<p>Catapulted into the toy industry at the elderly age of 17, Nick has been creating games non-stop his whole life. He had his first brush with the industry at ChiTAG&#39;s Young Inventor Challenge where he won with his circular board game That&#39;s Cheating! On the resulting prize trip to NYTF he saw a massive perplexus and realized that he NEEDED to do this work with his life. After a second win the following year, his cubic kids strategy game Squashed was picked up by PlaSmart turning Nick&#39;s hobby into a profession.<br /> <br /> But board games wasn&#39;t his only vector. He started a business in high school running Amazing Race parties in the neighborhood and Survivors in the backyard. He took things to the next level in his Freshman year at USC when he scored a job on Survivor by walking up to Mark Burnett cold. He built, painted, and tested the challenges on the hit TV show, and eventually got one of his own designs to debut on the show that same year.</p> <p>He&#39;s been working at Spin Master for 5 years since graduation as the Incubation and New Business Specialist. He&#39;s won several awards including the Young Innovator of the Year and the Rising Star of the Year. He&#39;s been featured in books, magazines, news programs, and classrooms around the nation. He&#39;s been named one of the 100 most influential individuals in the industry 2 years in a row and hopes to use that influence to make the world a more fun place by bringing games and smiles to families around the globe!</p>