Jean Kang

✨ PM Career Coach, x7 pivoter, helping other pivoters land amazing Program Manager roles and 🔥 thrive on the job | Founder of 🚀 Path to PM | Senior Program Manager @ Figma • Ex-Linkedin, Meta, Pinterest, Intuit

Over the last decade, I led impactful programs at companies like LinkedIn, Pinterest, & Figma.

But here’s the part that surprises people:

- I didn’t have a PMP certification.
- I’m a proud career pivoter. 
- I didn’t check every box.

What I did have was strategy, storytelling, and a clear sense of how to articulate my value.

That’s how I landed multiple 6-figure Program Manager roles at top tech companies not by following the “traditional” path, but by leaning into my superpowers. 

Eventually, I had a spark to do something different..

What if I used the same skills that helped me thrive in Big Tech… to build something of my own?

So I left to bet on myself (again). 

And what served me well in my career also helped me as a solopreneur.

I owned my story, built with intention and shared learnings in public.

I started creating content in 2023 and in 2 years, built a community of 350K+ across LinkedIn, Instagram, and my newsletter.

Today, I’m the founder of the PM Accelerator, a career transformation program where I help senior professionals land high-paying PM roles without another certification or starting over. 

My mission is to democratize access to tech careers + empower folks to design a career, business & life they love especially in this era of AI.

The Results:

→ Partnered with Google, Hubspot, NVIDIA, Adobe, Kajabi, Notion, & more
→ LinkedIn Learning Instructor with 200K+ learners
→ 100M+ impressions over the last year
→ 230K+ follow my journey on LinkedIn
→ Built a $200K+ business in 1 year 
→ 32K+ read my newsletter 
→ (soon TEDx speaker 😱)

If you want to learn the exact framework I used to land dream PM roles + help others do the same… 

📌 APPLY TO THE PM ACCELERATOR (link in bio)

In this 5-week career acceleration program, I teach you how to get interviews, land dream offers and literally thrive on the job.  

I helped 100+ students land PM roles at Microsoft, SoFi, Scale.AI, Adidas, Workday and more (many in under 4–7 weeks)

→ GO HERE: pm-accelerator.com 

📧 jean@jean-kang.com for partnerships, collaborations, and speaking opportunities

📌 Media kit: jean-kang.com

Founder & CEO

"Jean isn’t a program manager coach solely because she’s done the role. She’s a coach because she’s done both the role AND gone the extra mile to document what she’s researched and learned masterfully. 

“Jean’s the real deal, and I couldn’t recommend her more to someone questioning how to take the next step in their career."

Leadership isn’t a title.

It’s how you make people feel.

💸 Get promo ready here: https://lnkd.in/gvq4UBgW

My assistant said this to me the other day 💙

“When I talk to managers, I get the feeling they're important. 
When I talk to leaders, I get the feeling I'm important.”

And said this is how I make her feel 🥹 (best compliment ever)

Here’s what I’ve learned about leading with kindness

(and why it’s often your secret weapon for getting ahead especially if you’re eyeing a promotion)

☝🏼 Create psychological safety

↳ People can only thrive when they feel safe to speak up, ask questions, and be themselves without fear of judgment.
↳ Avoid interrupting or dismissing ideas, even if they aren’t fully formed yet
↳ Ask for feedback, “How can I support you better?” or “Do you need more clarification?”

✌🏼 Turn mistakes into learning moments

↳ Focus on “What can we learn?” instead of “Who’s at fault?”
↳ Provide specific guidance on how to avoid the same mistake (ex. “Here’s what to do next time when X happens. What do you think?”

🤟🏼 Give meaningful appreciation & recognition

↳ Get to know how each individual WANTS to be recognized (via DMs, team meeting, more flexibility etc)
↳ Create rituals, like “Win of the Week,” to make appreciation part of the culture

🖖🏼 Care deeply for their well-being

↳ Check in with team members beyond work - ask, “How are you really doing?”
↳ Normalize taking breaks by doing it yourself and encouraging others to do the same (”I don’t expect you to work after hours or on weekends”)
↳ Reinforce that they should focus on their well being > work. Say, “Hey, I know you’re sick. Cancel your meetings and transfer any open work. I’ll handle it.”

