42. Haley Shanley - NBC Sports Reporter

Originally from Minnesota, Haley Shanley is a professional on-air commentator for NBC Sports/Peacock and Race Day Live with an emphasis in professional Supercross and motocross racing.

In today's conversation, Haley dives into her time growing up and how she was introduced into the racing community, when she realized she wanted to become an on-air commentator, how she got her opportunity with Race Day Live, the hustle/grind culture, how she approaches riders with empathy, earning trust amongst the athletes, education, and so much more. 

Thank you Haley for her time to come on the podcast and share her story. Truly, what a kind human, and I hope everybody enjoys and is able to take something from her story. 

Follow Haley Shanley on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/haleyshanleytv/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I really don't enjoy doing these intras. It takes me like multiple takes to uh record one that is acceptable. So this is number three or number four, the uh on the attempts here. So hopefully this is the one that sticks. Um if you're listening to it, then I guess this was the one. Uh but welcome back to the podcast, episode 42 today with the lovely Haley Shanley. Uh you probably know her from the world of Supercross and Motocross. She is the NBC Sports Peacock Pit Reporter for Supercross Race Day Live reporter, our outdoor pro motocross pit reporter. And uh she was very kind and generous with her time to come on the podcast. Um I threw a thing up on the podcast Instagram page uh of just a wish list of guests, and was like, you know anybody out there that can help me connect some dots? Uh here's some of the people. And one of those people that I had tagged was Haley, and within a couple of minutes she replied. I think she was traveling. Um, so she replied quickly and was down, and I was actually quite shocked. Um, I don't know that we have actually ever met prior to this. Uh I think it was one of those deals when I was coming, essentially exiting the sport, she was really starting to come into it. So I don't think our paths ever actually crossed on uh Come Race Day. But I was very honestly shocked and stoked she was keen to come on and share her story, especially with not having any new episodes released in uh seven months. Even though I have a catalog of like 40 in the can that are live, it's um I don't know, out of sight, out of mind type thing. So um I was stoked that she wanted to spend the time to come on and share her story. Uh so thank you, Haley. I will say she reminds me a lot of Jenny Taft in the way that she is so damn good at her job that I could absolutely see her uh doing what Jenny Taft did, and you eventually move on to bigger and better things. Um Selfishly, I hope Haley stays in the sport for a long time because she is fantastic at her job. But if she were to move on to bigger and better things like Jenny did, can't blame her. Because Jenny was great and made sense that she kept growing in her craft, so thankful. Again, we have Haley, she does a wonderful job. Super rad chick, and hope she stays in our sport for selfishly a long time because she is damn good at her job. Um yeah. Also, I need to give a shout-out. I did it last week, uh, for episode 41, but also a big shout out to my dear friend and past guest of the podcast, Nick Evanue. Um he really in February kind of ignited my uh desire to pick the podcast up again, because I had recorded last week's episode back in November and just sat on it. And then when him and I went to dinner in February of this year, uh we were talking and he really kind of lit a fire under me to wanna dive back into the podcast and start recording new episodes. So once again a shout out to him and also a shout-out to him for helping me with some of the social stuff. Um I have no sponsors, no nothing. I lose money doing this every month, which is fine, but just very DIY, DIY, very punk rock style. It's all done literally in my dining room, audio, no videos, it's as bare bones as it can possibly be, and I'm doing all the social stuff by myself, and like it's the whole thing. Um, while working a full-time job and having a toddler, and all it's yeah, it's chaos. It's a lot. Um so I needed help, and I had an idea because this podcast is not about chasing the algorithm, it's especially this batch of episodes. I've I'm not here to chase an algorithm or to compete with others. This is purely a passion project, and something I enjoy doing for the fun of it. If it turns into something cool, but I am by no means trying to chase an algorithm or like do anything to become somebody. Um because I quite like my actual real career that I'm in. Uh but I needed help, and where I was going with that is that um I I had an idea. I I hate the Instagram grid with the way it looks with the covers for each reel, it just looks like chaos and just general shit. So I had an idea of like just using black and white portrait of each guest and like throwing their name and episode number over the image, and that way, if you're scrolling on the Instagram profile, you can find everyone's episode because it's their profile picture for each reel. Um I'm not trying to pick a cover photo to generate it again, clickbait clicks, anything like that. This is doing it how I want. Hence the trailer that I dropped for the podcast was a four-minute trailer. Again, um every other brand company would tell you that's terrible, don't do it. And uh I'm not playing by those rules because I think it's a joke. I want to make shit that I think is cool and is what I dig, so that's why I made a three and a half, four-minute long trailer for this batch episodes, because I can, and there's no one to tell me I can't do it because it's not gonna serve you and it's gonna push you down in the algorithm. Cool. Don't care. I just want to make cool shit and tell cool stories and do it how I want, not gonna play by those worlds. So that's what we're doing with these profile photos, a uh long story even longer. I asked Nick if he could help me, so all of the uh design work for these thumbnails for each Instagram reel is done by the dear friend and guest of the podcast, Nick Avenue. Thank you, Nick, much love. You're one bad dude. So thanks for taking the time out of your already chaotic schedule. Um Yeah. These intros, as normal, are long-winded and repetitive, so uh apologies. Uh but yeah, thank you again to Haley. This was a super rad episode. We uh dive into all kinds of stuff from um her time growing up and how she got into the world of journalism and sports, and how she saw Jenny Taft and Jeff Emming on television and was like, that's what I want to do. Um we dive into stuff about school and whether or not it's worth it, kind of the hustle grind culture and things not quite being as glamorous as what you see on your uh TV or phone. Um her time is so snowcross, and how she went from snowcross to supercross in Race Day Live. Um, and like gaining trust from the athletes and having to have those difficult conversations with an athlete after something has not gone well for them, and she has to go track them down and pick their brain about what had just happened. Um, and all kinds of other stuff. She's rad girl, super rad chick, super stoked she wanted to take the time to come on and share her story. Um, much appreciated. And uh yeah, I think we recorded this in February or March. Um, all these episodes were recorded. By the time you're listening to them, they were recorded months and months ago. I just like to stack up a bunch of episodes and sit on them and then have enough to cover me for a while. So I think we have about three months worth of new episodes every month or every week, every Monday. So yeah, if you're listening to these and you're like, why are they talking about the middle of Supercross season like it's just now happening? Well, that's because we recorded it during Supercross when things were still happening. So um yeah, I think that's it. If you want to support the podcast, you can uh in the show notes there's a little button support uh show, and I'm releasing I'm uploading all these episodes, and if you subscribe, I think it's like three bucks a month minimum, or you can you can subscribe and be generous and do more than three bucks. Uh but in doing so you'll get early access to the podcast episodes uh a week in advance. So that's a way to support this little DIY thing that will just go into keeping the lights on and covering some of the overhead that I have. If you want to do that, you don't have to. No pressure. Um. On Instagram at underscore the failed experiment for reels, stories, behind the scenes, randomness, all that. Uh YouTube at TFE. Uh if you're listening on Spotify or Apple, please, if you don't mind, leave a leave a review. A kind one would be sweet. Five stars. That whole thing, subscribe. Uh would be cool. Like I've said, I'm not trying to make this my full-time job, but it would be cool to organically make this little thing grow and just get in front of more people, because I do think the stories and conversations are um helpful and very insightful, especially for those chasing a freelance creative type of lifestyle. So um surely that's everything. Surely I'm forgetting stuff. Um but yeah, uh, episode 42, Haley Shanley. Welcome on the podcast anytime. Name it. When. And uh the seat is always open for you, Haley. You're super rad, stoked on what you're doing. Keep up, keep doing the good work, and oh yeah, wish list of guests. Uh pretty much the same. As I said, last week. Uh still would love Jenny Taft. Um, Adam Censorello, Justin Brayton. Man. Let's Someone out there knows these people, and they can connect the dots for me. Because I just think that would be too damn fun. Um Katie Maloney, West Borland, Tom DeLong, obviously. Uh Did I say West Borland? West Borland. Brandon Blaine, David Kenny, David Kennedy. Um there's more that I know I'm forgetting out there. But um. Yeah. You got anybody that you think would be cool on the podcast and you want to connect the dots? Let's do it. Okay, uh episode 42, Haley Shanley. Hope everyone enjoys and let's do it. Alright, sweet. Um, so I did a little bit of a quick deep dive on some of your background. Um so you originally are from Minnesota, correct? Yes. Okay, what was it uh what was it like growing up in Minnesota? In what part of Minnesota?

