Visiting us today is Alexandrie Brekke, Allie, to talk about diversity, bullying, the feminine presence in gaming and esports, and how she used video games to rescue herself from a dark place.

Allie Brekke is the Director of Operations at Kungarna, Brand Manager at Antares Gaming, and an Esports Marketing Consultant. Allie is passionate about helping individuals, teams, and brands grow their online presence. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusion and an active combatant of online bullying, discrimination, and any form of online hate. 

In this episode, we delve into Allie’s journey into gaming. We talked about her tough childhood and how video games provided her with a safe space. She kindly shared how video games offered her the chance to find peace and inspired her to create safe environments for other gamers. We discuss the responsibility and possibilities streaming platforms have in preventing and stopping online bullying and the importance of educating gamers and esports athletes about their behavior online.   

Resources:

Visit Kungarna’s website: https://kungarna.com/

Or connect with Allie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrekke83/

Full Episode Breakdown:

1:13 – Allie talks about how she got into gaming and remembered her first interactions with her cousins as the only girl in the room. 

3:23 – Allie describes her volatile childhood and how she was removed from her house. 

6:58 – Allie talks about when she found a safe space for herself in video games while playing Halo. 

8:03 – Allie talks about how she used video games to heal from trauma. 

9:48 – Allie talks about the first time she got interested in the community aspect of gaming.

14:16 – Allie talks about how different gaming communities react and must be treated to generate the desired outcomes. 

18:01 – Allie describes her tasks as community manager to stop hate speech online.

22:19 – Allie talks about her role as a leader in the community to change the negative narrative that still hovers over gaming. 

25:38 – Allie explains how they teach diversity and inclusion at Kungarna and help their players learn how to behave online.