership
• Balance between product expertise and business leadership
• Strategies for successful career transitions in product management

Introduction

In this episode, I interviewed Kimberly Bloomston, Chief Product Officer at LiveRamp, to explore her journey from individual contributor (IC) to executive leadership in product management. Kim’s unique perspective comes from climbing every rung of the product management career ladder, experiencing firsthand the evolving responsibilities and challenges at each level.

The path from IC to Chief Product Officer isn’t just about gaining more responsibility – it’s about transforming how you think about product development, team leadership, and business strategy. Whether you’re aiming for your first product management role or setting your sights on the C-suite, understanding these career dynamics can help you navigate your own path to product leadership success.

Early Career Foundation: Building a Base for Product Leadership

Kim’s journey into product management began with an unconventional blend of philosophy and computer science studies in college. This unique combination developed both her analytical thinking skills and her ability to question assumptions – capabilities that would later prove valuable in her product career. Growing up in a tech-friendly household with an entrepreneurial father who owned retail businesses gave her early exposure to both technology and business operations.

Her first professional role was with a retail industry consulting company, where she started as a part-time employee during college. Over ten years, she rose through the ranks until everyone in the company reported to her. The company operated a software platform for their call center, managing customer communications while ensuring compliance with state regulations. As VP of Operations, Kim worked with third-party engineering consultants to improve the platform’s ROI and customer outcomes.

It was during this time that Kim discovered her passion for product management. She shared a story about finding a way to save a hundred dollars per week through code automation. When discussing this achievement with her brother, an engineer, he pointed out that what she was doing – finding ways to improve processes and outcomes through technology – was essentially product management. This revelation led her to refocus her career from general business operations to technology product management.

Key Learnings from Early Career Experience

• Cross-functional understanding: Her operational role provided valuable insights into how different business functions work together, from support and services to sales and customer success
• Business metrics expertise: Managing operations gave her deep understanding of business KPIs and how they impact different teams
• Leadership experience: Early management responsibilities helped develop crucial people skills before entering product management
• Technical foundation: Growing up with technology and working with engineering teams built technical credibility

This foundation proved instrumental in Kim’s later product management roles. Her experience managing people, understanding business operations, and working with technology teams gave her a unique perspective that many product managers develop only later in their careers. Most importantly, it sparked her passion for using technology to solve real business problems – the core essence of product management.

These early experiences highlight an important lesson for aspiring product leaders: there’s no single “right” path into product management. Whether you’re coming from engineering, business operations, or another field entirely, your unique background can provide valuable perspective and skills for a successful product management career.

Transitioning to Individual Contributor (IC) Product Manager

Kim’s entry into product management came with a unique twist – she stepped down from an executive role to become a senior product manager. While most product managers work their way up to leadership positions, she chose to start fresh in a role that would let her work directly on product development.

As a new product manager, Kim faced the common challenge of understanding her company’s technical landscape. She joined a facial recognition company that built hardware and software primarily for government agencies. The company wanted to expand into commercial markets, particularly retail – a perfect fit for Kim’s background. However, she still needed to learn the company’s products, technology, and internal language.

Strategies for Success as a New Product Manager

Challenge	Solution Approach
Learning Technical Language	Extensive listening in team meetings, especially scrum and QA sessions
Understanding Products	Reading documentation and sitting with different teams
Building Credibility	Being transparent about knowledge gaps while showing consistent progress
Contributing Value	Leveraging industry expertise while learning technical aspects

One of Kim’s most valuable insights was about the importance of asking “dumb questions.” She found that being vulnerable about what she didn’t know actually added value to the team. New perspectives often help challenge assumptions and bring fresh thinking to long-standing problems. Her approach was to acknowledge knowledge gaps openly while demonstrating steady progress in understanding the technical aspects of the role.

Kim developed what she called a “superpower” – the ability to remember information without fully understanding it initially, then gradually connecting the dots as her knowledge grew. She would often realize the meaning of something she’d heard weeks earlier, creating connections between different aspects of the business and technology.

Success as an IC product manager isn’t just about what you know coming in – it’s about your ability to learn, adapt, and bring new perspectives to the team. Whether transitioning from another field or starting fresh in product management, the key is to balance humility about what you don’t know with confidence in what you can contribute.

Director of Product: Expanding Scope and Influence

The transition from individual contributor to Director of Product marked a significant shift in Kim’s responsibilities and focus. After successfully bringing a retail product to market, she moved into a director role where she managed multiple product managers and took on broader strategic responsibilities. This role expanded beyond individual product features to encompass entire product lines and their impact on the business.

