“Even though it goes against my family's morals, I have to be honest with myself and chase my dreams”

Esports is an expanding industry that has many different aspects and jobs and not many people have explored those fields as much as Mellina Kong. She has worked for tech companies, media companies, and esports organizations, sometimes at the same time, and has managed to bring that cross-disciplinary knowledge to many roles.

Game Changer #1 – Player Support

There is no doubt that the esports industry is gaining more and more legitimacy every year, in fact, you can see it happening nearly daily through deals and media coverage, but despite this, there is still a dark side to esports. Many players are locked into abusive and unfair contracts, not fully supported by their organizations both mentally and physically, and are forced into less than ideal conditions. These conditions are less common in the top 1% of teams, the ones that get the most media coverage, but for smaller teams that are just starting their journey into esports, abusive practices are unfortunately far too common. Mellina is actively fighting this problem and has done many things in the past and present to make players’ lives easier.

The most common way she does this is through her role at Gale Force Esports. She started at Gale Force esports as the Director of Player Ops but really did anything she could to support the organization, including using her social media skills, developed at her job with Syber Gaming and Esports Arena, in order to build the brand. This versatility led to her being repositioned in the organization in order to manage the Rocket League team. Despite the plethora of jobs she takes on, her most significant job is in player management and care. “My favorite part about my job is that I get to take care of the players and make sure that they can focus on their success and playing. It is so rewarding when they win and you know how hard they have worked for it and knowing you did your job.”

Mellina has supported players in even more drastic ways though, specifically when she was working at Astral Authority. “I was helping a team who had previously been with an organization in which they were mistreating players - so we got the players out from that organization and I found them a new organization, Astral Authority.”

Any good organization knows that their relationship with their players is symbiotic and Mellina is one of the people who allows those relationships to thrive.

Game Changer #2 – Experience and Opportunities

One of the great things about the esports industry is that there is so much diversity in what you can do as a job in it. You can work in marketing, media, competing, or running an organization, and those are just some of the more common jobs people associate with the industry. Mellina has done a great job of integrating herself into many different parts of the industry and combining those opportunities to create a bigger picture of esports.

In her short time in the esports industry, she has worked at Esports Arena, Astral Authority, Syber Gaming, and Gale Force esports. While some of these jobs have relied on similar skills such as social marketing, each one has built up new skills and repurposed old skills.

“I gained a lot of experience working both [Syber and Astral at the same time] and was able to apply those skills to other jobs.”

At the end of the day, the people who are highly successful in the esports field, much like any other relatively new field, are the people who understand the industry on many levels and understand how those many levels interact.

The amount of jobs and roles that Mellina has held, and done well in, is impressive, but even more impressive when you consider that she was also pursuing a degree at UCI at the same time. “My first year of college, I decided to find a part-time job, because just like any college student I needed some sort of income. During that time, Esports Arena just opened and I landed my first gig with them, and a year later, I got picked up as a team manager for Gale Force Esports and my prior focus are my teams and players. You can say I was living the double life because I actually went to college to get my degree in nursing. I think that correlates to my wants to taking care of others.”

Unlike many “traditional” jobs, the esports field allows individuals to grow and succeed very quickly. There is a huge amount of opportunity in the esports world, so anyone that is willing to work hard and reach out will find their efforts rewarded.

Game Changer #3 – Following your Dreams

Many people who have entered the esports industry understand the struggle of telling your family and friends about your new career. While the stigma surrounding esports is definitely starting to recede, many parents and people look at the industry and write it off as a bunch of kids playing video games. There are many stats and examples that can help fight this mindset, but this stigma is sometimes enough to push people towards more “traditional” careers. People become dissuaded from pursuing esports as their full-time job.

Mellina is a great advocate for the esports industry. She is always pushing people to follow their dreams and is educating people about the esports industry. In fact, she relates to this issue more than most people, because she personally faces stigma and pushback from her family. “Even though it goes against my family's morals, I have to be honest with myself and chase my dreams. I come from a traditional Asian household whose parents always wants their kids to become a doctor or something in the medicinal field. However, my passion at the moment is esports.”

While there may still be a stigma, Mellina wants to be the proof that pursuing your dreams is worth it to anyone that is scared to enter the esports market and, more broadly, to people who are scared to follow their passions and dreams.

Conclusion

To people interested in the industry: If you’re a player, read contracts. If you’re a staff or organization member, support your teams and don’t be shady. Networking is important, go out there and mingle!

To people not connected to the industry: Esports is growing and soon, it will be one of the most watched sports on television.

To everybody: The connections I have made and people I have met are one of the most valuable resources I have, as well as my reputation. They can help guide you and you can learn from them. Everyone is in this together and you learn a lot from experience from being a player to working in an organization.

Luca White-Matthews is the founder and head coach of Virtuoso Debate. His article series Game Changers is meant to show the many different sides of the esports industry and the amazing people within it. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and on Instagram @the_transfer_from_canada.

Connect with Mellina Kong on LinkedIn, Twitter, Twitch, and Instagram and if any of these ideas resonated with you, share it on social media using #GameChangers!