Meet the Multimedia Esports Queen, Erin Ashley Simon

ONE37pm: Have you been playing any games lately? What's been keeping you busy?

Erin Ashley Simon: I haven't really been able to play Valorant as much, but I like to play. Funny enough, I try to play games that we don't have pro players in. Yeah. Currently, I've been playing the Cult of the Lamb. I love "No Build Mode" on Fortnite. It was the best decision they've ever made. I've been playing that a lot with different friends and a lot of the games I play now are just single-player games.

ONE37pm: How did you find your passion? Is this your passion? Do you think this is, like, your life purpose? What is this moment in life for you?

Simon: Well, I mean, I've always had a passion for gaming. I've always had a passion, like, when it comes to the intersection of pop culture, sports, music, and so forth. But I think that one of the purposes that I have, and I feel like through my career, is I am maybe someone who's going to help to break down a lot of barriers and doors. And I've kind of taken that ownership. There's a lot of toxicity and other things that come with it, but I embrace it. I mean, look - you look at people like Serena and Venus Williams and how they actually change tennis by being great at what they do, building the space, and then speaking up when they need to stand up for themselves. And they change the industry.

And I hope to do the same by changing the industry. I made the decision that I am going to be a representative in gaming and adjacent that I wish I had growing up. And now you see just overall, across of entertainment, you see there's more black women, more Latin women. It's getting better, but still not quite there, especially not in gaming. And so I felt like it was important to me to do that because at the end of the day, changing the industry and everything, this is bigger than me.

It's bigger than my career. This is how you change the industry. This is how you create a legacy. This is how you actually make a change. And not only the industry, but the world overall. And so I really take that upon myself, but I understand what comes with it. I understand there's going to be backlash, there's going to be people toxicity, there's going to be people targeting, all that stuff. I've been lucky enough to have mentors who have much greater visibility, even greater visibility than some people in gaming. And just what they've been coaching me and mentoring me through has been tremendous. And so I'm hoping, through my actions and what I do, even if it changes the industry just a little bit, that's more than enough for me.

ONE37pm: There are two major things that I've been paying attention to - your esports internship plan and then also XSET. When it comes to Gaming and Culture XSET doesn’t force it at all it seems super organic can you talk us through both of those?

Simon: Yeah. So in reference to XSET, as the Chief Culture Officer, it's essentially my job to ensure that what we do aligns with the company's core values of diversity and inclusion. But the great thing is we don't have to force the culture. I think as a company, we are the culture. Everything from what I'm doing in my career, Clinton Sparks, who used to lead in music, and then also him and Will and Greg, literally helped to build FaZe Clan to what it is now. And a lot of our executives, Lonnie and Rob, they've done a lot behind the scenes doing projects and working with Ronnie 2K and a bunch of others. So we've always been a part of the culture. We've always been a part of these different communities. So it's going to feel organic.

And then when it comes to our D&I (Diversity & Inclusion), I can talk a little bit about it. We really focused on several things, right? Recognizing communities, listening to different communities, and then connecting and supporting them. It's great that we do have people who are on staff, investors, and friends of XSET who all come from different walks of life. And as part of my responsibility as a Chief Culture Officer, I really spend time in these communities, whether it's in the black community, Latin community, API community, whether it is within the LGBTQI+ community.

I really take time talking with those in the community, seeing what people are saying online, talking to my friends who are part of those communities, gaining their thoughts, and then figuring out the most concise way to go about it when it comes to our D&I initiatives. Because I think some of the mistakes that we have seen are kind of like sometimes assumptions that are made or like, "hey, this is how we're going to support the community." Instead of talking to the community and finding out what are some of the pinpoints. What are some of the problems and then from there? Take all the information you listed and say, "okay, this is how we can help."

And it doesn't always have to be something super crazy flashy like, "hey, we did D&I." Sometimes impactful things can be the most simplest, not super expensive thing. And so as I'm helping to build out a lot more of our D&I innovations and activations and all that stuff like that whole concept of recognizing, listening, and connecting is why we have been able to organically and authentically continue to build with and within different communities and cultures.