International Women’s Day Interview with Giniro

Mar 6, 2023

Giniro started her career in December 2021 when she first started covering the university scene. 3 months later she began casting for VALORANT Regional League Northern Europe: Polaris, covering both splits, before quickly moving onto the VALORANT Regional League 2022 Finals and Game Changers EMEA Series 3, where she starred as both a caster and analyst. Further spreading her analytical wings, she capped off 2022 as an interviewer at Red Bull Home Ground and has started the year off casting the revamped Challengers Northern Europe: Polaris!

We wanted to know more about what makes Giniro tick and so asked her some questions on her start in esports, her inspirations, and her advice to women interested in pursuing a career in hosting or casting:

Q: What was your first experience within esports, and how did you decide to pursue a career in hosting and casting?

Giniro: My first experience with esports was through my Twitch stream, during my time at University I would spend a lot of my evenings streaming, especially as COVID had isolated me from any extra-curricular activities.

I found a lot of joy in building a community and helping those who were part of it through some of the most difficult times of our lives. This is when I came into contact with the competitive side of ‘‘esports’ as I received an email asking if I would be interested in hosting a certain event, I immediately agreed but unfortunately I never heard back.

I had never considered hosting as a career but I had spent the last few years religiously watching the LEC and suddenly it all made sense, this is a career path I could take. Something just clicked and the excitement of being in front of a crowd sharing stories of participating teams and providing entertainment to the community was what really pushed me to look further into it. I ended up sending out tons of cold messages pitching myself to the university scene as a host, and in December 2021, they took a chance on me, and here I am now.

Q: Are there any women within Game Changers or esports as a whole who inspires you?

Giniro: Every single woman within the Game Changers and esports scene inspires me. With it being a male-dominated industry, and some of the unpleasant experiences we go through, it takes a lot of guts to take space in a room where sometimes no one wants you to take up any space.

If I had to point out one individual it would be Sjokz. To me Sjokz was the first woman I saw within the esports scene, and she wasn’t just there for the sake of it, she was GOOD at being there.

Her impact didn’t stop with her on camera presence, she is vocal about her love for esports and her interests outside of it. She is giving younger girls the permission to like games but also like fashion, to spend hours online in solo q but also spend hours doing skincare, make up and whatever else you found interesting that ‘gamers’ shouldn’t be interested in. There is no ‘box’ with Sjokz, and that is something that still inspires me on my journey every day.

Q: What would your advice be to women interested in hosting or casting?

Giniro: My main advice would be to just start. I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. I found out about hosting in November 2021 and had my first show in December 2021, and if I waited to ‘know more’, or for ‘the right opportunity’ I would not be where I am today, for which I am incredibly lucky and grateful.

I hosted countless hours voluntarily in both EU and NA. I took every opportunity I could get, I VOD reviewed every show I did and asked for feedback, all whilst working a full-time consulting job in London, which was incredibly difficult but rewarding. There is no right career trajectory to becoming a host or caster, there is hard work and hunger to succeed. Every person's journey on how they became a host or a caster is unique and it’s down to you to define how it will go, but you have to take the first step. Host your own community event, post about your work online and network with like minded individuals in your field, whatever you decide to do, stay consistent and keep trying.