Key Changes in Responsibilities

• Roadmap Planning: Rather than focusing on individual features, directors need to plan comprehensive roadmaps across multiple products and teams
• Customer Engagement: More frequent and strategic customer interactions, including managing escalations and leading customer advisory boards
• Stakeholder Management: Building relationships across various organizational levels, from individual contributors to executive teams
• Revenue Focus: Greater emphasis on business outcomes and revenue impact of product decisions

One of the most significant changes Kim experienced was the depth of stakeholder alignment required. As a director, she needed to coordinate efforts across multiple engineering teams, platform teams, and both pre-sales and post-sales organizations. This led to the creation of “product success teams” – cross-functional groups that included leaders from various departments working together to ensure product success in the market.

Product Success Team Focus Areas

Area	Key Considerations
Market Strategy	Competitive analysis, opportunity sizing, pricing
Customer Success	Time to value, implementation challenges, support needs
Sales Enablement	Sales team training, market messaging, deal support
Technical Implementation	Integration requirements, scalability, maintenance

Customer interaction also evolved at the director level. Beyond handling escalations, Kim found herself hosting customer development partner groups, speaking at industry events, and participating in strategic sales calls. These interactions weren’t just about immediate product needs – they focused on building long-term partnerships and ensuring customers saw value in the product vision and roadmap.

The director role required a delicate balance between tactical execution and strategic planning. While individual contributors focus primarily on getting features right, directors need to ensure that all product initiatives align with broader business goals and market needs. This transition highlighted the importance of developing both leadership skills and strategic business acumen alongside traditional product management capabilities.

Vice President of Product: Leading Through Others

Kim described her transition to Vice President of Product as her biggest career shift. While she had previously been a VP in operations, the VP of Product role demanded a fundamentally different approach to leadership and product strategy. This position was a departure from hands-on product work to leading through others and shaping organizational direction.

Core Changes in Role Focus

Area	Key Responsibility Shift
Team Management	Leading managers instead of individual contributors
Product Vision	Developing broader organizational vision and storytelling
Financial Oversight	Managing budgets and business outcomes
Executive Engagement	Regular interaction with executive leadership

One of the most significant changes was stepping away from day-to-day product backlogs. While Kim occasionally found herself wanting to dive into tactical details, she learned that her role needed to focus on broader strategic initiatives. Her primary responsibility shifted to coaching teams, developing the practice of product management, and creating compelling narratives about the product vision that could inspire both the organization and customers.

The VP role also brought new financial responsibilities and accountability. While Kim didn’t directly own a P&L, her compensation structure became tied to business outcomes such as profitability, product growth, and customer satisfaction metrics. This alignment of incentives with business results changed how she approached product decisions and strategy development.

Key Success Factors at VP Level

• Storytelling Ability: Developing skills to communicate product vision effectively to diverse audiences, from development teams to executive stakeholders
• Strategic Thinking: Moving beyond individual product features to focus on portfolio-level decisions and market positioning
• Business Acumen: Understanding and influencing key business metrics, including revenue growth, customer retention, and profitability
• Leadership Development: Building and coaching a team of product managers and directors to execute effectively

The role also required a different approach to stakeholder management. Instead of working primarily with individual contributors, Kim needed to build strong relationships with other executives and senior leaders across the organization. This meant developing the ability to influence without direct authority and align different departments around common goals and objectives.

Chief Product Officer: Leading at the Executive Level

Chief Product Officer (CPO), Kim’s current role, brings new challenges and responsibilities at the executive level. As a member of the executive leadership team at LiveRamp, her focus has expanded beyond product organization to encompass overall business stewardship and strategic direction.

Executive Leadership Responsibilities

Responsibility Area	Key Activities
Board Engagement	Regular reporting, strategic updates, vision alignment
Business Leadership	Contributing to overall company strategy and direction
Shareholder Relations	Public company responsibilities and investor communication
Executive Team Collaboration	Cross-functional strategic planning and execution

Kim’s primary team is the executive leadership team rather than just the product organization. This shift required viewing herself as a business leader first and a product leader second. Her role involves not just leading product strategy but contributing to all aspects of business operations and growth.

The position demands a comprehensive understanding of business operations across all functions. Kim explained that being a CPO means having both the right and responsibility to identify challenges and opportunities throughout the organization, not just within product development. This systemic view helps ensure alignment between product strategy and overall business objectives.

Organizational Structure Insights

Based on her experience, Kim shared valuable insights about product organization structure:

• Direct CEO Reporting: Product leadership should report directly to the CEO to ensure proper strategic alignment
• Engineering Alignment: In some cases, combining product and engineering under a Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) role can be beneficial
• Business Integration: Product organization should be structured to facilitate close collaboration with all business functions
• Leadership Development: Focus on developing strong product leaders at all levels of the organization

The CPO role represents the evolution from product leadership to business leadership, requiring a delicate balance between maintaining product excellence and contributing to overall business success. It demands the ability to think systematically about the business while ensuring the product organization remains effective and aligned with company goals.

