In 2013 Deborah took over as Director of Product Management and UX at Awin (formerly zanox). The “team” at the time was just a group of uncoordinated individuals doing their own thing, stuck in a constant loop of over-promising and under-delivering. Deborah brought structure and focus by implementing a much more collaborative product development process and a shared product strategy. In addition to that, she found a way to dedicate significant resources to product-driven innovation, which isn’t a given in a highly sales-driven organization.

As a Junior Product Owner at the time, I really enjoyed working with Deborah, because she created a collaborative working environment, and empowered the team to take ownership and drive product development forward. I also appreciated her style of management, where initiative was encouraged and failure was part of the learning process. On a personal level, Deborah really brought the team together, both within and outside of work. I genuinely look forward to working with her again in the future.