Meet Trailblazer Chrissy Fagerholt

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chrissy Fagerholt.

Chrissy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up as a child with a parent in the military, which came with a lot of moving. Before social media, maintaining a connection with the people I would meet, and eventually, have to leave, required effort… handwritten letters, postage, long-distance phone calls, printed photos, etc. I am a nostalgic person, so the effort to stay in touch came easily for me, even at a young age. I eventually planted myself in Colorado, with friends I had made along the way, at the University of Northern Colorado. I graduated with a degree in communications and after four years of making memories, and some of my greatest friendships, adulthood called.

Life took my friends and I in separate directions, but all we wanted was an excuse to get back together. When we were lucky enough to get the chances to do so, memories were shared, stories told, and laughter was had. So. Much. Laughter. You just can’t get that by clicking like on a photo. By this point in our lives, social media made it easy to keep up with our day-to-day, but what about the real stuff? The conversations? The details? The stories behind the posted photos? The face-too-face reactions? Put a group of girls in a room together and watch magic happen. What started as a girls night out between myself and three of my childhood girlfriends meant to reconnect, turned into a tequila-infused business idea… and the game, Friend or Faux, was born.

I spent 17 years as a floral designer and dabbled in stationery and greeting card design. Without intention (and being a product of moving around so much), everything I chose to do following college had an element of connection between people: sending flowers to someone, a funny card, or invitation. While game design was not my formal training, it was a natural move for me to do something that involved people enjoying each other’s company.

With no experience in the tabletop game design industry, the four of us involved pulled together our strengths and got to work. We took two years to develop Friend or Faux, consisting of lots of research, play testing, and redesigning. The hard work paid off. A successful Kicksarter campaign and a licensing deal with one of the top game publishers in the U.S. has found Friend or Faux on the shelves of major retailers, including Target and Amazon.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Thankfully, the road was not smooth. Without bumps in the road, we would not have taken our time to make the right turns and redirect some of our thinking. We wanted to respect the process of game design and that meant doing our research.

Not only were we novices, we discovered the game design industry is male-dominated and we had developed a game that was based on connection and not strategy. It was up to us to prove we developed a game that rivaled it’s competition, that women also have a great sense of humor, and there is an audience who want a game, not fantasy or strategy based.

Another hurdle was developing a business with good friends. Talking about the tough issues, delegating responsibility, difference of opinions and of course finances… you will get to a point where issues arise.
So, our advice? Hire a lawyer to work out the details in the beginning! We heard plenty of stories of ruined businesses and friendships because they didn’t take the necessary precautions. Does having a lawyer write a business agreement cost you money? Yes, but look at it as an investment, both personally and financially. If there are more than one of you involved, a legal business partnership agreement is a must!

As for personal advice, know that people have great ideas every day, it’s what is done with those ideas that matter. It takes a lot of hard work, but the effort is worth the reward in the end. The best is when you have gone so far, even on the hardest, most discouraging day, you can’t imagine turning back… so you don’t. Ask for advice, not just from people you know, reach out to experts in your field. Listen to the criticism, adjust, and understand what not to take personally.

We’d love to hear more about Friend or Faux – A Game of Ridiculously Revealing Questions.
A lot of party games on the market require an element of pressure to be funny, Friend or Faux is solely based on real life, not the hypothetical.  Turns out, real life is funnier than you think, you just need a good reason to talk about it and Friend or Faux is the perfect tool.  At times risqué, at times surprising, Friend or Faux plays off of life’s funny and often forgotten moments through five rounds of increasingly, revealing questions.  Days, weeks, months, or years, only determines how long you know someone, not how well.  There is always a surprise to discover, something new to learn, and plenty to laugh at with every friend at any stage.  Friend or Faux is perfect for game night, parties, really any social get-together.

Currently, we have put the last year’s focus on the 18 and up version of Friend or Faux with our distributor, Games Adults Play.   Our next goal is to move forward with the family-friendly edition, which in play-testing has been amazing to witness. Seeing families or younger audiences connect, really showed us the value of being face-to-face, which studies show people are craving in this digital age.

What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
When we were developing Friend or Faux, a successful game designer told us, “everyone is going to tell you your ‘baby’ is pretty… the one thing you need to hear from your players is, ‘I want to play again!’” It was such a simple piece of advice and we took note of it, every time someone said it from then on. They weren’t just telling us they had fun, they were showing genuine reaction of interest and desire for more. Friend or Faux taps into what a lot of people haven’t thought of in a while gives the opportunity to share old memories while creating new ones and laugh at life’s all-too-real moments… face-to-face.

So what is your ‘play it again’? Is your product something people want to continue using? Is your service unforgettable? What is going to make your potential audience come back or spread the word? Find that answer and run with it!

There is something to be said about working really hard on something and seeing it succeed. Not to mention, bringing an idea to life that was created out of a good time with girlfriends. We asked for advice wherever we could get it, turns out, 99% of the advice that was given came from other women. Women have worked really hard to break barriers in all industries and most women want to support each other. We look forward to the opportunities to help other women who seek advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: playfriendorfaux.com
• Email: chrissy@playfriendorfaux.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playfriendorfaux/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playfriendorfaux/
• Other: http://gamesadultsplay.com/product/friend-or-faux/

Image Credit:
Kathleen Rose Photography, Rebecca Ann Photography

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