5
Women
Who
Shine
For the past five years , GGB has shined the spotlight on the crucial roles women play in the gaming industry . For too many years , women have been limited to service positions or creative exercises , but today , the diverse C-suite is getting more and more occupied by amazing women . This month , we bring you five women who have made a difference in their companies , the industry overall , and their communities . It ’ s our pleasure to introduce these accomplished ladies , and we ’ re expecting there are more women making more inroads to the upper echelon of management .
Everybody Wins
Tamara Hansen • Director of Sales , NRT By Marjorie Preston
In work as in life , Tamara Hansen is proof of the motto , “ Leap , and the net will appear .”
The California native once planned a career in speech and language therapy . But as different roads unfolded , she readily changed course , jumping first into educational leadership training , then meeting sales at MGM Resorts , then sales consulting for fintech and IT firm NRT . With tenacity and optimism , she has succeeded despite unforeseen obstacles — like Covid-19 .
Throughout 2020 , even as the conventions and meetings sector went dark , she continued to book business for MGM in Las Vegas , and stayed in the black throughout the crisis .
“ It was a master act of shuffling the pieces and re-engaging with customers ,” she recalls . “ I had that client trust built up , so it was a matter of getting things back on the books rather than canceling . It ’ s a testament to MGM that it continually came back to the table to make sure our customers were taken care of .”
Then , intrigued by fintech innovations that accelerated in the post- Covid age , Hansen joined NRT as a sales director . Admittedly , she struggled to learn the intricacies of cashless . She was also daunted by the scope of her territory , which includes eight states and parts of Nevada .
“ Ignorance is bliss , and had I understood what I was saying yes to , I might not have had the gumption to sign up ,” she says . “ But NRT took a shot on me and said , ‘ This is a person with the right stuff . If we teach her about this space and this industry , we believe she ’ ll have an impact and be successful .’ So I committed myself every day to learning and contributing .”
In her case , the right stuff meant dogged persistence , on-thejob training and lots of self-learning ( yes , that includes podcasts and YouTube videos ).
“ I molded myself into a person with the capacity to know , understand and have these technical conversations , so I could go to any person of any background in any position and understand their needs and the limits of their knowledge , then help it all make sense ,” she says . “ I think that ’ s where my strength lies — that duality . I understand the deeply technical , because for more than a year and a half I alchemized myself to know this business , until I got really passionate about it .”
Hansen sees sales as a long game that doesn ’ t begin or end with a signed contract .
“ Anyone in sales with that mentality is in the wrong field ,” she says . “ My sole responsibility is to understand my technology stack and the services I can provide to help an operator or human being . I ask about their environment and their pain points , then map out a custom solution that makes it lighter on them and their team . Do they want to step into and dabble with the digital transformation that ’ s happening ? Do they want to tap into a small piece of cashless rather than making the total transformation ? I see myself as a bridge of information ,” guiding clients to the optimal solution .
An unabashed optimist , Hansen ’ s LinkedIn page includes cheerleading videos (“ Motivational Mondays ,” “ Feel-Good Fridays ”), plus exhortations to “ approach life ’ s day-to-day with a focus on how we can make it better for those around us .” With that as the jumping-off point , she believes , everybody wins .
28 Global Gaming Business SEPTEMBER 2022