I said it quietly. Even though it was just to myself, in my own head. Watching a project have the same issues the last one suffered in a meeting where everyone in the room knew the same problems were happening and nobody was doing anything about it.
The client was frustrated and losing confidence, the team was waiting for someone to just make a decision. I didn't do anything heroic. I went back to my desk and thought about it for a few days.
Then I put my metaphorical hand up. The useful thing about saying "I can do this better", even if, like me, it was only ever to yourself, is that it immediately changes your position. You're not complaining anymore. You've committed to a version of the world where you're accountable for the outcome. It's uncomfortable, but you gain a clear path forward.
I've been a PM in one form or another ever since.
The projects have changed, the scale has changed, the industries have changed. What hasn't changed is that moment of deciding something isn't good enough and choosing to be the one who fixes it rather than the one who notices it.
It's not a particularly exciting origin story. But it's an honest one.
If you're a developer, a designer, a copywriter – anyone sitting in a meeting thinking "this could be run better", it's a thought that you should pay attention to.
What did you do next?