Last month, four representatives from HyperX, the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., joined a group of students from the Digital Media Conservatory at Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) for a virtual career discussion and Q&A. Earlier this school year, HyperX announced its partnership with OCSA by donating a variety of gaming peripherals to help the Digital Media Conservatory launch its first esports program.
Patrick Williams, the director of OCSA’s Digital Media Conservatory, led the discussion with HyperX’s Wendy Lecot, head of strategic alliances and digital marketing innovation; Jennifer Hall, product marketing specialist; Dustin Illingworth, head of talent marketing; and Wesley Ihezue, 3D designer.
*Interviews were cut down for brevity*
Student Question: What advice would you give to young people wanting to work in esports?
Ihezue: I think that it’s really important to not let fear influence your decision. Especially with something like esports where it’s probably going to take a leap of faith. If you like to do it, then I think you should pursue it. It’s very easy to get bogged down by fear of “Am I gonna do bad?” or “Are people gonna like me?” At the end of the day if you like to do it there’s a market for it somewhere. You can nustle yourself into the industry somehow. Fear is all in your head, 100%.
Lecot: Yeah kind of hand-in-hand with that, I have a passion for representation in gaming. I would like to see more role models that are female, and there is certainly a lot of progress that is being made. Don’t let that hold you back, even if you don’t see it, you can seek them out. There are so many women-in-gaming type of groups that are forming now. There’re a lot of gals that have great experiences, and they’re really warm and welcoming to guide you. So just press on. Doesn’t matter what your gender is, just press on and I think doors will really welcome you.
Illingworth: I would add to that too that, no matter what your role is coming out of school, gaming has infiltrated the culture in such a way that regardless of where you land, there are going to be programs that need to be created, to kinda create lanes into gaming. So even if you don’t land on Team Liquid or HyperX or wherever right out of school, and you’re not in the esports industry yet, you can still become that expert and take that step towards gaming because everybody wants into gaming. You can sort of leverage your passion and expertise to create those lanes and that’s gonna get noticed.
Student Question: Any advice for networking and making connections in the community?
Lecot: I’m a firm believer in LinkedIn because I have to make industry connections, so I see my ecosystem there and it’s very active.
Ihezue: I used Instagram to DM professionals back in school. There were projects where we had to get mentorship from a professional and what I did was, I went through Instagram, people that I followed or people that I liked. And some of them are not gonna hit you back, but some of them will, and for those that will they can give you some great advice.
Williams: What advice would you give to the 16 or 17-year-old version of yourself?
Ihezue: What I would say to 16-year-old Wes is...it’s okay. Don’t be so hard on yourself, it’s just not worth your time. This is such a small part of your life, so be kinder to yourself.
Illingworth: I would say, give yourself the freedom to follow what you’re interested in, even if that kinda leads you into chaos. That might sound a little dark, but I was so concerned, especially when going into college...I could’ve avoided countless years of worry by just going in the direction of where my heart was. That piece of paper doesn’t define you... so follow your heart, as cliche as that sounds. That has never led me astray in my life so far.
Lecot: If you need to pause and go live in another country, then you should do it. Because you know what, you can always come back to education. I did, and then kinda powered through it, and went on to get an MBA when I wanted to.
Hall: I feel like for me, I definitely worried a lot about my career and what I was going to do with my life, what I was going to study. That matters, but at the same time, everyone has their own timeline. You have so much time to explore yourself, whether it’s in college or after that. I think everything happens for a reason, and no matter what you just have to keep trying because it does get better.
To learn more about OCSA’s partnership with HyperX, click here.