Meet Gaming Executive Gaude Paez

“It's really interesting to work in a space where people practice what they love” - Gaude Paez

Our guest today is Gaude Paez, Senior Vice President, and Head of Global Corporate Affairs at Riot Games. We talk about her early start in the competitive world of big agency public relations, and her steady rise in the ranks of the entertainment industry, to her current role in gaming where she's breaking barriers and creating opportunities for a new generation of women executives in gaming. The future is female, let’s get started. 

Have a question or comment? Email us at themanifista@gmail.com.

Resources Mentioned
 
Gaude Paez on Linkedin
Gaude Paez on Twitter
Riot Games 
Roomba Robot Vacuums 
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 

Transcript

TRANSCRIPT - GAUDE PAEZ

INTRO 

Portia Mount  0:01  

I am so delighted to be welcoming my guest today, Gowdy, Paez, who is the Senior Vice President and Global Head of corporate affairs for Riot Games. Gaude is so good to see you.

Gaude Paez  0:24  

It is great to see you too. Portia. It's been such a long time, we've grown up so much.

Portia Mount  0:29  

We have grown up so much. For our dear listeners, Gaude and I go way back to when we were young PR mavens at our big agency in New York City. And I have not seen you live for, I'm not going to out us, but for a long time.

Gaude Paez  0:51  

A very long time. Very long time. Shiny, little sparkly PR mavens back then.

Portia Mount  0:57  

We were shiny, sparkly, little PR mavens. And I have to say, and you and I were marveling before we started like we both look so amazing.

Gaude Paez  1:04  

I agree. I really do agree. I'm very pleased by this by the way.

Portia Mount  1:08  

We haven't aged; we were marveling at the wonders of melanin and how it just preserves the sexy so well. But it is really wonderful to be here with you today. And I am just I have so many things I want to talk to you about. Because one, I think you are the first executive that I have spoken to who is in gaming. And I know you didn't start there. So I want to, you know, we'll get there first. But Gaude, I wonder if you could just share a little bit about your background. And how did you get to where you are today?

Gaude Paez  1:46  

Sure. Well, I often wonder that myself sometimes. But you know what? I started off. I grew up in California, in Santa Fe Springs, California, in a very blue collar Latino family, like neither of my parents went to college. So they really encouraged me to sort of prioritize education.

Portia Mount  2:05  

So you're first generation, your first generation? In your, to go to college? Wow. 

Gaude Paez  2:11  

Yeah, and I was really fortunate to be, you know, accepted into a good university. I ended up studying psychology and, you know, living the American dream and I realized at the end of my university years that I didn't, I didn't want to be a psychologist. So I studied all this time, my parents were like, Why aren't you going to be a psychologist? If you studied psychology, and it was an interesting time for me, because I knew I loved the subject. I knew I could take something from it. But I didn't really want to. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And so I basically started my career off in New York. I, you know, I left, I was in Boston for college. And I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. But I knew I wanted to, I loved writing. And I knew I wanted to be in New York. And so I basically bought a Greyhound bus ticket and had $150 saved and moved to New York. Hard to hard to do on 150 bucks even back in the 90s. 

Portia Mount  3:07  

Yeah, yeah. 

Gaude Paez  3:10  

Yeah, and so I started off in the PR agency world where I met you Portia. And, and I thought of it as sort of like my way to get into Madison Avenue. I think at the time, I thought, I'll be in advertising and be creative. And it just turns out that I actually fell in love with PR and communications. So I was actually really lucky to find what I love to do early on. And it's taken me on a really interesting path, you know, working with corporate clients, sort of in our beginning days. I moved to California and ended up working with a lot of tech clients. I then went over to Yahoo to run sort of search advertising product comms and international which then led me to the TV and streaming industries with Fox and Hulu and Disney and now to the world of video games. 

Portia Mount  4:02  

Video games? 

Gaude Paez  4:03  

Yeah. Yeah, and now I run communications, government relations and CSR there. But if you had asked me 15 years ago, if I would be a) still in communications or b) at a video game company, I would never have believed it.

Portia Mount  4:18  

Well, I'm so interested in that Gaude in that so one) it sounds like what I'm hearing is you found an early love or passion for communications, but not necessarily like a really strict path in terms of where you thought you would go and I'm and I'm curious, as you moved from company to company, was there some internal clock where you'd say, Okay, I've been in this job for three years now. I'm ready to move on. Did a sponsor, you know, help you move to your next firm. I'm just curious. Like, how you decided which company, you know, it's a pretty big jump from going from agency life. And then you go to corporate and then to move from role to role. So just curious a little bit about your thought process there?

