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Product Manager

As an empathetic product manager, my goal is to create engaging and memorable digital experiences that are intuitive, human-centered, and inspiring. Being surrounded by highly collaborative and innovative communities, I hope to constantly learn, grow, and explore.

Super Powers/Specialties:
Product Management | Herding Cats | Usability Testing and Evaluation | SEO | Multi-tasking | Quality Assurance | Analytics | A/B Testing | Metadata | Professional Roadmapper | Web Design | HTML & CSS | Scrum/Agile Methodologies | Customer/Tech Support | Stellar Under Pressure and a Really Great Listener

MJ_red_profile_book_bio_984x1480

Work Experience

Utah.com Logo
Knowledge Nugget Books
DeseretBooklogo

Work Experience

UTAH.COM PRODUCT MANAGER

Deseret Digital Media / Salt Lake City, Utah / 2018-PRESENT

 

Utah.com is a travel/tourism website that works with local lodging and tour groups to advertise contextually on the site. The majority of our traffic comes from organic search traffic with 10.8 million page view in 2021, 245k active email subscribers and generating over 821,000 leads.

 

  • Manage existing Utah.com website and monitor and measure product and feature performance using A/B testing, analytics, SEO performance, heat mapping tools, site speed, user feedback and revenue growth.
  • Work with a 3rd party platform (Simpleview) to spearhead a CMS and CRM platform transition and website redesign to implement usability learnings and enhance internal and external user experience.
  • Identify customer/business problems and define customer/product needs, requirements, prioritization, design initial wireframes and build a high-level roadmap based on user testing, focus groups, research and feedback.
  • Responsible for coordinating and finding consensus in various departments including marketing, technology analytics and design to produce a useful and delightful online product.

 

 

MEDIA LIBRARY PRODUCT MANAGER

Office of the First Presidency / Salt Lake City, Utah / 2012-2018

 

An international religious organization of 15+ million members, founded in 1830; also sometimes referred to as “The LDS Church” or “The Mormons.”

 

  • Managed external software products on web, app and set-top box channels for content publishing.
  • Defined product direction, strategy and vision for international products in 37 languages.
  • Identified business problems, defined product needs, requirements, prioritization and high-level roadmap based on user testing, focus groups, research and feedback.
  • Coordinated the work of graphic designers, content managers, developers and language coordinators.

 

WEB MEDIA ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Office of the First Presidency / Salt Lake City, Utah / 2010-2012

 

  • Assisted web producer in creating, organizing and managing the Church’s Create.lds.org, launching platforms for increased user experience and crowdsourcing media efforts.
  • Took the lead in marketing efforts for Create.lds.org via email newsletters and social media channels.
  • Assisted team from ideation to execution in maintaining product backlog for Create.lds.org, including data and statistics compiling and reporting.

 

 

CREATIVE SERVICES ASSISTANT / GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Deseret Book HQ / Salt Lake City, Utah / 2009-2010

 

  • Developed online and print marketing content for the Deseret Book website, marketing emails and their retail store. Continued to do free-lance web design work for them on the side.

 

 

WEB MEDIA PRODUCER’S ASSISTANT

Office of the First Presidency / Salt Lake City, Utah / 2009-2010

 

  • Worked with web producers on a variety of different projects including coordinating over 400 volunteers to QC 60,000 files, working with a custom CRM to upload content for a variety of websites, preparing metadata for web content and graphic design work.

