Life at OPENLANE Q&A with Maidy Santosa, Product Manager at AFC
Eight years of exciting twists, turns, and triumphs. Maidy Santosa reflects on her OPENLANE and AFC journey — a ride full of growth, rewarding challenges and curiosity.
What has your journey at OPENLANE looked like?
My journey has been a wild and rewarding ride! Over the last eight years, I have had the opportunity to hold different roles, contribute to many key initiatives, learn and grow through organizational changes, and collaborate with many talented individuals across the company! Today, I am the Product Manager for AFC Business Technology, which means I lead a group of Product Owners and UI/UX designers.
What are you most proud of during your time with OPENLANE?
The project I am most proud of is launching a new version of AFCDealer.com, our dealer portal. We started this project before COVID and launched it during COVID, so working across multiple teams during a challenging time made it feel very significant. It was also my first product built on a cloud-based technology. I’m really proud our team accomplished this goal and created something valuable for our AFC Dealers.
What do you like the most about working at OPENLANE?
I really appreciate the transparency and communication from our Executive leadership – starting with our CEO – from town halls, to emails and other forums. Their transparency and honesty sets the tone for everyone, and inspires confidence even as we navigate big industry change.
What’s a piece of advice for newcomers to the company?
Be curious and stay curious – when you are curious, that’s when you continue to learn.
What is the best career advice you’ve ever heard?
You can do anything, but not everything! This phrase has been really impactful for me. In the last few years, I’ve been challenged with doing things in my career I’ve never done before – and I was able to stretch myself to tackle them. At the same time, this advice has helped me acknowledge that I can’t do everything, and by knowing my priorities and focusing my energy on the most important priorities, I can be successful.
Which one of your skills assisted you the most with your success?
My curiosity has been an invaluable skill for my career! It’s important to be curious, ask questions, and seek to understand the big picture. If I fully understand the problem and the desired goal, I can help bring value to solving the problem!
