Happy New Year, and happy Black History Month.

I’ve been away for a bit because, well, life happened. As a freelancer, a mom, a student, and a person who genuinely wants to experience joy outside of a screen, I had to step back. Contract work comes and goes, but the need to protect your own peace is constant. I’m back now, feeling refreshed and ready to dig into the code of our industry.

In a world that often demands our constant labor and attention, I am leaning into a simple truth: Joy is resistance.

This month, I want to celebrate a pioneer who paved the way for so many of us: Muriel Tramis.

Originally from Martinique, Muriel was the first Black woman video game designer. She told complex stories about history and identity, most notably in Mewilo and Freedom: Rebel in the Darkness. She was eventually awarded the Legion of Honour in France for her contributions to the industry. Her career is a reminder that we have always been here, creating and leading, even when the history books try to overlook us.

We need to talk about a marketing trend that needs to end: the idea that just because a topic is trending, it’s "up for grabs" for your brand’s engagement.

If you are using subject lines like “I saw your name in the Epstein files” or other traumatic clickbait to get people to open your emails, you aren't "hacking growth." These are real, heavy experiences for many people. Using them as a ploy for metrics does not honor the victims—it exploits them.

Marketing needs an ethical compass. If your strategy relies on capitalizing on trauma to get a click-through, you shouldn't be surprised when people click "unsubscribe" instead. They would be right to do so. We have the opportunity to foster genuine professional communities, and that starts with recognizing that our audience's real-world experiences are not your content fodder.

I am so excited to announce a new Power Leveling Series I’m doing with Women In Games International (WIGI) and Mike Knox. This isn’t just a lecture; it’s a conversation.

We are hosting a guided conversation about the reality of doing the work. We will explore the difference between Reactive Advocacy (surviving the glitch) and Proactive Advocacy (fixing the code). Come ready to discuss where you are stuck, where you are succeeding, and how we move from constant emergency response to sustainable safety.

The session will be held on the WIGI Discord server, with the exact timing TBD. Keep an eye on the server for the final schedule—I can’t wait to see you there.

As we look at the job market this February, the numbers tell a sobering story. Recent data shows that the job market is increasingly leaving Black women behind. While the overall economy might look stable to some, the unemployment rate for Black women has seen a sharp increase.

With this disparity comes an increase in exploitative "Frankenstein" job posts. I recently came across a "Specialist" role that was essentially four departments wearing a trench coat. They were asking for a single person to be:

This isn't "wearing many hats"—it’s an attempt to replace an entire team with one hire while using the "mission" of the company to justify a total lack of boundaries.

This type of role consolidation exploits the current layoff market. They know people are desperate for health insurance and stability, so they feel empowered to demand "Unicorn" skills for "Junior" pay.

This is why we talk about resistance. We cannot build sustainable careers if the entry point requires us to burn out before we even get started. Stay encouraged if you are navigating this right now. You are more than your resume, and your worth is not defined by a job description written to exploit your labor.

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