Gaude Paez  5:12  

Sure. So, you know, there wasn't a specific path. It was a mix. I definitely have times in my life where I was recruited, like, obviously, no, I'd been working with someone, they moved to a new role, and then thought, hey, why don't you come over here with me? There are times in my career where I just applied, you know, I thought, hey, this sounds like an interesting role. I'd say the through line, though, for all of it was more. You know, the thing that sort of I think about when I'm in a job, and whether or not it's time for me to move on is, Am I still learning anything? Because I think, you know, one of the things that really excites me about my job and makes me feel like I'm having an impact is when I'm really learning and uncovering whatever's going on in the business. Right. And, and learning more about how consumers behave and learning more about technology. And, and, and those are all things that sort of fuel my excitement for my role. So if I find myself in a place where I'm like, Hey, I'm doing the same thing over and over again. I haven't really grown, I haven't really learned new skills. That's usually the time when I'm thinking okay, this may be, it might be time for me to move on. But I've been really fortunate there have been times when I've been recruited, you know, in a wonderful sort of happenstance way, but, but I think for me, the, you know, the key was, I love technology. I love media. I love to sort of see how people interact with media and sort of TV and games. And even back in the day things at Yahoo, like search advertising, we're all sort of in that vein. So I don't think I realized I enjoyed that stuff. But I sort of gravitated towards it.

Portia Mount  6:52  

I think what resonates for me, and about what you're saying, and certainly other successful women I've spoken to is it sounds like Gaude you have a really good sense of not just what you're passionate about, what gives you energ y, but also what you're good at. And I don't want to put words in your mouth. But I'm wondering if there were points where you said, these are the things I do exceptionally well. And also, you just also happen to have a passion for, you know, all of these adjacencies in the entertainment industry. Did that come to mind at all?

Gaude Paez  7:29  

You know, I think when I started out, I was more about like, I am a hard worker. That's kind of what I prided myself on.

Portia Mount  7:37  

Yeah.

Gaude Paez  7:38  

You're a junior, you're a hard worker. That's what I thought my superpower was. I actually don't think I realized it until a little bit later on. A boss of mine actually heard me talking to a reporter one day about something very complex. And I was sort of trying to break it down for them in a very sort of layman's terms way. And afterwards, she turned to me and she said, Gaude, you can explain the most complicated things in a really sort of easy to understand way. And she actually told me she's like, that's, that's a superpower of yours. I had no idea. I think it was just, you know, it was something that I did, unconsciously. And I realize now, if I look back, that is something that I've been able to sort of hone into something special in my career is really being able to break down sort of complex technology or media into something that people can relate to. But I don't think I don't know that I would have noticed that if someone you know, a fellow senior woman had actually pointed it out to me.

Portia Mount  8:40  

Oh, that is so wonderful. I hope that you know, our listeners are taking this in because it's actually a really good way to think about sometimes we are our own worst critics and we don't recognize we are we take for granted what our gifts are and it takes somebody else to say you know, why not everybody can take a really complex topic and break it down into something really simple and easy to understand. So good. Get on your, your mentor sponsor for, for doing that. That is a real gift.

Gaude Paez  9:11  

Yep. And I think that's really it's really important, just a plus one, what you just said, you know, the impact that female bosses have had in my career have been so it's just been so huge and formative for me and I think hearing that really made me have the confidence to continue trying to hone sort of that part of my skill set and not rely so much on you know, if I just work really hard and show people I'm a hard worker, I'm a good and that's that's part of what you offer. But you know, we all have these really special things we can do and sometimes you don't realize it.

Portia Mount  9:46  

I love that too. Because I think especially early in your career in our careers, working hard and being able to, you know, bill a gazillion hours and I know I remember we both worked on big complex accounts and the hours you put in and the agency and, and it's and I also think maybe when you come from I know for myself more humble beginnings, you want to show people how hard you can work like you want to prove that you've, you've been you can you can hang with the big dogs, I always felt like I have to show people that I can you know, I belong here too.

Gaude Paez  10:21  

Totally, I was like, I am not leaving until the last person leaves the office. And again, working hard is a huge, I mean, obviously, as you know, as people who hire people, we love people who are willing to put in the work. But that's not the only thing you offer, you also offer really interesting, you know, specialized skill sets that I don't know that we always give ourselves credit for.