SPEAKER_00 11:36

It was cold. I grew up in in the Twin Cities or in Minneapolis area in the suburbs, um, kind of on the northwest side of the city for any listeners who are who are familiar. Um and yeah, my upbringing was it was great. I didn't grow up in a a motorsports family, a racing family. Um, yeah, we occasionally watched NASCAR on Sundays. Um I and it was really that that got me interested in motocross and supercross. Um and also like growing up in Minnesota too is around that time when I started to to develop an interest in in more motorsports. Um, snowcross is really big in Minnesota, and especially it was in the early to mid-2000s. So it's it's natural that I gravitated towards being a fan of that. Um and uh a lot of my friends were were heavily involved with Snowcross and and riding moto in the summer as well, and and they got me into the riding. Um, and that's like that that's really where it blossomed. Um, but then when I was in high school, I got an opportunity to work in, not work in, but take courses in broadcast journalism and storytelling and TV production. And that was where I realized that, oh, I can take my studies, something that I didn't really enjoy, not many teenagers do, and I can apply that to something I'm actually really interested in, this niche of mine. Um, so that's where the seed really started to be planted of um storytelling in my passion that is motorsports, and specifically action ports and actions wow, action sports, and even more grandiose than that, of course, motocross, super cross, and snowmobile racing. That's been the the foundation of my career. And um, yeah, and we can get into more of like my my experience and in kind of my um education path through university. Um, I'm sure we'll talk more later on this podcast, but that's really where it all began.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

What um for you, education-wise, what was that like for you? Was it something you enjoyed or not so much?

