About
John Stephens is a veteran of the hobby trade industry whose work began covering Magic: the Gathering events more than twenty years ago. His writing appeared on the Event Coverage website for events like US Nationals, JSS Nationals, and multiple Grand Prix events before he moved over to Upper Deck Entertainment, where he did the same work on Vs. System and worked as a contractor doing flavor text on Web of Spider-Man and Man of Steel.
After a few years in the game industry John moved into hospitality management, managing night clubs in Oceanside, CA., Las Vegas, NV., and finally in Denver, CO., and working as the Director of Sales and Marketing in a hotel chain, before re-entering the game industry on the retail side.
Today John has more than a decade experience in hobby game retail, as well as having worked as a consultant or employee for several publishing companies before he decided to focus on retail and preparing for retirement. In his spare time John travels back and forth to France, plays board games (some of his favorites are still Bunny Kingdom, Sagrada, Patchwork, and Carcassonne), and spends time with his girlfriend and their five cats; Rocky, Munchkin, Rascal, Rylee, and Izzy, whose photos can frequently be found on Instagram.
The Industry with John is an independent publication launched in March 2025 by John Stephens. It does not neccessarily reflect the views of any other person, company, or organization that Mr. Stephens works with, volunteers for, or may be affiliated with in the past or present. No advice on this page should be taken as legal advice, as Mr. Stephens is a not a lawyer, holds no HR certifications, and did not attend medical school. The "Comment" bar is only available to people who have signed up for the website (which is free), and limited content may be released in the future that is located behind a paywall. By subscribing today you get the ability to comment, and you help Mr. Stephens feel like people wnat to read these things, which helps this blog exist, because we all need positive affirmations in our lives (if you're read this far, you are awesome, see how much you enjoyed affirmation). My subscribing you'll also ensure that you know about new posts when they happen, because Mr. Stephens doesn't use much social media these days. Thank you!
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