Spotlight: International Women’s Day

Jasmin Ali and Carolina Cadena

8th March 2023

International Women’s Day is a celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. To my surprise the first gathering took place in 1911 by over a million people. It’s madness to think how much the day has taken off since then, it’s not just a small group of companies who call out and recognise women’s contributions anymore. Now all of us come together to share stories, showcase achievements, promote diversity, and seek gender equality.

When I was growing up, the only achievements I saw of women were being a good mother, having a clean home and cooking amazing meals for the family. This was only in the 90’s too. I’ve mentioned before that my family is Muslim and very traditional. So, I thought my only option was to be a stay-at-home mother just like my own Mother, Grandmother and even Great Grandmother. But I didn’t want to repeat the cycle. I saw the men around me enjoy working and being independent. Having a purpose really spoke to me. At first the path was difficult and lonely for a time, but it built confidence in me to take every opportunity presented. I studied for a while and travelled as much as I could and when I started my first job, I was not surprised to see it was heavily male dominated. The job after that was too and the next. I saw a reoccurring theme. Being a woman though gave me strength in professional areas that are often overlooked. Like speaking to people. I’m very compassionate, empathetic and I have a knack for creating a warm atmosphere which allows teams to band together and essentially create a positive work environment overall. Fast forward to now refreshingly my workplace is full of bright and talented women and is constantly looking at new avenues to increase diversity. On a personal level, I met my partner and my outlook on life changed massively as I became a Stepmother. For me having a daughter is a huge responsibility. It’s not just moulding a child into a good person but it’s having to consider the whole environment in which she grows up in. Never do I want her to experience being cat called in the street, left out of sports because it’s not a ‘girls thing’ or even questioning her potential because of her gender. (Much like I did for a time.) Now being a woman is completely different and my focus is to best role model possible. To me that means having a harmonious home, a thriving career and good mental health. It’s the triple threat juggling act a lot of women deal with day to day and is not often highlighted.

Which brings me nicely onto this month’s speaker. I find a lot of women who are featured for IWD are usually CEO’s or Directors and although I love to see women in high level positions, I wanted to give a voice to someone who’s background isn’t often shared but is probably more relatable too. Carolina Cadena is currently a Senior Animator. She is incredibly humble, super friendly and amazingly talented. We sat down this month to talk about her experience within our industry and influences that have shaped her.

Question 1: Tell us all a little about your background and how you started within the gaming industry.

Answer: Okay well firstly I’m from Mexico and it’s really difficult for Latin Americans to break into the industry. So to me it was pure luck. I dreamt about working at Disney from being really small and I was a Disney girl who grew up watching all of the movies. My mum was really strict so we didn’t have any consoles or games in my house. Which was crazy because I always saw my neighbours and cousins being completely obsessed with games. I was so jealous too because I couldn’t get my hands on anything. My mum was like “you know we don’t have money so you can’t borrow anything, because if you break it, I cannot pay for it.” That kept me away from games for my entire childhood. So I just kept watching movies over and over, which is why I loved Disney. So, I began drawing and all of my drawings were of course Disney. My family and friends saw my drawings too and they said all the time “Aw that’s perfect. You’ll be an animator someday for Disney.” I just thought oh yeah, I can do that, very sarcastically. To me it seemed impossible. They were an American company and at the time working overseas was really difficult not to mention me being a woman too. It was still my dream, but I didn’t know how to get into animation. So, at that time I just kept drawing and began studying design, still in the back of my mind thinking it was not possible. After some time, I learned of a company in my hometown that was an outsource studio for videogames. I thought oh this is probably a good place to start. I didn’t think it was going to be a career path or anything but I hated my current job. It was too heavy for a woman, but this new place sounded amazing. It was in Mexico, in my hometown and into the industry. I applied and I actually managed to get a job there. I was so happy about that. Then when I started I soon realised it was hell. There was a lot of overtime and was horrible on the inside. I did learn a lot though and it truly opened a path for me I didn’t know was possible. Even though I was now working in games I still felt afraid of playing video games. So I was making video games but still not playing them.

After a couple of years, I began playing and realising I was actually in the industry making a career path out of it. I started to create animations and in the back of my mind still thinking about Disney. So, I tried working for a company who makes movies and quickly learned I didn’t like that. I went back to games to gain more experience and after being in the job for only a year and a half I was given the task to build a team. With little animation experience it was very difficult. From me to a team of 12 juniors was a lot. I had to learn to do things, learn to explain and fake that I knew everything. Obviously, it was a lot of pressure because I only had the internet, there was no famous animator in Mexico and anyone who had experience didn’t have much more than me. I had a room full of juniors giving me experience while I was giving them experience and my career just took off from there. All my friend and colleagues I managed now have amazing jobs overseas too and I was a pioneer for them. All from our small team in our small town in Mexico. Some people who are working overseas still tell me about people needing my advice on how to break into the industry. It’s difficult for people in Mexico still. I think some are afraid and I find guys are more willing to go for more overseas opportunities.

Question 2: What was the first game you finally played?

Answer: Pokémon was my introduction in my 20’s. It was my obsession actually. It was my very first game, I loved it. I bought my first DS second hand and I was so afraid of breaking it I just played it at home even though you can take it anywhere. I mainly had Nintendo consoles in the beginning, but now with my partner we have all the consoles, and we try to play all kinds of games. But because I grew up not playing, I find it so difficult. How can I point where you need to point. My hands don’t follow what my mind is thinking. But I enjoyed them.

Question 3: Have you experienced any prejudice within your career?