SPEAKER_00 13:43

I didn't enjoy it that much because I I was a very, I was a very average student. And and for I think for a lot of students there there's pressure on them to perform. It's the dangling the carrot of like, oh, you need to get into college, you need to follow this very traditional path. And oh, if you you know get detention, that's gonna like disqualify you from getting into school, or if you get a C, you're just gonna like it was all this pressure in in hindsight, like none of that stuff mattered. Um, but but I was a very average student, and so like when I would fall short of A's and B's, like that's not fun. Um, so there was there's always pressure on myself. And but when I got to those broadcast classes, I think the first one was I can't I think broadcast journalism might have been the first one. And that was more of it, wasn't necessarily the on camera or the TV production running a camera sort of thing. It was more of the checking out a um a camcorder. We recorded to tape, having an assignment, and we would then you'd have to, you know, have to deal with microphones, audio, um, uploading that tape into it wasn't even Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, it was. So learning the very basics of um storytelling through editing. Um and and so like once once I got there, like that's where everything changed for me. And I really do feel like, and again, not like it was a straight A student after this, but it really helped me realize that, like, okay, I am not like this is a very strong word to use, but like useless in this department. Like I am, I'm actually a smart kid. I actually have passions, and I do feel like it helped me all around in all my other courses of study that I had to do to graduate high school because it it unlocked something in me for sure. Um and I and I really do enjoy them. And for years I I kept in touch as well with with some of my teachers um from those departments, just good people because they've had uh ultimately a really big effect on my life. So yeah, it was a it was a huge unlock for me. Um not just discovering that I can make a career out of this, but um yeah, just realizing that I can uh I can I I can excel at this school thing for once.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

Yeah, that's kind of somewhat similar to my situation. I was I was not a good student. I didn't like school, it was not my thing. And then I remember like I grew up riding and racing dirt bikes, and I was always like I wanted to go pro racing for crossful the normal the normal dream for a kid that's riding dirt bikes. And I always knew like, okay, if I achieve that, I knew like I felt confident I could make a night show, but beyond that, like I was just gonna be a gate filler, and I was pretty like for better or worse, like self-aware of that. Um and I only got up to I was a intermediate kid, like a really crummy intermediate kid, but uh I was like I was really into photography and I remember seeing a photo of Billy Leninovich in Racer X in like 2003, and I was like I think that would be a cool like fallback. And then I took a photo class myself from your high school, and I was like failing my photography class because I would do the work but I wouldn't turn it in. And my photography teacher took me aside one day after class, and he's like, Hey, you're like kind of good at this and you have an eye, but I need you to turn your homework in because I'd love to have you back next year in my advanced photo class. And I was like, Oh okay. So it was like the first time ever a teacher like gave a shit, if that makes sense. And I was like, Oh, okay. So like I went from failing my photography class to bring it up to a B, got into advanced photo, and it was like that like sparked my passion, and that was like all right, I'm gonna be a photojournalist, and then that kind of my stubbornness, for better or worse, like this is what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna figure it out and quit racing in 2005 and chase that dream. And it worked out. I worked at Trans World Motocross for about a year and then transitioned that into filmmaking and did that for 16 years, so all because I'm a high school teacher, like similar to just barely getting behind school and didn't like it, and then took one teacher to be like, hey, you got something here, and then it like changed everything.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Wow, and and to think like how differently that could have gone with those that teacher's choice of words. And I one thing I always like to remind myself of is language is such a powerful thing. That teacher could have, if they didn't care, they could have been like, you know, it I don't want to say any other teacher, but I guess if they just didn't care, they could have been like, hey, like you're falling behind, turn your work in. But that wouldn't have really resonated. But instead it was like, hey, I I see something in you. In fact, I want you to keep coming back to my classes. And so just how he framed that, he or she framed that, that is uh that is such a powerful and important thing. And and I love that story. That's rad.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Yeah, no, it was it was cool. So I'm I'm very thankful. I still keep in touch with him periodically, like once a year. We'll exchange emails. And um but yeah, it's it's very thankful that that worked out how it did.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Um do you have any uh brothers, sisters or yeah, I have uh a younger brother who um and and since I've I've moved away from Minnesota, I live out of state now. And my brother lives here um in town with me. I live in Indiana, and we're we're super close. We we ride together as often as we can. Um he comes to as many races as he can too. He's a he's a huge fan. Um so whenever there's like a a Sunday morning and we have to wake up at 5 a.m. to drive up to Red Bud to do the grass race or Ved MX, he's right there with me. Um so he's kind of my my partner in crime. And I do have an older sister, she's back in Minnesota, she's uh a couple years older than I. Um, and she's got her family there, and she's just live living life rocking and rolling. Um so yeah, just just us three siblings. Okay. How'd you end up in Indiana? So that was that would have been around 2018, 2019. So my my husband's business. So um the business was live production streaming and specifically in motorsports and in order to grow that business, like things were things were good, things were cooking. Um, we had moved around a bunch. Like we he started it when we were living in South Dakota. I was still going to school. And then um we moved to Vegas for a short while for the business and eventually landed back in Minnesota for a job opportunity once I graduated. Um, and then we just decided, like, you know, this is where uh us and our employees are spending a lot of time. So might as well like move the business there. And it's you can find production staff. Um, you can you can find them in any in any city, in any market, but it really helps. And and I'm sure you would probably agree um on your side of the industry, like it really helps when those professionals have a big interest in motorsports. And it's it's certainly easier to uh find that talent in a motorsports hub like Indianapolis as compared to a place like Minnesota. Um, so we we we landed here and we we really like it. The winters are a lot less harsh than Minnesota, but I I do miss a lot many parts of Minnesota. But yeah, that's what brought us here and been here now for what is it, six six years, I think it's been. Um it's been solid.

