Gma’s Puzzle Story: 

Gma (she/her) lives in California, and is a full-time Jigsaw Puzzle Streamer on Twitch. Before shifting her attention to puzzle streaming, she was an award-winning Hairstylist, Stand-up Comedian, and Real Estate Agent. She sought out professions where she could interact with people.

Gma has been puzzling for over 50 years, starting with puzzling with her Mom, and now continuing to puzzle with her children and grandchildren. She intentionally puzzles only when streaming on Twitch because she loves the company it brings. Gma keeps her energy up while streaming for hours on end by listening to music, making people laugh, and of course telling her legendary stories. Longform streaming allows her viewers in every time zone to be part of any given puzzle stream. 

Gma will be competing at the 2024 USA Jigsaw Nationals. She doesn’t think she will make it into any of the final rounds of competitions, but still sees the value in the competition practice for future events. Watch for Gma in an upcoming documentary “Puzzle People”, alongside a few other USAJPA members. As of February 2024, Gma is streaming her work on a 51,300-piece puzzle on her Twitch stream. If you want to chat about puzzles and hear (mostly) true stories with a comedic twist while she places every piece of that enormous puzzle, you will find her Twitch handle after the Q&A section!

Q&A Time:

What is your best advice for someone who wants to improve their speed puzzling abilities?

“Practice. Practice. Practice! This has worked with everything I’ve ever done.”

Are you active in the puzzle community?

“My focus is on growing the puzzle community. I motivate people to puzzle and encourage them to start puzzle streams to bring more followers and viewers to the Jigsaw Puzzle category as a whole. Skills don’t matter. Folks will watch every level! Twitch viewers are witty, comedic and supportive. I’ve found this to be helpful for those who don’t have friends or family near and for those who just want to add a layer of fun to their social life.”

What do you enjoy most about the puzzle community?

“I’m big on the ‘unity’ part of ‘community’. I love that the active members of the community always like, comment, and support each other. When someone starts a new brand or has a new release, others are actively posting and reviewing to make sure their followers know about it. We know that engagement equates to opportunities and compensation for those who stream full-time, but I believe they just genuinely like each other!”

Do you have a favorite brand, type, or style of puzzle?

“Please give me all the lines, text and colors! I love when I can lay the pieces out across my board and have all the blues with the orange tips and then the next row is half orange and half fuchsia with just a tiny bit of yellow at the tip. I’d be in heaven if it was a shaped puzzle with small random cut pieces and lines that formed a pattern on top of those layers of color. I know these are the easiest type of puzzles, but they are also the most enjoyable for me. I did however get the same satisfaction with the 5000 Colours gradient puzzle, which surprised me.”

Do you have a cherished or unforgettable puzzle-related memory?

“Thee Karen Puzzles allowed me to stream her very first unreleased 3000-piece puzzle, and she visited my Twitch channel! Before that, I had been extremely ill, and my community paid for my trip to the 2022 USA Jigsaw Nationals so I could meet Karen, talk to puzzle manufacturers, and compete in the Pairs competition. She was very friendly and took photos with me. When I got home, I emailed her about my stream and she made arrangements for me to receive that 3000-piece puzzle before Amazon started shipping them. I told Twitch about it, and they featured me on the front page for the pre-release puzzle stream! Unfortunately that morning, I had a bad fall and was hardly able to function. I went ahead with the stream, but wasn’t able to place more than a few hundred pieces. Although I couldn’t complete the puzzle in one stream, I was grateful for the opportunity from Karen and Twitch. 

Connect:

Find Gma on Twitch at Twitch.tv/ijustlovepuzzles and click on the option to get all “Go Live” notifications. 

Gma is also on Instagram and Twitter: @ijustlovepuzzles