Get To Know: Michael Rucktaschel

Our new blog series “Get To Know” will feature young professionals in Ohio who have started or pivoted to UX and adjacent fields in the last five years.

Michael Rucktaschel, Product Owner at Top Echelon

Tell us a little about yourself! What do you enjoy outside of work?

I have an active and outdoorsy lifestyle. Outside of work, I really enjoy spending time on anything with two wheels; mountain biking, dirt biking, and motorcycles. My wife and I also enjoy snowboarding, sand volleyball, and hiking with our dog! 

Tell us about your path to becoming a Product Owner. How did you end up in this role?

As a freshman in college, I saw myself working with product improvements of physical goods but I wasn’t familiar with what the position was or what the path to that career looked like. Leveraging on a general business interest, I earned my Bachelor’s in business management at Kent State University and spent time in product adjacent roles such as Operations Management, Pricing Analysis, and Brand Management.

However, none of these positions clicked as far as long-term career fulfillment. Three years after obtaining my bachelor’s and additional real-world job experience, I went back for my MBA and began to extensively network in search of a career that was right for me. Software Product Management aligned with my strengths and lifestyle goals. It truly felt like a perfect fit with my skills and experience of previous roles paving a transferable path forward. Highlighting the importance of networking, a connection of mine who had previously worked with Top Echelon Software connected me to a hiring manager and what started as a simple conversation turned into a rewarding career move as a Product Owner! 

What’s your favorite part of your workday or week?

Another appeal of this role is that no two days or weeks are the same. As an organization, we are constantly working to learn quickly from our users and continuously improve upon our products. I look forward to the opportunity to analyze an existing product and focus our attention on improving it… sometimes reimagining it all together, other times making only minor changes that can still generate immense value. A highlight of the day is collaborating on these solutions in a small group environment where we can play to everyone’s strengths and experience. 

What was getting an MBA like? Do you use anything you learned that surprises you?

I’m honestly surprised with how smoothly the MBA program went. I took my program 100% online and found it interesting to adapt to virtual connections opposed to in person courses like much of my undergrad. As most people probably know, an MBA is notoriously general and offers career advancement in a variety of positions and industries. This was perfect for me since I was still discovering my ideal career path. The program consisted of a breadth of business principles and decision making through practice case studies; most of these principles can be applied to product. What surprised me were the intangibles that the program indirectly taught such as the importance of reflection, collaboration, and empathy. 

If you could give yourself 10 years ago advice from yourself today, what would it be?

If you’re not empowered or happy with where you are in your career, don’t remain stagnant. That’s probably good life advice too! To clarify, don’t just go find “another” new role, but constantly network, research, and work to continuously discover what’s out there. The skill sets you have developed from a variety of past experiences have given you knowledge to build upon as you search for long term fulfillment. Embrace this and take the time to reflect on your experiences; what moments or activities felt inspiring and which were draining? Then, ask yourself “why,” so that you can learn where to focus your energy next.

Do you know a stellar UX, UI, Product, or Software Designer or Researcher who has joined the field in the last five years that we should feature? Let us know!