unknown 20:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Especially for for this, like traveling so often. And I've actually been traveling frequently for work, um, I guess you could say full time for 13 years. So just being a little being staying central in the US just just helps a lot. Um I I I know some of my teammates on the SMX crew are are West Coast based or East Coast based, and um, that's helpful for certain rounds, but yeah, those travel days get so long. So being in the Midwest has has its perks, believe it or not.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yeah, no, I get that. I I did uh quite a few projects with Andrew Short over the years during his career, and he was based in Smithville, Texas, still is. And we would always like talk about whenever I could go out there to shoot, like how nice it was for him and Jackie to be like, we're literally in the middle of the country, so go west coast, go east coast, it's two hours, three hours, like it's very quick, very easy. At one point my wife and I talked about like if it made sense to do something like that. But we obviously stayed put in California and I started transitioning more into like LA Hollywood type work towards the last four or five years of my career anyways. And then it was like it was like when I was traveling for the moto stuff, I'm like, oh it's on the weekends and like my flights are being paid for and it's it's fine. I get to come home and be by the beach, so we'll we'll take it.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Yeah, California's amazing. It's beautiful. It's yeah, your your weather's fantastic, and it's always so much fun to to go to go visit out there for sure. Um where'd you go to school in terms of um college? I went to South Dakota State. I also did a few semesters um back home in Minnesota to kind of save some money and of course went through kind of a I call it a crisis. It was a not sure if I'm on the right path. So and I started out going to So South Dakota school, wow, South Dakota State, um transferred back for I think three or four semesters and went to St. Cloud State University. Um and part of that was also so I could play lacrosse. Again, I wasn't super focused on my studies. Um but once I was just kind of got back on the right path, I'm like, okay, we're gonna go back to a school that's really good for me, um, has a solid program and where I'm focused on just the job at hand, which is getting in and out, getting this degree, and on to the next part. So I had then transferred back my junior and senior year to SDSU where I graduated from.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Oh, no way. Nice. Yeah. Um what a what's kind of your first memory of dirt bikes?

SPEAKER_00 23:34

My first memory of dirt bikes, well, watching on on speed TV. Um, watching, it was uh, I'm pretty sure back then, because of course it's changed networks over the years, but watching uh Ralph Shaheen, Jeff Emig, and Aaron Bates. Um, it was that was like my those for me, they were among the the first voices of Supercross. Of course, they they weren't the first. There are um others in there synonymous with the sport, but when I was just first getting into it, they uh they narrated the races for me on Saturdays. Um cold in in Minnesota when there's when there's not much else you can do on a cold Saturday night. Uh, I'm in the house watching watching Supercross, SX on speed. Um and and then yeah, around a few a few years after that, um getting to to ride for the first time, it was a what was that? It wasn't an RM85. I want to say that was the second bike I've ever ridden. I I well I think the first one was a KX250, and this was just like around uh a cornfield, around like um the gravel roads. You know, there's plenty of uh farm country up up in Minnesota where I'm from. Um and so it was uh getting to ride, and that was actually really tricky for me because you take uh you turn a little bit too fast and you're just you're washing out right there on the gravel. That happened. Um but it was uh those those were core memories though, just uh just just saddling up and yeah, I'll I'll never forget. I'll never forget those. But yeah, watching, watching every Saturday, um, and then watching on fuel TV in the summer. Um those uh yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't wouldn't miss it. I got to and go into Millville too. Like those are those are definitely core core memories. I still have some plastics in my garage from from my first moto race in in Millville. Um I've been thankful to have gone to many Millville's over the years. Um so those are kind of the the early memories.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

That's rad. I in 2008 when I was at Trans World, I did I did every outdoor except for Millville and Hangtown, maybe? Or no, it was Millville and Red Bud I didn't do. And then in 2023, I was shooting a project for the TLD race team. It was supposed to be like this kind of drive to survive-esque type thing. And so we did I did every outdoor stuff during the week, but I finally got the check off Red Bud and Millville off my list. And Millville specifically, I remember when we got there and like walking up to the track, I was blown away about how steep everything was. It television does not even come close to doing it justice. I was like shocked.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Yes, yeah, it's it is crazy how steep it is. And that like that being the first one that I went to, and for many years only went to Millville. Um, and now having gone to to many of them on the tour, like some, you know, some of them, at least parts of them, it it is steep where there's not like a a walkway. But at Millville, when people like want a shortcut and don't want to take like the the designated walking path around, which is you know a lot easier to navigate, the shortcuts people will take where it's just like a straight up incline or a straight drop down, it is uh it it is gnarly. Um and I remember some of the man, some of the hottest days I have ever been at a racetrack, like in and totally willing, by the way, as a fan, we're at Millville. I feel like the humidity just like sits like a bowl in there, and it just can be oppressively hot and humid. But we we do it, we do it for the love of the sport.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Yeah, that's how I I feel with Southwick too. Every year that I've gone to Southwick and it just sits, you don't realize it if you've never been, but it sits in a valley and it gets same thing like that, heat just sits there, and then you you finish the moto with like in my my shoes, you gotta walk up that damn hill all the way back up to the pits, and you're like, what the hell?

