A Day in the Life of Tara
Kensho’s Day in the Life series gives readers the opportunity to meet Kenshins and get a glimpse into their day-to-day.
“Bye, Mama!” my little one sings as I kiss her goodbye and head out the door. It’s a little before 8:30 and I’ve already had a couple of hours with my girls greeting the day: getting everyone ready, listening to what’s on their minds, making them breakfast, packing lunches and backpacks, and walking my older daughter to the bus stop. I’ve also squeezed in a load of laundry and texted our gutter guy about scheduling our annual cleaning. Like parents everywhere, I’ve become a master of efficiency. And yet I still need and want and have help to do it all.
I hop on a shuttle that will take me to Alewife Station and savor the chance to just be. Chris, the driver, is an infectiously cheerful person. “Well hello friend!” he greets each person as they get on the bus. “Have a fulfilling day! Have a wonderful day!” he reminds us as we get off.
I’m grateful for my easy commute. Within 35 minutes I’m in Kensho’s airy, light-filled office in Harvard Square. I help myself to a bowl of berries from our goodie-filled kitchen, say hi to my co-worker Melissa and her dog Bella, and plan out what I want to get done today.
A product manager wears different hats at different times during a product’s lifecycle. These days I’m working on the spec for a new product called Market Journal (see a public partial prototype at https://whyisitmoving.com/. This involves writing the narrative for what problem the product is looking to solve, and thinking through and sketching out what the MVP (minimal viable product) should look like. It involves an ongoing conversation with a lot of different people — among them our UX/UI designer Eli, who always has fresh ways of looking at a problem; and Steven, our back-end engineering lead known for his expansive curiosity and can-do attitude.
Around noon I head up to our third floor cafeteria for lunch. On most days there are 15–20 people eating and chatting at the long communal table. It’s been a great way to get to know everyone — especially people with whom I don’t work directly. Today is Thursday, the day that Kensho orders lunch in for everyone. Burrito fixings have arrived from Felipe’s, a popular local Mexican restaurant. Just about the whole office has gathered in our third floor kitchen and lounge area to eat together and chat. As usual, the conversation is all over the map. Today we’re talking about how to make homemade yogurt and who scored what on Black Friday. Hamima got L.L.Bean boots for 60 bucks!
After lunch I have a meeting with Justin, our Head of Engineering, to talk out some details of the Market Journal project. Then I hop on a call to catch up with Andrea, a former colleague of mine who is now working as the Director of Investment Research at a firm in New York. I haven’t talked to her in years, and I want to hear about what she’s working on, what her day looks like, what tools she uses, and pick her brain about the biggest sources of friction at her job. My favorite product question to ask is, “If you had a magic wand, what problem would you solve with it?”
Afterwards I head up to our upstairs lounge area to work. There are comfy chairs and floor-to-ceiling windows. I catch up with Adity, who oversees testing. Then Steven and I talk a bit about a news-sorting algorithm he’s working on that will power Market Journal. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy talking to people and how glad I am it’s such a big part of my job?
At 5:30ish I head out; within the hour, I’m home. When I walk through the door the girls rush me like a rock star. I am equally thrilled to see them. They chatter in parallel about the most exciting parts of their day (“I can do a cartwheel now!” “I had pizza for lunch!”). I’m instantly back in family mode. My husband is home already, and over the next couple of hours we’ll have dinner and hang out together before the kids go to bed. By 8pm, the evening is ours.
