Inside Riot
When Natalie Parker, who most Rioters know by her maiden name Natalie Swanson, started as employee #125 at Riot Games in 2010, the company looked a lot different than it does right now. Fresh out of law school and in the shadow of the 2008 financial recession, Natalie was ready to start her career. But there was one problem, legal jobs were few and far between.
“Law firms were rescinding offers, not making offers,” Natalie explained. “My path wasn’t super traditional, I always wanted to do entertainment. I externed with Fox Sports and the Screen Actors Guild during school, knowing that wouldn’t result in long-term or full-time offers. When school finished, I focused on studying for the bar and then had to get to work looking for work.”
Not many places were hiring and Natalie wasn’t particularly picky. She just needed a stopgap paycheck to cover her rent until she could find work as a lawyer.
“I had a friend who was working at Riot, she was one of the first people doing finance at the company,” Natalie remembers. “She posted on Facebook looking for a receptionist, just short-term temp work. So I called her and told her that I’d be happy to do it, I just needed some flexibility in case I got an interview for an actual legal job.”
So Natalie showed up to her first day at Riot thinking it would be a two-week stint to cover some bills. She’s now been at Riot for nearly 13 years. She spent her first several weeks sitting at the cubicle closest to the front door in...
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