How YouTube helped turn this former Michigan pastor into a video game developer - MLive.com

[Bob Johnson | Bob_Johnson@mlive.com]

SAGINAW, MI – In a career journey that feels more like a plot twist than a résumé, Jeremy Sheppard, a former associate pastor and massage therapist by trade, spent a decade in marketing before discovering his newest calling: video game developer.

The unlikely spark was his YouTube channel, where sermons were replaced with strategy guides and digital storytelling became his pulpit.

What started as a side hobby has since transformed into a thriving career, showing that faith, creativity, and a bit of algorithmic magic can lead to a dream job.

“God did it for me,” Sheppard said. “I have limits; God doesn’t.”

From massage tables to game controllers

Sheppard, a married father of three daughters, unknowingly began his journey into video game development long before he officially entered the field.

After training as a massage therapist, Sheppard struggled to find work and eventually landed a job at a call center. It was there he asked a question that would change his trajectory.

“I asked someone, ‘Where do I make the real money?’” Sheppard said. “They told me, ‘In marketing.’ So that’s how I got into marketing.”

His path took several twists and turns, including roles as an associate pastor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a logistics broker, before he landed at Steel City Interactive, a video game development company based in Sheffield, England.

But it was the years he spent as a video game influencer on YouTube and other social media platforms that opened the door to his current role.

Jeremy Sheppard poses for a photograph in Saginaw, Mich. on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. Sheppard is a video game developer who helped create the game Undisputed. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com



Building an online paper trail

Sheppard joined Steel City Interactive as a community manager and gradually started collaborating with the development team. On Oct. 11, the company released Undisputed, a boxing game now available on all major gaming platforms, including PC and mobile.

“As I was learning, I kept asking where they needed help,” Sheppard said. His willingness to jump in led to opportunities to contribute directly to the game’s development.

“It’s insane to see my name in the credits at the end of a game,” he said.

Sheppard’s love for video games stretches back to his childhood. “I came out of the womb with a controller, it felt like,” he joked.

Over the years, his presence on social media created an online paper trail connecting him with key gaming community players.

When someone he knew through online gaming posted a job opening at Steel City Interactive, Sheppard reached out.

“He told me how to apply and gave me a reference,” Sheppard said. The rest is history.

Steel City Interactive, founded in January 2020 by brothers Ash, Asif, and Asad Habib in Sheffield, England, released Undisputed as its first game. It’s the first boxing video game in over a decade, according to Alison Beasley, the company’s spokesperson.

A dream job with real challenges

Though Sheppard has found his dream job, it comes with its own set of challenges. Working from his basement office in Saginaw, Michigan, he navigates a five-hour time difference with his UK-based employer. His late-night sessions often involve testing games—work that isn’t always as fun as it sounds.

“A dream job is still a job,” Sheppard said.

The role, however, has allowed him to support his family. His wife, Jessica, a stay-at-home mom, admits she was initially skeptical about his unconventional career path.

“I didn’t like it at first,” she said. “I think it’s cool now. We are taken care of.”

Faith, family and perseverance

Sheppard’s journey from sermons to strategy guides is a testament to faith, perseverance, and the power of building connections in the digital age.

Whether leading a congregation, working the phones at a call center, or developing a boxing video game, Sheppard has proven that sometimes the least conventional paths lead to the most fulfilling destinations.

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