Quick Questions with Ashlyn: Product Owner

Written by Lou Burton | Tue, Feb 14, '23

When she's not running a half marathon, on the tools with a DIY project or sipping on a glass of rose, Ashlyn is product owner here at SwipedOn. What does that even mean? Let's get stuck in and find out what a day in SwipedOn life is like for Ashlyn.

In a nutshell, what do you do at SwipedOn?

Aside from driving Matt (my desk neighbour) up the wall with a bit of lighthearted banter, my job is to work alongside the engineering and design teams with the goal of moving us in the right direction. That is usually in the form of scoping new features, preparing user stories, collaborating with the devs on tasks and completing UAT.

In addition to that, working in the product team means my role intersects with most departments in the business - it can be pretty broad sometimes but that’s what I love about it 🫶🏻

What does a day in the life of you at SwipedOn look like?

Coffee, catch up on emails and Slack messages, standups with the team and then usually good balance of meetings, water cooler banter and desk time.

What are some of your favourite things about being part of the team here?

I LOVE that I get to live in Tauranga and work by the beach - it's such a pleasant change of pace after growing up in Auckland. The people here are also an absolute delight to work with - we have a really positive culture in the office and there’s never a dull moment with this lot.

What do you particularly like about what we’re doing with SwipedOn?

It’s exciting how much potential there is for our product within (and beyond) the VMS industry. There’s plenty of growth and opportunity on the horizon for us which is great to be involved in.

What three words would you use to describe your role?

1. Wrangle

2. Optimise

3. Soon (our default response when Mia asks for an ETA on a new feature)

What did you do in your previous working life?

I used to work as a project manager in creative and digital agencies. That involved working with clients to unpack project requirements through to briefing, estimating, pricing and delivering these with creative and tech teams.

While it was a fair bit different to the world I find myself in now, I really enjoyed the variation and identifying solutions for problems among a broad range of industries.

What do you do in your free time?

My partner and I bought our first home recently so a lot of our free time is now spent on DIY and home maintenance. If I'm not working on a DIY project, I’ll be spending time with family and friends, catching up on the latest TV series or getting outside for a trot 🏃‍♀️

What are three things still left on your bucket list?

1. Walk the Tongariro Crossing (low hanging fruit, really)

2. Pay off my mortgage - will report back in 30 years!

3. Travel to Norway and see where my grandparents grew up 🇳🇴

What’s on your SwipedOn playlist?

It’s usually a chaotic mix but currently on the rotation is Jay-Z, Kanye, Dave, SL, and Playboi Carti.

If you were stuck on a desert island and you could choose one person from the SwipedOn team to come with you, who would you take and why?

Devon because she always provides a good laugh and between the two of us I'm sure we'd be able to work out how to catch some fish! 🎣

Let’s end this with a random fact about you… or a random fact you love!

I’m terrified of moths after one flew into my ear when I was younger. I had to go to the after hours medical centre to get it removed and all the staff were equal parts fascinated and terrified. My mum thought it was hilarious. The whole ordeal was traumatising to say the least 😅

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