Well, when you think mainstream, you have to look for common bonds or interest. Console relates more with mainstream simply because MORE people have exposure (and therefore can relate) to consoles than PC’s.  Therefore, console is more likely to hit mainstream audiences first.  However, they are both linked in the gaming family, and I see console helping to raise PC gaming awareness at the same time—which is going to be beneficial for all gamers no matter what platform you want to play on! It is not which is better or worse, it is about recognizing both sides’ strengths and weakness…and pulling them together for a common purpose.   
 
What will it take for PMS to become a worldwide organization such as 3D, SK, 4Kings, etc?

I guess the biggest thing would be the ability to support salaried players. I am learning as I go, and things have definitely been changing for PMS to make this happen. It was never a money thing for us before because companies were just charged for expenses and travel. However, we have a lot of huge things working over here that I think is going to help take us in a new direction in supporting our professional players. 
 
Many people only dream of a life as professional gamer. You however, live it everyday. What is a normal day like for you? What about a pre-tournament day? Any special things you have to do before a tournament?

My life is not the norm of any gamer…not even professional ones. Yes, I make my living from playing videogames, but not from tournament wins.  As a degreed professional, most of my living comes from consulting across the industry. Last year, I spent all my time working during the day (as a corporate finance manager), playing at night, and running PMS activities in between. I spent about four hours a night playing at that time.  Now, my role has changed from a player role to more of a managerial role, which was my second biggest sacrifice to date for PMS clan. The biggest sacrifice was quitting my corporate six-figure salaried job (with all the perks) to work more on PMS Clan. Now, I work full-time from home, and I spend my days on industry emails, phone calls, meetings, and an occasional game on the 360 or my DS.  Oh, and I also pretty much live out of a suitcase, which is why I could not commit to a competitive level of gaming like I did when I was home every night. At the tournaments, I help organize the girls and play the coach role, and it is something I have deep pride in!  It is so amazing for me to see one (or a team) of my girls doing well.  I do, however, expect to get back to my controller on a competitive level with the Gears of War launch in November, and I can guarantee you I will be on Halo 3! 
 
With the growth of eSports rapidly progressing already, where do you see yourself and your team in the next say, 5 years?

I see us in a lot of places. We are currently working on a very large amount of projects (I am not at liberty to discuss details), which will help get gaming & PMS Clan to mainstream audiences.  We went multi-platform two years ago, as well as global.  The European market is something we are looking specifically at, and also the expansion of console recognition over there.  PC has been set as a priority in ‘07 as well. 

Once we have achieved our goal of equaling out the playing field with more women gamers (and get few more and higher-placed wins because of it), I also expect you will begin to see us throw more support in our male side of the group, H20 Clan.  We tried a few co-ed teams before, but we were belittled by people saying the “guys carried the team.” So, we focused on getting it done with the girls first. We realized we needed to get respect as female players first, show we could do it on our own, before gamers would recognize us in the competitive scene in any co-ed teams. So that was our mission on the professional side of PMS Clan. But as gamers are becoming more open to women as competitors, I think it would be great to help the guys that have been supporting us.   
 
Within the EGM article you stated "Positive attitude is the No. 1 requirement we [PMS] have." Do you believe this is a rare thing to possess in the competitive gaming scene today? What about in competitive sports in general?

I do not think the competitors are the problems, actually. There has been nothing but a great show of professionalism from the PRO players, and the top players are great representatives for what the gaming community has to offer. All of these players help promote the passion they have: videogames. In fact, many of the professionals are H20’s (they play for their main teams that sponsor them, but are sill part of our community nonetheless), and have certainly welcomed us girls into their world.  We are lucky enough to get opportunities to train with them, and they help us get better. Most of the professional guys recognize that we help the industry with exposure, which is good for them in the long run. And most do it themselves. Teams like 3D, SK, Complexity, GOD, and Final Boss all help showcase the amazing talent eSports has to offer.  Players like Fatal1ty, Toxic, Ztrider, Stermy, T-Squared, Lil Poison, and Master all help put a face to gaming…which is needed for mainstream audience interest.  Almost all the professional teams and players recognize they play a part in the image of eSports, and almost all of them seem to take that seriously. 

Our supportive environment is needed mostly for online gaming and game forums where the general gamers (who have never met or played a PMS professional player in real life or in-game) like to try to feed on us. I think most of the industry events and professional players do an amazing job at promoting professionalism, it is online where the problems are…and where we are losing the female players on competitive titles.

As well as being featured in EGM, Next-Gen.biz has chosen you as one of "Game Industry's 100 Most Influential Women." When being compared to all of these other women who have worked on the inside of the video game world, what do you think you bring to the table that they do not?

I think every woman on that list brought something amazing to the overall group.  The only thing that makes me different from many of those CEO’s and developers is that I am a hardcore gamer. I live in the life they help create for me, and I couldn’t thank them enough. I think it is amazing a few gamers were recognized for helping bring a positive name for women in the industry. It was a huge honor to be amongst that amazing talent pool, many whom I look up to as role models. I would also like to point out two other gamer gals that were on there: Missy from GOD and Roulette from FD. Both are amazing gamers and leaders in the industry!   
 
You were one of the first innovators to allow female gamers, young and old, a gateway into the competitive scene. These days it is not uncommon for a girl gamer to outright demolish the competition, whether it is competitive play or for fun. Do you believe we will see a major tournament win from a female or an all-female team within the near future?

Yes, absolutely…and we came darn close to having one already! Kasumi Chan PMS came home with a second place title at CGS right under Master, (WCG’s 1st place winner). CGS’s DOA tournament was a MAJOR win for us, as the competitor she knocked out was WCG’s second place finisher: King. Both King and Master are known as two of the best in DOA, so the fact that she slugged it down with some of the best talent out there on TV was a big win for her and PMS Clan! We were so proud of her!  More and more women are getting into it, and I don’t think we will have to wait much longer at all! The women, young and old, are surfacing with major talent.  I feel they will only become better as our numbers and dedication increase.

*Note from Editor - Scoots <3's Amber