“They said my accent would hold me back.” - How this Growth PM rebuilt his confidence after a public setback
He thought the presentation went well. But a comment about his accent knocked him off balance - and made him confront doubts he’d been carrying for years.
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This Growth PM thought he was having a great week.
But then, he was sharing his strategy in front of 80 coworkers when a senior exec interrupted the presentation and said:
“I don’t think you know what you’re doing... Maybe it’s your accent.”
The comment caught him completely off guard.
Because up until that moment, he thought things were going well.
His team had just taken a new product to market and won an industry award weeks earlier. He had strong relationships across the org and positive feedback from every other leader he worked with.
He genuinely felt like he was finding his stride.
And then... this.
You know that moment where one sentence makes your stomach drop?
He figured maybe it wasn’t as bad as it felt…
So he set up a meeting with that same leader, hoping for clarity.
Instead, the exec doubled down:
“You need to do something about this. I don’t know if you’ll be successful here.”
For a moment, he spiraled.
(He shares the whole story in our convo, but here’s what happened next.)
He questioned whether he was wired to succeed in this country at all. And he thought about walking away.
But instead, he reached out to people he trusted. Leaders who’d seen his work up close.
They reminded him the work was strong.
They gave him context he didn’t have.
They helped him understand the politics behind the feedback.
They reminded him he wasn’t alone.
And they gave him the confidence to keep going.
Slowly, things shifted.
And months later, he earned a promotion.
In our full conversation, Diego von Söhsten (now the Director of Product Growth at Jobber) opens up about navigating biased feedback, rebuilding confidence after a public setback, and leading through chaos as an immigrant PM trying to find his voice.
If you’ve ever questioned if you belonged, you’ll want to hear his full story.
Watch on YouTube:
Or, listen on Spotify
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