Alumni Spotlight: Tori Fica

USU alum Tori Fica’s advice to USU students is simple: “If you pursue something you're passionate about, then you will find a path forward.” As the Principal Marketing Writer for Riot Games, the company behind games such as League of Legends, she can attest that the passion pays off. 

As the Principal Marketing Writer for Riot Games, Tori oversees all writing in marketing campaigns for League of Legends, from video scripts to website editing and social media. She manages other writers on the team, working to keep their work cohesive. She also serves as the general creative partner for other fields, such as art, video, and creative direction, giving feedback on what’s being created. “It's a very collaborative environment,” Tori notes. 

She is, in short, very important to the company. It was a journey to reach this position. After graduating from USU with her bachelor’s in English Creative Writing and master's in English writing and literature, she worked various copy-editing jobs, starting in freelance work. This led her to becoming a content marketing specialist, then copywriting for an HR company, before finally landing a job at Riot Games. 

Her work in the English Department was crucial to developing the skills that allowed her to prosper, teach her quick, critical thinking, and precise communications. “I encountered new ideas and points of view in every course, whether I was reading new books or writing alongside peers,” she explains. “And my professors provided me with every opportunity to examine, argue, interrogate, and test these ideas along the way. This helped me develop a critical eye and creative instincts, which are skills I use literally every day in my work.” 

The skills she learned while at USU have helped her in different, unexpected ways. For example, she also earned a bachelor’s in French. Working at Riot Games, this has created new opportunities for collaboration, as the company frequently works with French animation studios. 

Becoming specialized like this is one of the most important lessons that Tori has learned. Gaming and entertainment are especially competitive fields to find work in, meaning that to succeed, it’s important to stand out. 

“My advice is to become excellent at your craft,” she notes. “Not just passable, but great. Practice a lot and build a portfolio. Unfortunately, entry level positions are harder to come by than they used to be. This means you need to seek out your own projects and opportunities wherever you can find them: join a game jam, make a short film, submit to a journal.” 

Tori is also quick to point out that skill isn’t the only cause for success; having strong connections also matters. Part of the reasons she was able to land a job at Riot Games was because of an acquaintance she met five years earlier, who she kept in touch with. “Connections are really how people get jobs,” she recalls. “Never underestimate the power of being good to your peers and staying connected to folks.” 

As Tori sees it then, there isn’t one direct process that pushes someone to success. It’s a mixture of connections, determination, and passion.  “No effort is ever wasted if you're pursuing something you love. I realize that sounds unbearably cheesy, but I believe it with my whole soul,” she says. “It will be a lot of work, and it might not lead you in the direction you expect, but it will turn out well for you.”