<div class="wp-block-jetpack-markdown">This week in episode 332 we’re joined by guest Erin O’Quinn. In this part 3 of our discussion with Erin we’ll discuss her career journey through leadership, advocacy, and supporting women in tech.
Original Recording Date: 05-14-2025
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<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nakanoquinn/">Erin O’Quinn</a> is a senior manager of customer advocacy at a sizable tech company. If you missed part one and two of our discussion with Erin detailing her early career, check out <a href="https://nerd-journey.com/a-utility-players-advantage-the-work-of-marketing-in-tech-with-erin-oquinn-1-3/">Episode 330</a> and <a href="https://nerd-journey.com/a-space-for-critique-lead-by-amplifying-voices-and-giving-credit-with-erin-oquinn-2-3/">Episode 331</a>.</li>
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<h1>Topics – Career Progression and Leadership Evolution, The Power of Customer Advocacy, Navigating Workplace Challenges as a Woman in Tech</h1>
<h2>4:05 – The Transition to Senior Manager and Director</h2>
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The transition to senior manager and then director involved a shift in perspective from being an individual contributor to an enabler for the team. Erin O’Quinn explains that a higher title can help get a “foot in the door” for important conversations.
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04:40 A key lesson in moving to a director role was realizing the job is not about personal delivery, but about empowering the team to deliver. Erin’s success became synonymous with her team’s success. This involved trusting the team and intentionally not being the expert on everything to allow team members to own their areas of expertise.
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“I made a point of not knowing everything on purpose when I hit the director level, because I didn’t want to be the expert on everything. I wanted somebody else to go, ‘Oh, Erin, we’re going to you for this.’ [I’d reply], ‘Actually, you wanna go to my team member who is doing this, and that’s their area of expertise. They know this account better than I do,’ and letting them take the ownership. Not everybody above me had always done that. And giving that opportunity for [the team member] to say like, ‘My boss thinks I own this,’ it gives them a space to step up and into where they feel like they have more control of their own trajectory.” — Erin O’Quinn
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05:50 When promotions or title changes aren’t possible, a manager can provide growth by giving team members ownership and opportunities to expand their skills. This includes building career paths and being okay with team members leaving for roles that make them happier, ensuring the manager isn’t a gatekeeper to their career progression.
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07:04 To learn how to have effective career conversations, Erin spoke with other managers, took their advice with a grain of salt, and analyzed different approaches. She adopted a practice of listening without judgment and evaluating new ideas, even uncomfortable ones, to determine if they were better for her team.
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08:04 Having a mentor who was recently in the same role was invaluable. This mentor provided a 360-degree view, sharing perspectives from leadership and helping to avoid potential mistakes.
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09:18 A manager’s role includes identifying and clearing “landmines” for their team to make them more successful. Erin emphasizes making this responsibility explicit to the team, which encourages them to be open about challenges and fosters a learning environment where they were more willing to discuss challenges. This meant that Erin heard about all the challenges, not that it was her role to solve them all. Sometimes it was a challenge the individual needed to handle, but at least Erin heard about more challenges and could sometimes help.
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11:47 Erin distinguishes between project and program management.
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Project Manager: Like an event manager, they see a specific task from “birth to death” with a clear finality (e.g., building one car).
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Program Manager: They create and maintain a continuous system or cycle (e.g., building and running the factory that manufactures cars). The focus is on iteration and improvement of the system itself.
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12:42 While Erin considers herself more of a project person who enjoys seeing a definitive end to a task, she stays engaged with program management by focusing on how to enhance the “project experience” for new people encountering the program. This reframing keeps the work interesting. John notes that sales engineering has some parallels, where a specific sales campaign might be akin to a project, but the overall process of how sales campaigns are handled over time is akin to a program.
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<h2>17:16 Customer Advocacy</h2>
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The discussion turns to customer advocacy, which is a program designed to understand and share customer stories. It’s not about taking credit for a customer’s work but about highlighting how they solved a universal business challenge using a specific technology.
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17:59 Customer advocacy provides mutual benefits.
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For the customer: It validates their project, helps secure internal budget and mindshare, and can serve as a recruitment tool by showcasing the cool technologies they use.
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For the individual: It elevates their personal brand, positioning them as an expert and giving them a platform to build confidence and public speaking skills.
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22:28 When a customer is hesitant to share their story, the first step is to simply let them talk about their work in a low-pressure environment. By asking sincere questions and helping them see the broader impact of their work (e.g., “you’re taking this pain out of their lives”), they often realize their story is important and worth sharing.
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<h2>24:28 Women in Tech</h2>
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For women in tech facing hostile or unsupportive environments, it’s important to first have a direct conversation with a manager about the perceived challenges. Taking on side projects can also provide visibility outside of a difficult team dynamic.
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26:06 A challenge for women in tech can sometimes come from other women who have had to fight to be seen and adopt a competitive, “Highlander” (“there can be only one”) mentality. A frank conversation can help, but the first step is to ask to understand the situation.
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28:27 It’s crucial to avoid a zero-sum game mentality. Lifting up a colleague, especially a junior one through mentorship, can be multiplicative for the whole team rather than a loss for one individual.
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29:07 A subtle challenge for women in tech is being pigeonholed into “office admin” or emotional labor roles, like party planning, simply because they are women. Erin advises saying “no” to these assumed tasks.
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31:03 Micro-aggressions, like being called “dear” in a professional setting, are real and their impact stacks up. While they may not be intentional, they can be infantilizing and add to the emotional baggage of being in a minority position. Allies can help by being aware and addressing these moments. There’s even more emotional labor involved with handling these situations.
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34:49 Working mothers often carry an additional, invisible workload. They are frequently the default parent for school issues and bear the mental load for things like teacher appreciation week, which can lead to exhaustion.
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<h2>Contact the Hosts</h2>
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The hosts of Nerd Journey are John White and Nick Korte.
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E-mail: <a href="mailto:nerdjourneypodcast@gmail.com">nerdjourneypodcast@gmail.com</a>
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DM us on Twitter/X <a href="https://twitter.com/NerdJourney">@NerdJourney</a>
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Connect with John on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vjourneyman/">LinkedIn</a> or DM him on Twitter/X <a href="https://twitter.com/vJourneyman">@vJourneyman</a>
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Connect with Nick on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickkortenetworknerd/">LinkedIn</a> or DM him on Twitter/X <a href="https://twitter.com/Networknerd_">@NetworkNerd_</a>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO9smUjV-B_zId2vU0CzZ8qbTZ-gJk0De">Leave a Comment on Your Favorite Episode on YoutTube</a>
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If you’ve been impacted by a layoff or need advice, check out our <a href="https://nerd-journey.com/layoffresources/">Layoff Resources Page</a>.
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If uncertainty is getting to you, check out or <a href="https://nerd-journey.com/uncertaintyguide/">Career Uncertainty Action Guide</a> with a checklist of actions to take control during uncertain periods and AI prompts to help you think through topics like navigating a recent layoff, financial planning, or managing your mindset and being overwhelmed.
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