The global licensing community is powered by an incredible group of professionals whose diverse backgrounds and creative energy drive innovation and excellence. Each week we’re profiling one of these professionals in this ongoing series developed in partnership with MyMediaBox.

How did you get into licensing (or how did licensing find YOU)?
In a previous life, I was in business development at Electronic Arts where I was managing brand partnerships for the gaming franchise: The Sims. This is where my licensing career began, and I eventually took over the licensing efforts for the rest of EA’s gaming portfolio including triple-A titles such as: EA Sports, Mass Effect, Battlefield, Dragon Age, Medal of Honor and Titanfall.

What’s your biggest personal and professional accomplishment?
Making the hard decision to quite a comfortable job to pursue an MBA was a milestone turning point for me. Giving up the familiar to embark on new journey is scary but investing and believing in myself helped align my career to where I wanted to be. I wouldn’t be in entertainment IP licensing if it wasn’t for that decision.

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
“The 2nd Anime Renaissance” is what the industry is calling the current popularity surge of Japanese animated story content and consumer products. Streaming and online services have rivaled their theater counterparts for years now, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that they became the premier driver for niche and legacy content. As direct result, anime is being discovered (and binged) for the first time by a new generation.

What keeps you up at night? What’s your biggest challenge these days?
Planning my Zoom meetings around my kids’ nap schedules! Since the start of this pandemic, both my wife and I have become in-home substitute teachers for our two beautiful children (ages 2 & 4) while juggling our respective full-time jobs.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? OR What is your favorite quote?
“If you love what you do, you’re not working one day of your life.” I’m blessed to be working in an industry that I’m very passionate about. And it’s a life-long dream to be working with brand and properties that I personally enjoy and grew up with.

What is your favorite licensing deal of all time? (doesn’t have to be one that was signed by you)
My favorite licensing deal would have to be our Naruto collaboration with Coach and Michael B. Jordan. It was the first time luxury fashion merged with anime in an authentic and impactful way. The Coach team was amazing to work and the entire campaign was executed flawlessly.

The last licensed product I bought was…
Just received the Superman 1978 Christopher Reeves figure by MezcoToys! Still debating whether or not to open the package…

THE 2021 PEOPLE PROFILE SERIES IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MYMEDIABOX
MyMediaBox is the leader in providing online solutions that streamline every stage in the brand licensing lifecycle, from contract management and rights tracking, through style guide delivery, product approvals, security tag management and royalty reporting. With over 54,000 global professionals logging in from 125+ countries, Mediabox is by far the world’s most thoroughly tested and widely trusted licensing software.