MUSIC BREAK 

Portia Mount  11:22  

So I want to just pivot a little bit, Gaude and talk about pivotal moments in your career, and those can be negative pivotal moments or positive. But one thing that I'm always fascinated by is, was there an event or decision or choice you made at some point in your career that completely made you rethink the decisions you had made for better or worse? And because, you know, one of the things we know is that success is born, not just from having a string of successes, but it's also sometimes having failure, having adversity. So I'm wondering if you can think of a moment that, you know, you know, that was particularly pivotal for you?

Gaude Paez  12:09  

Yeah, I mean, this is definitely you know, I'll go back to my time at Yahoo. Back in the day, back in the 2000s, and early 2000s. And I had a really successful career there, I was traveling around the world, I was working on really important big pieces of business that had a lot of, you know, impact on the company's financials and stuff like that. So I felt like I had this really great career and I had a person I worked with who went over to become the CEO of a startup and left and said, Hey, why don't you come and you can be the head of comms at this startup. And I remember thinking to myself, hey, you know, I'll get this title, I'll be a senior director, I'll get to be this head of comms at a startup and all this sort of dreams started happening, we're going to go, we're going to IPO, it's going to be life changing, and...

Portia Mount  13:00  

I'm gonna be rich!

Gaude Paez  13:02  

I'm gonna be rich, yeah, my parents are going to be so proud of me. And so I left like a really great group of people, I was working with a great job. And I went over to this startup, and for anyone who's worked at a startup, you know, I don't think you realize till it hits you in the face, like, whoa, you don't have any resources. It's not what you're used to, if you come from a big company, and, and I just, you know, I didn't completely fail, I just wasn't as I wasn't good, I wasn't delivering what I thought I was going to deliver for this company, I thought, I'm gonna make the company famous, they're going to be on the covers of every other, you know, tech and digital magazine. And, and I just couldn't get it going. And it was, it was really hard for me, my self worth was highly, you know, just took a hit. I, you know, all these big thoughts I had of myself and this pride that I had in myself just sort of went away. And, and I really was sitting in that, you know, for a good 18 months feeling like I like, Okay, this is the bottom of my career. I failed, I have not achieved anything that I want to do here, or no one's gonna hire me, etcetera. And what I wasn't thinking about at the time was this little startup had was sort of in television distribution. You know, it was sort of early times Internet television distribution. And I never thought to myself that just that experience, could actually be a way for me into the entertainment industry. Just never occurred to me. And it wasn't until I think I saw this job opening at Fox, I threw my hat in the ring of like, submitted my resume did that, you know, the basic application. And I was very surprised to get a call back. And, you know, after a while, I ended up you know, talking to them. I ended up getting this great job as VP of Communications at The Fox Network. 

Portia Mount  14:59  

Wow. 

Gaude Paez  15:01  

But if you'd asked me, and it was great, and I think it was because they were looking for someone with a little bit of TV experience, but who had also been in digital, but I just didn't see that, you know, so I spent a lot of time, you know, for about six months really thinking about, you know about my failure without really thinking about, Hey, how can I turn this into something that might actually be a great next step for me. And that's just been something that's changed sort of my mindset and that no matter what you do in your career, there are going to be times when maybe you're like, this isn't the right fit, or hey, I don't, I don't think this is right for me. But there's going to be something you can glean from it, that can take you forward. 

OVERACHIEVER 

Portia Mount  15:58  

I really appreciate you sharing that story. And I for a couple of reasons, Gaude. So one is, a lot of people are changing jobs right now, a lot. And in fact, I was even joking with someone not too long ago that the level of job change we’re seeing now reminds me of the 2000s when, like lots of people leaving for startups, and they're getting big titles and salaries. And there is going to be some portion of those individuals who probably will get to their new jobs thinking, oh my gosh, either. This is not the company I thought I was going to work for, or, wow, this is not the fit for me that I thought it was going to be. And one of the things I'm wondering as you were you talked about wallowing and not, and not well. And also I think it's real right when you are, you said something really important about I didn't I wasn't as good as I used to being. And I wonder if you just could just pull that apart a little bit. I always joke about like, I'm a recovering overachiever. And I am used to always doing everything really well. Right? Working super hard and doing everything really well. And when that doesn't happen in the past, it would be hard for me to recover. And I'm wondering, have you learned to give yourself grace for sometimes not doing things as well as you would want to? And has that impacted your, your leadership or your management style as well. So sort of two questions there for yourself. And one, the impact on how you think about leading other people and giving people rope to take risks and whatnot.

