Your next role is yours to take

You're stuck.

Not because you're not good enough. You're stuck because every role you want requires experience you can only get by already having that role.

Want to move from marketing to product? "Show us your PM experience." Ready for director level? "Have you managed managers before?" Want to switch from growth to brand? "All your experience is performance marketing."

It's the same conversation every time. They love your background. They're impressed by your results. But... you don't have the specific experience they're looking for.

So you wait. You hope someone will "see your potential." You apply to 50 more jobs with the same result.

Here's what the smart ones figured out: Stop trying to convince people you could do the work. Start creating evidence that you already are.

In 90 days, you can build a portfolio that makes the "experience" objection irrelevant. Not by faking it. By actually doing the work at the level you want to operate – just without anyone's permission.

The gap between where you are and where you want to be isn't years of experience. It's 90 days of strategic evidence-building.

The Experience Illusion

We've been sold a lie: that your next role depends on already having done that exact role.

This is circular logic at its finest.

You can't become a VP of Product without VP experience. You can't move from product marketing to product management without PM experience. You can't transition from IC to people manager without management experience.

Meanwhile, that mediocre CMO got promoted because they were "next in line." That PM who ships features nobody uses has "10 years of product experience." That marketing director whose team has 70% turnover has "people leadership experience."

The difference? They got the title first. You're trying to earn it with results.

What companies actually want when they say "experience" at senior levels:

• Evidence you can own P&L and make hard tradeoffs

• Proof you understand customer problems, not just marketing tactics

• Signals that you can influence without authority and navigate politics

• Demonstration of strategic thinking, not just execution

You already have these capabilities. You just haven't packaged the evidence.

The beautiful thing about being experienced? You know how to ship. You just need to aim that execution at proving your next-level capabilities.

The Permission-Free Experience Framework

Stop taking courses. Start solving real problems.

Here's exactly what to do over the next 90 days:

Weeks 1-2: Pick Your Target

You need three things:

1. A real problem at the next level of scope

2. Access to stakeholders who care about that problem

3. A deliverable that demonstrates next-level thinking

Marketing → Product Management: Take a feature launch that flopped despite great marketing. Do the product analysis no one asked for. Interview 20 users, analyze the actual vs expected usage patterns, identify the three product assumptions that were wrong. Write the PRD for what should have been built. Present it to the CPO.

Product → Product Leadership: Identify the strategic bet your company should make but isn't. Map the market opportunity, competitive analysis, resource requirements, and 3-year revenue model. Build the business case deck you'd present to the board. Get a VP or advisor to pressure-test it.

IC Marketer → Marketing Leadership: Develop a cross-functional campaign without being asked. Coordinate between product, sales, and customer success. Define the success metrics, run the weekly syncs, manage the external agencies. Document how you handled conflicts and kept everyone aligned. This is leadership without the title.

Growth → Brand Strategy: Redesign your company's entire narrative. Audit the current messaging across all touchpoints, identify the disconnects, create the new brand architecture and messaging framework. Test it with customers. Present to leadership with data on how it would impact consideration and conversion.

Product Marketing → Product Management: Own an entire product's strategy. Define the customer segments, analyze the competitive positioning, create the pricing strategy, design the go-to-market plan. Show you think like a PM who owns the full product lifecycle, not just the marketing. Include the revenue model and feature prioritization framework.

The key: Pick something one level above your current scope that demonstrates you already think at that altitude.

Weeks 3-8: Execute Like You're Getting Paid

Document everything as you go:

• Hours invested

• Tools used

• Specific metrics

• Screenshots and artifacts

• Code/templates created

Your case study structure:

• Context (2-3 sentences on the problem)

• Approach (specific methodology and tools)

• Results (quantified outcomes)

• Lessons (what worked, what didn't, what you'd do differently)

This isn't homework. Make it look like work product from a $200/hour consultant.

Weeks 9-10: Get Real Validation

Self-generated experience becomes real experience when someone besides you vouches for its value.

