Each year on March 8, we celebrate the achievements of women from all walks of life on International Women’s Day. Representation and gender equality in the games industry is an ongoing discussion and something that we believe is critical to creating and fostering an industry we can all be proud to be a part of.

In observance of International Women’s Day 2022, this week we’re highlighting some of the incredible female industry leaders that we are honoured to have speaking at our upcoming Seattle conference. We could not be more excited to have them as part of our star-studded speaker line-up, and we couldn’t wait until May to get to hear from them and to share their brilliant insights with our PocketGamer.biz readers, so, we had a chat with them about business, games and, of course, what it means to be a woman in games. We recently spoke with Dimoso’s CEO Jacki Vause, you can read our conversation here.

Next up on our Spotlight series is Cami Smith, a Recruiter at ggLocators. Cami Smith's superpower is building community. She has a strong intuition about what drives people, and she helps them feel connected to others around them.

For more than a decade, Cami has applied this to building teams, primarily in the fields of gaming, film, and XR. She is well versed in both the creative and business aspects of those companies, so she has had great success in matching talents to needs to build excellent, productive teams.

From junior devs fresh out of training to seasoned veterans with loads of shipped titles, in small indie shops or the largest studios, Cami has the insight to help everyone find their community. At the end of the day, she wants developers to feel that they are in the right place, with the right people, and are ready to make something fantastic.

PocketGamer.Biz: What do you enjoy most about working in the mobile games industry?
Cami Smith: I like working with creative and passionate people. The game industry is filled with them!

Why did you decide to go into the games industry?
It is an industry filled with passion, new ideas, and storytellers that create incredible environments, characters, and sounds. I love working with creative people and I love technology.

When not making/selling/playing games, what do you do to relax?
I love to bike. I have ridden my bike from Portland to Vancouver BC.

Have you faced any barriers in your career due to being a woman? If so, how did you overcome them?
Yes and as a woman over 50 has been hard. I guess, I just ignore any comments and just keep persevering. Instead, focus on what I can control. I enjoy mentoring and supporting women in the industry. They are always filled with such self doubt. Helping them navigate their way to getting hired.

How important is it for women to lift each other up and what does that mean to you?
Kate Edwards is extraordinary. She was instrumental in the 50 over 50 list. I felt so valued when I was listed in the 50 over 50 leaders in the game industry.

What is your proudest achievement?
My proudest achievement was partnering with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Washington. I helped put together the team of game developer students to build a VR game for a 5 year old boy. The boy wanted to be a superhero and save the city of Seattle from bad robots and a huge volcano. Our student team did an amazing job. They built an environment that looked like the Seattle SpaceNeedle. The robots and the volcano were magnificent. The little boy wanted a purple shield and a blue sword and a red cape. The students had to work hard to build something so that the little boy would be able to always hit the robots with his sword. Wearing his red cape and blue sword, the little boy saved Seattle!

Hear more from Cami this summer
Want the opportunity to hear more from Cami Smith and the ggLocators team? She’ll be leading the conversation at the upcoming Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle among hundreds of other incredible industry leaders. Make sure you secure your spot at our west coast conference today and save up to $275 with our Early Bird offer before prices rise.