Certified: Meet Stephanie Bedford, PMP

This ongoing series celebrates PMI certification holders — exploring their career journeys, sharing their insights and celebrating their achievements.

Tell us about your professional journey. How did you get to where you are now?

I was born into the cradle of project management. My mom is a software project manager, and she has led a project management office. She’s been a certified Project Management Professional PMP for many years. I like to say I’m her mini-me — I really align with the values that come along with being a project manager.

That sounds like the greatest mentor ever. What did she teach you?

I was into horseback riding, on the Olympic path. I was competing against people with endless resources, so I had to manage my season like a project manager. I had to figure out a plan for success with a limited budget. My mom reinforced that in me — she always supported me in setting a goal, managing my deadlines, and having a contingency plan to reach for what I wanted.

When did you realize project management could be a career for you?

In college, at the University of Georgia, I was still trying to figure out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I’ve always been into gaming, but it didn’t really click that it could be part of my career until I started playing League of Legends. It clicked for me – games are just software; I could be a project manager. I’m not an artist, I’m not a writer. I didn’t want to be a software engineer. But I knew the gaming industry needed project managers. That’s how I found my path.

I went the business route first, which made good sense. My business degree even included some project management courses. When I’d come home from school, I’d talk shop with my mom. And I still do today.

What was your first project management job?

After school I decided to move back to the West Coast. Gaming has hubs – Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle. I was in San Diego, so I started at [a consumer credit reporting agency] as an IT project manager I got my CSM [Certified ScrumMaster certification] there, but I always wanted to get my PMP because my mom talks so highly about it, and I agree with her. Earning my PMP is one of the things I'm most proud of.

When did you get your PMP, and how did you get into gaming?

I had no connections in gaming, so I blind applied and got into PlayStation. They helped finance the PMP exam prep while I was there. I ended up earning my PMP at my next company, Cloud Imperium. When I joined the company, they had just started a PMP study group for their producers, so I could slot right into their studying. When people ask me about prepping for the PMP, I always tell them “Don’t study on your own.”

Now you’re a senior producer at a major game studio. What does that role do?

“Producer” is a bit of a nebulous title in gaming. At its core, it’s project management. A Senior Producer is a project manager leading the entire cross-functional development team for an entire game.  If you think about it, games are software plus content. It’s like making a movie, making a software program, and smashing them together.

What does that work involve and what does it deliver?

My current studio is known for narrative-driven games that are looking to push the boundaries of storytelling. Narrative includes all the world-building in a game — storytelling, plot, characterization, actual text and dialogue. A lot of the narrative team’s work lives upstream in the development process — setting stakes of the game, internal alignment documentation, making sure everyone understands what we’re building, and staying in sync. This is all so the narrative comes through in the downstream work – the parts the player sees. Narrative is the beating heart of the game – it's the tone, themes, world building, story, characterization, the choices, plot, and the actual text and dialogue. So, I have to speak the language of creative, but I’m not the idea guy.

Also, because I am responsible for the entire game, I must ensure that all the discipline teams are engaging in transparent collaboration, leading with my own cross-functional literacy so that they are working together to build an awesome game. This includes art, engineering, audio, design, quality assurance, and many others as well as narrative.

That is cool stuff. How does your PMP and project management experience help?

I really love the definition of “steward” that PMI has adopted. It resonates with me, and when I explain what a producer in gaming is to others, it resonates with them too. Gaming is an industry in its infancy so there’s not a lot of standardization. The title producer has a lot of mystery, and it’s different from role to role and job to job. But “steward” is a good definition of what I do because it takes on a holistic approach. 
I’m speaking to a school today about production in gaming, and this is how I explain production for non-producers.

• We are project managers. We’re focused on delivery. The craft part of project management is what makes me good at my job. I’m doing risk registers, stakeholder management, dealing with vendors, scheduling and working on dependencies.
•  We’re also cat herders as we spend a lot of time making sense of the chaos.
• Being a producer is a lot about what I call “the glue work.” We make better connections, increase communication, we define the functional work systems and processes.
• We’re leaders. You must use leadership skills, not just technical skills, to be successful.
• Producers are what I like to call “the salt.” When you’re cooking, salt works in the background as a support of the flavor and taste. Salt is never the star of the dish. But salt is always the first one to be blamed when something doesn’t work.
• We are stewards. We are responsible for everything. We must act with integrity and trustworthiness. We are the glue.

That is a great way to describe a project manager. What are the challenges of applying project management practices in the gaming industry?

The industry is in its infancy, and sometimes it refuses to learn from its predecessors in entertainment and tech. There’s a lack of standardization and there have been some under-skilled individuals for a long time. PMI is a resource to fix this.

I spend a lot of time spreading awareness for the producer job, what skills are needed for it, and what resources are out there. For the longest time, a producer was a person they lifted out of Quality Assurance and other disciplines because they were organized. And then they just had to learn on the job. That’s not fair. I’m really dedicated to setting up the producers of tomorrow to be better.

Tell us about your advocacy work in gaming, particularly around diversity.

I’m an ambassador for Women in Games, which supports, empowers and showcases the work of women in the gaming sector through conferences, events, awards, research and community. The gaming industry is predominantly white and male. I am not the most marginalized person, but I identify as female and queer and have experienced marginalization in this industry. Diversity is not optional – creativity comes from conflict, and you can't have conflict if you’re all the same. You must have diversity to make the best creative thing.

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