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Oh man. Yeah, I can't imagine like I yeah, I know how it is, like it is a fan out there in the sun, but yeah, having to race it and then still have to walk around a fair bit, like I'm good. Yeah, I still love it though, and I will still sign myself up to uh go to some of the events I'm not working, but yeah, it's uh it's it can definitely be grueling, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

Um, who were some of your like favorite writers when you were starting to watch the sport?

SPEAKER_00 28:05

I well, Ryan Dungey, of course, Minnesota guy, but also back then, like WMX was booming still. So, like your your JPs, your Ashley Farlex, your Tara Geiger, um Vicky Golden. Um, so man, when I got to uh interview her, I want to say it was for was it Legends and Heroes last year? She was she was one of our honorees. So um, you know, I still to this day, like my heroes from back then, they're still my heroes today, but I gotta play it really cool um when I'm on camera. And it's just something of like the the WMX racers of who I just absolutely idolized. Um so yeah, of course, Ryan Dungey um was probably the biggest one. But K-Dub, um, he was when I had the option to actually, that's how nerdy I am. The option option to uh pick out my number for lacrosse in both high school, and I actually got the number opportunity to do so again in college. I picked the number 14 because of K-Dub, um, and a little bit of because of Tony Stewart too, but mostly K Dub. Um so those two guys were where I were my favorites.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Nice, very cool. What um like at what point for you did the media and journalism thing kind of pique your interest, or like what was it that you saw that you were like, oh, this looks interesting to me?

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Yeah, I think like it would it it goes back to to high school. Um, because it was very much like they they didn't sugarcoat it, like my my high school broadcast teacher and also my professors in college, and I'm glad that they didn't. They were very much like the days of working in the media and just being able to specialize in um writing or just specializing in in editing or anchoring or whatever side of of production you want to work on, the days of being able to really specialize are kind of over. And now there are exceptions to that, like, but for the most part, like if you were if you're working in video production or or live of live events, you have to have at least a passing familiarity with so many different areas of it. And so I'm I'm really glad because also being someone who has ADHD, it's like I gotta be doing something all the time. And I like I like being really busy. I like that when I am tasked with something. So, for example, when I was 15, 16 years old in these classes, it was okay. Uh, we need you to create a public service. This is the assignment, you need to create a public service announcement for um hallway courtesy of walking along the walking down the right hand side of the hallway um instead of the left, which is really funny. Um, and and they just they didn't give you many parameters, like it needs to be 30 to 60 seconds long. Here's the topic, go any way you want with it. So, of course, that you can go a humorous way with that, you can go serious, what have you. Um, but that was it. And so then, like, you were handed all the tools as well. Like, here, here are your microphones, here's a tripod, here's a camera, like you, you need to make this like as quality, and I mean like just your your audio needs to be serviceable, your visuals need to be clear, like just basics like that. They weren't expecting a you know um Emmy Award-winning piece by any means, but um that would that was that. So it was like you're having to manage all of these different moving pieces, um, sometimes solo, sometimes as a group project, but I really I don't know, I tend to really like that chaotic and environment. And I say chaotics when you're just getting started, it kind of is a lot of trial and error along the way, but um that was when I um yeah, that was that was when I decided like this is this is really cool. And I realize I've also kind of meandered from from your original question, take me back to it.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Uh just like what like first piqued your interest in going the direction that she did.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Yes. Um, so like okay, so then I've kind of bragged up just being on like how I like latched onto this and decided, okay, this is it. Um it was then what really piqued my interest was being able to then, if we needed just a segment for the daily televised news program, um, we Haley, we need you to go cover this. I would go cover sports that I don't have a strong understanding of, um, like football or baseball or you know, sports that I don't follow super closely, but you can figure it out. You figure out how to along the way ask the right questions, uh, get people to like trust and open up to you, um, coordinating interviews. Um, and if you can like and you if you can go cover something that you don't have an understanding of, and you're still able to get a message that makes sense and is informational to the audience or to um the assignment editor or whoever, like you can cover just about anything. That's a hard and stressful environment to be in. Um, so then I like I started to then figure out, well, I'm just gonna start grab if they're not gonna tell me exactly what I have to cover, which is really cool, I'm gonna start just pushing it to see what it what they'll let me get by with. So I started like covering the hockey team. I really like hockey. Um, I would cover lacrosse, of course, that's what I was super involved in. Um, and then it got to a point where, like, okay, you can check out a camera on the weekends, but now you're a junior in high school, you you were trusted with this equipment. I would check out a camera on the weekends and I would go film like my my friends at the local motocross track. Um, and I would just do like little segments on them, even if they didn't go to my high school. It was the ability to to shoot and and edit and and do interviews, and um that was that was where it really the pieces were tangible at that point. Like I can really start to put this all together. Um and then I would like uh eventually got my own camera. I would start to work with some of my friends who were racing the um 250B class in the uh district 23, and I would help write like post-race recaps that they could send out to sponsors, um, family friends, that sort of thing. I would help them with like their um, I don't even think they were having websites at this point, but anything media related for like a very amateur local racer, I would love helping them out with. And this wasn't for any sort of compensation. Like we were kids, it was something I simply had an interest in. Um, so this is like fast forward a little bit to my somewhat older teenage years. Um, that's where things are are really, really clicking um on Saturdays. I'm still watching Jenny Taft um Jeff Ag and Ralph Shaheed on the TV of like, okay, this media thing. I'm I'm sure they're they're they're telling the stories. I'm sure they had to like lay the groundwork in other areas of media to get there. I'm like, I okay, I want to do this too. Um, so it was around that time where I I really saw a very vivid path of like, here's here's what I'm gonna do. And I had to figure out, okay, what are the next steps to get me there? Um that is like go to college, start gaining experience. So I would again still take on opportunities with my friends who were racing and help them out with the media side of things and exposure. Um, taking internships and and jobs in college, even if it wasn't motorsports related, there it's not a huge motorsports presence in South Dakota, but I can work for Dactronics, who they, you know, Dactronics, they um build all and create all the like big screens that you see in a lot of stadiums. Um they, of course, they're based in Brooking, South Dakota, where I went to school, and they employed the team that ran those jumbotrons for the sporting events at school. So I'm like, okay, I can go in a control room and punch buttons for an SDSU football game or volleyball game. Um, so just like anything I could do to just get closer and closer to uh working in a broadcast setting, even if it was on the production side behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Yeah. Do you think I'm curious because I didn't I didn't go to college. I did a semester and a half and then I dropped out because Don at Transworld was like, hey, I got a full-time opportunity if you want to take it. And I was like, uh yeah. And I never looked back. Um but over the years, like throughout my career, I would have certain people reach out looking for guidance or input and what to do if they should go to school or what. And I was always my answer was always like I school you're gonna learn a a good amount, but you're not gonna you're not gonna have like an understanding of what it's like to actually have like boots on the ground, if you know what I mean. Like you gotta be kind of thrown into the deep end and learn that way. And I don't think that's something you get in a formal education. And I it with experienced people that had gone to film school, they'd gone to USC or Chapman and got their degree in film, and then they get onto a upset or a project and they are lost. They have no clue what they're doing. And it's like you just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on your education for film and you have no clue what to do. Um so it it's I see both sides of it. For you, looking back, do you think going to school was uh uh beneficial for you, or was it something that you could have perhaps bypassed and just like really thrown yourself into the deep end?

