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 profile one of these professionals in this ongoing series.

How did you get into licensing (or how did licensing find you)?
I snuck in through the side door. I began on the entertainment, production, and marketing side, where I kept finding myself at the intersection of great products and great intellectual property. I volunteered to solve the complicated parts like establishing relationships, negotiations, and approvals and eventually realized that licensing wasn’t just part of my job, it was the part I enjoyed most because it touches every other aspect of the business I was handling. I’ve had the opportunity to build that passion into licensing divisions that ultimately became the largest source of revenue for various companies.

What’s a “typical” day in your current position?
This took some thinking, because there really anything typical about it! It’s one of the things I most enjoy about the job, which currently is President of Games at Salt Entertainment. A single day might include negotiating a contract, reviewing a game design, discussing packaging with a licensor, solving a manufacturing problem, or developing a campaign strategy. Licensing executives have to be translators, kind of a nexus between owners, creators, retailers, and fans. Much of my day is spent getting all four of those vital partners pointed in the same direction.

What’s your biggest personal or professional accomplishment?
I’m proud that I’ve played a small part demonstrating through exceptional projects, crowdfunding, and retail success that licensed games didn’t have to be lesser versions of original games. They could be ambitious, innovative, genuinely worthy of the properties, and provide the type of entertainment the fans deserve. It’s an attitude I bring to all my projects, and I take the responsibility of playing in someone else’s playground very seriously.

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
As a fan of so many things myself, it’s been wonderful to see how fans have effectively become part of the approval process. They can tell almost immediately whether a product was created by people who understand the property or whether someone simply placed a recognizable logo on a generic product. Crowdfunding, social media, and direct-to-consumer sales have made that verdict faster and more visible. As a result, the best licensing partnerships are becoming deeper creative collaborations. Authenticity is no longer a bonus or a “nice to have,” it’s the minimum price of admission.

What keeps you up at night? What’s your biggest challenge these days?
Timing, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. Licensing sits at the intersection of immovable dates, unpredictable creative processes, and of course the big one: trends. You are trying to make something exceptional while coordinating approvals, manufacturing, marketing, retail, and sometimes a film or television release that has its own constantly shifting schedule. The challenge is protecting the quality of the product without losing the moment in which the audience is most excited about it.

In your opinion, what is the top skill every licensing executive should have in order to succeed?
Negotiating is important, but the real work begins after the contract is signed. You must understand what the brand owner is protecting, what the creator is trying to accomplish, what the commercial partners need, and what the fans will accept. The best licensing executives can translate between those groups without losing what made the opportunity exciting in the first place.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, or what’s your favorite quote?
My first job was at a talent agency in Los Angeles and, on my first day, I dropped a call on a pretty famous actor. I, of course, was mortified and embarrassed and thought I’d be demoted. The agent told me, “Hey, just remember, this isn’t heart surgery. We’re here to make people happy. That’s what entertainment is.” I see my work in games as an extension of my time in the entertainment industry. My goal is to make products that make people happy.

What is your favorite licensing deal of all time? (It doesn’t have to be one that was signed by you.)
I adore what LEGO has done. LEGO Star Wars, for example, is one of the clearest examples of a licensing partnership creating something greater than either brand could have produced independently. LEGO reinterpreted the universe through their own unique brand, humor, and play patterns. It respected both brands and changed the trajectory of licensed toys, games, and entertainment in the process.

If you weren’t in licensing, what would you be doing now?
Hopefully something almost exactly like what I’m doing now, but with fewer approval portal sign-ins to approve on Okta. I would still be creating games, books, and entertainment, bringing talented people together, and finding ways to turn unusual ideas into real products. Licensing gave me a particularly interesting canvas, but making things has always been the underlying obsession.

The last licensed product I bought was…
Skybound’s Transformers Vol. 1 hardback, about 15 minutes ago. I’m a sucker for giant robots.