Editor’s Note:
In recent months, Terakeet has invested heavily in forming a brand-new, product group. This team has the important responsibility of positioning Terakeet’s Enterprise SEO offerings to better enable us to market, deliver, and develop industry-leading solutions that support our customers’ growth objectives. We’ve staffed our product department with some of the best and brightest in the industry, and Frank Fallon (Senior Product Manager) is leading the charge. We wanted to pick Frank’s brain and find out more about his experiences. Read the full interview below:
Q1: What is your role and how long have you worked at Terakeet?
I joined Terakeet in March 2020 as a Senior Product Manager to establish our Product Management department.
Q2: What advice would you give someone who is new to Syracuse or to Terakeet?
Always make your voice heard when you have a new idea, regardless of how aspirational it may be. Terakeet’s culture nurtures good thoughts, which allows any employee to capitalize on ideas that make our customers and company better. Be ready to listen and learn. Good listeners thrive here since there is no shortage of diversity in perspectives and opinions — both at work and at life.
Q3: List a quote that has helped you get through a tough time.
“Everything’s gonna be alright.” I’m a big Bob Marley fan and I find comfort in a lot of his lyrics. It’s amazing how timeless the things that he wrote are.
Q4: How do you unwind after a long workday/case of the Mondays?
I love running. I’ll often drive long distances to find new exciting running locations — waterside, in the woods, [or] deserted roads. Anywhere I can breathe in fresh air and take on a new viewpoint helps me unwind and put things in perspective.
Q5: If you could invite any famous businessperson or workplace guru to dinner, who would it be and why?
Ken Schwaber. Ken is one of the original authors of the “Agile Manifesto” and co-author of the “Scrum Guide.” I’d love to hear his present day thoughts, given [that the concept of] “agile” has become one of the most prolific topics in Business. Has the evolution of how organizations think about being agile stayed true to his original intentions?
Q6: If you could only use 5 workplace tools or platforms, what would they be and why?
- “Build Better Products” by Laura Klein: This book is anchored to my work desk and [there isn’t a] week that goes by where I don’t scan to a particular section to help me get through a challenging product management problem.
- Mural: I’m a fully remote employee and doing my job well equates to effective and engaging collaboration. While no software can fully replace a physical whiteboard with people gathered round in person, MURAL comes close. It’s a great virtual platform that can get video meetings full of people involved in sharing and communicating ideas on sticky notes from anywhere.
- Notepad: Old school, I know. I take notes constantly throughout the day and when I have random thoughts, I need somewhere to put them. I spend a lot of time referencing my notes and applying them to my work/life.
- Slack: Communication is key. If I can find the right balance in chatter between quiet and overwhelming, Slack can be very effective at staying in touch with the right people at the right time.
- JIRA: No tool is perfect and JIRA comes with its quirks, but it’s the best way to keep a diverse distributed team driving toward a common goal — extremely important for any product manager!
Q7: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from a coworker?
In my first job out of college a colleague told me that a career is like a stock index chart over time. There are ups and downs. Take the downs head on, but stay the course and always look to be trending upward. Never stop progressing. It’s a less than perfect analogy, but it resonated.
This is a continuation of our “Workplace Wisdom” series. Read the previous posts here:
Workplace Wisdom: Melissa Stefanec
Workplace Wisdom: Bridget Doherty
Workplace Wisdom: Tristan Amond