You will hear many people in the tech and gaming space say that they have been a part of the culture for their entire lives. The same goes for me. I always enjoyed tinkering with technology and playing video games. Fast forward and I enter college intending to pursue a degree in computer science and create video games. A few humbling math classes caused me to change my major and graduating during a recession caused me to change my plans once again.
After working in my service desk job for a couple of years with video game podcasts and E3 videos playing in the background, I knew I had to find a way to be more involved with these things that I was passionate about. At the time, you had to be a part of the industry to gain access to shows like E3 (RIP) so I started researching ways to finagle my way in. During my research, I discovered a show called PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) and I booked a trip immediately.
Leading up to my first ever video game convention I randomly met a group of people online and we started our first site, Max Level. The PAX trip along with meeting all of these different people changed my view of the video game and tech industry. I knew this was something that I wanted to be a part of, even if being paid wasn’t an option at this time.
A few years later I joined up with my friends over at The Game Fanatics and had a chance to experience E3 finally. I learned so much and met so many great people while attending events like E3 and PAX. Talking about games will always be a passion of mine but I still felt like there was more for me out there.
During the Covid years, the tech and gaming space was booming and hiring a ton of new talent. More people were being allowed to work remotely and this gave me a chance to work with my dream company, Xbox! This was a little bit of a career pivot for me but I was able to learn so much. After a couple of years of working for Xbox and being a part of my first game release, I was unfortunately impacted by the layoffs.
While searching for my next opportunity, I thought about all of the people who are working to gain access and exposure in the video game and tech industries. After over a decade of working with a ton of companies and seeing the inner workings of the business, I know how hard it can be to just get an email response.
This is the longest way to answer the question “How did I get here?”. My many experiences over the past decade let me know that I now want to be a part of helping to grow the network of creators while amplifying and highlighting the work that so many people are doing. The idea of what TRUNRD is started as something smaller but it has the potential to grow and hopefully be impactful in the gaming and technology space.
There is more to come so stay tuned to the journey.