Leadership isn’t about power. It’s about people.

If you want to truly thrive in your career, and land the promotion you deserve

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Here’s a wildly valuable and completely free Promotion Readiness Calculator built by the brilliant Shivani Berry that gives you a custom report in < 2 minutes.

Here’s what it does

☝🏼 Identifies the exact lever blocking your promotion

✌🏼 Gives you detailed, actionable next steps to remove the block and bag your dream promo

💸 Get promo ready here: https://lnkd.in/gvq4UBgW

♻️ Repost if you agree & follow Jean Kang for more.

Tech Creator (400k+) & Founder | Ex-LinkedIn, Meta, Figma | Solopreneur, TEDx Speaker & LinkedIn Learning Instructor helping you thrive at work using AI

KPI = 
Key Performance Indicators

The New Leadership
KPI
Keep people interested
Keep people informed
Keep people involved
Keep people inspired

Be the person people want to work with.

How you collaborate will define your career more than anything else.

Because let’s be real. 

No one wants to work with the person who’s genius but impossible to deal with.

Here are 6 traits that make you an invaluable teammate:

__

1. Be dependable ☝🏼

↳ Follow through on what you say you'll do.
↳ Show up on time. Physically and mentally.
↳ Be the person others know they can count on.

2. Communicate like a boss ✌🏼

↳ Get to the point (lead with a headline).
↳ Keep people updated before they have to ask.
↳ Listen with the intent to understand, not just to reply.

3. Make other people’s jobs easier 🤟🏼

↳ Offer solutions vs problems.
↳ Offer help before you're asked.
↳ Share resources, knowledge, and wins.

4. Take ownership of everything (Good or bad) 🖖🏼

↳ Give credit where it’s due.
↳ Don't wait for someone else to step up. Be that person.
↳ Say this: “I dropped the ball. Here’s what happened and what I’ll do next time …”

5. Show appreciation 🖐🏼

↳ Say *thank you.* A lot.
↳ Celebrate small wins. Not just big results.
↳ Recognize someone’s effort, not just the outcomes.

People remember how you made them feel. Make them feel valued.

At the end of the day, the best career move isn’t just getting better at your job.

It’s getting better at working with people.

What’s one trait that makes someone amazing to work with? Drop it below 👇

Tech Creator (400k+) & Founder | Ex-LinkedIn, Meta, Figma | Solopreneur, TEDx Speaker & LinkedIn Learning Instructor helping you build AI literacy ✨

be the person that everyone wants to work with

I quit my job after 14 days.

The culture reflected in the interview was NOT the reality of working there.

The interview process was amazing.

I was so excited to join a great company culture.

Unfortunately, I noticed 🚩red flags in my first week.

My boss started to micromanage, degrade, and control me.

The reality was that what I was told in the interview was a lie.

So many people told me that I should never leave a job under 1 year.

They said being a ‘job hopper’ would ruin my career, but I decided to own my story.

I chose to leave my job under 1 month to preserve my mental health.

In doing so, I landed better roles, greater salaries, a kind manager, and a healthy culture conducive to my growth.

Don’t let anyone shame you for leaving a job because it looks 'bad.'

Staying at a toxic job long-term destroys your mental health.

It’s okay to leave and put yourself first.
__

5 questions to ask if you're in the right place 👇🏼

1/ Am I challenged?

2/ Am I learning & growing?

3/ Do I feel like I can make an impact?

4/ Do I align with the values of the company?

5/ Am I being valued & recognized for my work?

If the answers are NO, it’s time to start looking.

Because person or job is worth your mental health 💙

Repost if you believe mental health matters 🙏🏼

Image credit: Thinking Minds IG

knowing when to leave is so important. the party. the job. the relationship.

📣 Employees who feel appreciated will always do more than expected.

Spoiler alert: 

If they’re not growing, they’re GOING ✌🏼

I’ve left jobs where I felt undervalued, underutilized, & unsupported.

