International Women’s Day is an opportunity for us to celebrate women and recognise their unique contributions and achievements. And while we are publishing a variety of spotlight articles across the week highlighting some fantastic women in the games industry, today we’re looking a little closer to home at the amazing women behind the scenes at Steel Media.

Read on to find out more about the women in our team, what they do, and the wisdom they would share with their younger selves or other women on International Women’s Day.

Editorial
Catherine Dellosa, Charlene Tavares, Cristina Mesesan, Nitisha Upadhye, Jack Brassell, Jupiter Hadley, Kelly Vero, Roz Tuplin, Marloes Valentina Stella

Spanning multiple editorial brands, from PocketGamer.biz and BeyondGames.biz to PocketGamer.com, the roster is stacked with talented women creating stellar content for our readers.

Cristina Mesesan, a Staff Writer for PocketGamer.com, says her proudest achievement is becoming completely financially independent doing what she loves the most, “Living in a country where traditional jobs don't pay anywhere close to what living expenses require, and choosing to follow a different path is something I always aspired to do but didn't have high hopes. I am thrilled and grateful every day that I am able to do this for a living.”

Creative Badass and CTO at Aequaland, Kelly Vero is a regular contributor for our future-gazing media site BeyondGames.biz. Kelly writes super insightful, witty articles full of character on all things metaverse and beyond! When discussing International Women’s Day, Kelly said she hopes for a future where everyone in the industry can feel wanted and supported, “Being a woman in our industry is about developing that level playing field of everything from opportunity to salary. We need everyone to feel wanted, supported and part of our wider games family. If this is an area that you're not sure about or you are in the games industry and can't find your role model - look to those who want you to rise and be the best that you can possibly be every day.”

Catherine Dellosa is one of our Staff Writers over on PocketGamer.com, writing news and reviews on mobile games both big and small. Catherine is working in her dream role so we asked her what advice she would give to others wanting to land their career of choice: “Don't be afraid to follow your dreams - I know it sounds overrated, but it's true. To get to do what you love requires hard work, perseverance, courage and a lot of luck, but you'll never know if you've got a shot until you try.”

Jupiter Hadley plays a key role within the PocketGamer.com team creating lists for the website and producing high-quality content. Jupiter is most proud of how she’s been able to shine a light on smaller indie titles in her role and suggests that as women in games we should be open to new experiences, “never say no to opportunities that come your way!”.

Event Logistics
Sally Kevan, Katherine Aitken, Evangeline Morrison

The Steel Media events team is a small, but perfectly formed group that organises and manages all the logistical elements of the events we run here at Steel Media. From our large-scale global conference series, Pocket Gamer Connects, to awards shows like the Mobile Games Awards, and everything in between.

Sally Kevan, Head of Global Events at Steel Media, is understandably proud of everything her team achieves on a daily basis, especially over the past two years during the pandemic when the delivery of events was turned on its head, “surviving the COVID-19 years, and not just surviving but thriving, has been a very momentous period for myself and the team. Learning so many new ways to work out how to use my 20 years of experience to deliver events and bring delegates together in such a difficult time was pivotal for me.”

Katherine Aitken, one of our fantastic Event Managers, is an events veteran with years of experience producing a variety of different events and conferences. We asked Katherine what wisdom she would share with her younger self if she could: “Believe you can do it and you will do it. Also, don't be afraid of your path taking a different route to what you had planned, mine has had many twists and turns but the destination has always been great in the end.”

Event content
Sasha Paleeva, Patty Toledo, Sophia Aubrey Drake, Sophie Atkin

A key part of any successful event is the quality of the content on offer and the women leading our content team are driving this to new heights on a regular basis.

Sasha Paleeva heads up our Investor Connector series, liaising with world-leading investors and connecting them with exciting developers to explore new opportunities. Investor Connector is a well-loved staple of any Pocket Gamer Connects conference and overwhelmingly positive feedback we receive from all involved is a true testament to Sasha’s hard work.

Sophia Aubrey Drake is all about the indies heading up our Big Indie Pitch series. Sophia organises, manages and hosts each pitch event whether that be online, a standalone physical pitch, or a Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects. Sophia’s proudest achievement (aside from completing her Pokedex!) stems from her dream as a child to share her love of video games, “seeing my name published in Bitmap Books' SNES/Super Famicom: a visual compendium was a dream come true. I’m also very proud of being on the keynote at Tokyo Game Show 2019, my Masters in Japanese Studies, and helping so many indie developers over my career”. On International Women’s Day, Sophia encourages everyone to believe in themselves and enjoy life as much as possible: “The games industry is incredibly fun, but it can also be hard at times, so I think it's important to look after yourself and each other, and also to remind yourself of your achievements along the way.”

Sophie Atkin is our Event Content Producer and go-to contact for any speaking opportunities at Pocket Gamer Connects and other events. Following a successful Pocket Gamer Connects London, Sophie is now working to build an exciting content schedule for our upcoming Seattle show, but how did Sophie get to where she is now? “It definitely hasn't been a linear path to end up doing what I'm doing now but persevering, taking every opportunity that presents itself and ensuring you are doing something that brings you joy and excitement will lead you on the right path. Even if you feel totally lost, keep going through every door opened to you, you'll get there eventually.”

