“That's my name! I'm in a game!” ft. Community Manager Charis Reid

Today’s guest is Charis Reid, founder of Cut Teeth, an ad-hoc community management agency. After unexpectedly being made redundant earlier this year, Charis turned a setback into an opportunity—launching her own business that lets her collaborate with multiple studios and projects at once. We chat about how redundancy pushed her to build something new, the challenges of setting boundaries when running your own agency, and the lessons she’s learned from juggling clients across the industry. Charis shares her unconventional path into games—from studying game art and dreaming of building environments to discovering her passion for connecting players and developers. She also tells a touching story about being honored in-game by a small indie team she supported, how an ambitious ARG campaign went hilariously off-script, and why knowing a community’s “deep lore” is the secret to succeeding as a new community manager. Games mentioned in this episode: Mechajammer Rainbow Six: Siege Pokémon Go League of Legends DEEEER Simulator Find Charis on: LinkedIn cutteeth.co.uk The Community Lounge is brought to you by Feature Upvote – Painlessly collect feedback from your players. More insights, less noise. Subscribe to the Community Lounge newsletter and get notified of new episodes and articles. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction and Agency Overview(00:02:12) - Navigating Redundancy and Starting Fresh(00:03:22) - Challenges of Running an Agency(00:06:15) - The Journey to Community Management(00:09:07) - Changing Perceptions of Community Managers(00:12:12) - Memorable Moments in Community Management(00:14:15) - Recognition in the Gaming Community(00:16:44) - Challenges in Community Management(00:20:26) - Learning and Adapting as a Community Manager(00:24:33) - Understanding Community Dynamics(00:26:48) - Balancing Work and Personal Life