Casino Enterprise Management

Candace Lucas

Executive Director of Marketing
WMS Gaming

Candace Lucas has a varied background, and though her time in gaming has been relatively short—5 years—her passion is big and accomplishments many.

Lucas joined WMS in 2006, coming from industrial distributor W.W. Grainger, where she served as group director of marketing and information analysis. She also worked for a utilities marketing consulting company, Enable LLC, as well as stints in oil and gas and electric utilities. “All of those experiences allowed me to enhance my marketing skills, my analytical skills and my desire to not only understand what our customers want and expect from us, but how best to communicate what we have to offer to those who would be our key stakeholders,” Lucas said. Which obviously was a valuable skill she brought with her coming to slot machine giant WMS.

When she started, Lucas didn’t know much about the gaming industry. But she did her homework to learn the history of the industry and of the company, figuring out how she could leverage her skills and experience for it. 

What intrigued Lucas was the initial discussion about product strategy, understanding what players’ expectations were and how to leverage them to make the types of games in a way that would be enjoyable. But she says what really sold her on this gig was speaking with Brian Gamache, WMS’ chairman and CEO, and Orrin Edidin, president. “Brian just oozed passion,” Lucas recalled. “It really was contagious for me. After spending time with them, learning about what they wanted to do for the company and how this was going to influence the gaming industry, I got pretty excited about it.”

One of Lucas’ proudest accomplishments is the Active Gambler Profile (which you can also find in this magazine). “The bylines were really important to me as I started to better understand the active player preferences and the changing player dynamics,” Lucas explained. “As this industry is maturing, I’m beginning to see the expectations of players evolving in a very rapid way, so the launch of that was a huge opportunity for us.” These bylines examine why people are playing, how they are playing, what their expectations are today and how technology impacts all of it, also answering the question of how to develop a compelling reason for tomorrow’s players to become players today.

Lucas says other industries are ahead of the gaming industry in terms of leveraging an online presence and social media, but she ensured that WMS got on that bandwagon as soon as possible. And it’s not just Lucas who credits this as a great accomplishment. Laurie Lasseter, senior vice president of engineering and CTO at WMS, says this about Lucas: “It is not a coincidence that WMS’ stature within the gaming industry has grown as Candace assumed these new responsibilities. Under Candace’s direction, WMS has built a comprehensive, player-driven process of research and innovation that has placed the company at the forefront of new product development. WMS’ position as a thought leader within the industry is due in no small part, to the initiatives Candace has led.”

Though I found Lucas’ professional life extremely interesting, her personal life enchanted me just as much. Lucas now lives in Chicago, where she grew up as “just a kid always looking for an answer.” At age 18, she moved away, going on to live in various parts of the country—including Maryland, the District of Columbia, Tennessee, Michigan and Colorado—having many adventures. “My dad used to say, ‘You took the long way home,’” Lucas remembered. “I made a lot of stops before moving back to the Chicago area.”

She has several siblings and a dog, a west highland terrier named Joy, who she found while visiting family in Germany. “I literally brought my dog home from Germany to Chicago,” she laughed. “Why I had to go all the way over to Germany to find the dog I fell in love with, I don’t know.”

Lucas was also appointed the legal guardian of her niece in 2001, who at the time was not yet in high school and is now in college. “That is one personal accomplishment I’m proud of, because sometimes life throws you a curveball and tugs on you to show up in ways you couldn’t imagine. When I look back, I know that I’m the fortunate one. Without question, my life, over the last 10 years has been incredibly, positively changed because she was a part of it.”

Lucas loves being challenged, saying that’s what motivates her. And her outlook on life is remarkable: “I don’t think that there is anything more important to me than time. I don’t want to wake up one day and realize life has passed me by. I don’t have the patience to wait until things get better; I try to make them better now. And if I have an opportunity, I’m going for it.”

Outside of work and family life, Lucas finds the time to give back, with just one of her many activities being teaching a youth group at her church. In fact, Lucas says she loves kids so much that for a while, she even wanted to be Mickey Mouse at Disney World so she could interact with and impact kids’ lives.

The opportunity Lucas hopes happens soon for her is continued growth in her career. “I very much enjoy leading marketing strategy and execution,” she said. “That is my passion and I am fortunate to have a talented team who mirrors that passion.” If not in the gaming industry, she says she’d also love to work for a non-profit, helping people.

No doubt, this outlook and drive behind Lucas is what propelled her to excel in everything she does, making marks on other lives, making differences in the companies she works for, and now being recognized as a Rising Star. AH