And by choosing to leave, I found myself in healthier workplaces where I was:

✅ Supported by my manager

✅ Recognized for my contributions

✅ Treated with respect and kindness

✅ Encouraged to take time off without the guilt

5 simple things to show your people you actually care:
__

☝🏼1. Be personally helpful

↳ Forward a helpful article, intro them to someone who can help, or share a tool that made your life easier.

Example: “Hey, this podcast made me think of you. It has great advice for client conversations!”

✌🏼2. Connect with, not above, your people

↳ Open up about your own challenges. Ask for feedback you’ll actually use.

Example: “I’ve been feeling stretched lately too. Curious what's one thing I could do better to support you this week?”

🤟🏼3. Get curious about their life outside of work

↳ Ask about their weekend, their dog, their side project. Actually remember the details.

Example: “How was Max’s first soccer game? You looked so proud in that photo!”

🖖🏼4. Acknowledge their people

↳ Celebrate their partners, families, even friends who support them.

Example: “We’d love to see your partner at the team BBQ. Would they be open to joining us?”

🖐🏼5. Be radically transparent

↳ Honest, kind feedback beats sugarcoating every time. Truthful & transparent feedback is a gift.

↳ Try the SBI method: Situation, Behavior, Impact

Example: “In today’s meeting (S), when you interrupted Jane (B), it shifted the room's tone (I). Can we be more mindful of that next time?”

Happy employees make the best employees. Repost if you agree 🙏🏼

Repost if you agree 🙌🏼

a person who feels appreciated will always do more than expected

From 23 to 33, my income jumped 10x 

Looking back, here are the smartest things I did:

1/ Negotiated every offer 

Not just salary, also sign-on, PTO, title, bonus, equity, & professional development budget.

I’ll share my top negotiation tips I gave Business Insider in the comments.

2/ Approached *every* job with an ownership mentality 

I stopped being just an employee. I showed that I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, wear different hats, and bring solutions (not just problems).

Remember, you are the CEO of your own career.

3/ Built a side hustle with a 9-5

I launched a coaching business while working FT at Figma and made +$30K in my first year.

It was proof that optionality is everything.  

4/ Invested in my personal brand 

I started posting on LinkedIn 3 years ago, and it genuinely changed my life. 

It helped me leave my tech career, replace my salary in < 1 year, and start living my dream life.

5/ Got ✨great✨ at articulating my impact

This one’s important. I learned early on that good work alone isn’t enough. What matters is whether people see it and believe it.

You need receipts. Track outcomes, tell the story behind your results, and build relationships internally. Make it so easy for people to advocate for you.

Lastly, if you’re not learning, earning, or growing in your role. 
It’s time to leave. No one can make this decision for you.

And there is a huge opportunity cost if you choose to stay at a place with no growth. 

If you’re ready to grow in your PM career: to land a strategic role, increase your impact and income, and feel confident doing it…

I help senior professionals level up their leadership and land roles they love (in big tech or not)

Want to accelerate your career?

Apply here to work with me: https://lnkd.in/d8e-JAPt

My best career advice:

At every job, you should either learn or earn. Either is fine. Both is best.

If neither, quit.

🔥 17 Remote Job Boards You Didn't Know About (until now)

Included the links below 👇🏼

1/ Wellfound - https://wellfound.com/jobs

↳ Over 130K remote jobs from top companies to fast-growing startups

2/ Working Nomads - https://lnkd.in/ewwG6j-a

↳ A curated list of remote jobs for the modern working nomad

3/ #Web3#Web3 - https://web3.career/ 

↳ Connecting blockchain professionals with Web3 companies

4/ RemoteOK - https://remoteok.com/

↳ Has 129000+ remote jobs as a Developer, Designer, Copywriter, Customer Support Rep, and more.

