Emerging Leaders

Flexible Flyer

Justine Clay, Senior Director, CX, GAN

Having a mother champion an industry for her daughter might not seem so unusual, but gaming probably wouldn’t be your first guess— Justine Clay’s mother pitched casinos because she’s an avid slot and bingo player.

“There will always be gaming,” Mom told her daughter.

With the growth of iGaming and sports betting, Mom was more prescient than ever that her daughter made the right choice.

“I love this industry, and continue to learn and expand my knowledge every day,” Clay says.

As senior director for customer success at GAN, Clay oversees a Las Vegas-based team liaising with partners, in addition to handling one of the company’s largest accounts. “I work closely with our teams around the world to ensure future developments are on track and live issues are addressed in real time.”

Born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts, south of Boston, Clay obtained an associate degree at Massasoit Community College. She went west to San Diego State University where she became one of the initial graduates of the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming at the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. The program focuses on cultural and political contexts, casino operations, legal and regulatory issues, marketing and public relations in tribal gaming.

“I had the opportunity to couple the education with an internship at Sycuan Casino in San Diego,” she says.

During and after college, Clay worked as a cocktail server, a concierge and a slot attendant. These experiences groomed her for future challenges involving customer interactions and prepared her with different problem-solving techniques.

“Being able to connect with people and relate to the customer is an area I’ve been able to excel in thanks to those early gaming-floor experiences,” she says.

After the Sycuan Institute, Clay worked in tribal gaming operations, commercial gaming operations and independent gaming testing laboratories along with her current role on the iGaming and sports supplier side of the business.

Before joining GAN, Clay received a promotion at Gaming Laboratories International to director of client services for North America. This was during the Covid-19 pandemic, right after she gave birth to her second daughter.

“I was still able to take my full maternity leave,” she says. “However, coming back and turning on the laptop at home for eight-plus hours a day was a major adjustment at first. But there was some benefit to being home as well. I’m sure many of us in the industry struggled with worklife balance, given that you were home 24/7 for almost two years.”

It’s not that easy to just walk away from the laptop and take a break, Clay says. Flexibility is key. Parents often had to home-school children and take care of them afterwards on top of their full-time jobs.

“One of the more difficult changes we all faced during the pandemic was not being physically available to meet with a colleague or client in person,” says Clay, who enjoys a beach vacation with her family to relax. “Many of us experienced ‘Zoom fatigue.’ Trade shows were done virtually, and it just wasn’t the same. I personally enjoy being around people and meeting face-to-face.”

With the pandemic behind her, Clay can now work on getting back to normal. In five years, she expects to see more and more jurisdictions legalize sports betting and online gaming in both commercial and tribal locations.

“Digital technology will continue to innovate and thrive in our industry,” she says.

And that means new recruits. Clay has some advice for the next generation:

“Don’t be afraid to take risks, ask questions and make suggestions if you see improvements that can be made somewhere within your organization,” she says.

And have fun. “Love what you’re doing, even on the toughest days in your career.”

—Bill Sokolic

Making the Leap

Krystal Jones, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia

With a leap of faith, Krystal Jones made the first step in fulfilling her career-long ambition of attaining the role of chief financial officer. Working in the back office as a financial accounting manager for Caesars Entertainment, Jones learned of an opening for director of finance at Harrah’s Laughlin, an opportunity to gain handson operational experience.

“I knew that applying for the role and putting my name out there for consideration would be a stretch,” Jones says, “but it was important to me that I round out my understanding of the gaming industry by adding that operational experience.”

Her experience in Laughlin catapulted her career. Jones saw a huge benefit in understanding the centralized services side of accounting while also having operational finance experience.

“Making the shift from behind-the-scenes to on-property finance led me to my current role at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia, and I couldn’t be more grateful for taking the leap at the time.”

In her CFO role, Jones is responsible for the development and management of financial operations and strategic direction of all financial activities at the newly opened world-class gaming, dining and entertainment destination located in the Philadelphia Stadium District.