SPEAKER_00 37:45

It's a really good question you ask, and it's a really important one, and I think one that's not talked about enough. And and maybe it is, like I don't have kids, I certainly don't have teenagers. Um, and my my nieces and nephews are all younger, so it's not like they're at that point in their lives. Um yeah, I I think on one hand, it depends on the field. Like if you were going to be a a doctor and an attorney and a dentist, an astronaut, anything that that does need that, yes, it's important. I feel like for journalism, um, you know, university taught me how to learn. It it um I struggled a lot. I struggled with my studies more than I did in high school, and it wasn't for a lack of focus, it was just really hard for me. I'm not a good like test taker, um, not good at just sitting down and and studying, which is funny because I am now. That is a very big part of my job. But um, yeah, I I think on on one hand, it employers are gonna ask you, like, what can you do? It it's they're not wondering like what was your GPA in in in college? Did you have a Bachelor of Arts versus a Black Bachelor of Science? These were the decisions that crippled me in college and luckily didn't cost me that much more money because I I did for the most part stay the course. Um, but for a lot of folks who are undecided going into college or even throughout their college career, you're you're wasting money on courses that you might not need and such. And it's yeah, it is it's not getting any cheaper, it is astronomically expensive. Um, so if you can find an opportunity to like Dawn offered you, I I think that is so so cool. Um, and I've probably viewed your work more times than than you know over the years, or I even realized at the time. Um, so if you have an opportunity like that where you can gain that experience, in my opinion, experience is everything because I'm I'm I have the same view as you're like I went to school with with kids who you know they they thought like, oh, because I went to school, it's just gonna be a walk in the park. I'm gonna get placed at a job, um, which doesn't really happen, at least not in journalism um and and media. Um, you gotta go out there and earn it. So like I yeah, I I don't regret it. However, I wish I wouldn't have fallen to the the pressure of that you need to go get a four-year degree um because I think that there are other options out there at community colleges, at tech schools. And um I mean, thankfully for me, I never lost sight of the importance of getting that experience. So I was I was working throughout college um and and doing internships and um helping my husband build his business. So I was I was getting that experience in the background because ultimately that is the most important thing. So if anyone asked me, like, do you have to go to college to get to where you are? It just sent like reach out to people on LinkedIn on the internet, ask them. I I would say for me, I I don't think it's make or break. However, it has been helpful. But I did the same thing you did, um, Kyle. I'm glad you brought that up as you were like you were you're reaching out to people too, just kind of figuring out what they what they look for um in their hires. I reached out to a few people in our industry who are still at it and some like the really greats today. And they told me no, I I don't I don't require, I that's not something I look for. Above all, it is about the experience and what you can do and and how you treat people too.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Yeah, yeah, that's man, that's so on the money. The how you treat people and and how you handle being around situations with athletes, especially at a high level, like dirt bikes. Like I I was notorious, like I would have people reach out and like, hey, I'd love to like help out and learn or whatever, and be like, I would always say yes, like sure. Are you available on this day at this time? And they'd be like, Yeah, cool, meet me here and we'll do it. And I wouldn't give them any details though. Like, because I didn't want them to be saying yes because oh, we're going we're going like for an example, um, when Dungey had signed his uh deal with Geico Honda to have like part ownership in it and whatnot. Um I got hired to shoot this pretty much I think the only real project of Dunge on the Geico Honda bike and for Geico. And someone had reached out and they're like, hey, you know, would love to like help on on a project. And I was like, Cool, meet me at my house this day at this time, we'll carpool to the shoot. And I didn't say anything. We were going, it was a two-day shoot, uh, one day at Fox to like shoot Dungey's gear getting made. And then the next day was gonna be at the Yeah. Yeah, hi. You need this? There you go. Um it's off. You're right, it is off. I thought I could fool you. There you go. Um and uh yeah, it was a day at Fox and then the next day at the Geico race shop and then go in the poll to shoot dunge riding. But I didn't say a word because I wanted to see like A, are you serious? Or are you just trying to like like brag for social media that you got to go like hang out at Fox and go meet Ryan Dungeon? Because if that's the case, I'm not interested whatsoever. So I would like to play that card of like I'm not telling you what we're doing until we're there, and then to see how they like handle it. And more often than not, it would go really well, and they'd be like, holy shit, like I didn't know that's what I was doing. And I was like, Yeah, I know. Like it was by my design. Um and then like afterwards, people would be like, I you know, it was cool that my first thing was with Ryan Dungeon or with Christian Craig or or whatever, and it's like, oh yeah, because then I can see how you handle yourself around these guys, and if they like having you around, then yeah, we'll have you back out for more. Because I've I've had some people that they're it's not good. They're just like caught up in like, oh yeah, bro, like that type of thing. And like, no, that's not what this is about. Like this is a job, these are People they'd have a job. We're very lucky to be able to capture these moments. No, that it is off.

