Tell us about your work!
I am a marketing manager at Schell Games, a video game design and development company. There I assist with the social and digital paid media, trade show and event management, influencer marketing, and other special projects.
Why did you decide to work at your company? *
Coming back to Pittsburgh in 2016, I knew I wanted to be in a high tech/innovative company.
Tell us about your family!
My wife and I have two lovely children, a girl and a boy, and a cuddle-bug of a dog.
What was the hardest thing about becoming a dad?
A change in priorities. Once married, the goal is 'how can we take two lives and neatly meld them together'. Once fatherhood comes along, it's now 'how can I forge a positive, loving, environment, and show for both children, what a positive reflection of a person looks like'? It's quite the shift.
Has being a dad impacted your career? How?
It has certainly added a lens to look at my work. When the studio is playtesting games, now the questions "would I allow my daughter/son to play these games?" "If my kids ask me what I've been working on, will I be proud and eager to show them?" So it has been refreshing to look at our projects in a new frame to continue to prove out that this is the kind of work that I enjoy and am proud of doing.
What's one thing you've learned from your children?
Our oldest, Esther, entered her "why?" phase a little after she turned 3. That has helped me consider many of the things and activities we do and see on a normal day (from traffic lights to the water cycle), and learn how to break down the explanation as simple as possible.
How has being a dad made you a better/ different leader?
Children bring a whole new world of patience, love, understanding, empathy, and critical thinking. Being able to look at a challenge or an activity like you've never done it before is something children do at least once a week. That's helped me be more reinvigorated in the "what's always been done isn't always best" train of thought. Also, it's helped me learn to step back to let others accomplish tasks in their own way. Again, Esther showed me a super interesting way to use scissors. Was it efficient? To her, it was and it accomplished the task- so yes. Being okay with those answers has been a growing opportunity.