Introduction- Justin Gary- Gamer, Designer, Writer, Speaker and Entrepreneur

Hi Steemit! I’m excited to be here and tell you a little bit about myself. I’ve found a way to make my childhood dreams come true. I paid my way through college playing Magic: the Gathering. As CEO of my own game company, I design games and work with amazing people to create awesome things. The path to getting here hasn’t been easy, and I still face challenges everyday, but I’ve learned a lot and I’m passionate about sharing those learnings with this community and learning more from you all in turn.

GAMES

I have always been passionate about games. From a young age, my family bonded around games of Monopoly, Sorry, and Uno. In high school, I discovered Magic: the Gathering and quickly became obsessed. I became US National Champion in 1997 and World Team Champion in 2002. Magic allowed me to travel the world from a very young age and to make amazing lifelong friendships. I remain incredibly grateful to Magic and gaming for introducing me to so may incredible friends and learning a ton about how to think and deal with high pressure situations.

PHILOSOPHY

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I really am. As a philosophy major in college, I engaged in esoteric discussions about the nature of identity, meaning and reality. Lately, my thinking has been on a far more practical level. How should I live my life? What do I really care about? What is a life worth living? I love having these discussions and hope to have some here

DESIGN

I got hired as a Game Designer in 2004 at Upper Deck, making games for Marvel, DC, World of Warcraft, and more. I never considered myself a “creative person” but I studied the craft of design and believe that anyone can be creative if you learn some basic principles that I will share.

ENTREPRENEUR

I founded my company, Stone Blade Entertainment in 2010 and launched our first game, Ascension that summer.

It was a runaway hit and is now available in paper form and on Android, iOS, PC and even in VR! I’ve raised over 750K via crowdfunding and even more via traditional investment. My company has earned millions of dollars and lost millions of dollars. I’ve hired and fired and re-hired again and learned a lot of lessons along the way.

PASSION AND RIDICULOUSNESS

I have learned not to take myself too seriously:

I love going on adventures,

dancing

and trying new things.

I am passionate about travel and have realized that friendship and relationships are more important than any amount of success and money in the bank. I hope to be a valuable part of this community and to build many more wonderful relationships here.