__twocolumncontent.jpg)
“I have this propensity to sell things,” says Jason Covey, executive vice president of business development at Kovel Fuller. Covey went from wanting to be a forensic psychologist and lawyer to switching interests, climbing up the marketing ladder and eventually reaching executive status.
It turns out that skill set to investigate and make complex ideas digestible has been his secret to success. Daily Brief Contributing Editor Kareem Taylor sat down with Jason to hear his story. He talks about his career journey, being a mentor and celebrating hard work.
DAILY BRIEF: How’d you get this job?
COVEY: It’s a long winding road. I’ve been in the games industry for about eighteen years. I started off on the agency side doing some public relations. From there, I transitioned to the publishing side, spending about ten years marketing games on both the brand and product side. I touched every facet of the business. Ten years ago, when the economy was circling the drain, I saw an opportunity as publishers were starting to shrink in size on the marketing side of things. I knew that outsourcing would become bigger and bigger. My title is EVP of business development but I also wear account management hats, and as anyone in my office will tell you, I’m often seen changing the drinking water bottles at the Sparkletts station. We all wear different hats.
How did you know this was a career path worth taking?
I’ve always been a talker, and been able to develop interpersonal skills with folks. Going into college, I thought I wanted to be a forensic psychologist and then a lawyer. A couple years in, I realized ‘I should probably understand why I like to talk a lot. I have this propensity to sell things. That led me to a communications degree, which pointed me in the fields of public relations and marketing. My first job out of college was at a PR agency. I had a relationship with a video game publisher. The publisher actually took me away from the agency, brought me in-house, moved me from PR to marketing and spent a few years climbing the marketing food chain at different publishers.
What is your approach to the PromaxGames mentorship with Thamara Sekhar?
Thamara and I have had an awesome time in the several months we’ve been working together. Unfortunately, we’re in two different cities, most of our communication is done over the phone or over email. We made it a point to establish a regular cadence of communication. We come ready to chat — she usually sends me an agenda ahead of time. Really, we just get to know each other. Her being a working mom, and myself being married and having three children of my own, I take for granted on my own side with what it is that my wife does as a working mom. Talking to Thamara and hearing what her struggles are has helped me to reflect and not take that for granted, and vice versa. Building that interpersonal relationship is paramount.
RELATED: Electronic Arts’ Thamara Sekhar on Finding Your Passion
Listen to Taylor’s conversation with Covey in full on this episode of The Daily Brief Podcast.
You can participate in PromaxGAMES’ Mentorship program but act quickly because applications close on Thursday, Feb. 16. APPLY NOW
Subscribe to The Daily Brief Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Podomatic, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts for newsmaker interviews, in-depth conversations and creative insights, with new episodes delivered each week.
