Full Sail Stories

When studying Full Sail’s game business and esports curriculum, students build strategic, community-centered, and revenue-boosting skills while learning from industry professionals. When it comes to the esports management side of the industry, Department Chair and instructor Ashley “AJ” Jones is primed to guide students through the various aspects of professional, semi-professional, and scholastic esports by applying her years of experience with organizations including NACE (National Association of Collegiate Esports) and Park University.

In the Esports and Gaming Management course, AJ explores performance management, team management, and leadership in an esports and gaming environment. The course examines varying team structures, management strategies, and corporate cultures to help students prepare for their future careers.

“Esports and Gaming Management is probably the most esports-heavy class that we have throughout the entire curriculum,” shares AJ. “We go over short, medium, and long-term business goals for esports organizations, and we look at leadership challenges within the esports and gaming industry.”

From her time in team management as an esports coach with Park University to her experience with organizational operations as Director of Membership Sales and Services with NACE, AJ has spent much of her career shaping the state of collegiate esports.

“Esports was a thing that I did for fun [in college], but, later, when esports [started growing at the collegiate level], I was working at [University of Florida]. That’s when the two things I've always been passionate about, esports and higher education, started to come together. That's when I was able to take it a little bit more seriously and figure out that there could be a way that those two things could make sense as a career option for me.”

Throughout her career, AJ has led with positivity, developing and launching a mentorship program for schools participating in NACE and co-founding community organization Esports & Coffee, which serves as a platform for marginalized communities in the esports space. With a leadership style focused on creating comfortable spaces in the esports community, AJ hopes the lessons for her students inspire them to lead similarly.

“Near the end of the course, we focus on leadership being kind of our crowning jewel,” says AJ. “I definitely want folks to leave the class [understanding how important it is] to lead with kindness.”

AJ also encourages students to take advantage of the mentorship opportunities available from their instructors, saying, “I think that at Full Sail, there's this unique opportunity that all of your instructors have lived this life, and they've come from these areas that you're interested in getting into. Coming from UF, where there are 55,000 students on campus each year, I didn’t have that same connection with any of the folks who were my faculty. So I would say to try to build some of those connections and those relationships with your instructors where you can.”