Dwayne Benefield

Class of 1992

I have now lived in Los Angeles for 21 years, eclipsing the first 18 spent growing up in Gallup, yet have only recently begun to understand what it meant when I was first told by a fellow Gallupian, “You can take the man out of Gallup, but you’ll never take Gallup out of the man.”

While both Gallup and Los Angeles are often described as melting pots, the Gallup community has innately stronger, selfless, and more supportive bonds. Like many of you, I tried a wide variety of activities growing up in Gallup, from jumping fences to climbing the Red Rocks at midnight to flipping myself off a high bar at the local gymnasium. In every case, regardless of failure or success, the community built around me in Gallup was there to support and encourage me. When I was invited to write this article, I immediately recalled a memory from high school - dropping a game-tying pass for the Bengals varsity football team only to have Gallup Journey’s esteemed publisher, the star running back at the time, give me an uplifting pat on the back and words of encouragement as I walked back to the sideline. When I achieved what at the time seemed like big wins, like earning an Eagle Scout or taking 1st place in the State Gymnastics Championship, I was equally supported but more importantly, made aware that the accomplishments “could” be just the beginning. At the time, I already had dreams of exploring the world and making a large impact on society, so I really wanted to believe there were bigger things to come.

When I went to college at NMSU, I found myself subconsciously seeking out a similar community of friends that were not only supportive, but had high expectations of me. I did well in school in Gallup and felt compelled to do the same at NMSU, ultimately graduating Summa Cum Laude with a coveted job at KPMG in Denver.

Having built some confidence and somewhat naively ignoring the fact that Denver was a tad larger than Gallup or Las Cruces, I found myself asking for the biggest and most challenging assignments, including the IPO for Quest Communications, later becoming part of CenturyLink. That experience made me prime poaching material for The Walt Disney Company who lured me to Los Angeles for what I thought would be a twoyear move.

Shortly after joining Disney, I moved into the upstart division, Walt Disney International, working for one of the brightest people I have ever met – an Olympian born overseas, having traveled the world and been part of the C-suite at multiple Fortune 500 companies. He not only took me under his wing and treated me like a son, but set expectations of me that I thought were impossible to meet. I gave him my best for the better part of a decade, often working 20 hours a day, but along the way traveling to over 50 countries, launching and buying businesses for Disney in markets like Russia and India and eventually becoming one of the youngest Vice Presidents at The Walt Disney Company. They also supported me going back to school to obtain my MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Armed with a more complete resume and education, I accepted a role at Google as the General Manager of Entertainment. Given the explosive growth at YouTube during this time, I found most of my job was managing a booming ad sales business. Within a year, my team was delivering 20-40% of YouTube’s North America revenue. Although successful from a business perspective, I was not able to foster that “community” I innately desired and, less than a year later, moved to Sony as the Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Business Development for the PlayStation division. I was fortunate to find another boss that made me feel at home – supported, encouraged, and with similar high expectations. It was here that I made my boldest move yet – attempting to reinvent the cable TV experience. I had accumulated 10 years of content experience at Disney, a year of ad sales at Google and was now in a Company that had sold hundreds of millions of devices capable of rendering video. Netflix was just taking off, so I figured why couldn’t live TV also be delivered as an app, breaking the connection to the home, to contracts, to dumb settop-boxes, in a way that surprised and delighted consumers.

Five years later, I am now the General Manager of PlayStation Vue, the highest rated and most sophisticated television service in the United States. PlayStation Vue was the first of its kind, a multi-channel television service delivered over the internet. We have since been followed by the likes of Sling, DirecTV Now, Hulu Live TV, and YouTube TV, but remain well positioned to succeed given that we allow the most simultaneous streams, one of the largest assortments of broadcast, sports and news channels, and unique features like the ability to watch up to four live channels simultaneously. Yes, a shameless plug.

Along the way, I also “met a girl,” now my wife and mother of our 5-year-old son. A story for another day but safe to say, they provide more love, support, and encouragement than I deserve, and I will spend the rest of my days becoming the man she believes I can be.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life is that we often become a reflection of the expectations of those who surround us. In my case, it started with an incredible group of friends and family in Gallup that set the precedent for the types of people whom I have chosen to add to my community ever since.