When BYU Marriott School of Business alumnus Brandon Camp saw his twin sons, both on the autism spectrum, spend their senior year applying and interviewing for jobs without success, he made a decision: “We can complain about the problem, or we can do something about it.” So Camp and his family created Gotta Play Games, a board game company designed to provide work experience for his sons while strengthening family relationships.
Camp, who earned a bachelor’s degree in information systems and an EMBA from BYU Marriott, says that for him and his wife, Elena, board games have always been a way to bring together everyone in his family—including their eight children. Running a business centered around their shared interest has amplified that closeness, Camp explains. “I get to bond with my family, work with them as a team, and invest in those relationships in new and interesting ways,” he says.
Some days at Gotta Play Games involve Camp’s twin sons going through mobile game apps and looking for bugs to fix, while other family members offer suggestions for rule changes and character designs. More recently, the family has helped set up and staff company booths at events like Provo’s Freedom Days to promote Skip the Salad, their first game.
Camp explains that these family experiences have been enabled, in part, by his BYU Marriott education. He’s leaned on his technical experience from his IS degree as he uses AI to extend the family’s capabilities to run the company. He’s also relied on a principle he learned in the EMBA program: to market to an emotional need rather than focusing on a product. “We’re not selling games because they have nice linen cards,” he says. “What we sell is togetherness.”
That focus on togetherness is a way that Camp says he strives to follow the example of Jesus Christ in his life. “I think that one of the things that stands out in the way that the Savior lived His life is the relationships He had,” Camp says. “It didn’t matter if you were a leper or a beggar or a priest; it was all about connecting with people and making them feel loved and heard.”
So throughout his career, whether he’s working through Gotta Play Games challenges with his family or working as chief marketing officer at Storied, Camp says he has tried to focus on connecting with individuals—experiences that he says have surpassed work. “The relationships that I’ve made with people are the most important thing out of everything I’ve done in my career.”
But of all the relationships he’s built, Camp says none have been more important than the ones he’s strengthened with his family. “Working on Gotta Play Games has definitely brought me and my family closer,” he says. “We’ve developed a deeper appreciation for one another and created memories that will last well beyond the business itself.”
