Breaking Into Design, Tech & Gaming: Lessons from the Pros at Comic-Con San Diego 2025

Comic-Con is one of my favorite events to attend and speak at, and I can’t wait to return. This year, I have an amazing group of guests joining me on stage, and we’ll give you an inside look at breaking into some of today’s most creative industries.

If you've been dreaming of a career in gaming, design, or tech, you won't want to miss our panel. Titled “Careers in Design, Tech, and Gaming: Lessons from the Pros”, the panelists are ready to share real talk, career tips, and their personal journeys to help you discover new opportunities and inspire you to chase that dream.

Careers in Design, Tech, and Gaming: Lessons from the Pros Panel Details

Date: Sunday, July 27, 2025

Time: 3:00-4:00pm

Location: Room 3

Sched Limk: Comic-Con 2025: Careers in Design, Tech, and Gaming: Les...

Meet the Panelists

iAsia Brown 

iAsia Brown, distinguished as "Tech Picasso," seamlessly interweaves the realms of gaming, film, and art, manifesting her visionary storytelling. Her enduring commitment to authenticity and empowerment positions her as a luminary for diverse voices across industries. As she embarks on a scholarly journey as a doctoral student in Organizational Change and Leadership at USC Rossier School of Education, iAsia amplifies her influence. Beyond her art and academia, she ardently serves on the Board of Directors for Woman in Tech Hollywood (WiTH), Creating Coding Careers, and the Black Alumni Association at USC, further epitomizing her dedication to community, education, and advancement.

Connect with iAsia: iasiabrown.com | LinkedIn

April Gittens

April Gittens makes complex tech easier to grasp—especially for developers navigating the ever-evolving world of AI. Over the years, she has led technical teams, launched global skilling initiatives, and built award-winning content across AI and Mixed Reality. And while she's proud of the impact, what fuels her most is creating learning experiences that feel less intimidating and more empowering. At Microsoft, she focuses on developer tools and education—specifically helping AI Engineers build, test, and ship smarter with Visual Studio Code.

In 2025, she launched Pretty Wired Builds, a brand created to make hardware feel approachable for women who've never seen themselves as "builders". April shares her indie-hacker journey through story-driven content that captures the joy, mess, and momentum of DIY tech projects. She's also the author of books Bite-Size Python: An Introduction to Python Programming and Visual Studio Code for Python Programmers.

Angela D. Scott

Angela D. Scott is a U.S. military veteran and doctoral candidate at the USC Rossier School of Education. Her research focuses on workplace appreciation and self-efficacy among cognitively diverse professionals in the video game industry. A second-generation gamer and longtime mentor to early-career professionals and college students, Angela combines lived experience with data-driven strategy to foster inclusive, impactful player and employee journeys. With a background in storytelling, experimentation, and digital innovation, she offers a unique lens on building sustainable, purpose-driven careers at the intersection of creativity, education, and gaming. 

Marianne Parker

Marianne Parker is an accomplished and globally recognized Los Angeles based costume designer and pattern maker. Her repertoire includes For All Mankind, Ahsoka, Star Trek Picard, The Mandalorian, Shang Chi & The Legend of the 10 Rings, Brave The Dark.  Trained in fashion and costume design in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, Marianne moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a professional costume designer. She has worked in all aspects of costume design for film, television, theatre, dance, music and live events. Creative career highlights include making Luke Skywalker & Boba Fett costumes in season 2 of The Mandalorian, developing the Chinese warrior costumes for Shang Chi & The Legend of the 10 Rings, travelling to the Nobel Prize Awards with Barry Manilow, and designing the costumes for a full-scale operatic production of Alice In Wonderland. Many of her projects are award winning and have been nominated and recognized for outstanding achievements at the Emmys for Costume Design, as well as the Costume Designers Guild Awards.

Connect with Marianne: Marianne Parker, Costume Designer | LinkedIn | Instagram

Dr. Sara Roldan

Dr. Sara Roldan, Psy.D., is a bilingual speaker, podcaster, therapist, scientist, and professor who transforms education and healing through the power of pop culture. She specializes in exposure therapy using VR, comics, and video games, supporting emotional regulation and resilience in private practice, where she works with real-life heroes: active duty service members, first responders, and individuals navigating chronic illness and life transitions.

At San Diego State University, Dr. Roldan teaches courses like Mastering the Game of Life and The Psychology of Happiness & Success, blending trauma-informed leadership, emotional science, and fan-based learning. As a researcher with SDSU’s HomeLab, she studies fandom as a restorative and integrative practice, showing how comics, superhero stories, and gaming can support identity, recovery, and leadership.

She is the founder of Our Oasis Community Podcast and Academy, a digital sanctuary where BIPOC, neurodivergent, and first-gen learners can access healing tools, rest, and rise through storytelling, pop culture, and wellness.

A featured speaker at TEDx, San Diego Comic-Con, LA Comic Con, WonderCon, and TAGGS, Dr. Roldan is also the Spanish-language voice and co-developer of The Heroic Journey curriculum by Pop Culture Hero Coalition, now used in schools across Puerto Rico and the U.S.

She serves as Board Member for Community at Psychology for Geeks, and as a Mental Wellness Board Member for SDSU’s Esports Center, where she continues building inclusive, fandom-based strategies for emotional health in digital and academic spaces.

Whether she’s guiding students through video game quests, helping veterans regulate their nervous systems through VR, or hosting conversations about trauma and tenderness on her podcast, Dr. Roldan’s work centers one truth:

Healing is heroic. Learning can be joyful. And everyone deserves a safe place to rest between levels. Healing is not just clinical it’s creative, collective, and deeply human.

Moderator - Heather Cook

Heather Cook currently serves as Principal PM Manager and Lead for Microsoft 365 Customer Advocacy Group at Microsoft. She works on a team of community program managers whose charter is engagement, evangelism, and growth by building strategy, programs, and connections for our community members with Microsoft. Heather is a former Microsoft MVP for Microsoft 365 Apps and Services. Over the past twenty years, Heather has led marketing for Global Cloud Providers and run a software business. She owns a marketing/brand/wellness consultancy, Creative Maven, where she has produced thousands of events, campaigns, and experiences in the high-tech and entertainment industries. Heather is also the host of the Mavens Do It Better Podcast, which features interviews with extraordinary everyday experts who light a spark in our world. She lives in Marina del Rey, California. She has traveled the world extensively for pleasure and by speaking about Power Platform, Office 365, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Workplace Culture, Community and Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Heather is a published playwright and graduate of the University of Washington School of Drama, Seattle, WA.

Connect with Heather: LinkedIn | Instagram | BlueSky