Gaude Paez  17:58  

I love that question because I definitely, I am also a recovering overachiever. You know, even in grade school, you wanted to be the one that got straight A's. And it's really humbling when you realize, hey, I'm not as great at this particular thing as I thought I was going to be and and I think, you know, after there's been, you know, a number of moments, maybe not as large as that one, which is basically doing, you know, not meeting any of my expectations, or my boss's expectations for that matter in that role. You know, where I realize, hey, sometimes you're just not going to get it right, or your skill set may not be the right one for this. And that's when, you know, you just kind of acknowledge it own up to mistakes and, and move on. And I think I had a hard time moving on from mistakes, both personal and professional when I was younger. But I think once you've lived through it a couple times, you realize, hey, I'm gonna, it's gonna be okay. So I can choose to either spend hours kicking myself about this, or I can just try to be at peace, forgive myself, learn from it and move on. And I've tried to be a lot more like that, I think in the last, you know, 10-15 years. And I do think it's affected me as a manager because I realized, you know, I put myself in people's shoes. I remember messing something really big up, I remember sending something to a giant distribution of people that I shouldn't be to all those little hiccups you do when you're younger. 

Portia Mount  19:28  

Yeah. 

Gaude Paez  19:30  

You know, I and I think that you learn from them. And so when people on my team put a lot of effort they've put a lot of thought into something they've really done you know what they can and it just doesn't pan out. I do think I'm a lot more forgiving because I've been there and I'm sure that that's a great learning experience for that person. Right. And so you have to forgive yourself otherwise, you're just going to live in your own head like no one is, no one is perfect. And I don't think I don't think I recognize that probably until my mid 30s.

Portia Mount  20:01  

Yeah, well, that feels so, so relatable and a mentor and great colleague of mine, you know, told me actually not too long ago, look, when you swing big the risk is you miss big too. And so, you know, and we want, we want, we want to swing big ourselves, we want our teams to swing big, but it also means you have to accept that, like a big swing can also be a big miss. And yeah, you have to be okay. And you have to be okay with that. 

Gaude Paez  20:31  

Yeah totally, totally. And if you live in the middle all the time, you're not really gonna shine. 

Portia Mount  20:37  

You're not shining. That's exactly right. You're not gonna shine, you're gonna be, you're gonna be average.

Gaude Paez  20:42  

Yeah, and that's fine. But if you aspire to do more than that, you have to take you gotta take risks, and then forgive yourself if they don't pan out.

GAMES/GAMING

Portia Mount  20:51  

So I have to now ask you about gaming. So because you've, you've had this, you know, illustrious career you went from, you know, you know, to Yahoo. Now you're you were at Hulu, and now you're at Riot Games. And so I have to tell you, I did not think anything about gaming until my son who is now 12 years old is like a gaming fanatic and everything down to I probably searched the whole of the United States and most of the west of the West looking for a PS 5 so we can play it. And I have to tell you, I finally got a PS 5. I don't want to tell you what I paid for this PS 5 Gaude because it was insane. But I have played Fortnight, I've played Grand Theft Auto, which I can't believe kids are still playing now. I've been playing all kinds of games with my son and Roblox. And so I just have to ask you, what is this gaming world like, and how much trouble am I really in?

Gaude Paez  21:55  

Oh, my goodness. Well, I have to say I, so it's funny when I left Hulu and Disney to go to Riot Games, people, you know, with my friends and my colleagues were like, wait, what you're going and... 

Portia Mount  22:06  

You're going game, like what?! 

Gaude Paez  22:09  

Because, you know, the average super gamer is not you know, a woman in her 40s. And, and I will say it was a nerve wracking leap to take because I play games on my phone. You know, I played like the fun candy crush and things where you can make squares out of stuff.

Portia Mount  22:29  

Right, like I do Scrabble, which is, you know, my son, you know, stuff like, like, nerd. I'm like, I'm a nerd. So I do kind of nerdy things. You know?

Gaude Paez  22:37  

Me too, me too. If I can fill out words and complete them in a certain amount of time, that's my game. 

Portia Mount  22:42  

It's my happy. Yeah, it's my happy spot.

Gaude Paez  22:45  

But, um, but what was super cool to me about gaming is if you just think about how people are, you know, I was at Fox when people were watching television, just like, at 9pm on TV every night at a certain time. And then it sort of evolved into streaming. And now I'm watching people really interact with each other in games. And I don't know if your son does this, but you know...

Portia Mount  23:08  

Oh my gosh, yeah. 

Gaude Paez  23:09  

Yes. My niece is 16. And, and they're, like, always talking to their friends and communing with each other in the game and so...

Portia Mount  23:20  

In the game. 

