Amber Howard is becoming big news in the world of Esports, we take a deeper look into this innovative new head of TalentX Gaming.
Esports has become a very popular industry globally and is currently on the rise, but they haven’t done much in the way of solving their inclusivity problem. It is said that women make up only 27% of the industry and a mere 1 % of players identify as black.
Introducing Amber Howard, the new head of Talent at TalentXGaming. According to Forbes,
She is blazing her own trail to make sure that representation will be paramount. She is doing this by opening doors and helping people of colour who don’t necessarily fit in the classic gaming mould.
TalentX Gaming is a joint venture between ReKTGlobal and TalentX. When Amber Howard joined the team, she was tasked with heading the discovery and Management division by hiring a diversified roster of streamers, content creators, and gaming influencers.
This is not Howard’s first rodeo though as she has been the talent relations manager for some big names such as IMG, The NFL, and Warner Bros’ gaming division Machinima.
For(bes) The Culture recently interviewed Howard as part of their recently launched hub for Black and brown professionals. You can see the entire interview here.
From the interview, we gained some insight into who Amber Howard is and how she is planning to add talented professionals of colour into the gaming community and Esports as a whole.
She mentions that even though it has only been a short while, she has made some key hires that she is very excited about. She also brings up that their goal is to diversify and that their aim is to make use of the “creator first” model when recruiting new talent.
The pandemic has caused her to face a new set of challenges regarding team meetings and building comradery amongst team members. Keeping the team “energized and challenged” has also been a bit challenging.
When asked where she sees the most room for growth in the industry and what is missing in the game industry she said
“I think I find something new that I haven’t discovered every day in gaming, because gaming is the one vertical that crosses into every other vertical organically. Gamers are sneakerheads, they are fitness junkies, they are musicians, actors, and hosts. So, I think what’s missing is for the rest of the industry to see gamers from this bird’s-eye view and not put gamers in a box. It’s really understanding that these gaming talents aren’t just sitting there playing video games. They are editors, developers, musicians. They really cross over into other verticals.”
Howard mentions that she wants to be remembered for the work she does toeing the line between what’s right for the business and what’s right for the creator. She Said She wants to
“be known for being a respectable person be known for being a respectable person in the way that I conduct business and for what I have done for my talent. I want to continue to find diverse, interesting talent that I can continue to highlight.”
Well there you have it, Amber Howard not only the face of TalentX Gaming but the start of a more diverse future for the gaming industry and Esports globally. Beautiful, Talented, and willing to go the extra mile to bring a more diverse roster of talent to the gaming community.