SPEAKER_02 44:10

No, it is off. No, that stays on. Um do you want to say hi? No.

unknown 44:19

No.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

I would love to say hi.

SPEAKER_00 44:24

Hello?

SPEAKER_02 44:25

This is Violet.

SPEAKER_00 44:26

Look at that smile.

SPEAKER_02 44:29

What's her name? This is Violet.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Violet, nice to meet you. I'm Haley. I don't know if she can hear me.

SPEAKER_02 44:37

She can, but she's just gonna be shy.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:41

Are you having a good day, sweetheart?

SPEAKER_01 44:43

Yeah, so far we went to Trader Joe's, got some snacks, then we went to the donut shop. Had some donuts. That's a good day. It is. Now Sean the Sheep is on television and she's just wandering around. Heck yeah. Um it's a job for these guys, it's a job for us. We're very lucky to be able to have this access. And like they can also tell us to go kick rocks at any point. And like you don't want that. So like there's to me, there's like boundaries in the line, and it was always interesting to see like some of the younger kids that were coming up that would reach out for help, like how they would navigate those boundaries. And some of them were really good at it, some of them, like I said, just kind of the social status.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

Yes. Yeah. I've I've I've experienced a little a little bit of the same because I'm I'm in the same way. Like I have I am not about to walk through a door of opportunity and slam it in the next in the face of the next generation. Like when someone reaches out to me, if they whether it's just a DM and they just want some advice or some pointers, like I'm gonna respond to those. Or the times where I've had people want to come shadow me or or what have you, like I I I really do appreciate that they wanted to reach out in the first place. And when I can make it happen, I do like to. Um, and I I never considered that that your your idea of not telling them anything beforehand, because it does kind of filter filter some people out. Um, and I I haven't well I haven't experienced a ton of people coming along with me and not, I don't say not doing a good job because they're more so there just to shadow, but um I think it's filtered out people who weren't super serious about it because let's say there was a there's a period where like let's say 10 people reached out to me over a course of a year. Like it only one person saw it through where they wanted to actually follow through and and come spend that day with me. Um it's because it's like it's not always like um it's not always the glamorous what you see on camera. It's it's the gritty like having to sit at my laptop until 2 a.m. just like getting getting things ready and having the travel hiccups and and and all the realities that that come with this job, the very hard work that that people don't see when they just see the finished product. And so like it does uh I think I think there have been a number of people, the ones who have just kind of canceled it. Like that I I don't know if they were truly serious about it. They were serious about like maybe getting to experience or see what that that finished product is like, but you can't really do that without the context of everything else that that that our jobs entail, you know?

SPEAKER_01 47:22

Yeah, that's a good point. I'm glad you brought that up too. I I hate to use the word grind because it it the whole grind culture thing irritates me, and that's a whole other subject, but I'm there with you. Yeah, there was definitely some people that I would bring along to projects and they would see like they would start on day one and like see it through with me till the very end when the thing would be live. And some of them that were actually really talented, but they were just like, Whoa, this is a lot. Like I didn't realize that this much went into making something like this. And it's like, yeah, this is what it is all the time. And also the reality is we're probably not being paid accordingly, uh and also I don't know when my next job is because I'm self-employed. So like this could be it for a month, two months, or I could like all of a sudden get an email and have like 10 things lined up and I'm missing birthdays, I'm missing anniversaries, I'm missing holidays. Like, there's a lot of stuff that like I put on the back burner because I don't really know when the next job's coming. And those people would also kind of like fizzle out, and some of it was a shame because they were really talented. They just maybe they were smart enough to see, like, oh yeah, like I don't have that in me. I need something more stable. Um but it's also like it sucks because then we're losing like those eyeballs and how they view the world with their art. Um but yeah, there's definitely people they don't, like you said, they don't realize the back end, like what it looks like. It's not just Haley on TV on Saturday on your in your living room, like it's a lot more on your end that's going into what you're doing that nobody knows about.