“Attaining the chief financial officer role has been a goal of mine since I started my career, and I’m so proud of myself for accomplishing it before the age of 40,” she says.

Jones joined Live! after serving as vice president of finance at Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, where she was responsible for the development and implementation of the property’s financial plan, key performance metrics and cost control objectives. She also served as the key liaison between the property and investors for all financial matters.

Previously, Jones worked as the executive director of finance at MGM National Harbor in Maryland, where she was a key member of the opening team, providing strategic direction and daily oversight for the finance division.

Jones began her career in the gaming industry as an accounts payable analyst at Caesars, where she appreciated the opportunity—unique to a casino resort destination—of being exposed to several types of businesses under one roof.

Her advice to other young professionals: always ask questions and think outside of the box. Asking questions, especially “why,” allows you to learn and fully understand the task at hand. And thinking outside of the box shows that you can add value to the company.

“Don’t be afraid to think differently than your peers or colleagues,” she advises.

“These are two pieces of advice I received early on in my career and are how I really made a name for myself—I continue to follow this myself today.”

—Thomas Zitt is executive vice president of The Innovation Group.

Meeting in Macau

Michael Lee, Executive Director of Casino Regulatory and Compliance, Venetian Macao

When Michael Lee completed law school at Singapore Management University in his native Singapore, he had no idea how many lawyers were in the marketplace.

“The legal industry in Singapore was facing an unprecedented glut in lawyers at the time I graduated,” Lee says. “I found work as a lawyer, but I was not being intellectually stimulated in this role.”

Lee stumbled across a job posting for a slot compliance manager at Marina Bay Sands. He didn’t know much about slots or compliance. But he got the job anyway. “The rest is history,” he says.

He must have learned a lot in a short time, because one of the senior HR execs offered Lee a chance at the Venetian Macao.

“I had been to Macau only once, but I knew the tremendous scale of the gaming industry there, which brought with it unparalleled learning opportunities at the first integrated resort on the Cotai Strip and one that was a leader in bringing non-gaming attractions to Macau,” Lee says.

He accepted their offer within the hour.

Lee now runs the gaming compliance and responsible gaming departments at the Venetian. For the former, he deals with the “analysis, negotiation and implementation of regulations, standards, and operational guidelines by the regulator.”

“The unstructured and more challenging part of this role involves ad-hoc requests and guidelines,” Lee says. “The responsible gaming department ensures that we are in compliance with the prevailing government regulations on responsible gaming.”

He also works with non-government organizations to promote responsible gaming to society at large. The Macau government is putting in an incredible amount of effort to grow and develop the responsible gaming framework locally, Lee says.

“The role captured my attention because it allowed you to witness firsthand, and indeed potentially work on the actual solutions that a company had to implement. I have been very involved across all levels of operations.”

Part of his job description involved implementation of Covid-19 pandemic steps like social distancing and casino closures. “These practices were a first for the resort,” Lee says.

The pandemic had an impact on the Venetian as it did everywhere. “We have had to juggle an incredible amount of changes from a regulatory perspective primarily due to the policies on pandemic controls which sometimes feel like building a house on shifting sand,” Lee says. “But it is a most welcome challenge as it keeps us all active and hones our situational awareness and capacity for making measured changes under an inordinate amount of time pressure.”

While most executive teams found a way to work remotely from home, for Lee that was a non-starter.

“This role requires that I be very involved in all aspects of the business, which is not something that I could do remotely, even if I had an opportunity to,” says Lee, who relaxes by watching the sunset with his 1-year-old daughter.

Lee sees the industry in Asia strengthening with the growth of integrated resorts on a regional basis. He also sees the stigma attached to gambling disappearing.

“The younger generation is able to distinguish between unhealthy obsessions and healthy consumption, which really is what gaming can be, given the appropriate parameters including being aware of your spending limits, as you would when engaging in any other forms of entertainment.”

Lee has advice for those following in his footsteps: “Be laser-focused on what they want out of the gaming industry as a career, and then start to work toward that goal right from the beginning.”

— Bill Sokolic