Gaude Paez  23:21  

Yeah. And so to me, even though I'm not someone who plays hardcore, you know, video games, I totally respect that. This is a place where people are going to start to, I mean, they're already starting to commute and watch music concerts and share with each other. And to me, that's the future of entertainment. And it's really cool. But I will tell you, you know, I think I don't think you're in trouble. I think games are such an amazing way for people to learn and interact with each other. And there's like the dexterity and the mind/hand coordination and all that kind of stuff. But you know, obviously, just you know, if you've got younger ones, you want to make sure you're keeping an eye on how much time they're spending, right, just like with anything, it's like TV, you know?

Portia Mount  24:04  

Yeah, it's, you know, well, and I think definitely the screen time, but I will just say though, I when the my feelings about gaming really changed during the pandemic, because it was one of the few ways that my son could stay connected to his friends for you know, you know, it'll it seems like forever ago, but it was maybe just a little bit over a year ago that they were not able to see each other and so, being able to play together and set times together, they could play they could talk to one another. Honestly, I think if it hadn't been for gaming, you know, I think our kids would have even had more struggles than they did. So I am fast. I am absolutely fascinated by the gaming world for so many reasons. And so I was just tickled when I saw you make that move over to Riot Games. I'm curious what has been the biggest, you've been into entertainment for a really long time Gaude. But what's been the biggest surprise for you coming into this part of the entertainment industry?

Gaude Paez  25:07  

What I am most surprised by is, well, first of all, I will say I was intimidated go into a game company, I was worried that not being a gamer who was as as, you know, as who was as skilled as the rest of the folks at my company were many of them were, I thought I wouldn't be accepted, you know. And so I would say what was really nice, and what it was a wonderful feeling was coming to Riot and feeling like, Hey, I found my people, even though I don't necessarily play games, the way they do are all the games that they do now, you know, like I play, I play different types of games. But I still found this group of creative, really smart, interesting people at Riot. And, and the other part of what was surprising was, people come from all different backgrounds. So I work with folks who have PhDs in psychology, or someone who had a previous career as a soil farmer, or, you know, like things that you learn. But they've all been brought together to this career, because they love because of their love of games. So it's really interesting to work in a space where people really do come from all walks of life, and all different professional backgrounds. Whereas in television, you do meet a lot of people who've kind of started off in television and worked their way up. In games, it's so surprising and wonderful to see people who have done both. Some come from, you know, 20 years of gaming experience, some, you know, some are lawyers who happened to be like really amazing Starcraft players in the day and then found their way to a gaming company. 

Portia Mount  26:40  

It's so interesting. 

Gaude Paez  26:41  

Yeah, to practice what they love. So, so that's been what's been most surprising to me was sort of the variety of people, I think I had an idea of what a gamer culture would be like, in my head. And, and Riot has been surprisingly, just different from what I expected. It's been really fun.

Portia Mount  26:58  

Oh, I love that. I love that. And, and, you know, I hope there is someone listening who's thinking, like, you know, I don't think I didn't think gaming, or trying to work for a gaming company would be for me, but maybe listening to you, though, she’ll you know, stretch yourself in and give it, and give it a go.

Gaude Paez  27:16  

Oh, yeah. Plus, if you love games, you know, you don't just have to make the games. There's people in finance, who love games, there's people in corp dev, I'm in corporate affairs, you know. So if you don't have to just be a game maker, you can also be someone who actually really just loves games and wants to serve players.

PERSONAL 

Portia Mount  27:34  

I want to take a more personal turn and talk about lifestyle and health and sort of how do you, I used to hate the words self care. I just thought they were just really I don't know, I just found the words really distasteful. But now, two years, you know, with the backside of the pandemic, I get it, I fully get how important it is to take care of oneself, especially when you have these really demanding jobs. And so, one I'm just curious how like, from a lifestyle perspective, Gaude, how do you take care of yourself? Do you have some specific routines like what does self care look like, for you on a weekly basis?

Gaude Paez  28:43  

So right now and again, this is probably prompted more by the pandemic than anything, most of my self care is getting outside, right, getting outside, I you know, my husband and I have two very large rambunctious dogs. So it's making time, no matter how busy you are to go take them on a hike, and really get outside so that you're not locked in your house, although that was really hard for me in the pandemic was just being sitting in front of a screen and being kind of in my house all day long. And so, for me, self care is just getting outside and breathing fresh air and moving. Prior to the pandemic, and I haven't gotten back into it yet, but I will soon. I really had never discovered it until maybe a year before the pandemic hot yoga. And I will tell you, for someone who is probably more anxious, like I tend towards the anxiety, you know, maybe more than some might call me high strung.

Portia Mount  29:39  

I resemble that remark.

