Hey, I'm Will.
My career is not a straight line. It's more like a pinball machine that eventually landed on product leadership, coaching, and AI.
I've been a software engineer, a mortgage broker, a middle school teacher, a stay-at-home dad, a youth pastor, a web design business owner, and a land investor. I sold a mortgage branch to a retired NFL player and ran his business. I preached every Sunday for six months. I read The 4-Hour Workweek with a friend and we actually started a business.
Then I found my way back to tech, taking on product, marketing, and engineering at an early-stage startup. Over six years I grew a user base from zero to over a million users. That led to Bazaarvoice, where I launched multiple 0-to-1 products and grew them to $20M+ in revenue. Then Indeed, where I became Head of Product for Seen by Indeed and helped build the ML matching foundation that powered $500M+ in revenue across the company.
The thread through all of it: I build things, I lead people, and I can't stop starting new ventures.
The Pinball Narrative
Software Engineer
Built systems. Learned that code is easy, but people are hard. Realized the "how" matters less than the "why".
Mortgage Broker, Product Manager, Pastor
Sold a mortgage branch to an NFL player — but not before building websites, conversion funnels, and underwriting automations. Taught middle school. Founded a web design and marketing firm. Preached every Sunday. Product management before I knew it had a name.
VP Product & Marketing
Grew a startup from zero to 1M+ users. Wore every hat — product, marketing, engineering. Fell in love with product management as a discipline.
Director → Head of Product
Launched 0-to-1 products at Bazaarvoice, growing from zero to $20M+ in revenue. Then led product, UX, and data science at Seen by Indeed — building the ML matching foundation later deployed across all of Indeed.
Coach & AI Builder
Coaching PMs through career transitions and building AI-powered systems. Teaching the next generation of leaders how to survive the jump to executive level.
How I got here
I started my career writing code. But I kept getting pulled toward the business side of things, and eventually took a wild detour into finance. I became a mortgage broker, then ran my own branch, then sold it and managed operations for the new owner.
When the financial crisis hit, I pivoted hard. I taught middle school for a year. Then my wife and I decided I'd stay home with our three kids (eventually four). During nap times and after bedtimes, I started a web design and hosting business with a friend, attended seminary, and served as a youth pastor and interim pastor.
Eventually the pull of building products brought me back to tech. I joined an early-stage startup wearing every hat: product, marketing, engineering. Over six years, we grew from nothing to over a million users. That's where I fell in love with product management as a discipline.
From there, I went to Bazaarvoice as a Group PM, got promoted to Director, and launched multiple 0-to-1 products that grew from zero to over $20M in annual revenue — including an eCommerce personalization and recommendation engine leveraging 20+ ML models, weighted against each other, for real-time product recommendations across the world's largest brands and retailers. Then I became Head of Product for Seen by Indeed — an Indeed startup of 100+ people — where I led product, UX, data science, and analytics. That team built the ML matching foundation — taxonomy of roles, domain-specific models — that was later deployed across all of Indeed and attributed to $500M+ in revenue. From there I moved to Indeed Hire as Director of Product, delivering 5 MVPs in six months with a restructured cross-functional team.
When COVID hit, I started coaching PMs because I wanted to give back. What started as a side project became a calling. I've coached 200+ product managers through career transitions, promotions, and the shift to working with AI. Now I run Brightlea Ventures full-time — coaching, building AI-powered workflow systems, and designing scalable training programs for product leaders.
Along the way, I've never stopped building. Land investing, web design, marketing businesses, and now Brightlea Ventures. The entrepreneurial streak from my mortgage days never went away. It just found better outlets.
My approach
Direct and specific
I don't do vague frameworks or motivational fluff. If your promotion case is weak, I'll tell you why and help you fix it. If your PRD is missing the point, we'll rework it together.
AI as amplifier, not replacement
AI should make your PM judgment sharper, not replace it. I teach tools and workflows that free you up for the strategic thinking that actually moves products forward.
Been there, done all of it
I've been a founder, an IC, a people leader, and a stay-at-home dad. I've run my own businesses and led product at scale. That range means I've probably been where you are now.
Let's talk
The best way to figure out if we're a good fit is a quick conversation. No pitch, no pressure. Just coffee and candor.