When budgets tighten, product marketers are often forced to justify not just their programs - but their seat at the table. In this candid session, Sabina Osorio shares a real-world story of navigating budget cuts and organizational pressure, and how deep audience insight became the key to maintaining influence, shaping decisions, and driving impact across product, growth, and brand. Rather than pulling back, this session explores how PMMs can use customer understanding to prioritize smarter, align faster, and influence more effectively - even with fewer resources. Attendees will walk away with practical frameworks for turning insight into action, earning trust during moments of constraint, and strengthening their role as an ecosystem connector when it matters most. Key takeaways: - How to defend and strengthen the PMM role during budget cuts and organizational scrutiny - Practical ways to use deep audience insight to influence product, growth, and brand decisions - Frameworks for prioritizing smarter and aligning faster when resources are constrained - Tactics for turning customer insight into clear, credible action that earns trust - How to maintain strategic influence—even when headcount and budgets shrink - Ways PMMs can act as ecosystem connectors to drive impact across teams in high-pressure moments