5/ We Work Remotely - https://lnkd.in/eTb-W9zT

↳ One of the largest remote work communities in the world with over 6M visitors

6/ Jobspresso - https://jobspresso.co/

↳ Expertly curated remote jobs in tech, marketing, customer support, and more

7/ FlexJobs - https://www.flexjobs.com/

↳ Find Remote, Hybrid, & Flexible Jobs (all verified with over 10K+ reviews)

8/ JustRemote - https://justremote.co/

↳ Discover fully and partially remote jobs from the greatest remote working companies

9/ StillHiring.Today - https://stillhiring.today/

↳ A community-sourced, no-pay-to-play, ungated, BS-free list of tech companies who are still ACTUALLY hiring by Ross Pomerantz and Adam Schoenfeld

10/ Wiseful

↳ Central layoff list used by thousands of companies to hire - updated weekly.

11/ Jobgether - https://jobgether.com/

↳ Access to over 100K remote jobs that fit your lifestyle

12/ Underdog.io -Apply to top tech jobs in 60 seconds. A place where companies apply to you - https://underdog.io/

↳ Apply to top tech startups hiring in NYC, SF + remote jobs with one application

13/ BuiltinTech - https://builtin.com/jobs

↳ Tech jobs, news, and resources for local tech communities

14/ Remote.co - https://remote.co/

↳ 146 remote companies and virtual teams answer your top questions about remote work

15/ SkipTheDrive - https://lnkd.in/e8YAUwTx

↳ Search for flexible, remote & hybrid jobs from thousands of jobs

16/ Remotive - https://remotive.com/

↳ Find tech remote jobs (get 100+ jobs posted per day with the Remotive accelerator)

17/ Virtual Vocations, Inc. - https://lnkd.in/etqHtmWR

↳ A job service that provides job seekers with hand-screened remote job leads

repost to help your network get hired 🫶

17 Remote Job Listings You Didn't Know Existed (until now)

AI can get you hired 🤯

My community has been LOVING this trick for standing out.

Here’s how to turn your LinkedIn profile into a ✨killer✨ personal website < 3 minutes
__

1. ☝🏼 Download your LinkedIn profile as a PDF
2. ✌🏼 Go to Replit(.)com + Create App 
3. 🤟🏼 Click Design + drop in the PDF with this prompt in ChatGPT (just tag “Replit”) 
__

“Create a modern, dark-mode personal website using my LinkedIn PDF. Include sections for Home, About, Experience, and Projects. Add smooth scroll navigation, a clean grid layout, my profile image, my updated headline, and space for key stats. Use a deep charcoal background with minimal neon accents. Make it look custom coded and easy to update.”

___

4. 🤟🏼 Click “Start Designing.”
5. ✋🏼 Adjust the content + layout
6. ✅ Hit publish and share live ✨ (that’s it!) 

Congrats 🥳, you’ve created a beautiful, shareable version of your story 🎊

Now here’s a bigger reason why this matters (and why vibe coding is having a moment).

While everyone’s raving over Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and other “AI-first dev tools”, I personally found it intimidating as a non-technical person.

And I found Replit is one of the best places to take my genuine curiosity into an actual *tangible* product (and bring my ideas 💡 → life)

(But if you are *technical*, Replit still works with Claude Code).

I’d love to invite you to build something from zero to 1 (and see how fun it can be!)

📌 Bring your creative ideas to life here: https://lnkd.in/dNGeWji5

#ReplitPartner

Brand partnership • Tech Creator (400k+) & Founder | Ex-LinkedIn, Meta, Figma | Solopreneur, TEDx Speaker & LinkedIn Learning Instructor helping you build AI literacy ✨

Turn your LinkedIn Profile Into a Personal Website

7 Korean proverbs that will change your perspective (in life and career). 

What still sticks with me from childhood to adulthood (instilled by my Dad): 

"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮" ✨

Which one resonates with you?

📌 Share and follow Jean Kang for more.

7 Korean Proverbs That Will Change Your Perspective 

You’re gonna want to 📌 this

OpenAI shared prompt hacks by job function + work use case 🙌🏼

(and they’re REALLY good)  

Think:

- IT
- HR
- Sales
- Product
- Marketing
- Managers
- Engineering
- Customer Success

You're welcome 🤗

Dropping the link to OpenAI Academy  ⬇️ 

Learn how to use ChatGPT for any role: https://lnkd.in/gwvkduCJ

Share this with your work bestie 🫶🏼

PM roles in tech explained in 1 min 😉

Product and Program Managers sound similar, but they’re NOT the same 🙈

Watch till the end to see the difference (and see which one fits YOU best)

If you’ve been wanting to land a Program Manager role and know you can do it *really* well (without having the PM title).