Gaude Paez  29:40  

Having, having a moment where it took an hour to challenge myself at something really sort of tough. And you know, I'm sweating. I'm exhausted, but it quieted my mind. It was an hour of quiet for myself. And I really, really value that. And so that's my thing. Like, as soon as I feel more comfortable getting back into a hot yoga studio, that was really, to me, the best investment of time. It was an hour to myself, to feel strong, to sort of help my, you know, strengthen my muscles and feel like I actually accomplished something, that to me, is the pinnacle of self care for me.

Portia Mount  30:24  

I love that. I did hot yoga for a pretty good stretch of time. And I definitely recommend actually any kind of yoga and especially if you are kind of an anxious type. I am as well, I think, think a lot of us who are sort of super achievers, recovering overachievers tend to be wound tight people. And so finding those activities that can help relax your mind, release tension, and sort of calm your autonomic nervous system is a good exercise to do. Any, do you have any sort of interesting life management hacks that work for you, that you come back to all the time?

Gaude Paez  31:11  

I'm fortunate enough to have a husband who's very much an equal partner, right? So he really helps like when he's overwhelmed, I'll jump in, you know, on the house stuff or the home stuff and vice versa. So I haven't had to, I've been fortunate not to have to find too many life hacks. I will say, the ones that are, that I have found most valuable lately have been things like cooking proteins and chopping vegetables on Sundays. It sounds very basic.

Portia Mount  31:38  

Oh, meal prep. Yes, meal prep.

Gaude Paez  31:40  

Yes, I never did meal prep. And I find and I would find myself after a long day at work being like, I don't want to cook. You know, we just do takeout. And so now we're kind of a bit more regimented about cooking all that. And I love it. On Wednesdays, I'm like, Oh, thank goodness, I've already chopped this. And it's super easy to cook. So yeah, yay, me. The other thing is, I thought these were ridiculous. And now I can't live without one is I got a Roomba. And I know that this is so silly. But if you have pets, it's the most wonderful robot machine in the world. And so that's been sort of a little life hack for me. It's just kind of making sure I turn that on so that my house stays, you know, stays fur free.

Portia Mount  32:27  

I have heard that the Roomba is an essential tool for I don't have any pets, because I have kids right now, but I have heard that the Roomba is 100% essential if you have pets. And now that I think about it, Gaude I actually think when I think about how messy my six year old is whose leaves feed everywhere, I probably should get myself a Roomba as well, note to self.

Gaude Paez  32:49  

It's good for that. It's great for that. When my nieces come over and they destroy my place with food, droppings and all that. It's an amazing tool. But yeah, I don't think I ever would have thought I would be the Roomba, the Roomba promoter. But here I am. It's a life changer. 

Portia Mount  33:05  

It is. You are probably the fifth person who has told me that. So. So maybe one final question before we get to our lightning round. What career advice or wisdom do you know now that you wish you had known earlier in your career?

Gaude Paez  33:25  

Oh, that's an interesting one. I wish I had been more brave to bring forward ideas. I don't know how many of us have been in a conference room where you're in a meeting. Let's say or on a Zoom, and you think of an idea. And then you start to question whether it's a good idea. And in that time someone else brings it up. And it's a great idea.

Portia Mount  33:59  

Amazing idea.

Gaude Paez  34:00  

Yes, and you sit there, you're like I thought of that. Why didn’t I just speak up? And I've had so many of those moments when I was younger. I was just so much more worried about is it my place to speak? Is this the right forum? Is this a dumb idea? And I would give advice. You know, if you've got a gut, a question or an idea. The worst thing that's going to happen is someone will go Okay, that's great and just move on because maybe they're not interested in it. Right? That's the worst thing that's going to happen. But I think back in the day, I thought to myself, Oh, this is gonna affect my career, people will think I'm dumb and you know, really just let yourself trust your gut. If you, if you've got an idea, or you have a question, or you want to just open you know, open your mouth and say it and and sometimes it'll be it'll have a great outcome and sometimes it'll just be meh moving on. And I wish I had known that back then. And I would definitely tell that to any young woman just don't don't be afraid of your own voice and you know, have the confidence to speak up and share what you're thinking.

Portia Mount  35:06  

Amen to that. And I can't tell you how many young women, early career women I speak to, and they talk about having anxiety, speaking up in meetings, and it can be hard to get used to hearing the sound of your own voice literally and figuratively, right? And to be able to express your ideas in a way that resonates. But the only way that happens is if you practice. 

Gaude Paez  35:32  

Yep I agree. Honestly, practice, in and out of the office, I'm not joking. If you're about to present or you think, practice at home. I honestly, practice in the mirror, I mean, whatever you can do to sort of feel more comfortable speaking up, in, you know, groups of people, especially if they're more senior to you, I guarantee that, that the audience is much more forgiving than you think.

