Originally published on Trevor Trove on July 29, 2016
Time for another Trevor Trove Tribute. But this one’s a little bit different in that it’s not really pulled from my little circle of other content creators. Instead, I’m taking some time tonight to celebrate Jared Petty of IGN and, more specifically, his new venture Pockets Full of Soup.
As I’ve written about previously, I was fortunate enough to meet Jared when Sean Pitts invited me to tag along on a personal tour of IGN that Jared was providing him. A long-time fan of Jared’s work at IGN, I was elated to meet him and learn that he is even more sweet and humble than he comes across in his IGN work. He showed us around the office as we discussed our hopes and dreams of working there alongside him someday. He was so genuinely grateful to be around “some of the smartest, best people [he] knew” and I was quick to tell him just how apparent it was that he absolutely belonged in their company.
Every time I am blessed to see him when I visit San Francisco, I’m quick to ask him how he and his wife Angie are doing. For those who haven’t heard the story, they were involved in a tragic and very life-threatening accident a couple of years ago and while Jared escaped with barely a scratch, Angie was not nearly so fortunate. But she’s a fighter and has continually surprised the doctors with her resilience and recovery. Jared will always temper it with “she’s still not great, but she’s doing better” and sometimes better is all you can hope for.
If I’m ever blessed enough to work with him at IGN I fully intend to just pick his encyclopedic brain about video games and just let him talk and talk and talk about anything and everything because he always provides such a calming, warm presence. Which is especially great for his new story-telling show: Pockets Full of Soup. The show is a one-on-one, very low-key interview series where Jared asks his guest a series of questions about a person that they are thankful for. The first episode, featuring Greg Miller and his appreciation of a young Tim Grant.
As I tweeted out earlier, I’ve heard Greg tell this story many times now but it’s a powerful story in it’s own right and every time he tells it, he seems to remember a new detail that hits really close to home and leaves me having to hide my face at work so people aren’t wondering why I’m crying. Jared is an excellent story-teller in his own right but here he perfectly times when to let the guest tell the story they want to tell, as well as occasionally chime in with questions that unearth just how the guest has been affected by the person they have chosen to highlight.
I supported Jared’s Patreon page for this new venture site unseen last night because I can think of very few people who I want to see prosper more than him. I encourage you to check out the show, subscribe to his channel, and maybe lend him your support as a Patron as well, if you feel so inclined and are able.