How Motherhood Made Me a Better QA Manager - Žaklina Polak Matanović

In this episode, I talk with Žaklina Polak Matanović, an experienced QA manager who discovered that raising three daughters taught her more about software testing than most training courses ever could. She shares concrete stories about how skills like clear ownership assignment, prioritization under pressure, and proactive thinking emerged naturally from parenting chaos – from navigating playgrounds with toddler twins to managing ambiguous requests at home. What makes this conversation powerful is Žaklina's honest reflection on returning to tech after maternity leave, initially doubting her career trajectory while others seemed to advance, only to realize the soft skills in software testing she'd been building at home became her greatest professional assets for achieving work life balance in tech.

"If something is obvious to you, it does not mean that it's obvious to someone else." - Žaklina Polak Matanović

Žaklina Polak Matanović is a seasoned QA professional with over 20 years of experience in software quality assurance, test and release management, and software development. She enjoys working in international environments and takes a structured, collaborative approach to delivering high-quality software. Outside of work, she is a passionate salsa dancer, chorus singer, and a curious explorer at heart—whether she is sailing, skiing, biking, or capturing moments through photography. She loves traveling and being near the sea or snow, and these adventures inspire both her personal and professional life.

Highlights:

• Ownership assigned by name gets things done; ambiguous responsibility leaves tickets in the backlog indefinitely, whether at home or in a project team.
• Parenting toddlers on a playground is a live prioritization exercise: protect the child in greater danger first, then handle the next risk, which maps directly to triage under release pressure.
• Asking a colleague to take on tasks when your own list is full is not a weakness; spreading responsibility makes the workload manageable for everyone, just as calling a neighbor for backup at the playground does.
• Quiet team members never get to speak when only the proactive ones hold the floor; a lead's job is to create space for every voice, not just the loudest.

📌 Testing is a people business, humanity as a superpower. That is my talk on October 7 at HUSTEF 2026 in Budapest: See programme and tickets