RYAN KNUPPEL
Hey, what’s going on everybody? Ryan Knuppel here, Knup Sports Show Episode 201, we are in the 200s, we are moving forward with this episode. Super excited for what’s to come in the 200s. Thank you for all the support and for tuning in to these shows, we try to bring you awesome guests in the industry of iGaming or sports business, or just people doing amazing things across the industries that we all know and love. I saw a lot of you at the SBC Conference just a couple weeks, or just last week. Thank you for saying hello there. Love conferences, so it was awesome to meet a lot of listeners and people that are tuning into this show. I really appreciate when you come up to me and say you listen, because it just kind of keeps me ticking a little bit, right? And so thank you for that. SBC was an amazing event, and hopefully you enjoyed it if you were there. Alright, without further ado, we are gonna bring on our special guest today. I’m super excited and honored to have Anika Howard of WONDR NATION on with me. Anika, how are you?
ANIKA HOWARD
Hi, Ryan. How are you? Thank you for having me. I’m glad to finally be here!
RYAN KNUPPEL
I know, I’m doing well, thank you, and I’m excited to have you as well. I know we’ve spoken, I just mentioned events, and we’ve spoken at previous events before, and I’ve asked you to come on, and so it’s super awesome to have you here and get to know you a little bit as well.
ANIKA HOWARD
Well, I’m looking forward to it.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Awesome, so cool. So you’re in Connecticut, right? You’re up there in the Northeast part of the United States?
ANIKA HOWARD
Yep, I’m in northeast, southeastern Connecticut, Mashantucket, uh, Connecticut right near Foxwoods, so WONDR NATION is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the same tribe that owns Foxwoods, and so that’s my home as of late. Out here in Connecticut.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Awesome, awesome. That’s great. We’re gonna dive into WONDR NATION and what it’s all about here in a bit, but first, Anika, I wanna hear a little bit about you, what makes you tick, what was your career path leading up to where you are today.
ANIKA HOWARD
Wow, so I’m gonna be a little bit reflective here. I was thinking about this, and I’ve been in this, the gaming industry, for over 20 years, and that is a lot to say out loud. That’s a long time. Uh, and I really, when I look back, I started my career very g, not necessarily with this attempt to kind of build a career or even go into gaming, but when I was introduced to gaming, I was an intern, I was still at MBA, I was still in graduate school, and I joined through Harrah’s Entertainment, which has a program called the President’s Associate Program, and I think it’s still in existence in some version today with Caesars, and I really came in with the desire to change how the industry viewed technology, specifically online gaming and digital. I have always considered myself a technologist, and so when I came into gaming, I had lots of questions, and so we went through the rotation and did all these other things, and I immediately saw these opportunities that have really taken this long to come to pass, and so my career progression really mirrored the growth and acceptance of interactive in the gaming industry. So, a lot of my positions, it was almost like we were creating a path together, so I was primarily stepping into positions that were being created as the industry was shifting, and so I didn’t have a blueprint, and there was very rarely a position that I was entering in that I had a predecessor to talk to. It was usually, “Okay, now we’ll do something new, we’re creating it”, and even that’s part of what I’m doing today. But I think what I’ve been really fortunate to be at the forefront of the evolutions that we see in gaming, from the launch of, the introduction of a lot of interactive in revenue management, kind of the evolutions we see in loyalty, the launch of iLottery, of iGaming, you know, so it’s been a very, I can say that every year has been completely different and an adventure.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That’s amazing. You said you had a love for tech and you consider yourself kind of a technologist. I’m curious where that love came from, I mean, is that just something that you’ve enjoyed your entire life, or where did the love for tech really come from for you?
ANIKA HOWARD
Um, so, my father is a mathematician, and I started out early on in computer engineering, so when I was younger, kind of building, doing computers, I thought I was gonna be an engineer, but then as I went into college wanting to shift that, I discovered online interactive and it really blended a lot of my interests in terms of my artistic pursuits and kind of that left-brain, right-brain in terms of creativity, but also the idea of being able to plan and see what you create come to life, so I really like that aspect of it.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That’s awesome. Yeah, no, that’s cool. Thank you for all that background and the wonderful story and everything there, that’s amazing. So, let’s dive into WONDR NATION. I know the people listening may or may not have heard about your company, so give us the high-level idea of what WONDR NATION is. I’m gonna pull up the website kind of side-by-side here [inaudible]. Kind of the elevator pitch of what WONDR NATION is.
