We were lucky to catch up with Sasha Richardson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sasha, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
When I was first asked to write and host trivia games, I had no idea what I was doing, so I quickly started calling myself the Trivia God, with a “fake it ‘til you make it” attitude. Who could argue about wrong answers with a god?!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Sasha Richardson, and I’m the owner and game writer of Cruces Trivia God – CTG Trivia, and I host sometimes, too!
CTG Trivia began in 2018, after I was asked to create a trivia night at a local brew pub where I worked. I had no idea what I was doing, but with a bit of on-stage experience already, I knew I could do it. With the concept of “fake it ‘til you make it” in mind, I called myself a god and hoped no one would challenge me too much, and it worked long enough for me to gain my confidence as a host and question writer. Within a year, I had additional venues, and was busy enough to make it my full time work!
The pandemic, of course, changed the business drastically. My venues closed their physical doors, but one of them continued to have trivia for their customers via zoom, which kept my trivia spirit alive until the venues were able to reopen.
I’d nearly reached full time status again when circumstances arose that brought me back to the Midwest, where I grew up and lived for 30 years before moving to New Mexico. Some regulars were distraught at the idea of trivia going away, so they got together and helped me outsource hosting, while I wrote and managed from Iowa. There are currently three amazing women that host in New Mexico, while I write and host from Iowa.
I didn’t expect it to take off, I didn’t expect it to become my full time job, and I didn’t expect to become a manager of additional hosts, but here we are, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s a been a great experience, full of lessons and growth and learning to follow my intuition, and I’m so grateful for it all!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’d been on stage as a performer and wedding dj, and I’d led classrooms of students as a teacher, so I was confident that I could do the performance part of hosting. Random, fleeting interests throughout my life gave me a good background for question writing because of my familiarity with a variety of subjects.
I’d never been a business owner, let alone a boss before, so I tried to let my intuition guide my choices. Over the years, every time I’ve trusted my instincts, I’ve had successful outcomes, and every time I went against my instincts, I eventually recognized that I was acting out of fear or greed, and those choices have never been successful. It was clear to me from the beginning that fun, for both the host and players, is the best quality this business has, so if your business is inspired by fun, then follow your guts and keep that value as high on your priority list as possible!
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
While our regular games happen at brew pubs, distilleries, and wineries in New Mexico and Iowa, we’ve also hosted a variety of speciality and private games. We’ve provided games for and hosted at office parties, birthday parties, libraries, fundraisers, pop culture cons, country clubs, and even after-prom party and Cub Scouts games!
We can provide a host and questions for games in southern New Mexico and northeast Iowa, and if you’re not in one of those locations, I can write a custom game about whatever subject you want that you can then bring to your event and host yourself! The possibilities are truly endless!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ctgtrivia.com
- Instagram: @crucestriviagod
- Facebook: Cruces Trivia God – CTG Trivia
Image Credits
Hosts Eileen and Lindsey, host Kaylin, games at various venues: Dry Point Distillers, T or C Brewing’s Las Cruces Taproom, Icebox Brewing, Picacho Hills Country Club, Empty Nest Winery
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