Portia Mount  35:57  

I 100% agree. I, you know, one of the things I say is, you know, when you don't speak up, when we don't speak up, everyone else around us misses out, right, the I mean, and, and so often, the best ideas come from sometimes like the most junior person in the room, like the youngest person in the room, fill in the blank, the person who's you know, not like everybody else, and it's like, we need that we need people to, to speak up. I also think as leaders, it's a good opportunity for us to, I don't know what you, if you do this Gaude, I will try to acknowledge people who I know are kind of on the quieter side. And, and, and encourage them to speak up as well, because it can be scary, especially early in your career.

Gaude Paez  36:46  

Yes. And it's funny, someone who mentioned to me, there was someone that I used to work with, who defined herself as an introvert. And she mentioned to me, she said, You know, one of the scariest things is, if you just call on me in the middle of a meeting, like we think, Hey, we're giving them their voice. And they're like, please don't do that. But it's really, you know, kind of looking at your team and sort of seeing who's comfortable but then also working with the folks that maybe aren't as comfortable to find other ways of expressing themselves and getting their voices heard.

Portia Mount  37:17  

Great. I love that as well. I have, there's, I have a particularly introverted person on my team. And I know that it's unlikely they'll ever say anything in a meeting, but you will get a two page email afterwards with you know, kind of share, you know, and they'll they'll or or one on one, they'll share their perspective. And we have to respect that as well, too. Don't we, that's a good reminder. 

Gaude Paez  37:39  

And it's really valuable. Yeah. 

MUSIC INTRO 

LIGHTNING ROUND 

Portia Mount  37:41  

And it's super valuable. It's super valuable. So I love this part of the pod lightning round, because we get so much, we get so much mail about this. But do you have a favorite motto or saying that you live by?

Gaude Paez  37:57  

I'd say mine is, stay calm. It's going to be fine. And I'll tell you and the reason is because both in our work, right, as we work with clients, and we work with, you know, people on communication, sometimes crises, you have to remember, like, you got to stay calm at all times. But I think, personally, as a younger person, I was a paniker. And, and that doesn't help. That does not help.

Portia Mount  38:28  

So note to self panicking is not helpful.

Gaude Paez  38:31  

Doesn't help anybody, and it makes you. Yeah, and so I think I've learned over the years to just kind of go okay, this feeling right now really sucks. And this is going to be hard. And whatever situation I'm in this is not going to feel great, but I'm going to just stay calm. And I know it's going to be fine. And that might be a little bit you know, glass half full, you know, rose colored glasses. But I generally like to think that things are going to be fine. Even if it's gonna hurt, the process is gonna hurt but it's gonna be fine.

Portia Mount  39:04  

I love that I have a similar belief of like, yeah, maybe a little messy, but in the end, it's going to be okay, so let's calm, let's all calm down. What advice would you give to 20 year old Gaude?

Gaude Paez  39:20  

This is such an easy one because 20 year old Gaude spent money as though there was no accountability and it wasn't crazy money, but I lived. I lived in New York. And you know, even though I was making as you know, we were not making a lot of money early on in our careers. We were not yes, but somehow I kept thinking I'm in New York, I have to go to the theater or I need to do this and so I would tell 20 year old Gaude to learn more about finances. Learn more about balancing finances and learn even more about investing. , you know, I did not participate in my 401k until my 30s. And I remember back in the day, companies were matching like 100%.

Portia Mount  40:09  

Oh my god. 

Gaude Paez  40:11  

And I never took advantage of that. So I would just say, I think it's really important for young women to really understand sort of how to balance their finances, and even take the next step in investing or learning what you can do to help make your money grow. I was not cognizant of that at all. And I wish I'd sort of started that earlier in my life.

Portia Mount  40:32  

That is such great advice, because I too, was in the streets living my best life when I was in my 20s.

Gaude Paez  40:41  

In those amazing shoes, right? 

Gaude Paez  40:44  

In those amazing shoes in the streets of New York City. But no, I love that because I think I came to really understand the power of money, and not just for saving for the future by what money allows you to do that allows you to, and the way that allows you to, you know, support the things that are important to you. And to build, you know, I never thought about generational wealth, because I didn't come from a family that had that. And I love now that younger women especially, are talking more about money, but I agree, like learning about your finances, understanding investments, all of that is so important. And then taking advantage of that match too like that company match there is… Oh! 

Gaude Paez  41:34  

I know, it's free money. If somebody just said it to me that way, I think I would have taken advantage of my 401k. But to me, it was just... 

