Ever wondered what it takes to bring a Monster Cable accessory to market? The person to ask Jialin Juh, Product Development Project Leader for Monster's Portable Media, Gaming, Performance Car, and Sirius accessories. Read on to learn a little more about her in this Monster Employee Spotlight!

What's your title, and a description of what you do at Monster Cable?

Product Development Project Leader, Portable Media, Gaming, Monster Performance Car and Sirius Accessories (what a mouthful!) I would tell you about a “typical” day, but there isn’t really one. The only constant is that there’s never a dull moment; it’s always go go go. Basically I’m responsible for driving product in development from idea conception through bringing it to market, to end-of-lifing products that have become obsolete. To do this I work closely with Engineering, Marketing, Supply Chain, Sales, vendors and other departments. Fortunately, I work with an amazingly strong and hardworking team.

I really enjoy meeting with our vendors and technology partners. I’m often working on developing accessories for products that are concurrently in development. For example, we are developing accessories for the iPhone as the iPhone is being developed. This presents some unique challenges as they are still figuring out specs to give us, but keeps things exciting.

How long have you worked for Monster Cable, and how did you get started?

In November it will have been three years. I never thought I’d be in the Consumer Electronics industry, but I’m definitely enjoying it. I studied Mass Communications at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) so it seemed natural to take a position at Monster as the “Sales Communications Specialist”. After communicating to internal and external stakeholders about products in the pipeline the opportunity came up to take on a more active role in product development, which I jumped at.

What would you say it's like to work for Monster?

Monster has great people, which has been one of the best things about working here. I’ve found many kindred spirits who share my passions for music, art and snowboarding.

Though things move at a really fast pace there is definitely still a laid-back vibe. The comradery makes for a family-like environment, and you can dress as funky, or “professional” as you like, pretty much. Since working here, I’ve had green, purple, blue, pink and silver hair and it’s kosher. In fact, if I stay with any hair style for too long my coworkers start asking me when I’m going to change it up again! It’s nice to not have to fit into a corporate drone look.

Some of the most hectic but fun times have been the tradeshows I’ve worked. These require long hours and utmost flexibility but the bonds formed with my colleagues in the process make things fun. Not to mention, I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with Kerry King, one of my heroes, at NAMM, a Pro Audio tradeshow!

What color is your hair going to be next?

I’m thinking of just doing blond streaks next so I can have a clean palette for the fall when I’m thinking of going pink.

When you tell people you work for Monster Cable, what kind of reaction do you typically receive? What are the top questions people ask you about your job there?

Some people have never heard of Monster Cable. But those who have seem impressed by our output. People are mostly curious about what it’s like to work here, and “gasp, you mean you make products other than cables?”

Do you have family at home? Kids?

I am a happy bachelorette, but my immediate family is local, which is awesome because my family is very important to me.

Do you have any hobbies that occupy your spare time?

I would say my biggest passion in life is music. I go see live music as often as possible and collect vinyl. Few things can beat spending hours in Amoeba looking for stuff I’ve never heard of. I’ve been dabbling a little in music production and hope to continue more along that vein.

Art is also a big influence in my life – visiting museums and art openings, of course, but also learning and practicing different crafts. I love photography, knitting and stenciling T-shirts, and am working on screenprinting as well. I’d also like to get into letter-press, sewing and graphic design. I took a picture matting class that may sound boring, but was actually not as easy as it sounds and pretty interesting. Cutting your own mats can save a pretty penny for those other hobbies.

This past winter was my first full season snowboarding and I’m hooked. There is something magical about getting reacquainted with your body and testing it in the snow.

You mentioned that you collect vinyl. What are some of the things in your collection? Any rare gems?

My stash is kind of all over the place. Some oldies but goodies would be Incredible Bongo Band’s Apache/7 Minutes of Funk, Joan Jett’s I Love Rock and Roll, and Kraftwerk’s The Man Machine. I blame my parents for my owning that brown Carpenters’ album. I also found some sweet old “Bellydancing” records – one’s titled “How to Bellydance for Your Husband”. The best gift I ever got from a boyfriend was My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” and The Smiths’ “The Queen is Dead”. Probably at least half of my collection is drum & bass, and one of my favorites is Makai’s “Beneath the Mask”, which samples the theme song from Ghost in the Shell.

What’s the best museum you’ve been to? What piece particularly grabs you most?

Locally, the best art exhibit I’ve seen was the Vivienne Westwood exhibit that came through the Palace of Fine Arts. When I was in Spain a few years ago I saw a Picasso exhibit that was pretty mind-blowing. My favorite local artist is Sylvia Ji. Her portraits are incredibly sultry and imaginative. I own the two works I’ve attached – the first is Sylvia Ji’s “Black Widow” and the second is a piece by Imaginary Foundation (both taken from their respective web sites). It’s pretty self explanatory, I think.

How many Monster products do you currently have? What are they hooked up to?

Mostly I have cables holding together my sound equipment. I have a kick-ass bass guitar cable for when the desire strikes to play a little Nirvana. The iCarPlay Cassette Adapter and iCarPlay Wireless 200 FM Transmitter have worked really well for when I’m playing my iPod in friends’ cars.

What would you say your favorite Monster product is? Why?

I love the new iFreePlay shuffle docking headphones we recently released. The form factor is slick and it totally eliminates headphone cords that are apt to get all tangled and unruly. I may have to purchase a Shuffle so I can use it!

What would you say your favorite gadget is?

I can’t live without my iPod. I don’t have a car, so I get everywhere by public transportation or on foot (though I’m planning to get a bike this summer!), so I basically live with my iPod as an extension to my body.

I used to have some awesome (okay, laugh at me) vibrating headphones – best for those heavy basslines, but after 2 years they gave out. I haven’t gotten around to replacing them yet.

On my wishlist are an MPC 1000 and a digital SLR camera.

We'd like to extend a special thanks to Jialin for sharing a little more about herself. If you see her in the forums, don't hesitate to strike up a conversation about art, music, or snowboarding... we're sure she'd have plenty to share. Perhaps we can start taking bets on what she'll do with her hair next?

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