Testimonial: Catherine Li (MIIPS '22)
Master of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services ‘22
Founder & CEO, Locammend
Catherine’s MIIPS Journey
Catherine was looking for a master’s program that would help her lay a solid foundation for product management and innovation. When she saw the Master of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services (MIIPS) alumni testimonials and the program's devotion to hands-on experience and forward thinking, she knew that it would be the right place for her to grow.
Catherine’s time in the MIIPS program taught her how to be an effective product leader and piqued her interest in start-up culture. The program also taught her how to take a small idea and develop it into something that can have a significant impact, as well as how to grow a product or service from the ground up. This experience helped her become more confident in product roles, despite the uncertainties that can arise in these positions.
MIIPS teaches students actionable steps to address complex and ambiguous problems. Through immersive classes, students gain hands-on experience while developing the soft skills necessary to create successful products and services. Catherine particularly enjoyed the user research classes and the capstone experience.
During the capstone course, student teams are paired with industry sponsors and tasked with tackling real industry problem statements. Throughout the project, students are encouraged by both their professors and industry leaders to push their solutions to their limits. For Catherine, this experience highlighted the significant impact her work could have and provided insight into her future career.
“MIIPS is a hands-on, practical program to teach you how to turn your ideas into the products and services that people actually want.”
After graduation, Catherine worked as a senior product technical manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Here, she created a cross-console IoT experience to make AWS easier for customers to use. After that, she worked for Walmart as a Staff Product Manager, using AI and Motion Learning applications to create a centralized forecasting platform for them.
Founding Locammend
After working at several large organizations, Catherine’s interest in transitioning to the startup world eventually led her to found her own startup, Locammend.
As the founder and CEO of Locammend, she created a service that simplifies sharing and receiving recommendations for service providers. These providers can include anything from dentists and babysitters to plumbers and more.
Locammend aims to address the primary issue of a lack of trust in local service providers. Finding credible recommendations can be challenging, so Locammend leverages your personal network to connect you with reliable services.
As a founder, Catherine manages countless responsibilities daily, which often involve making tough decisions. To navigate this, she relies on discipline to determine where to focus her energy and what her time allows.
The skills she honed during her MIIPS experience play a crucial role in her work. She excels at breaking down complex problems into actionable steps and delivering tangible results. Although the startup landscape is highly competitive, her time at MIIPS has equipped her to feel confident in navigating this uncertain environment.