ANIKA HOWARD
Yeah, so we like to consider ourself that we’re reimagining gaming entertainment, so WONDR NATION was launched in conjunction with the legalization of online gaming and sports betting here in the state of Connecticut, and the whole intent was really to be able to look at gaming differently and expand the digital footprint of the tribe, and so when I think about WONDR NATION, I think about it as the extension of everything beyond the physical experience within the property, so you look at social casino, online gaming and sports betting, esports, bingo, kind of all these different things that you can do once you leave the casino experience, or leave the reservation, and how does that create. Really, I think, the shifting is kind of focusing from a land-based consumer to really this idea of this digital native player, and what are things we can do to authentically and differently connect with players that have, by their preference, decided that they want to be, that their focus or their desire is online. So, a lot of what we’re trying to do is focused on creating experiences for online players.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That’s amazing, and are you, I mean, are you the founder of this company? You’re obviously the acting CEO currently, but are you, where were you in the start of this company?
ANIKA HOWARD
So, from the inception, so I’m the inaugural CEO, but a lot of the structure and vision is my brainchild, along with the tribal council and leadership of Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. We kind of collectively want it to create something that was unique, and also create a blueprint and opportunity to provide a service for other tribal nations and other tribal casinos. One of the things that we want to be able to do is to use what we’re doing as a blueprint, and then to be able to build capabilities that we can then cross-pollinate with other tribes, and so we work with the tribes to develop like what is your go to market strategy, how do you create your digital experiences, what are some of the things that you want to do as you prepare for real-money gaming, and kind of legalization in your state, or in some instance, if that’s not coming, that doesn’t mean that you can’t participate through social, or esports, or some other type of development of digital content. So, really trying to bring that to the forefront and showing how this can be a unique offering and competitive positioning for tribes.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That’s amazing. Are you able to speak on any of the partners that you guys currently have? I mean, are there any brands that you can talk through, like, what types of companies are you currently working with?
ANIKA HOWARD
So, I mean, I can talk to, so there are a couple of things that we’re doing. Some are very common knowledge, and so, um, we have a market access deal with DraftKings to deliver sports betting and online gaming in the state of Connecticut. We are the manage services provider for Foxwoods, so Foxwoods is not only our partner, but their also our client, so kind of powers the Foxplay virtual play-for-fun casino, and we work in partnership with them to deliver that service to Foxwoods’ team, and one of the things that we’re in deep in right now is to build this ecosystem of providers that we can work with, that we can work together. And so, in many cases, I see, uh, WONDR NATION as this facilitator, kind of bringing together all of these types of companies that have a similar values to us, and so that’s what we’re doing right now. A lot of the work that we’ve kind of been hands down in, are kind of working both not just companies that are within the gaming industry, but we definitely see the opportunity to bring in tech from outside of gaming because, in many cases, there are lots of things that we can learn from other industries and other partners, and bringing that here as we come. So, I’m really excited about some of the things that we’re working on that I can’t yet talk about, but the goal and objective is really just to create this ecosystem of providers and partners that we can work with together to bring solutions to the market.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That’s amazing, you know, you guys offering so many services. You’re almost like the glue for these companies, keeping it all together, putting it all together, putting the puzzle pieces together for them, really, really cool. Anika, I got a question for you, and I’m gonna shift gears a little bit. As the acting CEO, you’ve been doing it for a quite a while, living the CEO life, what is one of the personal challenges that you go through on a day-to-day basis, or just one of the biggest challenges of acting as a CEO in iGaming, right? Because there’s probably other CEOs listening that maybe are experiencing similar challenges, and I’m just curious, what challenges do you see from your role of CEO of WONDR NATION?
