A panel of highly successful gaming industry executives that included former Nevada governor Brian Sandoval shared experiences and insights Wednesday in a G2E education session titled “Breaking Out of Your Lane: People Who Have Proven Everything is Possible.”
In addition to Sandoval, the panel included Elaine Hodgson, President and CEO of Incredible Technologies; Patrick Ramsey, a member of the Board of Directors of Aristocrat Technologies and former CEO of Multimedia Games; and Patricia Becker, CEO of Becker and Associates. The panel was moderated by Lauralyn Sandoval, VP of New Markets at Aristocrat and the former governor’s wife.
The panel members shared their unusual career paths. Most had changed lanes several times. Brian Sandoval’s first job, for instance, was cleaning sheep pens.
“It was good training for being governor,” he quipped. He gave up a lifetime appointment as a Federal judge to run for and win the governor’s job. He’s now the President of Global Gaming Development for MGM Resorts.
Hodgson, who was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame this year, began her career as a chemist at the Kennedy Space Center working on the Space Shuttle. She later transitioned to programming, eventually founding Incredible Technologies with her husband in their basement.
Ramsey went to Harvard, then into banking, then to Ecuador to teach English, then to business school, and then, to his family’s dismay, to work in a casino in Joliet, Illinois.
Becker, whose family owned the local shoe store in Las Vegas, went to UNLV, graduated and became a second grade teacher, went to law school, became the first woman on the Nevada Gaming Control Board, was general counsel at Harrah’s and served as former Nevada governor Bob Miller’s chief of staff.
The motivations for changing lanes expressed by the panelists varied.
Sandoval’s decision to give up a lifetime seat on the Federal bench to run for governor was influenced by a previous decision he had made.
“I always wanted to serve my country,” he said. “I was set up to join JAG when the law firm I was working for found out and made me an offer and I accepted it.” (JAG stands for Judge Advocate General, a military branch of service concerned with military law.)
“Later I regretted not taking that opportunity to serve my country,” he said.
When Sandoval was approached about running for governor his decision was influenced by that experience.
“I had made a decision before that I regretted and I didn’t want to do it again,” he said.
His family questioned the decision to give up the security of the lifetime job. Sandoval said that he told his father, “It’s not like I’m leaving to join the circus.”
“Make no mistake,” his father replied, “you are joining the circus.”
Sandoval said that, nonetheless, making the right choice is personally rewarding.
“You’re going to have that quiet moment when you have to choose the easy path or the difficult path. You’ll be proud that you made the difficult decision. You’ll be glad that you made the decision that showed courage,” he said.
Hodgson’s career choices were influenced by what she loved and who she loved.
“I could lose myself in programming,” she said. “And I liked games.”
Hodgson explained that the decision to start her own company came when she was in the car with her daughter and had to tell her that she was going out of town again on business. Hodgson said she looked in the rearview mirror, saw tears on her daughter’s cheeks, and decided it was time to work for herself.
Ramsey’s career choices were often made on gut feelings and self-knowledge.
“When I left Caesars to join a company that was failing I did that on a whim. I always put my ego aside. I know my strengths and more importantly my weaknesses and that has shaped the decisions I’ve made,” he said.
He also had a period where he decided his family needed to be his priority.
“I wanted to be a dad. I physically broke down while driving to work. I put my ego and what other people thought aside. My kids were at an age that I wanted to be with them,” he said.
Becker was clear about her goal from a young age.
“When I was young, I had never met a lawyer, but for some reason I knew I wanted to be a lawyer,” she said.
Her position as the first woman in so many of her jobs created a lot of pressure, she said.
“With that increased scrutiny, I thought that if I messed up, I would be unemployable,” Becker said. In recent years she has been involved in supporting women in the industry through Global Gaming Women and the Kick Up Your Heels fundraising events.
The panelists had suggestions for people making career decisions now.
Gov. Sandoval recommended trying to “make a difference in someone’s life.” Hodgson called people “more valuable” when they’ve failed or struggled, and Ramsey said that success isn’t about your title or what you are, but about what you’re doing.
Becker pointed out the value in pushing the envelope a little, saying that “taking risks and failing early will be beneficial in the long run.”