That’s exactly what I’m helping professionals do :)

If you’re ready to grow in your career, to land a strategic role, increase your impact + income…

I’d love to help you level up your influence, articulate your value and land a job that you love (without needing another degree or certification)

Apply here to work with me: https://rb.gy/q08oyc

I add accelerant to aspiring project managers' career pivots ⛽

Unorthodox Project Manager who likes to help others break into project management in new and unique ways!

I do this by helping aspiring project managers ID pain points for why they aren't getting PM opportunities.
These typically present as one of three deficiencies:
> Lack of identified relevant experience
> Improper resume presentation
> Poor/underutilized tactics for networking

Once identified, we work through ways they can improve those pain points and leverage them appropriately for a new opportunity

Background about me and project management experience: 

I spent 7.5 years in laboratory bench science while gaining project management experience.  Obtained my PMP certification in 2018, was officially promoted to Research Project Manager in 2020, and now am a Senior Project Manager with our Enterprise Project Management Office, overseeing highly-visible strategic projects across our healthcare org's Midwest footprint.

Other PM experience:
- Project oversight of multiple preclinical gene therapies
- Project management of small molecule and repurposed drug screening projects
- Establishment of a standalone screening facility to collaborate with other research institutions, pharmaceutical, and therapeutics companies

Logan Langin, PMP

Urgency has become a substitute for strategy

Everything feels urgent now.

Slack messages.
Multiple meetings.
Emails marked high priority.

Urgency creates motion.

But motion isn't the same as direction.

When everything is urgent:
👉 Priorities blur
👉 Quality drops
👉 People react instead of think

Strategy doesn't eliminate urgency.

It gives context.

It answers "what can wait and what can't?" "What matters even if it's quiet?"

Calm isn't the absence of pressure.

It's the presence of perspective.

The most effective teams don't move the fastest.

They move intentionally.

🤙

Enterprise Program Manager | Add Xcelerant to Your Dream Project Management Job

Most work isn't hard

It's unclear.

When people say work feels overwhelming they rarely mean the actual "work" is difficult.

They mean:
→ The goal keeps shifting
→ The priorities are unclear
→ Decisions are implied, not stated
→ Ownership is assumed, not assigned

So everyone stays busy AND progress feels slow.

What looks like a workload problem is actually a CLARITY problem.

Clarity about:
👉 What actually matters NOW
👉 What "good" looks like
👉 Who decides what tradeoffs can be made

The teams that move fastest aren't working harder.

They're working with fewer questions about what to do and how to do it.

Uncertainty is exhausting.
Clarity is energizing.

If work feels heavier than it should, don't ask "how do we move faster?"

Instead ask "what's unclear that we're overlooking?"

Then solve for it and repeat.

🤙

Confidence at work doesn't come from knowing more

It comes from needing to prove less.

I always thought that in order to be confident, I had to be ready with THE answer.

So I over-prepared.
Over-explained.
Filled silence with words.

I wasn't leading.  I was performing.

What I didn't realize at the time was that the most confident people in the room aren't rushing to speak.

They're listening for what actually matters.

They:
✅ Ask better questions
✅ Clarify instead of defending
✅ Are comfortable saying "let's pause and get this right"

That calm and clarity are what people trust.

Not certainty, overtalking, or speed.

Confidence at work is usually just clarity + permission.

Permission to slow down.
Permission to say "I don't know but I'll find out."
Permission to focus the room instead of impressing it.

Once I stopped trying to sound confident, I started BEING confident.

And other people felt it.

🤙

Busy is often a symptom

Not a badge of honor.

When work feels chaotic, people get busy.

They respond faster.
They attend more meetings.
They say "yes" more often.

Busyness feels productive.

It feels responsible.

But it's often a coping mechanism for uncertainty.