ANIKA HOWARD
I think there are two things: One, kind of balancing long-term and short-term, making sure that you’re, you have your eyes very focused on what are the things that are going to drive revenue, that are gonna drive engagement, that are gonna drive value for the tribe, in this case, and then making sure that you’re still future-looking, and you’re making sure that the decisions you have now, understanding the impact that they’ll have, kind of long-term, making sure that you are being strategic and thoughtful is how most things come together. And I think, also, growing and building the team. One of the things that I’m very mindful of are with a small startup, as you’re building that team, how do you create a culture of innovation, how do you make sure that people stay motivated. We have a hybrid team, what are the things that you need to do to make sure that the team has the things that they need to be successful and also feel empowered that they can make the decisions needed.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That’s amazing. You guys, you guys clearly take pride in supporting and being part of the tribal nation, and being a part of that world, I know, just recently, you guys had some news where you became the official sponsor of a museum. I’m not even gonna try to pronounce it because I can’t pronounce words very well, but tell us a little bit about that news, and just about that pride that you guys take in some of that stuff that you do with the tribal nations.
ANIKA HOWARD
Yeah, absolutely. So, I’ll start with just kind of the pride we have in being a tribal entity. One of the things that has been a core value for WONDR NATION is the ability to use, kind of, the skills and talents that we have to give back to the tribal community, but also the larger community overall. With that, it comes with, because we feel that there’s a strong sense of responsibility in that. A big piece of that is building a pipeline of tribal talent, and so making sure that there’s opportunities for tribal numbers and people that normally don’t necessarily have access to this market to understand and be part of it, and that starts a lot with the programs that we’ve created specifically for Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, and so part of that, we were very excited about being the sponsor for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, and part of that really involves programming, developing, and helping implement technology that once again, going back to this idea of digital experiences, so how do you create augmented reailty experiences, other types of things that enhances the overall experience when they come to the museum, what are the different types of programming that we can sponsor to help support the local community, so we’re doing the Harbison Entrepreneurship Fair next week, we’re excited about that, and we have a whole list of other things that we’re working in partnership with the museum to launch, but beyond that, we have our, with the, they call it the WONDR NATION Smart Labs, and so those are also STEAM education opportunities, and so we’re partnering with an organization called ACES, and working also on bringing other similar organizations together to provide curriculum for tribal youth. So, right now, tribal youth are learning how to program robots and a lot of different things, and so our first kind of iteration of students coming to do that, we’re wrapping up that first program and getting ready for the summer initiative. We also have associate and apprentice programs that will give, similar to how I started in gaming, a rotation through the different departments, and then an opportunity to work with WONDR NATION at the end, so a lot of the things that we’re trying to do are not just laying the foundation for, kind of, the financial growth, but also for that knowledge, because knowledge, when you have that knowledge, you know, that’s the foundation of everything.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Wow. Yeah, reimagining gaming entertainment. I mean, when you start talking, you know, AI and tech and robots and all of this, you sure are reimagining the gaming world, so that’s amazing, Anika. Sounds like you guys are doing amazing things, but let’s kind of fast-forward to the future, and this is kind of a two-part question. What does the future look like for WONDR NATION? And then, secondly, what could someone potentially watching this show or listening to this show, what kind of help, or what are you guys looking for, what needs do you guys have as you attack that future for your business?
ANIKA HOWARD
Yeah, so I think the interesting this is that the future is always evolving, so some things that we’re looking at are, kind of, what are the new tech that is coming into place, and so, for me, we’ve started to do a lot of baseline work with regenerative AI, so, you know, algorithms such as ChatGPT that really allow you to create new content, and we’re looking at all the different, kind of, uses for that, from fraud protection, customer support, analytics, predictive modeling, really kind of understanding how that is gonna streamline and help with a lot of the things that are now up-and-coming in the gaming industry, and also what are the things that we need to be mindful of, and what types of tools that we need to have in place and measures that we need and what procedures do we need to take, to put in place to take advantage of that. So, I mean, that’s one that’s of considerable interest to us. I think, really, I also kind of like the idea of content marketing and leaning in to how do you create these authentic connections with players, because I think all of the technology and all of those things, I think we’re gonna have a lot of people doing similar types of apps. We know that esports, we know the expansion of gaming, we know social casino, all of these other things, but what are the things that we can do differentiate ourselves, and so, like, how do you use content in that way from cross motion, from player acquisition, player engagement, etc. to try to build those relationships with players, and so I think as we’re looking, we’re looking for organizations that are looking to kind of break the will, to say, “Hey, we see that there’s a sea of sameness in the industry, and we want to be disruptors. We want to say, okay, how do we do things differently, and where are the opportunities, segments in the market that maybe no one is focusing on, that there’s an opportunity to be a differentiator or first-mover in those spaces,”. So, that’s really what we’re looking for, we’re looking for people that want to go on this journey with us.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Wow. Anika, you are truly a gem in this industry, and I wanted to thank you just for, honestly, every time I go to these conferences, you know, it becomes very apparent that it’s kind of a very male-driven industry, and I think you being a woman in iGaming, and you guys are trying to change that narrative a little bit, and I can tell you’re just doing amazing things, so I wanted to thank you for being a woman in iGaming and embracing that. You know, I think that’s really kind of cool, and you’re one of the handful that has been on this show, handful of women.
