Corporate Challenge 2022

Tonight night was the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge! This is the first big company wide event since COVID. The Corporate Challenge is an annual 5K that I have participated in every year since I joined American Express, and am happy they brought back this tradition!

On the way there, I met up with my former Finance teammate Jonathan and a group of other finance friends I have not seen in a while. Sadly, due to my sprained foot, my foot hurt after starting to run for a few minutes and ended up walking most of the race, with a few spurs of run and jogging here and there.

When we got back to the AMEX tent for food and drinks after the race, I bumped into my old TLS teammates and caught up with them as well as our Risk partner from Kabbage.

I love all of my colleagues and am so happy to have been able to catch up with all my old & new AMEX colleagues!

First Product Launch!

FIRST PRODUCT LAUNCH

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FIRST PRODUCT LAUNCH 〰️

Today my first ever product launch went LIVE!!! This launch included:

  • a company first

  • one of the quickest launches done by AMEX /Kabbage standards (Phase 1 was completed on April 5, just 1 month from ideation to implementation)

  • enabling us to give increased funding to business owners to meet their needs

If you asked me a few years ago if I thought I’d be leading a product launch or even being a product manager, this would not have even been on my radar, but I absolutely LOVE my job. It just goes to show, don’t be afraid to deviate from your plan and take a chance on something new - you may end up finding something even better than you would’ve expected!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have lead this initiative and to be part of such an amazing team! Thank you to everyone helped make this happen!

First time Exploring Atlanta

Lunch at Ladybird Atlanta

First Photo in Atlanta at Ladybird

This past week I was in Atlanta for work, luckily I had the opportunity to fly in a day early to explore all Atlanta had to offer AND have some yummy southern food!

On Sunday, I landed around noon, got to the hotel and immediately hit the ground running in search of some southern food for my first official Georgian meal!

Shrimp & Grits at Ladybird

I found myself at Ladybird, which is a cute outdoor spot for food and drinks. At Ladybrid, I had some true southern Shrimp & Grits and Fried Okra, which was DELICOUS!!!

After a late lunch, I headed to Ponce City Market, where I met up with a former AMEX co-worker and explored Ponce City Market, explored the Atlanta Beltline and then e-scootered to Piedmont Park and then got some yummy food at Bettlecat, where my current coworker and new boss met up with us!

  • Ponce City Market is cool hangout spot with some shops and a large food court. I tried some doughnuts from Five Daughters Doughnuts, which were like cronuts, but with so many more flavors!

  • Atlanta Beltline is similar to the NYC highline, it is a 22 mile pedestrian rail park that will take you throughout the city

  • Piedmont Park is one of Atlanta’s most famous parks and often has events happening and vendors selling food and products

  • Beetlecat - was a cute spot we went to for dinner, they had really great seafood!

  • Lingering Shade - outdoor patio on the Beltline for cocktails and appetizers

The office, located in Midtown Atlanta, was the quintessential startup office, with free food, coffee and BEER on tap, as well as tons of free snacks and CHAMPAGNE in the fridge, but the best part was all of the DOGS in the office! As much as I love NY, the Atlanta office hands down beats the NY office!

Some other fun spots the team and I ended up at were:

  • Two Urban Licks - this was a great spot with live music and a cute cocktail bar inside and the outdoor space is right on the beltline, not to mention they had delicious food!

  • South City Kitchen - this spot was recommended to my team and I by a coworker, the food was good, however the fried chicken did not live up to our expectations, however the FRIED GREEN TOMATOES were delicious (and this is coming from a girl who was very skeptical about even ordering them)!

I did not know what to expect coming to Atlanta for the first time, honestly I had very low expectations - and let me say - Atlanta, you blew my expectations OUT OF THE WATER!

I had an amazing time and cannot wait to come back again!

Kabbage Potluck 2021

Today we had a potluck at work! We had a variety of sweet and savory dishes, and surprisingly lot of Asian dishes as well. On the savory end, we had everything from dil carrots & gnocci to pineapple fried rice to sushi and dumplings to vegan chocolate cookies to panna cotta and cake.

Potluck Spread

Group Shot - all the chefs & bakers!

I am not much of a cook, so of course - I baked! I baked a funfetti cake with homemade fluffy vanilla frosting! I had never made frosting before, but I got LOTS of compliments from my co-workers who ate it straight, so definitely a crowd pleaser!

Here is the recipe I used, which is very simple and the perfect amount for the bundt cake i made w/ plenty of extra.

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)

  • 2.5 cups confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 pinch salt

Directions

  • Beat butter with a mixer until fluffy

  • Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing with mixer

  • Add vanilla and sugar mix until fluffy

Atlanta Kabbage Team Visit

Team Dinner at Eataly

This week the Kabbage team from the Atlanta office was in town. I was really excited since I had met a lot of them virtually, but not in person yet. Would I be able to recognize them from seeing them on video or would I totally embarrass myself and mess it up? I am happy to say, yes I was! I may have had to confirm someone’s last name but they had to confirm mine as well!

The team was super friendly and nice, they also brought a sense of the start up vibe, which I missed from my internship at Jango days! (I am surprised to see that Jango still exists after all these years, its been at least a decade!)

Tuesday night we went to PJ Clarke’s, I had not been here in over 2 years, so it was a nice to be back and to spend some time with the team that was in town! I met some new colleagues who I know we will be fast friends! There was even a DTF, Down to FOOD, moment - if you were thinking anything else you have your mind in the gutter!

Last night, the product team had an impromptu dinner at La Pizza & La Pasta a Colori at Eataly! We had not done a team dinner yet, so it was nice to interact with a smaller group and really get to talk more as a group vs one offs and get to know everyone!

After dinner we went to to O’Hara’s for drinks, which was nice to chat with everyone. I ended up finding my Kabbage twin James and new BFF Clint, who is super tall! We also found an old man singing his heart out by himself as if he were at a karaoke - can we please adopt him to be our team mascot?

I am even more excited and invigorated to be part of the Kabbage team after meeting the Atlanta part of the team in person! Can’t wait to see all the great things we will do together!

Joining the Kabbage (Patch)

I am happy to announce that I received a promotion to Senior Product Manager and today is my first official day joining he Kabbage team at American Express!

I am excited to not only start my journey as a product manager, but to join the Kabbage team. The product I will be focused on is funding for small to medium size businesses through lines of credit. For those of you who are wondering what Kabbage is, Kabbage is a fintech recently acquired by AMEX in August 2020. Despite being acquired by AMEX, Kabbage still has the startup feel and journey, but with the backing of a Fortune 100 company.

In the interview process, I had the opportunity to interview with one of the co-founders Kathryn Petralia, who I learned also happened to be on Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2017! I may have fangirled a little bit, but I am not the only one!

I have already met a few of my new team members as I am transitioning out of my old role into my new role the past few weeks and they all seem great!

This will be my first role as a product manager, so please feel free to embark any words of wisdom and wish me luck!

International Women’s Day

Happy Intetnational Women’s Day!

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Happy International Women’s Day! 💜

Here’s to strong women.
May we know them.
May we be them.
May we raise them! 💪

Then and now (2020 celebrating together in person & 2021 celebrating together apart)

Then and now (2020 celebrating together in person & 2021 celebrating together apart)

Who knew this would be one of the last big events I’d celebrate with my coworkers and friends.