Jessa Carlson usually starts her workday by taking a stroll in the blocks surrounding her 200-year-old Faubourg Marigny home.

When she heads upstairs for her first video conference of the day, she may have to step over the fabric for the "Under the Sea"-themed costume she's making for next year's Mardi Gras. Then she gets to work building a world that's as about as far removed from historic downtown New Orleans as you can get.

As a studio head of High Voltage Software, a Chicago-based video game maker with a New Orleans satellite office, Carlson leads a team of designers, artists and computer programmers helping to build Fortnite, one of the world's most successful video games. Since its 2017 release, the multiplayer platform has earned billions of dollars and has partnered with Disney,

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