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In this TPMA interview, we meet with Sorren Isler to get her expert insights on scaling a product career and the nuances within product management.
As the Lead Product Manager at VTS, Sorren oversees the full lifecycle of mobile and digital products, focusing on building cohesive, cross-functional teams that thrive on collaboration and innovation. With a rich background that includes pivotal roles at Ecobee and LoyaltyOne, Sorren has a reputation for tackling complex challenges head-on and fostering an environment where creativity and teamwork flourish.
Join us as we delve into Sorren's professional journey, her current projects, and her vision for the future of product management.
I started my career in marketing, drawn to the creativity of big, out-of-home advertising. However as the marketing world shifted, and I found my role more focused on click-throughs than creative output. Here I ended up in a marketing role as a stakeholder in a product team, where I attended the demos and saw how the different disciplines within the product teams worked together, and it really resonated with me.
I jumped at the chance to move to product management when an opportunity opened up and never looked back! I was captivated by the collaborative nature of Product, Engineering, and Design (PED), where diverse expertise and skills came together to solve problems and create great products.
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The strongest teams I've worked with respect the overlap between the disciplines and value this diversity of thought, and I love that.
I'm currently a Product Lead on VTS Activate — our tenant experience business unit (also known as TenEx). I wear multiple hats in this role, primarily leading the Tenant Engagement Mission.
As Mission Lead, I define the vision and high-level strategy; this means I'm working with stakeholders in and outside of PED to understand the pieces of my product portfolio from different perspectives. This could involve conversations with client teams and clients to better understand gaps and opportunities, the solutions team to understand market-level capabilities, or the leadership team to fully understand our annual goals. I then work with the squad PMs to turn that vision into a strategy we can execute against.
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As a Lead, I also act as the product sponsor for one of our major projects, connecting the dots between the project and product teams. I balance advocating for project needs within PED and managing expectations regarding the reality of PED's bandwidth.
Finally, I'm leading a couple product operations projects to address process gaps and facilitate stronger cross-functional communication. The goal is to really alleviate some of the pain points our PMs and stakeholders are currently experiencing by getting everyone on the same page. As part of this, I recently introduced a new feedback prioritization process in which I'm training stakeholder teams. I am also evangelizing a template for Consistent Product Documentation that accompanies product launches to help our internal stakeholders understand the features so they can better market them.
It's surprised me how creative being a PM can allow you to be. Coming from marketing with an affinity for advertising, I wasn't expecting that this role would hit on that creative want the way it did! All projects and features are not created equal, so I've had my fair share of straightforward, straight-execution-focused scenarios.
That said, when you get a "juicy" feature (as a past squad called it ), and you get to dig into discovery, there's so much creativity involved in researching, workshopping, and brainstorming. I think it's a combination of learning, collaboration, and problem-solving that really feeds that part of my soul.
Product management is great, but it's not always what it seems like on the outside. There's this idea that PMs are the CEOs of their product; the reality of this statement really depends on what you understand a CEO's role and responsibility to be.
Some people have the perspective that a CEO makes decisions in an isolated fashion, and what they say goes. The way I see it, a CEO facilitates conversations with the experts around them to understand what's important, which helps the CEO make better decisions. They are not making decisions in a single-minded way based on what they think is best—they are leveraging all of the knowledge and experiences of the team around them to make the best decisions.
Product is similar as you rely on the people around you who have different expertise to help you understand the whole scenario. You have to know how to facilitate the right conversations with stakeholders and ask the right questions within your squad. You have to be very good at listening, facilitating discussions, and balancing diverse inputs to make the best trade-offs. You have to put your ego aside and embrace the collaborative nature of the role, leverage your team's strengths, and prioritize active listening and meaningful conversations. This role can be a balancing act but rewarding when the product comes together and when you see your product make an impact in the world.
As we wrap up our conversation, it's clear that her journey through the realms of marketing and product management highlights her relentless pursuit of innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Sorren’s insights reveal the depth of her commitment to fostering empathetic customer experiences and building strong, cross-functional teams that thrive on diversity of thought and expertise.
Sorren’s approach to product management at VTS is not just about managing projects and delivering features—it's about understanding the broader vision, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring that every team member's voice is heard. Her passion for creative problem-solving and her ability to balance strategic vision with practical execution make her a standout leader in the field.
For those aspiring to enter the world of product management, Sorren's advice is clear: embrace the collaborative nature of the role, leverage the strengths of your team, and never underestimate the power of listening and facilitating meaningful conversations. Thank you, Sorren, for sharing your journey and invaluable insights with us.
Connect with Sorren Isler here
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In this TPMA interview, we meet with Sorren Isler to get her expert insights on scaling a product career and the nuances within product management.
