Meet Scott DeBoard | Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Scott DeBoard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Scott, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I was retiring after 36 years of working in a great job. As the family and I discussed the “what’s next” question, we came up with the idea to start our first business. Since most of the family are avid gamers in one form or another, we decided to start a gaming store. However, it needed to be something special. It needed to be an amazing place which provided a space to grow a strong, positive and diverse gaming community. As we iterated on the concept, we also landed on the idea of creating a gaming destination. Thus was born Silver Dragon Games. “Silver Dragon Games is a destination game store in Peoria, AZ designed to welcome gamers from all walks of life. When you walk in, you’ll join a community of gamers having a great time in a game space designed to make you feel at home. We sell many different types of games, host events and have amazing birthdays (for children and adults). We also have an amazing Tavern theme play space!”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I was an Executive at Discover Financial Services where I spent 36 years working for the firm. It was an amazing journey in which I was able to grow from an entry level person to helping to run the Operations of the 3rd largest payment network in the world. I was able to travel the world meeting amazing professionals that either worked for the firm or other Financial Services company. It was incredible to grow with the company as I was there at the “Dawn of Discover”.

However, it wasn’t an easy journey. I was fortunate to have a lot of mentors and people around me that served as examples. I grew professionally over the years by focusing on constantly learning from those around me or by expanding my formal education. I was able to get both my undergrad and my Executive MBA through the firm.

The key to success in my case was a never relenting focus on improving my skill set and increasing the value that I brought to the company. I also took my responsibilities as a leader very seriously. This meant spending a lot of time investing in the development of everyone around me. The stronger the team was, the better we were able to perform.

As a leader of a large organization, I knew it was important for me to lead my team in a way that provided that “steady hand at the wheel”. This was put to the test during the pandemic. I spent a lot of time helping my global team stay focused on the most important things – their health and the well being of their families. After that I provided them the consistent reassurance that by staying focused on these things and their work, we would get through this together.

Investing in the development of your team and those around you is a key responsibility of a leader. This includes helping your team understand “why” things happen and how they work. Also, setting a clear vision for the team.
The more information your team has, the higher the quality of their decisions and work becomes. This really improves engagement.

Finally, it’s critical that as a leader, I stayed true to our values representing them on a daily basis. Discover was and is a company of values. I took this into Silver Dragon Games where we formed a company grounded in two key values.

Values

1. Sincerely embrace building a diverse, supportive, and inclusive environment in our culture and our community.
2. Do the right thing for our customers, our employees, our community, and the company.

This focus on embracing diversity and doing the right thing forms the very foundation of who we are at Silver Dragon Games. We welcome everyone into our community making them feel like they belong. We re-enforce positive game play in all of our play events. This emphasis on positive game play will help to keep our community diverse and healthy over the long run.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First, for the most amazing gaming experience, I would definitely bring them into Silver Dragon Games. We would have a blast playing our favorite games, hanging out with fun and amazing people. We might even dress up in costumes while we are at it.

For a fun evening of adventure, I’d take them over to Scale and Feather for an evening of fun comradery and fantastic MEAD!

Food choices would definitely include some great mexican food or BBQ. There are so many great Mexican restaurants in the valley, it’s hard to pick one. However, for BBQ, I really enjoy Lil Miss BBQ.

For a week long visit, we would definitely head up to Sedona for a day trip and perhaps have dinner in Flagstaff. That drive is magical.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It truly took a team effort to come up with the concept of Silver Dragon Games and then bring that vision to life! It was important that my family was invested in this. My beautiful wife (Debby) is very much a strong collaborative partner bringing an important diverse view as a strong woman to every element of our concept. This included design features and play style which are tailored to woman and families. Another key creative leader in this journey was my son Michael. He helped us iterate on key elements of our business model which evolved many, many times. He has been a strong voice in the creation of Silver Dragon Games.

Now that we are up an running, we cannot do what we do in our community without strong volunteers who help guide us on specific gaming systems. They bring a deep knowledge of a given gaming genre such as Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer tabletop miniatures. They help other players by teaching them the hobby and engaging with them in a way that is consistent with our positive play in the store. A great example of that is Steve McBath who is really leading the charge with our tabletop miniature games (Warhammer) community. He brings a strong teaching style to his playing and really inspires those around him, including myself.

Website: www.silverdragongamesaz.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silverdragongames/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076490314284

Other: Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@silverdragongames