On a Hollywood film set, chaos is part of the job. Leslie Grandy (MBA ‘96) knows that better than most.
Today, Grandy is a globally recognized product executive who has helped launch first-to-market innovations at companies including Amazon, Apple, T-Mobile, Discovery, and Best Buy. But long before she was building product teams in tech, Grandy spent more than a decade behind the scenes in Hollywood. As a member of the Directors Guild of America, she managed complex productions, solving problems on the fly and navigating the kind of personalities that tend to gather around movie cameras. But one day stood out.
The film’s director and producer were going through a messy divorce. Tempers flared, people snapped, and what should have been a normal day of production turned into a parade of tantrums.
“It was just an awful day with awful people behaving badly,” she says with a laugh.
Film sets, she explains, are full of creative brilliance (and occasionally full-grown adults throwing tantrums). Her husband happened to work for the director—though not on set—and when the day finally ended, they realized they were ready for a change. Soon after, the couple made a bold decision: leave LA and start fresh in Seattle.
For Grandy, that leap would lead her to the Full-Time MBA program at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, a turning point that transformed her career and launched a new chapter in tech and product innovation.
Nearly three decades later, Grandy hasn’t forgotten the place that made that pivot possible. Now serving as Lead Executive in Residence for Foster’s Product Management Leadership Accelerator, she volunteers her time helping professionals navigate building resilient careers.
Hollywood lessons in product management
Grandy’s career began after graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in television and film. She moved to LA and began working in film production. Behind the scenes, the work demanded constant problem-solving.
“People think filmmaking is glamorous,” Grandy says. “In reality, it’s logistics, leadership, and controlled chaos.”
“You’re assembling a team from scratch, aligning hundreds of people around a shared vision, managing enormous budgets, and solving problems every minute of the day,” she continues. “Every film is basically a giant startup that has to launch on schedule.”
Over the years, she worked alongside major figures in the industry, including Kevin Bacon and James Cameron. The experience sharpened her ability to manage complexity, navigate pressure, and keep teams aligned around a shared goal. At the time, however, she didn’t yet realize how transferable those skills would be. When she earned her MBA and studied product management, the parallels were obvious.
“Product development is very similar to film production,” she says. “You’re still bringing a vision to life with a team under tight timelines and real constraints.”
Leslie Grandy returned to the Foster School of Business as Lead Executive in Residence for the Product Management Leadership Accelerator, helping students navigate their own career pivots.
Reinventing a career at Foster
Leaving Hollywood was one thing, but reinventing her career was another. Despite years of experience managing large productions, Grandy discovered that many employers didn’t quite know how to translate those skills into conventional business. That realization led her to explore MBA programs. At the time, she didn’t resemble the typical MBA candidate. Her background wasn’t in finance or consulting; it was rooted in the creative side of entertainment production.
Some schools didn’t quite know what to do with her experience and skill set. Foster did.
“The Foster team saw something in my experience that other schools didn’t,” she says.
The program worked with her to structure the experience, allowing her to continue working while starting the Full-Time MBA program. The flexibility made the transition financially feasible and also helped her balance family responsibilities.
“That kind of support and encouragement mattered enormously,” she says. “They recognized that people don’t always come from traditional paths, and they see your real potential.”
The impact was transformative. The MBA gave her the tools—and the confidence—to make the leap into tech. She landed a dream role before graduation.
From film sets to first-to-market products
Over the next 25 years, Grandy helped shape the evolution of digital products. She became known for leading teams that launched first-to-market innovations, including RealOne SuperPass, one of the earliest digital media subscription services that gained more than a million subscribers. She also helped launch the T-Mobile G1, the world’s first Android mobile phone, and the first cellular-enabled digital picture frame. Along the way, she co-authored a patent related to integrated media systems. She also helped major brands—including Major League Baseball, NASCAR, CNN, and ABC News—develop some of their earliest digital subscription platforms.
Looking back, Grandy sees a clear through-line connecting her time on Hollywood film sets, her experience in the Full-Time MBA program, and the product innovations she would later help bring to market. Foster helped her recognize that the chaotic orchestration of a movie set wasn’t so different from building a new product team. In both cases, success depends on aligning talented people around a bold idea and figuring out how to make it real.
“In both industries, you’re building something new that people haven’t seen before,” she says. “And that takes creativity, resilience, collaboration, and a solid foundation in business and leadership skills.”
leslie grandy on Why creativity isn’t just for creatives
Grandy’s focus is now on helping organizations unlock creative thinking across every function. She founded The Product Guild, where she advises companies on innovation and product strategy, and has worked with organizations ranging from startups to major brands like Starbucks, Oracle, and Red Robin. Her new book, Creative Velocity, explores how companies can empower employees across departments to think creatively and drive innovation.
“For most of my career, I didn’t think of myself as a creative,” she says. “I thought creativity belonged to artists.”
Eventually, she realized something different.
“Creativity isn’t a talent,” she says. “It’s a skill.”
And organizations that cultivate that skill widely are the ones that continue to innovate.
Leslie Grandy serves as Lead Executive in Residence for Foster’s Product Management Leadership Accelerator, an executive education program that connects experienced product leaders with professionals seeking to advance their careers in product management.
Helping Foster students make a career jump
Grandy has remained deeply connected to Foster throughout her career. She has long volunteered her time mentoring students, guest lecturing, and helping strengthen the connection between industry and the classroom. More recently, she helped shape the Product Management Leadership Accelerator, a program designed to help experienced professionals strengthen their leadership of product teams and build innovative offerings. Grandy now serves as Lead Executive in Residence for the program, a role she performs as a volunteer.
“I wouldn’t have had the career I’ve had without Foster,” she says. “So when there’s an opportunity to give back, it’s an easy yes.”
Jeff Shulman, chair of Foster’s Marketing and International Business Department, says Grandy’s involvement has been invaluable.
“Leslie Grandy has spent her career at the front edge of innovation,” Shulman says. “Her experience launching breakthrough products—and her willingness to share those lessons—makes an enormous impact on our students.”
For Grandy, working with students who are attempting major career pivots is especially meaningful.
“When someone tells me they’re trying to change industries or reinvent their career, I immediately understand,” she says.
Helping them see the possibilities ahead is one of the most rewarding parts of her work at Foster.
A fleeting moment of fame
For all the years she spent working in Hollywood, Grandy had only one moment of movie stardom, and it was an accident. During a film shoot in Silicon Valley, a cash-strapped production needed a shot of the main characters talking and driving down a freeway. Because they couldn’t shut down traffic completely, and there was no CGI back then, someone had to drive behind the scenes to keep real drivers from racing past the camera.
On a movie set, everyone wears multiple hats.
“So of course,” Grandy says, “they told me I was driving the car.”
Her job was to keep traffic behind the shoot moving slowly so the real freeway drivers would not distract the audience’s attention from the stars. But slowing traffic down is not exactly popular on the freeway.
“The drivers behind me were furious,” she says. “I sped up a little so that they wouldn’t completely lose their minds.”
Over the radio, the director began shouting at her to slow down, using language that could only be described as classic Hollywood-director vocabulary. Her car had cruised into the frame.
“For about two seconds in the final film cut,” she says with a smile, “you can see me behind the wheel.”
It’s a small moment, but in some ways it reflects the kind of work that has defined her career, from Hollywood productions to global tech companies. The spotlight might land elsewhere. But behind every successful launch is someone who aligns the team, solves problems, and keeps everything moving.
And occasionally, Grandy jokes, that work comes with a brief cameo.
Learn more about the Product Management Leadership Accelerator.