Seeking Alpha

Today's episode is incredibly important. Valeriia Voronova, the Media Director of Maincast, joins the show. Maincast is an esports organization based out of Ukraine, where they operate Live Broadcasts, Tournaments, and create original content through their talents and influencers. The war in Ukraine has heavily impacted Valeriia's life, business, and the esports scene, and we discuss the impacts of that. Valeriia explains what the esports scene is like in Eastern Europe, how more women can be involved in the industry, and more.

Episode Resources

https://www.maincast.com/ 

https://www.gamereactor.eu/esl-and-maincast-has-extended-their-media-deal-for-four-more-years/ 

Metaverse Designer Gemma Bowen, aka KawaiFoxiita joins the show today! Gemma is a Sims builder and designer, recreating sets, building original sets, and putting her own creative spin on game design sets IN the Sims. With a background in interior design, a passion for creating online worlds, and the talent to build from scratch, Gemma is like if the Property Brothers were one incredibly talented and tech oriented person. Listen as we discuss designing in the Metaverse, building communities, and working with a chronic illness.

Joining the show today is Ashley Washington, the Game Changers EMEA Product Manager at Riot, where she works on building spaces for folks in marginalized genders to play, compete, and have fun. We talk about Game Changers, and how it creates a safe space for women who are interested in competitive play and removing some of the negative factors that often keep them from progressing and finding further opportunities. Plus, we both get to flex a little about our foreign language skills (Ashley is the far more talented one in that department).

Episode Resources:

https://www.theloadout.com/valorant/game-changers-ashley-washington-interview 

Today's episode features Maya McClendon, the Founder of Timeout. Timeout is an app designed to specifically aid athletes and other high pressure performers with tools to aid in bettering mental health. While Timeout is focusing first on athletes, Maya believes expansion into all kinds of competitive areas is going to be critical to Timeout's success. We talk about how to build a business, what it's like to get funding, and the intersection between tech and mental health. Maya teaches me about problem curation: figuring out what the issues actually are is the way to actually solve problems.

This week's episode features Sandy Carter, the VP of Unstoppable Domains. Sandy has had an illustrious career in tech (so much so that she has her own Wikipedia page, definitely check it out), and is right in the middle of the Web3 revolution. We talk about the transition from Web2 to Web3, the opportunities that are out there, and why the Metaverse is exciting. Sandy's musings show why it's important to keep up with the youths, and help me understand how Web3 can democratize the internet.

Episode Resources:

https://decrypt.co/106009/unstoppable-domains-reaches-unicorn-valuation-with-65m-series-a-round 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdAfucJNC88&ab_channel=SiliconANGLEtheCUBE 

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-i-quit-amazon-for-web3-sandy-carter-crypto-nft-2022-6 

Nadja Bester, Co-founder of Engage of Earn investment platform AdLunam, Inc., joins the show today! Nadja has a career in tech, journalism, and travel all rolled into one. We talk about building a platform, why crypto and Web3 projects are important, and what tools founders can use to set themselves up for success.

Episode Resources:

https://adlunam.cc/

https://hackernoon.com/engaging-to-earn-with-adlunam-co-founder-nadja-bester

https://www.benzinga.com/fintech/22/05/27186631/women-leading-in-the-journey-toward-web3

https://metaverseinsider.tech/2022/04/28/an-interview-with-nadja-bester-the-ceo-of-adlunam-a-transformational-ido-launchpad/

Today on the show is Ashley Olmested, Associate Experience Design Director at Ripple Studios where she works on Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield Portal. Ashley FINALLY teaches me what the difference between UX and UI (which is actually critical and really interesting), and what life is like as a developer. One especially prominent note: failure (and subsequent feedback from the community) is actually a starting point for making things better. In short: Ashley teaches me not to be afraid of criticism, which is easier said than done!

Swatee Surve, Founder and CEO of Litesprite, joins the show this week. Litesprite is a new way for employers and employees to experience mental health benefits through an interactive environment that teaches people how to master their own zen. Swatee and I discuss mental health, what it's like working in the healthcare space, fundraising, revenue models, and plenty of stories about life and learning.

Episode Resources:

https://venturebeat.com/2022/05/14/how-game-leaders-can-change-systems-to-improve-employee-mental-health/

https://venturebeat.com/2022/03/19/swatee-surve-interview-showing-gratitude-to-your-friends-in-a-game/

https://venturebeat.com/2019/11/10/litesprites-game-for-treating-depression-gets-an-endorsement-from-bayers-startup-accelerator/

Are you interested in putting fun back into esports? This is the episode for you! Paige Cameron, VP of Miscellanea and general wizard from Beastcoast, joins me to talk about building an international esports organization, what opportunities are out there, and what it's like to constantly adapt and switch roles. Digressions include digital goods, fan engagement strategies, how old neopets are, the queer community in South America, and managing more than one Twitter page at a time.

Episode Resources:

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/state-lgbtq-rights-latin-america-0

https://beastcoast.gg/

Joining me this week is Holly Gray, the Human Resources Manager at Generation Esports. In addition to talking about esports and the importance of HR, Holly and I have a bit of a heart to heart about how to keep going when life is difficult, and also talk all about what Generation Esports is doing for students, veterans, and amateur players. Holly teaches me about the positivity of having kids play games in schools: higher engagement in school, better attendance, better grades because kids are getting to do things that make them happy! Hopefully that means the acceptance and normalization of it is coming.

Episode Resources:

https://generationesports.com/

https://edgeup.asus.com/2022/asus-gives-esports-programs-a-head-start//