Rise and Play Podcast

Sarah has over 20 years of experience making games. For the past 12 years she has been focusing exclusively on mobile. Most recently she was the VP and GM of the #1 Fashion game, Covet Fashion. Prior to that Sarah worked on The Sims Mobile, various mobile titles at Ngmoco and DeNA as well as Spore, X men- the official game, The Sims 2, The Godfather and James Bond Everything or Nothing. Sarah could have continued her career path at big companies. But instead, she decided to start her own initiatives and work on projects that give her meaning and allow her to make a bigger impact on the industry.In this episode, Sarah is sharing with us: How she led her team on Covet Fashion and built her Leadership team with 90% women How the Covet Fashion team addressed the sensitive topic of racial diversity in the game How she made the switch from Glu Mobile to invest her time on  meaningful and impactful projects such as WINGS mobile Why is it hard(er) for women and marginalised communities to get funding, and what we can do about itEnjoy this new episode.If you want to support WINGS interactive mobile and join the initiative of supporting more diverse games and teams in the market, reach out to us: https://wingsfund.me/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

Delphine has a unique story on how she brings her athlete mindset to her practices of leadership and building creative teams at King. Delphine is the Head Of Experimentation on Candy Crush and shares her challenges of bringing novelty to an iconic game such as Candy Crush, while satisfying the most loyal players from over a decade.In this episode, Delphine shares her leadership tools to lead large creative teams (50+ people): Why Energy is one of your most important resources as a Leader, and how to nurture it 3P approach: People, Product and Process How to run large teams of 50+ people and break the silos How to build a solid long term vision for large teams Managing upward Why it is important to build your personal branding with intention, for your career progressionHere are the links of the resources mentioned in the episode: Multipliers book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8310410-multipliers Why Great Leaders Take Humour Seriously (TED talk): https://youtu.be/uJKDipbCzdcEnjoy this new episode! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

Maya Hofree is the VP of New Games at Product Madness. She counts 10 years of industry experience, starting as a Product Manager at Jelly Button Games and later became the Product director on big titles such as Pirate Kings, Board Kings and World Series of Poker, when Jelly Button was later acquired by Playtika.In this episode, Maya shares her new challenges in building the New Games Strategy and Teams at Product Madness. We are covering in our discussion: How to build a strategy for new games from scratch? What should be the focus and priorities as the VP of New Games? Maya's experience leading small teams in a family-friendly environment at Jelly Button to leading a 400-people team at Playtika How does Maya approach building her long-term vision and career?Enjoy this new episode!More about the job openings at Product Madness: https://www.productmadness.com/join-us/or contact directly Maya if you would like to join her team: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-hofree-416a3b2/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

In this second episode, I am speaking with Maryna Iaremenko, a Lead Game Designer specialised in system design with 10 years of experience in F2P. She is currently the Lead Designer (and the one only) at GameHouse and has an amazing career track record. She previously worked at King, Social Point and Gameloft.In this episode, we tackle: How to build design processes when you are the only designer in house? How to approach the design of new concepts? What are the current game design trends to watch? What are the challenges of working abroad and in a very different culture from yours? Why are there so few women in Senior Design positions, and what can we do about it?Enjoy this new episode!More about GameHouse and open positions: https://talent.gamehouse.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

Welcome to the second season of Rise and Play podcast, where we are focusing on Portraits of Women in Games. In this first episode, I am talking to An Vu, Chief Marketing Officer at Small Giant Games.In this episode, we will cover the following questions:- What does a CMO do?- How did An build a small and effective UA team of 11 people at Small Giant Games?- How does she lead her team? What is her strategy with UA and creatives, and how do these two parts are collaborating together?- What was her career journey from a UA associate to a CMO position? How did she create these opportunities for herself?Enjoy this new episode!More about Small Giant Games: https://www.smallgiantgames.com/More about the UA Society: https://uasociety.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

To kick off the New Year, I wanted to share some thoughts for 2022. In this special episode, I am sharing the journaling methods I have been using at the transition of each year, and key moments of my life.Instead of focusing on your BIG goals one time a year, conduct regularly self reflection work and journaling instead. Enjoy this new episode. I wish you a great start for 2022! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

Follow the second season of my MasterClass on building teams for the long term, what I call: Antifragile teams.In this episode, I share the mindset required as a Lead to build an Antifragile team. How do you build long-term trust in a group, and how can you influence it as the Team Lead? Show vulnerability as a Leader, and what does it look like to act vulnerable? At last, to become Antifragile, you need to face your biggest fears as a Leader. Are you driven by your fears or by the clarity of your thoughts?Link to the full masterclass video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/how-to-build-trust-for-the-long-term This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

Follow the second season of my MasterClass on building teams for the long term, what I call: Antifragile teams. What is your main responsibility as the Team Lead? The 4 steps to build a great environment in a team How do you create a strong culture with certain values in your team? Where do you start? Link to the full masterclass video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/how-to-create-your-studio-culture This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

Follow the second season of my MasterClass on building teams for the long term, what I call: Antifragile teams. What is an Antifragile Team? Why does it matter? How do you become Antifragile?Link to the full masterclass video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/what-is-an-antifragile-team This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

From building your vision to the methods to find, screen and select the best candidates for you - I will share my full hiring framework with you. Hiring makes up 50% of the success of your studio, so it is important to get it right! It is worth investing heavily upfront to build a sustainable studio for the long term.My best practices on running phone screening interviews from 100+ interviews.- Phone Screening Interview - Team and Cross interviews - Identify the Red flags early  Link to the Masterclass video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/screening-interview This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com