Product Therapy: On active choices, hot peppers and west village girls
Dispatches from May 2025
Oh hello! After a year of straddling two different email platforms, I decided to go all in on Substack for both newsletters1 I write. If you’re curious why you can read more about it here.
Active Choices
I historically identify as an indecisive person. When I was younger, hell for me was the Cheesecake Factory menu, dining with a family that didn’t split food2. With a hovering waiter and one of my parents muttering, It’s just a meal, I hastily chose a dish3 hoping I wouldn’t regret it. What a glass half empty way to move through life, right?
Recently, I was faced with a big decision where I was deciding between some really good options, similar to an experience at The Cheesecake Factory 😜 4
For a few days, I asked anyone who would listen to me, What is the universe trying to tell me? Why is this happening now? and I couldn’t make meaning of any of it.
So I sat in it, and with the help of my therapist, I recognized that these circumstances were forcing me to make an active choice.
If I were deciding between something good and bad, it’s less of a choice. But, if I know the thai lettuce wraps always hit the spot and the pastas do the trick, then I have to actively choose between two great options. That reframe was empowering.
In that actively choosing, I wasn’t running away from a bad thing, I was running towards the best thing for me, right now.
This act of choosing out of excitement rather than fear is a wonderful shift for me. And it’s something I’m bringing with me into this new season.
Events
1) I hosted a Product Breakfast in Chicago and it was incredible!! Sadly we didn’t get any cute photos. But I’m here to report, the Chicago Product scene is really blossoming! Recap here.
2) I hosted my first cross-functional coaching hour with Sarah Ing and it was really fun. If you’re a PM or an Engineer, it’s worth peeping some of the takeaways from the session below. We may host another in the future.
3) I hosted and facilitated my first Unconference for Coaching Corner and it was huge. Thirty coaches descended on Dumbo for in-person connection, learning and lunch. My Coaching Corner co-founder,
, and I tag teamed for an inspiring morning and we left in awe of what everyone brought to the group. It feels inevitable that we’ll do this again, likely in the Bay Area.
Product Reads
This month I collab’ed with
on From first day to first win: How to nail your first 90 days talked about how you don’t need frameworks and then reversed course and offered a framework. Hypocritical or adaptable?I also hit a nerve on LinkedIn and wrote about AI and Product Management.
Client Corner
This week I had two back to back sessions where clients asked me how much information to share with their executive team.
My advice? Ask them.
Ask executives what information they need to feel in the loop, how they’ll use it and how often they want to check in.
Culture Clicks
This month I plowed through The Tell 📗 and Adolescence 📺 , dark, traumatic content, my specialty. I also loved NYMag’s new cover story: It Must Be Nice To Be a West Village Girl5. I’m dying to see All Nighter but it’s only running for two more weeks in NYC. Titanique just went global so if you haven’t seen it, get tickets, stat.
I recently dined at Yellow Rose and have been putting these peppers on everything I eat at home. Trader Joe’s always delivers.
Andddd, next week, I’m DJ’ing Happy Hour at Fabrik 🎵. Come through!
Hi - I’m Jori and I’m a Product Coach. If you’re Product Leader or on a Product team looking for support - drop me a note.
I manage a community called Coaching Corner and write a Weekly Digest I moved over to Substack this week. You can read it here.
I righted this wrong by marrying someone I almost always split food with, but not in an annoying I HAVE to split food with him way. We are adaptable and often will split meals with any willing participant at the table.
80% of the time it was the Thai lettuce wraps
Thank you for indulging this metaphor.
I was a West Village girl for two years but my life did NOT resemble this in the least.
Hi Jori, thanks for writing this! I think I will be using your “ask them” advice, sometimes problems really do have simple solutions! I also identify as an indecisive person, I hate making decisions. How did you build confidence as a PM while being indecisive? I feel like indecision holds me back at work and I haven’t found a way through “hating making decisions” yet!