Why This Product Leader Quit Her Job—After Changing Herself to Please Her Boss (and becoming a top performer)
Mackenzie Hughes talks about the hidden cost of "executive presence"
Hey 👋 I’m Andrew. Welcome to Delivering Value - the newsletter and podcast where I share stories from SaaS leaders about the toughest moments of their careers and how they turned them around. You get to learn from their mistakes, without the pain.
She climbed the ladder - and didn’t like who she became.
Mackenzie Hughes had built an impressive career in tech, working her way up from a BDR to Head of Product Operations at a 2,000-person company, over her 15 year career. Today, she’s the co-founder of Gold Hue (with Tara Goldman) where she helps product leaders scale their teams without losing themselves in the process. But before all that, she spent years trying to succeed in an environment that rewarded performance over authenticity.
She edited herself constantly, changed how she spoke, and slowly disconnected from the very things that made her great
On the inside, she was silently struggling. Losing her spark, her confidence, and her sense of identity. But on the outside, she still looked sharp, polished, and high-performing. Her meetings went well, her managers were impressed, and her calendar stayed full. No one knew anything was wrong.
Until one conversation made her question everything.
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Mackenzie didn’t start her career in tech.
She started as a canvasser - on the road, knocking on doors, asking strangers for money on behalf of political and nonprofit causes.
She worked 80 to 100 hours a week “doing all the things your parents said not to do, like talking with strangers about politics, and asking people for money.” The job was brutal. But she learned two skills that would be useful later in her career:
How to deal with rejection.
How to fight for what mattered.
That same scrappiness stayed with her when she transitioned into tech.
She went from sales to CS to product and kept leveling up. Her career trajectory wasn’t traditional, but she wasn’t trying to follow the traditional path.
She just wanted to make an impact.
So when she landed a big leadership role on a large product team inside a 2,000-person tech company, reporting into senior executives and influencing how hundreds of people worked, she poured everything into it.
She wanted to succeed. She wanted to be seen as strategic. She wanted to belong.
On paper, it was a dream job. But there were signs, early on, that something wasn’t right.
An impressive title, a big scope of ownership and accountability, and a seat at the table - all sounded good.
But the culture wasn’t what she expected. Decisions were made top-down, leadership operated in silos, and there wasn’t much space for psychological safety. The pressure was intense, and it felt like everyone was performing instead of leading. In subtle ways, she started adjusting how she spoke, how she showed up, even how she thought.
No one specifically told her to change. But being a leader means playing the part, right?!
That belief slowly took hold, until it became automatic. Mackenzie called it "shape-shifting." She toned down her sense of humor, used more corporate speak, and double-checked everything she said. She edited herself, constantly - in the name of professionalism.
But something still didn’t feel right. She had lost her spark. And things were starting to bleed into her personal life.
She was giving all her energy to work, and it was taking more than she realized. Conversations with her partner felt disconnected. She couldn’t focus. She couldn’t cook. She couldn’t be present.
She started to wonder: Is this just how it is now?
The breaking point came in a coaching session.
She had been working with a professional coach. One day, they listened to her story, paused, and said:
"You’re all about women’s empowerment… but you’re changing who you are to please the men at the top. Aren’t you enabling the patriarchy?"
That’s when Mackenzie realized her job looked great on paper, but it didn’t feel like success anymore. She decided to quit.
"I was twisting myself in a million ways... just being a completely different person - and even reverting in a lot of ways. Why am I doing this?"
She felt good about living her values, but still questioned the decision, wondering if she’d regret it later.
She didn’t. And eventually, she teamed up with her former manager, Tara Goldman. Together, they built GoldHue - a company that helps product leaders scale without burning out.
And she started to feel like herself again.
On the outside, you might look like a top performer. But inside, you might not be happy with who you’ve become.
This story is a reminder that success doesn’t always look like it feels.
But this is just part of Mackenzie's journey. In our full conversation, you'll hear her tell it in her own words, including:
The moment she knew she had to quit.
How it felt to let go of her career identity.
The real cost of staying silent.
Catch Mackenzie’s full story on YouTube
Or listen on Spotify
(and if you’e made it this far, I really hope you subscribe on Spotify, YouTube - or wherever you usually listen)
And when you’re ready for more, I’m here to help:
1:1 Coaching Programs – Don’t do it alone. Turn the chaos into a clear strategy, build an operating system that scales, and increase your impact.
Advising for Product-led Teams – Strategic growth guidance to help product-led teams activate more users and convert more customers - while balancing sales with self-service motions.