As 2025 comes to an end, I find myself looking back at one of the most challenging — and transformative — years of my professional life.
This wasn’t a year of linear growth.
It was a year of friction. Of doubts. Of uncomfortable conversations.
And ultimately, of becoming.
Where I started
Four years ago, I joined a SaaS company as a Content Marketing Manager for the Spanish market. Over time, things changed — not just for me, but for the business. Markets were closed. Spanish, Italian, and French disappeared. Suddenly, I was creating content in English and German.
I saw an opportunity.
Video content was clearly outperforming everything else, so I proposed something bold at the time: let’s invest seriously in audiovisual content. I became the only person scripting, filming, editing, and publishing videos; end to end.
I grew fast. I was promoted. On paper, everything looked right.
But something felt off.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped being seen as a marketer and started being seen as “the video person.”
Videographer. Camera operator. The execution layer.
And I knew — deeply — that I could offer much more.
The frustration that changed everything
That frustration became a turning point.
Instead of pushing harder in the same direction, I stepped back and started asking myself better questions:
▸ Where do I actually add the most value?
▸ What does this company really need?
▸ And where do my skills intersect with impact?
That’s when Product Marketing came into focus.
Not as a title, but as a function.
I realized that I was already doing PMM work:
▸ Meeting regularly with Customer Support to truly understand the customer and create the first-ever case studies.
▸ Joining sales demo calls to understand prospects, objections, and what Sales needed to close deals.
▸ Translating product complexity into stories people could actually understand.
There was no PMM role. But there was a PMM-shaped gap.
So I did what I’ve learned to do best: I got curious.
I spoke with CEOs. With Sales. With Customer Support. With Product.
I listened. I asked uncomfortable questions. I connected dots.
And then I fought for it.
A year-long fight (and a lot of self-doubt)
The transition wasn’t smooth. Internal restructuring, misalignment, and unclear ownership almost stopped it from happening.
There were moments when I thought:
Maybe this isn’t my path.
Maybe I’m asking for too much.
Maybe I’m not “PMM enough.”
Impostor syndrome was a constant companion, especially working in my second and third languages.
But I kept going.
I formalized my knowledge with a Product Marketing course.
I kept practicing on the job.
And eventually, after a year of pushing, aligning, and insisting — my role officially changed to Product Marketing Manager.
And then… the company closed
Just when things seemed to settle, reality hit again.
The company is shutting down.
It would be easy to frame this as a failure. I don’t see it that way.
Because thanks to everything I did — the curiosity, the risk-taking, the uncomfortable growth — I was able to land a new role as a Product Marketing Manager in another company.
This time, without having to explain why I belong there.
What 2025 taught me
If I had to summarize this year into a few hard-earned lessons, they would be these:
-
Titles don’t define your impact, but they do shape how others see you.
Fighting for the right role isn’t ego. It’s clarity. -
PMM has become a buzzword, but real PMM work is still rare.
Less budget, more pressure, higher expectations — and still, the need to deeply understand customers hasn’t changed. -
In tech, especially in Europe, you need to convince up, not just deliver.
Good work isn’t always enough. Alignment matters. -
Working across languages is exhausting, but it builds resilience like nothing else.
I work in English, live in German, and think in Spanish. It’s hard. And it’s possible. -
You can outgrow an identity and that’s not betrayal, it’s evolution.
I am no longer a videographer.
I am no longer a generalist.
I am a Product Marketing Manager — still learning, still building, but fully owning it.
If you’re reading this…
If you’re trying to move from Content to PMM.
If you’re working in a country that isn’t your own language.
If impostor syndrome keeps whispering that you’re not ready.
You’re not alone.
Be curious. Learn relentlessly. Talk to people. Do the work before you get the title.
And if it still doesn’t happen, sometimes it’s not about you, but about who has the power to say yes.
Keep going anyway.
Looking at 2026
I’m entering 2026 with ambition.
Not naive ambition, grounded ambition.
I know what I’m good at now.
I know where I add value.
And most importantly, I know that I don’t need to shrink to fit someone else’s definition of who I should be.
If this resonates with you, feel free to reach out or share your own story.
We grow faster when we’re honest about the journey.
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