Pivot and make it work: A Product Marketing Manager's story of reinvention, passion projects, and impact at Dynatrace

Kosai Estowani is a Senior Product Marketing Manager on our competitive intelligence team and drives several valuable passion projects, including leading a Dynaspace for People of Color, at Dynatrace.  

In this episode, he talks about his path from studying criminal justice to pursuing a career in tech. He shares how career pivots and great leaders have shaped his journey. He also talks about founding the Dynaspace for People of Color and his passion project to help underserved youth see what careers are possible in tech.  

 Tune in and let us know how you liked it by leaving us a review or a comment on your streaming platform. 

Where to find us:      

• Connect with Sue Quackenbush on LinkedIn  
• Connect with Kosai Estowani on LinkedIn

Discover the opportunities at Dynatrace and take your career to the next level: careers.dynatrace.com

Transcript

Sue 

Hi, this is Sue Quackenbush, Chief People Officer at Dynatrace. And today I am very excited with my guest Kosai Estowani. He is our senior product marketing manager based in our Waltham office and he has a fantastic story. So welcome, Kosai. 

Kosai 

Thank you so much for having me. 

Sue 

So I would love to start with your role because when I was preparing for this conversation, I was like, hey, wait a minute, you have a new job. And I knew last time you were in sales operations and now you're in product marketing. I'd love to hear about your new role. What is it and how is it different? 

Kosai 

Sure. Yeah. this role is new. I'm part of the competitive intelligence team. And as we know, that competition drives innovation. Our competitors are constantly innovating, and so are we. And we need to be able to understand what they're doing, how they're doing it. And they do the same thing. I've seen a bunch of competitors hire for very similar roles, and what we've been able to do is kind of use things like bettering the operations, providing sales with support as well as data, something we didn't really do as much of before. So that's kind of my job right now, is optimizing our CRM and making sure sales has all the tools that they need, as well as providing data so we can actually create action. 

Sue 

And I love the new role. I think it's awesome. Competitive intelligence is so critical for any organization, just to make sure that we're aware of what's going on in the market. So I think that's great. You know, switching from sales operations to product marketing, what guided those changes? I mean, these are changes in kind of a career path. So what really fuels that change? 

Kosai 

I realized, like, you know, I need a little bit more of set of skills. And this is exactly what this gave me. My manager right now was very open to always mentoring me, coaching me. And he really made me like, you know what? This is a really good role for me is where I can get creative. I always like challenges when things are new because you get to kind of make it your own. 

Sue 

That's awesome. And what I heard a little bit about your personal story was that you moved to the US at a very early age and couldn't speak any English. And, um, how has that shaped your whole view on personal growth and professional growth? 

Kosai 

So coming here, language was kind of just one of the barriers. So I came here at 11 years old. It's a quick funny story. I remember the principal asked me and my brother, do you want French or Spanish? And I thought he said, spinach, and I recognize that word. So I told my brother, I'm like, you think he's asking us what we want for lunch? You go with the French, I'll go with the Spanish. And it turns out that they put us in this styleroom. We don't even speak English. And then we really. He stuck with it. I bailed out, but that was really kind of like one of the first roadblocks. I'm like, if you can overcome roadblocks like culture and language, everything else really becomes easy. And honestly, the reason that even here, right now is because it was two teachers changed my life. They made me feel welcome. They held my hand. The time. I still have my notebook. When I first started writing English the first few days, I still have that to this day. And uh, that went on to, uh, high school and middle school and then friends and then, uh, bosses and leaders and managers. The only reason I'm here is because people took a chance on me. They, uh, gave me the opportunity, and they supported me. Whenever I struggle, they supported me. And so I can really take the credit for everything, because I've had a lot of help along the way. 

Sue 

Well, I think that's an amazing story, but I would say you are open to taking that help. And you accepted the help. I love to get your thoughts on. What advice would you give someone who's coming into relocating and not only joining a new company? So you're joining a new company, you're starting a new role, but you're also potentially relocating to to a new country. And what advice would you give them? 

