In this spotlight series we are introducing the courageous, clever and powerful women in our Ladymates community.

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To better understand the journeys of our Ladymates, we reached out to hear their reflections on pivotal moments, their unique strengths, and the goals that drive them forward.

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So, let us introduce Rachel McDonnell, Product Manager at Pay.com.au.

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Tell us a little bit about your career so far…‍

TL;DR moved from Ops to Product Management thanks to supportive managers and using existing skills to make lateral-ish moves.

I started my career in tech at Uber, working in Ops and then tried to transition to Product Ops  with JUMP in 2020. Covid happened, Uber sold JUMP and I was left jobless with 3 months of product experience.

Knowing this wasn't enough experience for a product role, I focussed on getting a role at a start up where I could use my existing skills and grow into a product role. I joined Propeller Aero as a Project Manager in their Manufacturing team and managed to land a Product Owner role in their Hardware team after a few months. After a while in that role, I was keen for some software experience so joined a HR tech start up as a Product Owner which after a couple of months was changed into a Product Manager role. From there, I found my way into fintech and payments which got me where I am today, doing payments at pay.com.au.

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What is your #1 professional superpower?

I enjoy making quick decisions and working on lots of things at once which has come in handy working in start ups.

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Song you're listening to on repeat at the moment?

The Brown Snake - Thelma Plum

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What’s a quote you live by?

Receipts 👏 Proof 👏 Timeline 👏 Screenshots 👏

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‍Outside of work, what do you love to do?

Eating good food, drinking nice wine and basic beers, taking my puppy for snack/drink related walks and watching trashy TV.

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Why did you join Ladymates Collective?
Working in a male dominated industry, I found myself sometimes going days without talking to a woman at work about work (can always find someone for a non work related yap) which does get challenging and disheartening.

Ladymates seemed like a good opportunity to find a community of women in similar roles and businesses to talk about work challenges and wins with as well as grow together through workshops etc. I've also been around the Startmate ecosystem for a few years as a coach but there was never anything that I could participate in so was excited for the opportunity to join a program.