Why and how did you get into the Toy and Game industry?
My work is play! I’m a speech-language pathologist so helping people connect and communicate is what drives me. I’ve worked with children for my entire career and continue to bring toys and games with me wherever I go. I remember being in graduate school on the subway in New York City with a giant bag of toys on my shoulder. Someone would gently bump into me and my bag would start mooing or making revving car noises.
It was Sherry Artemenko, a fellow speech-language pathologist and founder of the PAL Award, that made me realize I was a toy expert because I had thousands of hours playing. Moreover, I use toys and games as my tools to help children develop strong communication skills, and parents to connect with their kids in ways they hadn’t before to strengthen their language skills.