When priorities are clear, people don't need to prove their value with motion.

They can slow down.
They can focus.
They can choose.

If your days feel full but unsatisfying, don't ask HOW to do more.

Ask what's creating the need to stay busy in the first place.

🤙

We don't have a productivity problem

We have a decision problem.

Most teams aren't slow because they lack tools or talent.

They're slow because decisions are:
→ Deferred
→ Diffused
→ Revisited/revised
→ Softened until they mean nothing

So work starts without alignment and then restarts without warning.

Productivity doesn't break down when people stop working.

It breaks down when no one knows who can say "yes" or "no."

Clear decisions:
✅ Reduce meetings
✅ Prevent rework
✅ Lower anxiety
✅ Speed everything up

If progress feels harder than it should, look upstream.

There's a good chance the work isn't blocked by effort.

It's blocked by indecision.

🤙

Clarity is a leadership decision

Not a communication skill.

Most teams don't lack communication.  They lack decisions.

So they talk more.
Document more.
Meet more.

But clarity doesn't come from explaining things better.

It comes from deciding things sooner.

Decisions create:
✅ Boundaries
✅ Momentum
✅ Focus

Without them, communication just fills the gap.

If people keep asking the same questions, it's not because they weren't listening.

It's because something was never decided.

🤙

The real leaders at work are the ones who create calm

Every team has them.

They're rarely the loudest voice.
They're usually not the one with the most senior title.
They're probably not the person with the best resume.

It's the person who:
✅ Slows the room down when tension rises
✅ Names the real issue without blame
✅ Separates urgency from importance
✅ Makes chaos feel manageable

They don't absorb stress.

They organize it.

Calm isn't passive.  It's a leadership skill.

When people feel calm they think more clearly.

They collaborate better and make fewer defensive decisions.

The ability to create claim is what separates managers from leaders.
Which changes activity to progress.
And direction to motion.

In our increasingly noisy world, calm is influence.

Be that type of influencer.

🤙

Meetings aren't the problem

Misaligned intentions are.

Meetings get blamed for a lot.

Too many.
Too long.
Too draining or misaligned.

Meetings aren't broken, but they are carrying too many hidden agendas.

People show up for many different reasons.

✅ To get decisions made
✅ To share needs, concerns, wins, etc.
✅ To be informed
✅ To be heard

With all of these reasons, it's hard to know which is which and how to handle each.

So conversations wander.
Decisions stall.
Follow-ups multiply.

Effective meetings aren't about better facilitation.

They're about clear intent.

Why are we here?
What should be different when we leave?

When intention is aligned, meetings become shorter, more targeted.

Or unnecessary.

🤙

The strongest leaders aren't the ones doing the most work

Early in our careers, impact usually looks like contribution.

So we jump in.
We fill gaps.
We solve problems ourselves.

As we grow, leadership changes the definition of our value.

At some point, your impact stops being about what you DO and starts being about what you ENABLE.

The strongest leaders:
👉 Create clarity instead of just giving answers
👉 Ask questions that unlock other people's thinking
👉 Build systems for success rather than stepping in to "save" something

They don't step in and do it.  

They elevate it and those that are doing it.

If everything still needs you, you're not leading yet.

🤙

Being busy isn't leadership

Direction is.

Some of the most overwhelmed people at work are also the most reliable.

They're always booked.
They're always responding.
They're always "on top of things."

And still, progress feels slower than it should.

Effective leadership isn't just about keeping things moving.

It's about deciding what movement MATTERS.

Calendars create motion.  Leadership creates directions.

And direction sounds like:
✅ "This is the priority, everything else can wait."
✅ "The decision matters more than perfect execution."
✅ "We're not ready to move yet, and that's intentional."

The people who create momentum aren't the busiest.

They're the clearest.

If you can get a whole team operating on clarity, the sky is the limit for what you can do.

👉

taplio

The Battle

Jean Kang

Logan Langin, PMP

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Performance ScoreLogan Langin, PMP's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Jean Kang

Logan Langin, PMP

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jean Kang's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLogan Langin, PMP's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJean Kang's LinkedIn Performance