Women in Games International (WIGI) reposted this
It's been a hot minute since GDC and I've been processing a lot. It's intense- the volatility, uncertainty, struggle, empathy, care and optimism. I've needed time to sit with it. It's impossible to fully encapsulate, but I'd like to call out my time with Women in Games International (WIGI) and their summit at the beginning of GDC. We set out to discuss our challenges as women in games. And not only identify the MANY challenges, but share stories of personal adversity, and how we overcame it. How could we distill that down to best practices to pass along to others struggling. Amy Kalson shared her inspiring story of shaking things up with her own personal creativity, and how that positively impacted her career journey. Meghan Morgan Juinio talked about how valuable a career coach has been in getting her very crisp and clear on her personal mission/ vision statement. I witnessed Jessica Murrey uplift and cheer on fellow entrepreneur Jenny Xu in an Uber ride. Women are magic y'all. Many of us get approached by others (new and tenured) for guidance and mentorship in the industry. Many ask: how do I get my next job? How do I break into the industry? I'm afraid there are no silver bullet answers to those specific questions atm. If I were looking for advice, if I were just starting in games- I'd be asking questions like: What have been struggles in your career? What have been your most challenging moments? What's been your rock bottom? And how did you get out of it? How did you turn things around? Right now, it's not about how someone can be prescriptive with advice on your job hunt. It's about how you cultivate resilience, how you persevere, how to shake shit up... because what you've been doing for the past 10 months (or insert timeframe here) has not been fucking working. Tap into the experience, struggles, adversity and wisdom of others. Abstract out your own inspiration and flavor of that. THIS is how we move forward. Thank you Joanie Kraut, Careen Yapp and Moonlit W Beshimov for orchestrating the WIGI Summit. This is the power of women and I trust deeply in our ability to move mountains.
