South African esports entrepreneur Thea Booysen says esports has become her full-time job and studying has become her hobby.
However, she wants to make it cool to be educated and to get involved in the world of academia.
Apart from gaming, she is also a graduate book author, youtuber and is currently finishing her master’s degree in neuroscience and will graduate in November this year.
She self-published her book titled ‘The Marked’ which she started writing while she was still in high school in 2015.
Speaking about her career in esports, Booysen said she started streaming games and making an income in her first degree which was law.
While most people take gaming as a hobby, it is totally different for Booysen as esports has become her full-time job while studying has become her hobby.
“I quickly started out earning my friends and then even some of my friends’ parents’ money doing this. It shocked me that the e-sports scene was incredibly lucrative. I don’t think a lot of people realise just how much there is to be made in the scene,” she said adding that she started streaming full-time in during Covid-19 in 2020.
She even used her savings money from esports to pay for her studies at a well-respected university in the UK.
Talking about her involvement in the gaming organisation Nixuh, she said she was invited by the first co-owners Dale and Jason to Johannesburg for a podcast.
“When I met them I realised that they had a passion for helping South Africans which is where my passion lies as well, helping South Africans.
“I have always been very passionate about helping SA gamers to connect with international brands because if I can do it, other people can do it as well,” she said.
She has since become a co-owner of Nixuh as well last year.
Even though Booysen is into gaming she has been studying since high school and knowledge is her passion.
“I am going to leverage my position and my network, which is a very privileged one, since I am surrounded by brilliant people who are very smart and are very inspirational, for creating content to essentially share that knowledge with the world.”
She said her goal is to assist the world of academia take the knowledge and spread it on social media platforms in a watchable manner.
“This year I started my second YouTube channel dedicated to science, called “More Than Human”. I am going to be making educational, scientific content, discussing the nature of the universe and new discoveries in science.”