Patty Toledo, Director of Developer Relations at Yahaha, is our Event Content Consultant following a long period of leading the charge on event content for Pocket Gamer Connects over the years. On International Women’s Day Patty encourages everyone to be themselves: “You can't be anyone else, so love yourself as much as you can. Also, learn to be patient. Things work out in the end, if you work hard.”

Marketing & Operations
Katy Reilly, Adriana Martinez, Liz Bonetto

Katy Reilly heads up the marketing team at Steel Media leading the charge on the promotion of our events, activities and services. Katy has a varied background and discovered her love of marketing after working on the logistics side of events: “Never be scared to try something new. It’s okay to try multiple different things before deciding which path you want to take - and even then, you may find other more exciting opportunities down the line! Walk confidently through doors that open for you, take risks and be kind to yourself. You have achieved and grown more than you think you have, positive self-talk is so crucial even though it’s not always easy to do!”.

Adriana Bernal Martinez plays a crucial role in the marketing team as our long-form content whiz! A recent Digital Marketing postgraduate, Adriana is passionate about diversity and inclusion, “always elevate other women when you get the chance to!”

Liz Bonetto is our fantastic Operations Assistant and has just recently joined the team a little over two weeks ago. Liz loves all sorts of games across various platforms like PC, console and of course mobile too. When asked what advice she would give her younger self, Liz said “Have confidence in your own abilities”, and we couldn’t agree more!

Sales
Lisa Bisset, Poppy Schjerve, Glenda Bull, Andreea Ghiurca, Alina Gasca, Lisa Harding

Lisa Bisset heads up the b2b sales team as VP, Business Development overseeing b2b sales revenues across all events and b2b media channels, managing the team and key client relationships as well as strategising new opportunities for the company. Lisa gave us a little bit of insight into her journey with Steel Media: “When I started my SM journey in 2012, I was the only female in the team and I freely admit it was quite daunting, I had to really speak up to be heard and there were definitely moments of feeling like an outsider to a bit of a 'mens club' culture. This is just not the case now - the world has changed (not enough!) but our company culture is constantly evolving into a more progressive space and I'm incredibly grateful to work with a team of conscientious, supportive and committed women at SM and can't think of a better team to sell, market and deliver our event business alongside.”

Raluca-Andreea Ghiurca leads the charge on the b2c sales front and is responsible for monetising our consumer brands (Pocket Gamer, 148Apps and AppSpy) alongside her team, working closely with developers and publishers to help them achieve their marketing goals. When asked about her greatest achievement, Andreea says she prefers to focus on overall growth, “I've always preferred to focus on growth more than specific achievements and my aim has been to be the best version of myself. I am very proud of my career journey, the progress I've made since starting my first full-time job (almost 18 years ago) and I'm excited to see where it's taking me in the future”, she went on to offer some words of wisdom to fellow women on International Women’s Day - “Always know your worth and never be afraid of moving forward, change is the only constant in life.”

Poppy Schjerve, Customer Success Manager at Steel Media, supports the b2b sales team operations and looks after our games industry clients managing accounts and content across various channels. International Women’s Day is something close to Poppy’s heart as she champions feminism in her own household, raising her son with feminist values in mind - “I feel inspired by the women I work with at Steel and by those all around me! International Women’s Day is extremely important, it's a chance for ALL women to be celebrated. We must always encourage, support and nurture the women in our lives, regardless of position, ethnicity or class!”

Last but by no means least, we have Glenda Bull, who plays a crucial role as Business Development Manager in the b2b sales team. Glenda works to build and maintain client relationships with sponsors, helping them to find ways to grow their networks and brand exposure through our various media sites and b2b events. Glenda’s advice to her younger self and other women is “don’t wait and take that step!”. Glenda is also the proud mum of a teenage boy Frenchie called Bowie who’s extremely frightened of water - but, with a little bit of perseverance and training, Bowie is now completely fine with water and able to get squeaky clean in the shower like a good boy! We love a cute doggo story to close with.

Celebrating gender diversity at Steel Media

Steel Media Co-founders Chris James, CEO and Jez Bridgeman, Creative Director are proud to work with a team of talented women. “On International Women's Day we are thrilled that across the hard-working sales, editorial, events, tech, creative, logistics and marketing divisions that make up the core of our company, more than half of those teams are led by women. Today we’d like to thank those women of Steel Media for all their work.”

They continue: “Steel Media prides itself on finding the best person for the job and our staff members, managers and contributors come from diverse backgrounds from across the world, bringing experiences of different genders, beliefs, ages and nationalities together to create market-defining websites and events. The women of Steel Media are recognised across the games industry for their work and it’s important on days like today to remind everybody that without their leadership, decisions and dedication we would not have been able to plan, host and promote our amazing Pocket Gamer Connects conference event last month. We’ve got more websites and events coming which rely on their experience and hard work - which is something to celebrate all year round. Thank you.”