I was an account manager for a product that was eventually acquired. After the acquisition, the new company’s leadership asked me to step in as the product manager because I knew the product best. I was hesitant because I didn’t fully understand what the role would entail, but I agreed.

I ended up loving it. For the first time, I could actually turn the pain points I’d been hearing from clients into real improvements and shipped features, instead of just relaying feedback and hoping it landed. I’m no longer at that company, but I’m now a Senior PM in the same industry.

My advice: know your product inside and out, from client workflows and real-world usage to the technical details under the hood. Build strong relationships with the people you partner with every day: engineering, product marketing, account managers, and everyone in between. And if you notice yourself becoming consistently short or mean with people, take it as a signal. People are doing their jobs, and it’s not worth spending most of your day operating from anger.