I had the opportunity to speak with QUEST alumna Jacqueline Deprey, who graduated in 2020 and now works for Dropbox. Deprey is a proud member of QUEST Cohort 30 and says she is still close to her BMGT/ENES490H team – Sign Sealed Delivered (SSD).

Sign Sealed Delivered (SSD) getting boba together.

Currently, Deprey is working as a Senior Product Manager at Dropbox, where she originally worked as a software engineering intern. When asked how she moved up to product manager, she mentioned how she was able to ask questions organically regarding product decisions (from QUEST!). This helped with her transition as it showed her interest in the product.

As a product manager, she is involved in the testing of new products. Dropbox uniquely tests products in-house. When they target a smaller firm (for example, a finance firm), they test the product with their own finance department. This allows them to creatively test their product in a parallel market to work out any issues. This way, they can analyze how products are used internally for accurate metrics to understand how it will work on the outside.

SSD team jumping for joy in Van Munching Hall!

Dropbox uses OKRs, objectives and key results, to measure their performance. This is really helpful when testing new products, as this process can determine how the product benefits the specific department in meeting its goals. 

Currently, Deprey is working on a project called Dropbox Dash. This is similar to a search bar, except it will go through all the communications that you use to find the information you need. For example, if Deprey was looking for meeting notes for the month of February and she uses Outlook and Dropbox as her main sources of storage, this feature would allow her to search through all those drives. This project will be launched later in the year.

As a senior product manager, Deprey faces some challenges in her day-to-day life. All stakeholders involved in product development have different opinions and priorities. Product managers at Dropbox handle this dilemma by testing out their products in-house first. If dilemmas occur on the inside, they will only be magnified outside the company. 

She also mentioned that transparency is important when it comes to juggling priorities. If her team’s goals are different than the goals of another group of stakeholders, they are still likely mutually beneficial. This realization increases cooperation between stakeholders for a brilliant final outcome.

SSD working on BMGT/ENES490H together in Van Munching Hall.

When asked about her experience in QUEST, Deprey mentioned that she learned how to think critically. Instead of just worrying about the problems on top, she learned to dig deeper into the underlying issue. This is something that has given her an edge and allowed her to become a Product Manager so fast!

Some advice that she has for current QUESTees is to take it all in. QUEST is a special place with fun and driven people. She also advises current students to be like a sponge in this program, since you can learn a lot from others and use it to better yourself. Finally, your peers in QUEST are like mirrors, they reflect your best qualities back to yourself.

So QUESTees, be like Jacqueline Deprey and find your mirrors in QUEST and soak everything in!