Social Impact is Product Management

Alex Fox is a Product Manager at Warby Parker and several other companies.

A product manager at Warby Parker, Alex helps drive one of the coolest companies around. But that’s not what drew her there — or to any of the myriad companies with which she’s involved. Alex chooses to work with organizations that align with her personal values and goals.

“With Warby Parker we have a really strong community ethos, and that’s a big reason of why I took this role, but even before that, I’ve really tried to identify startups, identify teams that align with my personal values,” she says. “I’m really always thinking about how do we increase equity and inclusion for marginalized communities. So whether that’s at Warby, because we have that mission and give back and community ethos, or other smaller teams that I’ve worked with.”

Alex firmly believes that social impact goals begin and end with the company mission and values, and that product managers have a key role to play in ensuring they are prized and measured right along with other business metrics.

One key is in serving and listening to a wide spectrum of customers and potential users. “One thing that we’ve prioritized as an organization is making sure that we’re getting feedback from a lot of different types of customers, and customers we don’t necessarily always put at the forefront or haven’t in the past when we think of who is the standard would-be user,” she says.

Learn more about how to ensure social impact is at the core of your business, as well as how Alex built her career on that very foundation, on this episode of This Is Product Management.

Download the transcript of this episode here:

Here are the highlights:

• How Alex chooses companies that align with her values: 7:19
• Defining an impact goal: 7:54
• How to measure social impact: 12:10
• Alex’s advice for PMs who want to make an impact: 14:01

Recommended Episodes:

• Diversity is Product Management
• Career Growth is Product Management
• Reimagining Product Design is Product Management