ANIKA HOWARD
I appreciate it. I appreciate you giving us a platform for us to talk about WONDR NATION and for recognizing that as well. We’re, you know, it’s definitely something that, for me, it’s very important to show that it can be done and there’s opportunities, and to be an example for women that may be at the beginning of their career, that kind of say, that are wondering if this is something that’s for them, so hopefully I can be a positive example or role model in that light.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Amazing. If people listening want to get a hold of you, Anika, how would they get a hold of you, or, I put the WONDR NATION website up earlier, but what’s the best path to get to you?
ANIKA HOWARD
So, the best path, actually, is LinkedIn. If you connect with me on LinkedIn, I can kind of get to you there. That has all my contacts. I am very active, shoot me a message there, I can connect. The website I think is a way for you to connect on the website as well, and yeah, I think those are the best ways to get me. I’m on all socials, so if you find me, you can follow me and then we can connect.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Love LinkedIn. LinkedIn gets two thumbs up from me.
ANIKA HOWARD
Yeah! It’s been really good for us, and definitely follow the WONDR NATION, kind of connect with the WONDR NATION LinkedIn page. We try to keep active and share industry tips and things that are happening as well as you can follow the team on all our adventures.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Awesome. Well, I’m gonna let you go, Anika. We try to keep this 20 minutes or so, but any last words, anything we missed, anything you wanted to touch on that maybe we didn’t cover before we let you go?
ANIKA HOWARD
No, I think that’s all. I just think that, you know, this is an opportunity for us all to think differently, so I would say to just take a chance and be creative and kind of lean in to the things that you’re passionate about.
RYAN KNUPPEL
I love that advice, that’s really good advice. Take a chance, take that risk, right? Yeah, I love it. Alright, Anika, thank you for your time, really appreciate it, hopefully we’ll have you back on soon, and I really hope to see you in person again at one of the upcoming events.
ANIKA HOWARD
Same here. Absolutely. Well, thank you again, Ryan.
RYAN KNUPPEL
No problem, we’ll talk to you soon.
ANIKA HOWARD
Alright.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Alright, that was Anika Howard of WONDR NATION, Episode 201 is in the books. Oh, man, what a great interview. That was amazing. So, hopefully you enjoyed that as well. Please, we’ll put the links in the show notes if you have any questions or comments for Anika, you can reach out to her on LinkedIn, or you can find me at Ryan Knuppel on most socials, @Knup, however you want to find me out there, you’ll find me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, wherever you want me. Um, alright, that’s it for Episode 201. We’ll be back, I’m sure, with some others here soon, so if you need anything until then, you know how to find me. Take care, stay safe, and we’ll talk to you soon. Alright, bye-bye.
Relevant Links:
- Learn more about WONDR NATION on their site.
- You can connect with Anika Howard on LinkedIn.
More Knup Sports Links
- I refer to Knup Sports often in my show. That’s our sports passion site. Check out KnupSports.com here.
- If you are looking for sports content services you can find more information on the Knup Solutions website.
- Listen to more episodes of the Knup Sports Show.
- Want to be a guest on our show? Setup a time that works here.
- Subscribe to the Knup Sports Show on iTunes here.
Contact Ryan Knuppel
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanknuppel
- Email: ryan@knupsolutions.com