As the Lead Product Manager at VTS, Sorren oversees the full lifecycle of mobile and digital products, focusing on building cohesive, cross-functional teams that thrive on collaboration and innovation. With a rich background that includes pivotal roles at Ecobee and LoyaltyOne, Sorren has a reputation for tackling complex challenges head-on and fostering an environment where creativity and teamwork flourish.
Join us as we delve into Sorren's professional journey, her current projects, and her vision for the future of product management.
I started my career in marketing, drawn to the creativity of big, out-of-home advertising. However as the marketing world shifted, and I found my role more focused on click-throughs than creative output. Here I ended up in a marketing role as a stakeholder in a product team, where I attended the demos and saw how the different disciplines within the product teams worked together, and it really resonated with me.
I jumped at the chance to move to product management when an opportunity opened up and never looked back! I was captivated by the collaborative nature of Product, Engineering, and Design (PED), where diverse expertise and skills came together to solve problems and create great products.
The strongest teams I've worked with respect the overlap between the disciplines and value this diversity of thought, and I love that.
I'm currently a Product Lead on VTS Activate — our tenant experience business unit (also known as TenEx). I wear multiple hats in this role, primarily leading the Tenant Engagement Mission.
As Mission Lead, I define the vision and high-level strategy; this means I'm working with stakeholders in and outside of PED to understand the pieces of my product portfolio from different perspectives. This could involve conversations with client teams and clients to better understand gaps and opportunities, the solutions team to understand market-level capabilities, or the leadership team to fully understand our annual goals. I then work with the squad PMs to turn that vision into a strategy we can execute against.
As a Lead, I also act as the product sponsor for one of our major projects, connecting the dots between the project and product teams. I balance advocating for project needs within PED and managing expectations regarding the reality of PED's bandwidth.
Finally, I'm leading a couple product operations projects to address process gaps and facilitate stronger cross-functional communication. The goal is to really alleviate some of the pain points our PMs and stakeholders are currently experiencing by getting everyone on the same page. As part of this, I recently introduced a new feedback prioritization process in which I'm training stakeholder teams. I am also evangelizing a template for Consistent Product Documentation that accompanies product launches to help our internal stakeholders understand the features so they can better market them.
It's surprised me how creative being a PM can allow you to be. Coming from marketing with an affinity for advertising, I wasn't expecting that this role would hit on that creative want the way it did! All projects and features are not created equal, so I've had my fair share of straightforward, straight-execution-focused scenarios.
That said, when you get a "juicy" feature (as a past squad called it ), and you get to dig into discovery, there's so much creativity involved in researching, workshopping, and brainstorming. I think it's a combination of learning, collaboration, and problem-solving that really feeds that part of my soul.
Product management is great, but it's not always what it seems like on the outside. There's this idea that PMs are the CEOs of their product; the reality of this statement really depends on what you understand a CEO's role and responsibility to be.
Some people have the perspective that a CEO makes decisions in an isolated fashion, and what they say goes. The way I see it, a CEO facilitates conversations with the experts around them to understand what's important, which helps the CEO make better decisions. They are not making decisions in a single-minded way based on what they think is best—they are leveraging all of the knowledge and experiences of the team around them to make the best decisions.
Product is similar as you rely on the people around you who have different expertise to help you understand the whole scenario. You have to know how to facilitate the right conversations with stakeholders and ask the right questions within your squad. You have to be very good at listening, facilitating discussions, and balancing diverse inputs to make the best trade-offs. You have to put your ego aside and embrace the collaborative nature of the role, leverage your team's strengths, and prioritize active listening and meaningful conversations. This role can be a balancing act but rewarding when the product comes together and when you see your product make an impact in the world.
As we wrap up our conversation, it's clear that her journey through the realms of marketing and product management highlights her relentless pursuit of innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Sorren’s insights reveal the depth of her commitment to fostering empathetic customer experiences and building strong, cross-functional teams that thrive on diversity of thought and expertise.
Sorren’s approach to product management at VTS is not just about managing projects and delivering features—it's about understanding the broader vision, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring that every team member's voice is heard. Her passion for creative problem-solving and her ability to balance strategic vision with practical execution make her a standout leader in the field.
For those aspiring to enter the world of product management, Sorren's advice is clear: embrace the collaborative nature of the role, leverage the strengths of your team, and never underestimate the power of listening and facilitating meaningful conversations. Thank you, Sorren, for sharing your journey and invaluable insights with us.
Connect with Sorren Isler here
Toronto Product Management Association (TPMA) is a community focused on development, growth and networking of Product professionals in the Greater Toronto Area.
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