Portia Mount  41:44  

They need to market those benefits a lot better.

Gaude Paez  41:46  

Yes, I just saw it as something that was coming out of my paycheck. And I wanted to hear you know, hold on to it for dear life. But yeah, participate in your 401k.

Portia Mount  41:55  

So great advice. Is there a book that you find yourself recommending over and over? Or gifting repeatedly?

Gaude Paez  42:04  

You know, I do recommend this book. I don't gift it because it's a hard, it's a tough one. It's called A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. And...

Portia Mount  42:13  

Oh, yes.

Gaude Paez  42:15  

And the reason I don't gift it is because for some people, the subject matter might be difficult, right? And you never know. So I would include a trigger warning to anyone who's thinking of starting it, but it's a really beautiful book about friendships, male friendships and pain and trauma but in a really wonderfully written way. And the characters are so beautiful. And it's just one of those books that I read. And then it haunts you a bit but it stayed with you stayed with me. And so I really recommend that to anyone who really likes a good deep fiction read. I tend to prefer fiction as an escape. And that's just one that I keep coming back to A Little Life, which is...

Portia Mount  42:59  

I'm going to add that to the list. I have to say our guests have recommended some of the most incredible books and so adding that one to the list, is there a new habit or belief that you've adapted that's made a positive impact on your life?

Gaude Paez  43:17  

I am taking deeper breaths. And that sounds silly but I'm kind of not I'm the kind of person who and my husband brings us up out you find you find me at the end of the day with my shoulders up to my ears like I kind of tend to hold my breath in you know during stress and so I'm really trying to breathe and taking deeper breaths so and I feel I actually feel like it's it's it's really helped it's very it's I'm mindful breathing has been really helpful to me in just relieving stress and kind of getting through the day so that's my new one. 

Portia Mount  43:50  

I like that, I like that Gaude and there's actually even a little for the Apple Watch wearers. There's like a little app on your watch a breathing app you takes it's like a one minute exercise and you hit the little button and then it has like this beautiful graphic that goes in and out like your breath and so free gift there to all the AppleWatch listeners if you have not been aware as if you've not discovered that yeah, I found mine accidentally when I accidentally hit it and I was like, Oh, what's this?

Gaude Paez  44:21  

My Apple Watch is breathing.

Portia Mount  44:23  

Ii was, it was like it was buzzing on me and I was like, oh goodness, and there's like, Oh, this is so cool. But what a great idea and also that breathing really does calm your autonomic nervous system down so and especially for those of us who are revved. Hi, last question for you Gaude is the best investment of $100 you've made recently?

Gaude Paez  44:51  

Okay, this is gonna sound so like my mom right now. But the best thing I have bought for $100 or less in the last, let's say six months, eight months is a $75 packable puffer jacket. Now, I know people. I got it from Nordstrom Rack. 

Portia Mount  45:10  

I was gonna say. Explain, please, we need an explanation.

Gaude Paez  45:13  

It was Nordstrom Rack, I needed it because I was going out to I want to say St. Louis, and it was going to be cold during the holidays, but I have to say, and so I just bought it. I thought I'm gonna buy this, it's less than 100 bucks. I'll wear it once, whatever, I need a cold, you know, really warm jacket. And, and it's the best thing ever, you can just you can literally crinkle it up into your purse, carry it everywhere. And then it just magically comes back out.

Portia Mount  45:36  

Oh, that sounds amazing, perfectly, not wrinkled. And there's all kinds of places that make these but this...

Portia Mount  45:41  

 Is it warm as it actually is actually warm?

Gaude Paez  45:44  

It's actually warm. But it has made and I've used it now for the last six months everywhere I go where I need a coat because you don't have to lug a big heavy thing around, you can just roll it up and throw it in your bag. So this is of course you know, the Californian in me so I do need a heavy coat anywhere I go outside of Los Angeles. But this has reduced that like dragging coats on an airplane thing for me. I love just rolling it up and putting it in the bag. So best $75 bucks I've spent in the last six months. 

Portia Mount  46:15  

Oh, I love that. Well, Gaude it has been so lovely to sit down with you and talk about your career and it is just I want to think that I think it is particularly exciting to see a very senior woman of color in a gaming company and keep blazing trails. And it's just delightful to see you and continue to see you shine in the entertainment industry.

Gaude Paez  46:45  

Oh, thank you so much Portia. It's so great to catch up. And I'm so proud of us.

Portia Mount  46:53  

Get well yeah, yes. And get Gaude just thank you again, lovely to be with you.