Meet Kelly Adkins
Product manager by trade, storyteller by heart.
I believe in being the loudest advocate for my users through unrelenting curiousity and the hunger to lead with data and long-term strategy. I always say I’m a PM by trade, and storyteller by heart.
Working as a project and product manager, I’ve rounded my skills in data & business analysis, product marketing, and people management to nurture products & projects strategically and at scale.
Product innovation & resiliency
Success can be measured by data, but value and legacy are created by utilizing a multidisciplinary approach to design, research, development, and operational efficiency and establishing creative solutions for users.
I pride myself as a dynamic leader who approaches my collaboration with other teams with intention, strategic communication, and tenacious documentation to drive actions, results, and accountability alongside autonomy, harmony, and empowerment.
Cross-Industry Experience
I took risks early in my career to try out multiple industries post-grad before strategizing my business career. The way I think, lead, and motivate are byproducts of each industry and “title” I’ve lived in. Aside from being a certified project manager and currently working as a product manager, I’ve excelled in:
Standardized Assessments
- Business lead of 11 project, 7 product workstream
- Owner of flagship voice of customer research
- Launched pilot product, supported online platform migration
AI & Machine Learning
- Conducted pre-processing & validation of data
- Created training sets for sentiment analysis models used for AI-agent with 1B+ MAUs
- Doubled voice talent within 2 weeks with targeted persona development
Startup Management & Venture Capital
- Authored business plan & funding request, raising $250K pre-seed
- Planned product roadmap for MVP-build, generated $204K ARR
- Ad-hoc due diligence reviews for potential portfolio investments
Marketing Agency & Nonprofit Management
- Lead project manager of 10 client accounts, representing $600K ARR
- Improved agency delivery by 125% in 3 months after pitching and implementing Agile Kanban
- Supervised team of 7 designers, content creators, and social media specialists
Journalism
- Business & finance beat reporter, attending House, Senate, and Supreme Court hearings
- Published by UPI, Tech Policy Press, The Fulcrum
- Training in data journalism investigations
A passion for business vision
My roots in marketing and startup business development ensures my products align with the company’s strategic vision and are resilient to market changes.
Voice of Customer Research
Established research framework adopted for org-wide market intelligence analysis, informing C-Suite of market share opportunities and shifts.
Crowdsourcing Speech Data for ML training
Identified and resolved talent acquisition challenges in high-cost Northern Virginia market, educating international leadership on U.S. market constraints while maintaining collection targets.
Pre-seed, B2B SaaS content distribution MVP
Completed market research and competitor analysis to prove PMF for a $100K VC raise.
Brick & Mortar film festival moves online
Incited client vision to solicit requirements for website development and led backlog tickets.
Nonprofit project & operations management
Implemented agile Kanban to the marketing agency program and supervised 5 contractors.
Online shop for emerging artist
Sourced requirements for 3 art mediums to be sold in shop, managed backlog for UX/UI designer.
“It was immediately clear that Kelly is intelligent, resourceful, and creative. Kelly absorbed information quickly and had detailed suggestions for how to improve processes and messaging. She is a very effective communicator and demonstrated strong analytical skills as this project required through research and a synthesis of disparate information.“
Gwendolyn Goodyear
Legal Intern, JD Candidate (Former Client of Kelly’s)
Reflecting on each stage — Kelly’s Blogs
Contact Me
Let’s get in touch for consulting, temporary, or permanent work.
Kelly Adkins 