Keisha Howard, Founder of Sugar Gamers, Serial Entrepreneur

Keisha Howard, photo courtesy of the subject

In Career Spotlight, we profile women and nonbinary professionals who work in the gaming industry. It is our goal to show the vastness and variety of jobs within the world of gaming and to share professional advice and perspective with our readers.

This week we profile Keisha Howard, a leader in the worlds of technology and geek culture, two-time TEDx speaker, serial entrepreneur, and the founder of Sugar Gamers, a trendsetting community of diverse gamers that has received awards for its innovations and positive contributions to the gaming and technology communities.

When did you first get into gaming and as you put it on your website “geek culture?” Are there any favorite memories you’d like to share in which you realized these were areas you were passionate about?

I was a really introverted kid, but one of my favorite activities was reading. My older brother would read me the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Play D&D and Magic cards with me, and introduce me to different anime series. That was what we did together and how we bonded. I will always associate geek culture with imagination, growth, and connection, which are the areas I remain truly passionate about.

You gave a talk at TEDxOgden in 2018 about SolarPunk. Could you elaborate a bit about what SolarPunk means to you? How can imagining worlds in speculative fiction (and perhaps in games) have real world effects?

I believe as a society that is constantly working, on our phones, and solving our life’s problems, the media we constantly consume may influence us in ways that are negative and stagnant. In these past years, a lot of media has been apocalyptic and dystopic and that can be discouraging.

I remember watching movies like The Matrix and seeing a character like Morpheus or Star Trek with Uhura, and feeling empowered – especially as a Black woman. These movies made me realize that there were possibilities in which I could be represented and included. I could have impact and be inventive. These movies and shows are fiction, but they stimulated my imagination in ways where I could solve problems and critically think.

Solarpunk is a genre of speculative fiction that is focused mainly on renewable energy, maintaining a more egalitarian society, and living in harmony with nature. Solarpunk also emphasizes ingenuity, generativity, independence, and community.

I think by using Solarpunk to help frame our narratives about the future we can be inspired to solve some of the world’s biggest problems in real life.

A character spread for Project Violacea — A character spread for *Project Violacea*

From what I have learned about Sugar Gamers’ game Project Violacea, it seems to be a bit of a real-world application of a SolarPunk RPG. Is that an accurate statement? Could you tell us a bit more about Project Violacea? What is special about role-playing games and their relationship to creative expression and community-building?

Project Violacea was really our way of introducing the intellectual and emotional merits of “Theatre of the Mind.” Theatre of the Mind as it pertains to table top role playing games, means you're playing without any visual representations of what's occurring in the game. Instead, everything is happening within the imagination of the players

This is where emotion and imagination can be rewarded. We live in a world where the display of emotions is generally frowned upon in most settings. Playing games, we can really get into the personalities of fictional characters and locations, and challenges can be fun and cathartic.

Project Violacea was also a community exercise in making an inclusive game, where people can imagine themselves with whatever aesthetic and identity they desire, while solving problems within a futuristic sci-fi setting.

Can you tell us a little bit about the origin story of Sugar Gamers?

In 2009, before I first started Sugar Gamers, I always felt limited in the gaming communities that existed. There were usually online, and designed for gamers on the hardcore and competitive side. At that time there was also a lack diversity in these groups. Eventually I was inspired to create a community of my own that solved these challenges for me.

Keisha and members of the Sugar Gamers team

Sugar Gamers has always been about diversity and inclusion, not in just race, gender and orientation, but also gamer types. Casual and hardcore, RPG and FPS, analog and digital, competitive and collaborative -- all in the same group. Gamers are the most diverse global demographic of consumers, and there is so much to explore and learn from one another when we all come together.

How has Sugar Gamers evolved over the years and what are some of its main focuses now?

Sugar Gamers has actually not had to evolve too drastically. In fact, sometimes I believe we were too soon! After 12 years, we do more career development and consulting on how to navigate the gaming industry and have healthy inclusive communities. We are constantly learning how to approach this space with sensitivity and consideration for the many different types of identities we come across. As a team, we constantly have to think beyond our own individual lived experiences and reimagine what the future holds for gamers to thrive.

What advice do you have for first-time entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs?

Do it scared. Do it unsure. Be prepared to make sacrifices, be prepared to fail. Constantly learn new things, be open to learning from many people, including those different from yourself. Try to find your focus and niche. Don’t get overly caught up with trends and vanity metrics; be an entrepreneur about something you can do with or without money and external validation – in other words – pursue something you have authentic passion for. Building a business is hard and at times lonely; be kind to yourself. Understand who your support network is. Hold yourself accountable and have other people you trust to hold you accountable as well.

What does it mean to you to upskill in the gaming tech sector?

Upskilling in my experience requires a “learning-for-life mindset” and a willingness to embrace new ways of doing things. This not only includes learning new tech skills (which will constantly need to be updated) but an awareness of cultural diversity and people skills (EQ). A general understanding on game engines like Unreal and Unity is really helpful as well.

As consumers and fans of gaming culture, how can we best support women, nonbinary people, marginalized genders, and people of color working in the gaming industry?

While what’s popular and mainstream is very alluring, but we must be intentional with our time, money and resources to support those from demographics who are often underserved. Interact with women, nonbinary people, marginalized genders, and people of color and build authentic relationships with them. This will come with challenges and may be awkward at times, but it’s well worth the effort. Humans tend to support people when they fell a genuine connection with them. Try to think of the DEI challenges in the industry as something WE ALL are a part of instead of segmenting or “othering” individuals different from yourself. We are in this together.

As someone who thinks a lot about world-building in gaming, what excites you about emerging technologies and concepts such as VR and the Metaverse?

What excites me about the Metaverse and virtual reality is the idea of more tools to connect and empathize with other human beings around the world. As the world faces different unprecedented challenges, using emerging technologies like this to play and escape will be prevalent, but we also have the opportunity to learn and grow from each other in a way that can have positive real-life impacts and learnings. If VR and the Metaverse can enhance our humanity and our ability to foster healthy relationships with each other, then I am excited about being a part of building that world, virtually and IRL.

Check out Sugar Gamers:

Website: www.sugargamers.com

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sugargamers

Discord: https://discord.gg/ePdgk5Q

Twitter: @sugargamers

Instagram: @sugargamers

Follow Keisha’s personal website and social media:

Website: www.gokeisha.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keishahowardsg/

Instagram: @sugargamer

Twitter: sugargamer

Learn more about Project Violacea at https://sugargamers.com/project-violacea/