Key Success Factors Across All Levels: Leadership Lessons and Best Practices

Throughout our conversation, Kim emphasized several critical factors that contributed to success across all levels of the product management career ladder. Her insights revealed that while technical skills are important, the ability to learn, adapt, and build strong relationships often determines long-term success in product leadership roles.

Essential Skills for Product Leadership Success

Skill Area	Impact on Success
Vulnerability	Enables learning, innovation, and authentic leadership
Failure Management	Promotes learning and creative problem-solving
Continuous Learning	Supports adaptation to new roles and challenges
Relationship Building	Facilitates cross-functional collaboration and influence

Critical Success Behaviors

• Embrace Learning Opportunities: Actively seek new challenges and be willing to step outside your comfort zone
• Build Strong Relationships: Invest time in understanding different functions and building trust across the organization
• Celebrate Failures: View failures as learning opportunities and encourage teams to take calculated risks
• Maintain Curiosity: Stay interested in both technical and business aspects of product development
• Practice Authentic Leadership: Lead with transparency and create safe spaces for innovation

Another key insight was the importance of understanding business fundamentals at every level. Whether as an IC or CPO, having a clear grasp of how different business functions operate and contribute to success helps product leaders make better decisions and build more effective relationships across the organization.

Conclusion

Kim’s journey from philosophy major to Chief Product Officer demonstrated that success in product management isn’t about following a predetermined path – it’s about continuously learning, adapting, and growing while staying true to core principles of innovation and customer focus. As Kim’s experience showed, each level brings new challenges and opportunities, requiring different skills, perspectives, and approaches to success. While technical knowledge and product expertise form the foundation, long-term success depends increasingly on leadership ability, strategic thinking, and business acumen as you progress up the career ladder.

For product managers aspiring to advance their careers, the key takeaway is the importance of continuous learning and adaptation. Whether you’re just starting as an IC or preparing for an executive role, focus on developing both the hard and soft skills needed for the next level while maintaining curiosity and openness to new challenges. Remember that there’s no single “right” path to product leadership – your unique experiences and perspectives can become valuable assets as you progress in your career. The most successful product leaders combine strong technical and business knowledge with the ability to build relationships, foster innovation, and drive organizational success through authentic leadership.

Useful links:

• Learn more about LiveRamp
• Connect with Kim on LinkedIn

Innovation Quote

“So many leaders fail to realize that without vulnerability there is no creativity or innovation. Why? Because there is nothing more uncertain than the creative process, and there is absolutely no innovation without failure.” – Brené Brown

Application Questions

1. How could you use Kim’s insights about vulnerability and “asking dumb questions” to create a more innovative culture within your product team? Consider specific situations where being more open about knowledge gaps might lead to better outcomes.
2. What steps could you take in your current role to develop the skills needed for your next career move in product management? Think about the gaps between your current responsibilities and those of the next level up.
3. How could your team implement some version of the “product success teams” concept Kim described? Consider which stakeholders you would include and what specific challenges this cross-functional approach might help solve.
4. Looking at your current approach to stakeholder management, how could you expand or modify your relationships to better align with the next level of product leadership? Think about which relationships might need more development.
5. Based on Kim’s experience with balancing metrics and strategic thinking, how could you adjust your current focus to better demonstrate business impact while maintaining strong product leadership? Consider what metrics you might need to pay more attention to.

Bio

Kimberly Bloomston is Chief Product Officer at LiveRamp where she heads the company’s global product organization with an emphasis on cloud infrastructure growth. Kimberly previously served as LiveRamp’s Senior Vice President of Product, Vice President of Core Platform and Data Marketplace and Head of Product, Data Marketplace and Application Experience.

With over 15 years’ of experience leading product management and business operations, Kimberly spearheads strategic initiatives that focus on maturing and expanding solutions in the midst of market and company transformation. She has held executive roles leading product, design and operations across a variety of software companies and industries, including higher education, security and data enablement. Kimberly has also led sales, partner programs, managed services and customer success over the course of her career. Prior to LiveRamp, Kimberly served in leadership positions at Ellucian, Digital Signal Corporation and The Zellman Group.

Kimberly loves tackling hard problems and is passionate about design thinking, storytelling, collaboration and enabling product operations to scale and grow a business. She resides in California with her family where she enjoys exploring the outdoors, working out in her home gym, making art and spending time with her family.

Thanks!

Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below.