Humans of Xero: Bailey Brooks

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Welcome to Humans of Xero! It’s an occasional series about some of the awesome humans that work at Xero. We’ll talk a bit about their work, their passions, some fascinating facts, and what makes them tick.

Meet Bailey, one of our talented Product Managers. With a strong accounting background, Bailey has had quite the journey throughout her 5 years at Xero, shifting and growing her varied skill set across different areas of the business. We sat down with Bailey for a chat about how she went from a job at an accounting practice to managing a group of highly technical people building the Xero product.

Tell us about your role at Xero?

I’m a Product Manager for Xero HQ, a tool for accounting and bookkeeping practices. Our accounting and bookkeeping partners are a really important part of the business – I’m actually a chartered accountant by trade so I really understand them. It’s my job to build out features to make their lives easier.

Why did you decide to join Xero?

I’ve been at Xero for over 5 years now. My previous role was actually at an accounting practice that had decided to start using Xero. The only thing was that they had no idea how to get started and move all of their clients on to Xero, so I took the reigns a bit and worked closely with Xero. When it was all said and done and things went back to normal I realised I was bored of working as an accountant and Xero was asking me if I might be interested in a role. I had an interview the following week – there was no looking back.

My first Xero role was helping accountants transition their practice on to Xero. From there I moved to product marketing because I have a deep understanding of the benefits that using Xero offers accountants, both in efficacy and the range of services they can offer their clients. I worked closely with product teams in that role which made me realise early on that I wanted to be a product manager. I’ve made quite a few sidesteps while working at Xero in order to be where I am now. It’s been a really cool journey and I feel so lucky.

What’s it like working at Xero?

Xero has changed a lot in the 5 years I’ve been here. We have seen rapid growth; I was maybe employee 500 and now we have over 2000. I think what makes it such an amazing place to work is the culture – it’s collaborative, I feel comfortable being completely myself, and I really feel that I have the space to grow and develop. Xero’s investment in personal development meant that I was given so many opportunities that would never have come my way as an accountant. The people are also part of the reason working here is so great, I think you can do your job at any company but what makes you stay is the culture and the people and we have something really special at Xero.

Tell us something #human about yourself?

I’m a mom! I have a 9 month old baby boy which is really cool. That means while I’m a Product Manager and I love my job, my most favorite job is being a mom to Cohen. Learning how to manage both has been really interesting but I’ve felt supported by Xero to be flexible to be a good mom and be successful in my role.

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