When Life Gives You Lemons, Sometimes You Get Lemon Soup
When life gives you lemons, people say to make lemonade. But what if you end up with lemon soup? That’s what my career has felt like at times—too many unexpected ingredients, detours, and unplanned challenges. This blog is about the lessons I’ve learned along the way, the power of career storytelling, and how you can turn your lemon soup into a winning recipe.
The Power of Storytelling in Your Career
A wise friend once gave me some career advice that completely shifted my perspective:
"What story do you want to tell?"
Until that moment, I’d never thought of my career as a story. But every job move, every promotion, even every failure is a chapter. My friend explained, "Each shift in your career should tie into the last. For example, 'I left this company because I saw an opportunity to build on my skills at the next.' Each job is a building block."
At the core, you are the product, and your career is your go-to-market strategy. If you can't thoughtfully plan your career moves or communicate them as a coherent story, it reflects poorly—not just in interviews, but also in how you lead as a Product Manager. You’ll need to engage executives and teams quickly, and a strong personal story is often the first place to start.
Lessons from My Career Moves
Let me walk you through the early chapters of my story. Each phase came with its own lessons and challenges—like learning to handle too many lemons without a plan.
Chapter 1: Positioning Myself to Be a PM
Mobile was booming, and I wanted to pivot into product management. But the company I was with wasn’t focused on mobile, and the PM teams were very selective. There wasn’t a clear path forward, so I moved to a small startup where I saw more opportunity.
Chapter 2: Learning PM Fundamentals Through a Side Door
At the startup, I was hired as a game designer, but there were no PMs on my team. So, I started taking on those responsibilities—building insights, generating reports, learning SQL and Tableau. I even started reporting directly to the executive team.
"How did you get so quant?" the CEO asked me one night at dinner. With incredible mentors and a lot of hard work, I scaled the product to $50 million in revenue.
Chapter 3: Innovating and Creating a New Market
One day, I ran into my former CEO on the street. I asked what he was working on, and he handed me his card: “Call me if you want a job.” This was my chance to build something from the ground up with a top-level executive—a rare opportunity to sharpen my skills and dive deeper into real product work.
Failure, Grit, and Resilience: Why Lemon Soup Isn’t a Bad Thing
So, why am I calling this post "Lemon Soup"? Because, despite my best efforts, there were times when things didn’t go as planned. Too many projects, unexpected changes, and side quests turned my career into a chaotic mix. But I’ve learned that leaning into failure is where growth happens.
Adam Grant discusses this in his book Hidden Potential—the people who thrive aren’t the ones with perfect, uninterrupted success. They’re the ones who’ve endured challenges, learned from them, and kept going. Having been through the grind of startup life, I’ve developed resilience that smooth careers might not offer. Tech companies like Meta love to hear about failures in interviews because they know that grit—learning to fail and recover—is invaluable.
This brings me to a key point: Don’t sell yourself short. If your career looks messy or unconventional, that’s okay. It’s a story worth telling. Your ability to reflect on what you’ve learned and communicate it effectively will set you apart.
How to Build Your Story
If you feel like you’re stuck in lemon soup, it’s time to start writing your chapters. Here’s a simple framework to get you started:
Be brutally honest: Identify the key moments in your career. What worked? What didn’t?
Weave a coherent narrative: Make connections between jobs, even if they weren’t obvious at the time.
Prepare stories for interviews: Don’t just list your resume. Tell people what the bullet points don’t say—share insights, motivations, and lessons.
Embrace the failures: Everyone loves a good comeback story. Highlight what you learned and how you grew.
A mentor once told me, "If you can’t design a slide deck to engage a room, how can you design a product to engage millions?" This feedback has stuck with me because it’s true. Whether it’s a presentation or an interview, your goal is to tell a story that captivates your audience—because if you can’t engage people in those moments, how will you engage them through the products you build?
Conclusion: Every Team Needs a Lemon Soup PM
If you’ve been through tough times and ended up with lemon soup instead of lemonade, wear it as a badge of honor. Every team needs someone who can handle the unexpected, stay calm, and push through when things fall apart. You want people next to you who’ve been drinking bitter soup for years—because to them, whatever crisis comes next will feel like nothing.
So, grab a pen and start writing your own career story. Be honest, be proud, and embrace the chaos. Your journey might not look like a straight line, but that’s okay. Sometimes the best products come from the most unexpected ingredients.
