About Me
A WSJ "hedcut" that I received as part of the All Things Digital team for the Wall Street Journal.
I'm a digital product leader, designer, and strategist. I've specialized in CMS and platform strategy, editorial and product design and management, and business systems and processes across multiple industries for over 20 years.
I've built numerous things from the ground up, including social networks, media properties, software products, and houses. I've also rebuilt, reworked, and optimized numerous existing products.
I enjoy exploring new technologies and capabilities for web and software functionality, and strategizing for new and as-yet undefined business opportunities. I also relish getting the most out of existing technology, and maximizing the utilization of systems that are already in place.
I've been around long enough to recognize the potential in great new things, but the yankee carpenter in me will always find a simple thrill in building something elegant and efficient with the best tools at hand, new or old — especially when the result is more compelling and cost-effective than what the competition has done.
Now
I'm currently working in civic tech at the federal level, on a small but mighty team focusing on a DevSecOps platform for the people who build things in the Technology Transformation Services.
C. V.
2023-present
Product Manager
Technology Transformation Services, General Services Administration
2018-2023
Product Manager
Workday
2015-2018
Product Manager and Systems Architect
Consulting
2014-2015
Director of Product, Director of Content and Community
Madison Reed
2006-2013
Director of Operations, Senior Editor
All Things Digital
2006-2008
Co-Founder, COO, and Editor in Chief
OurChart
1997-2005
Senior Director of Platforms and Programming, Editor in Chief
PlanetOut
History
I grew up in New England, just outside New Haven, Connecticut. Most of my family still lives in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where my grandmother was a volunteer at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. I spent a lot of time there with her, endlessly poring over the carvings, scrimshaw, and knotwork made by the sailors from all over the world who shipped out from the nearby docks.
I was an avid reader, and I liked to imagine walking through the worlds within my favorite books, constructing them visually and spatially in my head. Luckily, my grandfather was a carpenter and a cabinet maker, and was a really good sport about letting me hang out in his workshop, teaching me how to use woodworking tools, and eventually how to construct things in real life.
This fit in well with my deep interest in drawing and painting, and led me to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Architecture at Yale, 3 blocks from my high school.
I was at least as interested in building things as I was in designing them, and I spent a few years after graduating from college working as a carpenter for a small general contracting firm that specialized in residential renovation, reconstruction, and new construction all over Connecticut. One of the houses we built from excavation to finish was a small wooden cottage for Leonard Bernstein's daughter, adjoining his longtime music studio in Fairfield County. During the snowiest weather, I got to spend my coffee break at the piano stool where he wrote the music for "West Side Story."
After moving to San Francisco, I was drawn to technology. I was initially interested in 3D design and animation, building immersive worlds and virtual reality experiences for video games, but as soon as I experienced building things on the web with software and frameworks that were scalable enough to serve millions of people, I was hooked.
I've spent most of my time in tech under various guises as a Product Manager or Editor, shaping customer experiences in all kinds of businesses. I'm happiest when I'm able to take an idea and turn it into a working product that people actually like. I'm a total geek for new technologies, and I love to spend time building digital prototypes, making sculptures, taking pictures of buildings and graffiti, hanging out with my family, and working on my house.
Social
© 2023, Beth Callaghan