Three ways to get stakeholders:

1. Internal validation - Solve a problem for another team at your company

2. Customer validation - Get actual customers to validate your product thinking

3. Market validation - Get industry leaders or advisors to endorse your approach

Email template for getting validation:

Subject: [Specific outcome] - thought you'd find this interesting

Hi [Name],

I recently [completed X analysis/strategy] and thought it might be relevant to [their work].

Key outcome: [Specific, quantified result or insight]

Full breakdown: [link]

If you think this is solid work, I'd appreciate any feedback or a quick LinkedIn endorsement. If not, no worries - I learned a ton either way.

[Your name]

Weeks 11-12: Build Your War Chest

Create 3-5 case studies. Host them on a simple site (Notion works fine).

Each case study needs:

• Project title

• One-sentence outcome

• The problem (2-3 paragraphs)

• Your methodology

• Results (numbers, screenshots, impact)

• Artifacts (code, templates, deliverables)

• Stakeholder validation

Make it load in under 3 seconds. No fancy design needed.

Week 13+: Change the Conversation

Stop saying: "Will you give me a shot?"

Start saying: "Here's what I've already done."

When they bring up experience, you respond:

"I understand. Let me show you what I mean by experience. I [specific achievement with numbers]. I used [specific tools/methods], identified [root cause], and [specific outcome]. Here's the full case study with my methodology and code. Would you like me to walk through how I'd apply this same framework to [their specific problem]?"

You're not asking for a chance to learn. You're showing you've already done the work.

The Hidden Truth About "Requirements"

That job posting asking for "5+ years of director-level experience"?

That internal role requiring "proven P&L ownership"?

That promotion requiring "demonstrated people leadership"?

Here's what's actually happening: These requirements are negotiable for the right candidate. I've seen companies create entirely new roles for people who demonstrated unique value. I've watched engineers become VPs of Product. I've seen ICs skip manager and go straight to director.

The secret? They didn't wait for the role to be offered. They started operating at that level and made it obvious that not promoting them was leaving value on the table.

Your self-generated portfolio proves you're already doing the work. That's more powerful than years of having the title.

The Projects That Actually Get You Hired

Not all self-generated experience is equal. Winners have these characteristics:

1. Real constraints Don't analyze perfect data in a vacuum. Work with incomplete metrics, limited budgets, and aggressive deadlines you set yourself. Constraints make it real.

2. Unglamorous problems
Everyone wants to launch the next viral campaign. The person who fixes the onboarding flow and increases activation by 15% is infinitely more hireable.

3. Business outcomes "Ran a campaign" means nothing. "Increased pipeline by $2M with a campaign that cost $50K" is a story.

Always tie your work to: revenue generated, CAC reduced, retention improved, NPS lifted.

4. Professional documentation Your case study should look identical to what McKinsey would present. Executive summary up front. Clear methodology. Market analysis. Customer insights. Financial projections. Strategic recommendations.

Don't make it look like homework. Make it look like you charge $10K for this thinking.

The Disruption Cost Reality

Most resistance to new ideas isn't about the idea. It's about the disruption cost.

Every time you propose change, you're asking people to:

• Admit current approach isn't optimal

• Reallocate resources

• Take on risk

Your portfolio needs to show you understand this. Include:

• Migration plans

• Risk mitigation strategies

• Phased approaches

• Quick wins before big changes

Show you're not just smart. Show you're practical.

Your 30-Day Sprint

Week 1: Identify three problems you could solve. Pick the one with clearest metrics.

Week 2: Talk to 5 people who've been around longer. Ask about history and constraints. Half will reveal why your first idea won't work. Good. Now you're learning.

Week 3: Build your proof of concept. Ugly is fine. Working is mandatory.

Week 4: Get one person to use it/review it/validate it. Iterate based on feedback.

Then repeat for two more projects.

The Bottom Line

You don't need permission to prove you can do the work.

You need to:

• Pick real problems with real constraints

• Build professional artifacts, not student projects

• Document everything like you're already senior

• Get real people to validate your work

• Present results, not effort

The gap between "no experience" and "proven track record" is 90 days of focused work that you can start today.

While everyone else is waiting for someone to "take a chance" on them, you're walking in with proof.

Stop asking for shots. Start taking them.

Nobody ever built a great career by only doing what they were told.

~ Warbler