Answer: Outside of the industry as part of my first job guys would cat call me and ask me to dance with them. I would say no of course and ask them why I would do that at work. It was very weird, and I wasn’t the only woman it happened too. Which is why I left. When I started at the outsource company, I found that I was hitting a wall sometimes. Especially when I was the Team Lead. I was head of them team but not actually a lead so couldn’t make decisions. I was just leading the juniors, giving feedback and talking with the clients. I didn’t have the power to say, ‘Yes this is done.’ Someone else would come over and say no, I think this lacks something. Even when the client had already approved it. I was told I’m wrong without explanation. At that time, I was angry with how they treated me. We were a lot of girls on the team. But I felt I couldn’t say it was discrimination. So, I became firm and if they couldn’t give specific things wrong with the project, I would still mark it as done. When it was time for a new lead the whole team thought I would be that person. Who else? I was giving feedback to everyone and mentoring the juniors. Then another guy got the job, and I was told to work with him and train him up to do the job I was doing the whole time. I don’t know if it’s because of something I was doing or whether he was friends with the manager or whether it’s because I was a woman. I started to look for another job and left.

I had a similar experience working Europe too. At this time, I was a Senior Animator and the Art Director left. So I was promoted to Lead. I was giving a lot of ideas and they would come back with oh you’re not the Art Director we don’t need your ideas. They didn’t take any of my ideas actually but whenever one of my male colleagues said the exact same, there ideas were seen as perfect and amazing. There were times when they would ask for my ideas as the Lead for the team but then not go with them. It happened a lot so again I left that job. At the time I only discussed it with my partner because I felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone and if I did, I felt it wouldn’t have made a difference. When someone else is praised for your ideas again and again it stings. It happens a lot, I have some female colleagues who have had similar experiences. It’s never framed as its because you’re a woman. But it makes you doubt yourself, like am I good enough? Am I out of luck? It happens constantly. A lot of my colleagues who go through it leave and go to another studio and the cycle repeats. No one wants to speak up, the easiest thing to do is move to another company. One of my friends and I were talking about ways to address it and I think more women in upper management would help, so women feel more comfortable sharing these instances. Women will check for the source of the problem and help to find a solution. If you think about speaking up and get shot down, you’re less likely to open up again. You feel dismissed like your voice doesn’t matter.

Question 4: What are you top 3 career achievements?

Answer: The first must be building my own team so early in my career with no experience or support. It was a huge challenge; I was super fresh. But I got to teach 12 people from scratch. Now they are amazing animators. Number two would be breaking into the overseas games industry and helping other people move overseas too. I know a lot of people burn out in games, so number three is remaining in the industry after such a long time. There’s not a lot of women seniors and I’m nearly at 10 years which is an achievement within itself.

Question 5: Do you think it’s important to celebrate women’s achievements?

Answer: The bigger the day is the more people it will reach too. When I was little I didn’t think it was possible, I didn’t even think it was an industry. You don’t know they extent of things when you’re that age. Now the industry is so much bigger. I think more girls will start to think they can do it too. There’s still a lot of places in the world where women are told to be a stay-at-home wife so the more options we can show them will make more girls will say no I want to be this instead. That’s important.

Question 6: What can we do to support women getting into the industry?

Answer: I think the problem is a lot of studios look for seniors and I can understand they want people who can do the job right away. But we need regular internship programs. When I started at the outsource studio, they had at least 3 internships per year. Other countries should take advantage of this too. Studios need to build talent. Seniors are great for mentoring and building up juniors and would be happy to do this also. For me it’s the job of the seniors to mentor and support juniors. Currently I help my current junior with gameplay animation as she has a background in film. I leave my current task anytime and find a solution for her. We have different time zones too, so I also take time to record myself and processes we have and send that to her. She can then replay it as many times as she needs to. It’s been part of my work since I started and I’m very used to helping people. It’s very important.

Question 7: Are there any games that highlight women well?

Answer: The last game I played was It Takes Two, which I loved. It’s great from my perspective because you have to work together with someone to finish the game. May in that game is perfect because she’s a mother, hardworking and having a hard time in her marriage. It speaks to me because it teaches a good lesson. It all about giving 50/50, it’s a team. You can’t do it alone. You are not better than another person you just have to work together. That’s important because both share responsibility and both are struggling in their own way. It gives you a real life situation people can relate too.

My Thoughts

Times have changed and sexism has evolved. A lot of situations that were accepted in the past may not be so prevalent now, but the biases still remain, just in a different sense. Women still deal with micro abrasions. Like hurtful ‘jokes’ being branded as banter and being dismissed from conversations as it might be ‘too complex to explain.’ Stereotypes still exist. Biases still exist. These issues need to be unlearnt through individual personal awareness. We need to keep questioning ourselves and those around us, challenging the status quo. Diversity isn’t going to be solved overnight but the conversation needs to stay alive. For all my recruitment friends if you have at least two women in your shortlists the chance of a women being hired increases to 76%. There’s things we can do, actionable thing. As usual I have a few suggestions on ways to help women advance:

· Dream Big and share you ideas publicly: 11 successful business women give their career top tips | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

· I’m so lucky to work with such a brilliant team, our new DE&I Director Vikki Leach wrote a book which is transformative. Financial Times Guide to Inclusion and Diversity, The: Your Comprehensive Guide to Implementing a Successful I&d Strategy (The FT Guides): Amazon.co.uk: Leach, Vikki: 9781292341040: Books

· Test yourself for hidden biases: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html