 

 

Education

BACHELOR’S DEGREE /

DIGITAL MEDIA

Utah Valley University

2006-2008

 

ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE /

DIGITAL MEDIA

Weber State University

2004-2006

Skills

/PROFESSIONAL/

  • Product Management
  • Professional Roadmapper
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Verbal & Written Communication
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Analytical Skills
  • Leadership
  • Sense of Humor
  • Prioritizing
  • Organizational Skills
  • Making Data-driven Decisions
  • Problem Solving
  • Planning Meetings
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Professional Cat Herder

 

/TECHNICAL/

  • Google Analytics
  • Familiar with a variety of CRM and CMS systems
  • A/B Testing
  • SEO & Metadata
  • HTML & CSS
  • Usability Testing & Evaluation
  • Writing User Stories & Requirements
  • Wireframing
  • Adobe Photoshop, XD, Premiere, Acrobat
  • Scrum/Agile Methodologies
  • Customer/Tech Support
  • Quality Assurance
  • MS Office/Google Drive
  • Apple products
  • Book Publishing

Certifications

Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)

Scrum Alliance

Issued Sep 2019 - Expires Sep 2022

Credential ID 946331

Hubspot Certifications

Hubspot

Inbound / Jan 2018

Content Marketing / Mar 2018

Disney's Approach to Leadership Excellence & Quality Service

Disney Institute

Issued Nov 2017 & Apr 2018

 Creative Side Projects

CANADA BOOK-cropped-web-2.   Book_1_e-cover-webfriendly    Book_2_e-cover-webfriendly

KNB_Logo-66-300px

 

BEST-SELLING & AWARD-WINNING SELF PUBLISHER

 

Wrote and published two fun fact and trivia books, So You Think You Know, Canada, Eh? (2019) and Everything About Astronauts Vol. 1 (2021). Everything About Astronauts Vol. 2 is coming early 2022. Have sold almost 8,000 copies worldwide and have turned it into passive income. See more at www.KnowledgeNuggetBooks.com

 

  • Performed keyword research & competitive analysis.
  • Used data to create SEO-optimized book titles, descriptions, blurbs and marketing material.
  • Researched and wrote each book, hired and worked with freelance editors, cover and interior designers, narrators, fact-checkers and indexers.
  • Successfully published eBook, paperback and audiobook versions on multiple storefronts worldwide.
  • Created and launched multiple marketing campaigns on social media.
  • Learned how to successfully advertise on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram and BookBub.

 

 

EZPrintables Etsy Shop

Screen Shot 2021-12-18 at 8.10.27 AM

3,044 Sales |

Started in 2014 as an experiment and side hustle to sell printables. Have sold everything from wedding invite templates, name card templates, treat-bag toppers, inspirational posters, and pumpkin stencils. The pumpkin stencils have been the most popular, successful and hand-off product I've sold. 

Volunteer Experience

Namibia-Girls

Student Mentor  

Digital Namibian Archive / Namibia / July 2008

Worked on a one-of-a-kind project to help the Namibian National Archives and the Polytechnic of Namibia, both located in the capital of Windhoek, in the processes of digital archiving. Utah Valley University took the lead in training individuals in approaching this vast undertaking. Students from both institutions worked together with staff, faculty, and professionals to make this project a success.

Volunteer Missionary

LDS Church / North Carolina / Dec 2001 - Jun 2003

Serving various humanitarian projects over a period of 18-months.
Worker cleaning up the driveway from autumn leaves
"Yes, Marianne is a capable product manager. But one her strengths is a rare find in a sea of competitive leaders. Marianne has the “Jedi” gift—the ability to calm a stakeholder. Innately, she brings peace and collaboration to the table. Perhaps it’s because she is a warm and calm person—silently inviting the same in others; all for the purpose of creating solution and progress. And back at her desk, she’s strategic and intentional; keeping all the moving parts in order and on track. Marianne might be smiling warmly in her unintimidating way; but you can know that she is doing what it takes to bring the products to market while delighting customers, and building team cooperation, all at the same time. She makes a great addition to any group that is committed to bringing out the best in each other."
Patti Rokus, co-worker
"Marianne has been a wonderful coworker and peer. She is passionate about the quality of her work and the vision of the organization. She is a true leader who leads her teams through fostering collaboration and encouraging innovation. She’s driven, creative, and full of professional enthusiasm! Working with her has been a highlight!"
Ksenia Bitter, co-worker