Andrea Woods Tells Us What It's Like To Be a Woman in Gaming (EA Games)
Andrea Woods from EA Games Joins The Corporate Diary to Chat Women in Gaming
Andrea Wood continues to surprise me. An Ottawa native and student from OttawaU flew across the country to intern at Electronic Arts in Vancouver - one of the world's largest gaming companies. She was not only asked to do another 8 months but has an independent spirit we all dream we wish we had. Her courage is difficult to surmount. She is one of six children in her family, was able to put herself through school and is graduating debt-free from her Bachelors of Commerce degree. We have much to learn from Andrea when it comes to personal finance.
Andrea Wood’s Journey as A Woman in Gaming
Her willingness to face challenges head on and see them as pportunities is what attracted me most to Andrea. She currently works at Electronic Arts as a project management and marketing coordinator. Working for the Canadian head office in Vancouver has given her much to say about being a woman in the video game industry - one most attributed to the male gender. She got the job through a co-op opportunity but had to move from Ottawa to Vancouver - across Canada - to not only work there but complete her studies. Project management is where she started (i.e. B2B meeting application, insights report on external development within the gaming industry) though she was able to quickly pivot after demonstrating her skill sets.
When Women are the Target Market in Gaming
She speaks to me in our interview below on the trends affecting the industry and interestingly, gaming companies are looking to target more women given the rise of female players. Andrea differentiates between console games and other internet games like Candy Crush, Bejeweled and others mentioning more women play the latter type and thus the industry has had to adjust its target market. We discuss which genders and offices make up which teams and the reason seems to be function. Software engineering vs. Business.
Watch the Video Interview
Discover Andrea's backstory and points of view on being a woman in the video game industry in the link below.
Growth Architects are the jack of all trades. Terminal’s Director of Growth knows this all too well. She’s the woman who, once upon a time, was responsible for Vine’s growth, and entered the world of VC.