A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Anika Howard

As the president and CEO of WONDR Nation, the official online gaming entertainment company organized by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, Anika Howard has tread a path that wasn’t necessarily planned but has afforded her opportunities to set a standard as to what is possible in casino gaming. The tribe has served as pioneers in their own right, embracing online gaming with its expansion into online sports betting and other digital offerings in partnership with DraftKings. 

Anika’s experience working for gaming heavyweights like Foxwoods Casino, Caesars, and IGT provided a winning foundation for her leadership of WONDR Nation’s daily operations. She collaborates with some of the most influential names in the field to launch interactive digital gaming products and experiences that push boundaries. 

In this Her Agenda interview, she shares her journey, how she entered into the world of gaming, and how other women can find avenues to use their tech-savvy, transferable soft skills and curiosity for a fulfilling career of their own.

Her Agenda: Let’s start from the beginning. What inspired you to get into the world of gaming for a career?

Anika Howard: It started with my love for technology and innovation. While I was in business school, one of the companies that came to campus was Harris Entertainment [which is] now Caesar’s Entertainment. And I remember going to their hospitality event, and it was just very interesting to me. 

The interesting thing about hospitality and gaming is that unless you learn about them, you really don’t understand the depth of opportunities that are available.

I had the opportunity to do my MBA summer internship with this company. And what I loved about it is that they, unlike some of the companies where you were, you know, relegated to just really intern projects, this one—they gave you real-world problems. They were like, ‘Here’s something that we need to solve. Your summer internship is to fix this problem.’ 

And so I loved being able to immediately go into a company and have an impact. And from that there was a program called the President’s Associate Program. Caesars Entertainment, I believe, still has this program, and it was really designed to identify future leaders, bring them into the gaming industry, put them in a rotation program—so they learned kind of all of the ends out and outs of rotation—and then really positioned them at that time to be general managers or casino heads. 

So I started in this program, and I just had a very, very different eye. I immediately saw that while I had no real desire to run a casino, I did see so much opportunity and potential in how the casinos viewed technology and how they used innovation, and really, through that, I was able to create a path for myself within the company.

So, I went through the rotation but was very quickly plucked out of it to work at the corporate office and become one of the first interactive employees for the company, and that’s really what started my journey. I really saw this intersection between technology, marketing, and the overall hospitality experience, and I was able to sell that vision broadly and create a path for myself within gaming.

Her Agenda: I love that because you mentioned that you tapped into your resources at your school, and you were able to explore something that you would not have known about had you not been in that educational program.

Anika Howard: Yes. And they did not recruit widely. They went to a handful of universities, so that was it. It was just literally by luck that I was in the right place at the right time. 

Sometimes, they say, ‘Your opportunity is when your preparation meets that special moment in time.’ And that’s what I felt like happened for me. Everyone out there was moving and talking to so many people, and the person that I connected most with was the recruiter who was making the decisions.

Her Agenda: You had that audacity. And you mentioned positioning. You also mentioned passion. What are other transferable skills that are needed for people who might be interested in getting into the gaming industry, specifically on the tech side, and also on the business development and innovation side, as you’ve worked in?

Anika Howard: I think at the core, whether you’re working on the tech side or what we call front-of-house or back-of-house, whether you’re in gaming or you’re greeting customers and you’re on the casino floor, or whether you’re on my side—which is more of the tech and online gaming at the core—it’s a people industry. Entertainment is hospitality. It’s creating opportunities for players to engage and to escape and create these unique experiences. And so from that standpoint, I think communication skills are very, very important—verbal and non-verbal— when you’re working with colleagues, managing up, managing down and managing sideways, working with guests. Active listening. I think I can’t say that enough. Not just listening to respond, but listening to really hear and understand, and being able to pick up on both verbal and nonverbal cues – being able to not just interpret what you hear, but what people mean. 

Problem-solving and flexibility. No day is the same, and that’s one of the things I love about gaming. And it doesn’t matter where I’ve been or at what company, literally, every day is different. There’s no such thing as a ‘day in the life’ because every day in the life is completely different. So, being able to think on your feet, being able to have problem-solving, being able to work with the left level of ambiguity, and being able to be self-directed in terms of being flexible when the best plans don’t turn out the way you want them to be. 

I think the last part is interpersonal skills—being able to build rapport, motivating a team, listening and working collaboratively with people, asking the right questions, and thinking on your feet.

From a technical standpoint, I think financial acumen is No. 1. Especially now in my current role, I make sure that every single person within the organization understands what all the financial terms are, how to read a financial report, how to kind of interpret whether the company is doing good or bad. You know, ‘What is the pro forma? What are some of the basic accounting things that you need to do as you’re looking at anything you’re doing?’ Because it has to be tied to how this is generating revenue? How are you operating efficiently? How is this driving value, and so making sure that you do have that very keen financial mindset going into it.

Understanding the rules and strategies of the different games and the nuances between some of the jurisdictions is important because even though it could be one game, it can have different rules depending on where you are.

Her Agenda: After being in the industry and achieving what you’ve been able to achieve, what are three amazing things that keep you waking up in the morning and saying, ‘I’m happy to go to work today.’

Anika Howard: I’ve been blessed to be able to have experience in commercial gaming, working for suppliers on the tech side, working with lottery and now working within tribal gaming. I like the economic impact that the work that I do has on the tribal community. One of the things that is great about tribes is that all of the revenues from all of their entities really go to sustain their way of life. So, it goes back into their tribal government. I really get a sense of fulfillment and enjoyment from that.

Her Agenda: What are some things you’re looking forward to on the horizon with WONDR Nation, and what resources should young women look into to learn more about getting into the gaming industry? 

Anika Howard: What we’ve been trying to do is figure out ways to grow. And so we’ve been looking at opportunities to grow through acquisition and through strategic partnerships. I enjoy starting that process of discovering other like-minded companies how we can work together, and how we can build that bridge to do things collectively. I’m really excited about that path. 

When you talk about how women could get involved, there are a number of things. One of the organizations that I’ve co-founded is African Americans In Gaming. You can find it on LinkedIn. We want executives to have a network of people that they can reach out to and connect with, bounce ideas off of, and get assistance and support on how to navigate. 

There’s also an organization called Global Gaming Women. I recently joined the advisory board, and I co-host the “Global Gaming Women: Fair Game” podcast. So that’s an opportunity to connect. 

I think those two organizations are a good place to start because they can help direct you to a number of other things. We’re really good at putting out information and talking about different conferences, where we’ll be, and different opportunities to connect and learn.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]