Employee Spotlight: Emily, Sr. Product Manager

From the start of her career, Emily was drawn to understanding how systems work and how people collaborate to make them better. Over more than a decade in consulting, she built a strong foundation in problem-solving and teamwork, taking on roles that ranged from project management to business analysis.

Her move into education technology deepened both her technical expertise and her sense of purpose. Working with a small, close-knit startup gave her the chance to help modernize software that supported colleges and universities while fostering a strong appreciation for mission-driven work.

When a former colleague introduced her to Teaching Strategies, she saw the perfect opportunity to pair her product development experience with her passion for learning. Since joining in early 2020, she has grown from business analysis into product management, continuing to learn, lead, and make an impact every day.

Recently, we asked Emily to share her thoughts on work and life at Teaching Strategies.

Tell us about your role at Teaching Strategies. What does your day-to-day look like?

A typical day for me is a mix of collaboration, problem-solving, and keeping our team aligned and moving forward. I start most mornings with our core scrum ceremonies—standups, sprint planning, or refinement sessions—where I work closely with engineering and QA to ensure everyone has clarity on priorities and next steps. Throughout the day, I field questions from developers and testers, help troubleshoot issues, and triage new tickets so we can address the most urgent needs first.
A big part of my role is prioritizing the backlog, which means balancing customer needs, internal feedback, and our long-term product goals. I spend time meeting with internal stakeholders to discuss customer concerns or new requests, making sure we fully understand the impact and scope. I also collaborate regularly with our design team to explore new features, review prototypes, and ensure the user experience aligns with our vision.

No two days look exactly the same, but they all revolve around guiding the team, removing roadblocks, and making thoughtful decisions that move the product—and our customers—forward.

What do you love most about the products and services we offer to our customers?

What I love most about our products is how deeply they support the people who shape children’s earliest learning experiences. Our tools don’t just streamline instruction—they genuinely empower administrators, teachers, and families to influence and support a child’s learning at the most formative ages. At a time when children are developing foundational skills, relationships, and curiosity that will shape the rest of their educational journey, having the right support systems in place truly matters. Knowing that what we build helps educators save time, elevate their practice, strengthen partnerships with families, and ultimately enrich children’s early learning experiences is incredibly rewarding. I’m proud to work on solutions that have such a meaningful impact on early childhood education.

Is there a product/project that you were involved in launching? How did this impact the organization?

Yes—two launches in particular stand out.

In 2022, I was part of the launch of the redesigned family app with Family Playlists shared from SmartTeach. This project elevated the family experience by giving caregivers a more intuitive, engaging way to stay connected to their children’s learning. It strengthened the home–school partnership and elevated Teaching Strategies’ family-engagement offering.

More recently, I’ve been involved in launching our new, modernized platform. This has been a major milestone for the organization, creating a more unified, scalable, and user-friendly foundation for everything we build going forward. The new platform not only improves the experience for teachers and administrators today but sets us up for future innovation across our entire product ecosystem.

What do you think the future holds for Teaching Strategies?

I think the future is incredibly bright. We’re laying the groundwork for a more connected, intuitive, and data-informed ecosystem that supports every part of early childhood education. As we start to capitalize on the improvements afforded to us by our modernized platform, I see Teaching Strategies becoming even more indispensable in classrooms and programs across the country.