Jen Freeman's profile answers

With a degree in "Literary and Cultural Studies," I'm not sure what sort of career I expected. Just before graduation, an alum from my college (take advantage of those campus interviews, kids!) hired me to work in the marketing department of his software company. While there, I taught myself HTML so that I could create the company's first website, and that set me up for a career in technical producing. Technical producing led to program and product management, which is what I'm doing today....

I started babysitting at 8 or 9, which now seems like an insanely young age to be responsible for other children.

Luck & Gratitude

My future boss at Starwave and I spent 15 minutes of my interview debating who sang "Cat's in the Cradle." I thought it was Cat Stevens, he thought it was Jim Croce. Turns out we were both wrong. But we had so much fun disagreeing that he hired me.

I worked on ESPN.com, mostly on the Baseball, College Football, and Tennis sections of the site.

What ISN'T funny when you're surrounded by crazy-smart people who've been up for days at a time trying to meet a deadline? We were a punchy, sleep-deprived bunch, and I remember every day being a laugh riot.

A friend of a friend submitted my resume to the hiring manager, and made $500 when he hired me.

US Weekly, TeenPeople, Nick Magazine, American Girl Magazine, Slashdot.org, Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think!" and Donald A. Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things."

It's a relatively small company with a very open management style. I learned a lot about running a small business while working there.

Through a friend, of course!