Kosai 

Uh, being opens number one. I mean, I'm assuming the fact that you're willing to move to a different country, you're open. But what I mean by that is understanding that the world doesn't revolve around you. You have to understand that local language. You have to put in that effort. I'm all for that. You can move into a country and expect them to speak the language that you speak natively. Um, just being open to criticism, being open to listening and learning and making peace. The fact that this is going to be a long process, this is not going to happen overnight. It's not going to be easy, but in the long run, it's worth it. 

Sue 

You know, one of the things we often talk about is how do you bring your whole self to work? And I would I would wonder, you know, what parts of your journey do you carry into the way you show up and collaborate? 

Kosai 

I would say I've learned I used to have a different way of working or thinking how I should be a leader, and it was, oh my God, I have to rule with an iron fist. I have to be this, you know, tough person. And, uh, and I realized that that was never the right way because, number one, I got backlash. And number two, when I saw that people who were kind to me, what the hell did I just do what they do? So that's one thing I try to carry with myself every day is like, if I'm growing, I'm going to try to help as many people around me grow. So that's kind of like the reoccurring theme is always give back. And when you're giving back, you're going to learn more. You're going to learn how to deal with people better. You learn, and then it gives you a room. I guess when you involve more people to grow and focus on other things. 

Sue 

I mean, you've been at Dynatrace for six years. What is it about the company or culture that keeps you here? 

Kosai 

It's always been the managers. So it's very tempting when you see a competitor reach out or a different company reach out and say, hey, you fit our skill set. Where are you interested? One thing I always give advice on, whether you're in my level and career wise, or below me or above me, I shop for the manager first, company and role second because if you have a bad manager, it doesn't matter how much you're getting paid or how cool the company is, it's going to be a miserable experience. 

Sue 

And you know, I totally agree with you. I mean, research says and you hear that people leave bad managers. And, you know, when we think about dynatrace and our culture and you think about our leadership and, you know, we just did our engagement survey earlier this year and our employees truly trust their managers. They really have a high regard for their managers. And so I'm going to switch subject and kind of go back to, you know, you found in a tiny space for people of color and you've served as their president since then. What sparked the idea and how did it come to life? 

Kosai 

The inspiration came definitely from somebody who mentored me when I was at RSA and saw that this group is supportive. This is not to kind of do anything else but be there for each other, support each other. And then we found that there was a lot of people who were really interested in that. A lot of people who feel like maybe they're outnumbered, or they feel like they're an outcast or scared because of certain world events are happening. And if I was feeling like this, you can multiply that maybe by ten, five, whatever it is that many people are probably feeling the same exact way. 

Sue 

Wow, cozy. Thank you so much for sharing. And you're still involved and still doing work. So I know you're working on a project that focuses on informing kids and young people from underserved communities about careers in tech. Can you tell me more about it? 

Kosai 

Sure. So this is something I've been I've talked about in pitch for the last three years, just kind of like talking out loud. And I called it Dan Trace Fit, which is future and tech. And the goal of it is to reach out to disadvantaged communities and inform them what their options are in software companies or in tech. Because when people think, or at least this is what I used to think, oh yeah, tech, you have to be able to code, you know, you have to be able to develop software. That's not the case. There you go. I'm a person with a criminal justice degree. But then I'm like, oh, there's oh, you can get sales. That's how I started. Initially, I started in recruiting. I was a tech recruiter, and I want these kids to be able to know other options. We can provide them. Mentorship, job shadow this. One of the things I would love to do is have maybe I can select few, be able to come to the interface offices in a little and see what it looks like, and inspire them to go into those roles. 

Sue 

It sounds like a wonderful opportunity. And it's a it's about awareness. I mean, I grew up on a small family farm. I was the first kids go to college. I had no idea what, uh, the corporate world looked like or felt like, or even how you even were able to get into it from where I came from and, you know, through a co-op in college, that's how I actually had that exposure point. So because I it's been wonderful speaking with you. I love your story. I love the journey. I love the idea of the program, the future in tech. And so I just want to say thank you so much for your time. 

Kosai 

Thank you so much for having me, I appreciate this. 

Sue 

Thank you, everyone, for tuning in to today's podcast. If you'd like to follow us, please do so on Apple and Spotify.