As a Senior Director of Product Management, Lisa Stringer Abdullah seeks to understand the needs of Audible's global customers and creators, then works with designers and engineers to develop innovative solutions that serve them. Here she describes her extraordinary 11-year career journey at Audible and what she loves most about working here.

What is life like at the hub you are aligned to?

I work from the Newark, New Jersey hub. One of our office buildings is a converted historic cathedral next to a park that has live music and a farmers market in the summer. Periodically we have some friendly competition at the local YMCA with company sporting events. (I play in the volleyball tournament!) 

What was your first Audible listen? What inspired you to check it out?  

My first Audible listen was The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim. At the time, I was investing quite a bit of time and effort in my own development around operational theory and agile principles, and many of my peers had read this book. Long-form reading has always been physically challenging for me. When I told my then-boyfriend (now husband) that I wanted to read The Phoenix Project for my professional interests but didn't have the energy for a book, he suggested I try Audible. I was hooked from that first listen and haven't stopped using Audible since. In fact, my positive experience as a customer is what inspired me to join the company and create great experiences for listeners.

Can you share a bit about your career journey at Audible?

I have had a a lot of fun in my 11 years at Audible. My first role was on an education-focused product. That year, I helped out on a number of projects, wherever I was needed, which gave me a great introduction to Audible, overall. 

I found my first real home on our catalog platform team, focusing on getting books from creators to customers. I then managed a B2B offering, customer features on the Audible apps and website, and service teams responsible for designing subscription offerings and membership models. It has all come full circle, and I am back home working with our catalog and contracts teams, in a leadership role.

How do you exemplify our People Principles in your day-to-day work?

"Imagine and Invent Before They Ask" and "Customer Obsession” are core to the purpose and function of product management. As Henry Ford is thought to have said, if he had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. As a product manager, a big part of my job is to get into the hearts and minds of our customers, to understand their core motivations, needs and goals so that I can imagine and invent solutions in the most delightful way possible 

Of course, this mindset has to be coupled with "Activate Caring" and "Articulate the Possible and Move Fast to Make it Real." I need to pair my imagination and creativity with tactical expertise to design the work, trust my colleagues and have the courage to fail fast, learn and iterate. It's a constant balance: blending bold, future-leaning vision with a deep grounding in real customer needs.

Can you share about a time when a leader at Audible empowered you to take on a challenge or explore a new area?

About five years into my Audible career, I had several major successes under my belt and was a trusted product manager and catalog expert. I was participating as an interviewer for another team looking to hire a product manager for a B2B initiative. One day, the hiring manager joked that if they didn't find a candidate soon, they might just steal me.

That joke turned into a serious discussion about me potentially taking on this new and very different role. I loved my team and was not sure I wanted to leave them, but I was ready for a new challenge. The team’s senior leader had unrelenting faith in me, and I made the pivot easily, and although I did have to learn a few new skills, I loved that challenge. In the six years since, I've had the opportunity to work on initiatives across the organization, in almost every part of the product and with almost every department. That leader's faith in me was instrumental.

What are the benefits you find invaluable for your personal well-being, or that help make both your work life and personal life more fulfilling?

I have had three children during my tenure at Audible, and the support the company has provided throughout has been truly invaluable. That's three pregnancies with morning sickness and discomfort, three maternity leaves, and three returns to work with a new baby and new routines to navigate.

Throughout all of these significant life changes, I've had the full backing of Audible, both in the formal benefits like generous parental leave, as well as the more informal empathy and understanding from my leaders and colleagues. At no point did I ever feel like I had to choose between advancing my career, being there for my family, or taking care of myself. Audible has always made it clear that my personal well-being and work-life balance are just as important as my professional contributions. 

What’s one quality people interested in working on Audible’s product team need in order to succeed?

Curiosity. We're constantly driven to peel back the layers and uncover new insights, whether that means diving into granular customer data, interviewing stakeholders across the organization, or exploring emerging trends in technology and consumer behavior.

The problems we tackle are rarely straightforward. There's always an opportunity to dig deeper, to ask "why" one more time, to see if there's an interesting nugget of information or a unique perspective that could unlock a more innovative solution.

What made you choose to work at Audible, what made you want to stay?

My background is in education and educational technology, and my first role at Audible was on an educational initiative that was a strong fit for my expertise at that time. I stay because reading is important, and audiobooks make reading accessible to more people. I stay because I love solving hard problems, perhaps more than any other professional thing. I stay because it’s fun—my team is awesome.

Lightning Round!

Favorite genre? Domestic thrillers.

Listening from a speaker or headphones? Headphones.

Favorite activity while listening? Driving kids to sports practice.

Morning person or night owl? Morning person!

Favorite snack? Cheese.

What is your favorite all-time listen?

Anything Freida McFadden, but my favorite was Dead Med. I loved the unique storytelling framework, where the narrators kept changing until the very end. I could not put it down.