SPEAKER_00 49:06

Yes, exactly. There's a there's a lot of background and and that and that's okay. Like, and I don't want to paint it like it's this very grim, non-ideal situation because I I truly love it. This is what I've worked very hard for. But yeah, I just don't like I just don't want there to be any illusions. And I and I think that like, not to compare myself to a racer, but I think like I hear racers say the same thing, like this is a job, this is not easy, it's not always fun. Like I ride dirt bikes because it's recreational and it's fun and it brings me so much joy. I I have to recognize that it's not the same for them. Like maybe that spark is in there, maybe it's gone away, but it'll come back at some point in their lives. But um, yeah, it's it's definitely not uh it's not for everyone. And I I like the way you you recognize it too, of like, well, maybe these maybe these people are smart that they recognize it totally. Like this is not, especially like in the years leading up to getting to where I've wanted to be, like, it's not consistent. It's not like you're getting a a salary or you're getting paid every two weeks or every every month or what have you. You have to you have to go out there and get it. Um, and and whether that was with my my business as a freelancer or um with my broadcast work, yeah, it's uh you definitely have to hustle. And um, and I'm not sure where you were quite going with we were, I know we had you had said just briefly something about like the the hustle culture. Um I have very strong thoughts on that too, because I felt like as a as a freelancer and as someone who's building my career also and broadcast, like I needed to be hustling at all times, like 23 hours a day. And man, like I feel like I I don't say I wasted my 20s on that, but that was just like that whole decade for me and like that that all the time that I missed, all the the valuable time with my loved ones, and and how that's maybe impacted my relationships. Um I I recognize that too. So it's it's all about finding that balance because yeah, that the being forced to hustle at times just so you can you can have income next month, like that you will run into those times.

SPEAKER_01 51:12

Yeah, yeah. I um it it same. Like I got hired at Transworld when I was 21, and then I was there for a little over a year. So shortly after turning 22, I moved away from the magazine and started just I want to do filmmaking. I felt like I could tell more of a story with moving images than I could as a stills photographer. And so I was like, I I'm gonna go chase this, which it that's sustained me for 16 years, but like the same, like all of my 20s. I'm I'm 39 now, but I mean most of my 30s too, just like putting that before everything else. Like I lost I literally lost friends and my wife and I have been together pretty much this whole time, but like there was moments when we were dating where she was like we would break up and get invites because she like I'm not gonna be there for your birthday or for whatever holiday or whatever it may be. Because I'm gonna go do this to make at the time, you know, I don't know, five hundred bucks, but it's like, well, that's five hundred bucks and an opportunity to get my face in front of this client that maybe that turns into something more long term, better money. Um and then even like 2023 was my last year, and then I stepped away. I did our daughter was born in May, uh like two days before the Paula National. I like a week before had been hired by TLD to do this docuseries with the race team and go to all the outdoors, so like I missed Paula and then five days later I was on an airplane for Hangtown, did every outdoor shoots during the week. I was essentially gone for like four months of my daughter's life, like barely home, and my wife's basically like a single mom. And then November of 2023, TLD was going through like a bunch of financial stuff, and the whole project just got shit-canned. They were like, No, we're not doing it anymore. And I just pretty much got left out to dry in like a two-minute phone call. It was very quick, very cold, very callous, in my opinion. No thank yous, no anything. Um and it really when that happened, it really was like cemented, like I've done this. I started chasing it in 2003, essentially. So kind of like a 20-year span, 16 years of it full time, 17 years. I'm good. Like I just got slapped around, I feel like. Like I just missed all this chunk of time with my kid. Like, I can't keep sacrificing this stuff. So I I sold all my camera stuff, and I got a job at Trader Joe's, and I've been there for over two years now, and like I love it. I have health insurance, I have a steady paycheck, I have a retirement, like I'm very, very happy. People still try to hire me to like come hop on stuff, and I'm like, no, I'm cool. I did it for so long, like I got what I wanted out of it. I'm still a fan of the sport, but like I can't I can't do that anymore. That grind, the sacrifice. I I I'm cool. I'm glad you want to you you are flattered that you want to like hire me for some, but like no.

SPEAKER_00 54:31

Dude, good for you. It sounds like you've just found a peace. And there's so many people who just are searching for that, or they're not searching for it because they don't know that it's possible. Uh, it seems like you found it, and that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 54:45

Yeah, it was it was very scary, like kind of realizing like I didn't want to do it anymore, and then like applying for a real job. It was almost an aspect of it that was kind of embarrassing. Like, I've I I'm I'm failing, but I was like, no, I know that's not the case. Like I just I'm good, I've accomplished so much, and kind of stick checked off all the boxes of what I wanted to do. Like I need to I need something stable. Like I want to be able to clock out and go home, and I don't have to worry about emails or text messages at midnight. Hey, we uh updated the logo. Can you swap out the logo and we need it done right now so it can go live at at 8 a.m. the next day? Like you know how it is, and it's I'm just I'm good.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

Those fire drills that like, or like heaven forbid, like there's like a typo or something that slips through and it doesn't get caught until the launch or it gets posted or whatever, and then it's just a fire drill, and and everyone's I would deal with the stress of like, oh, everyone's mad at me. Yeah those are personal problems from the past, um, which is you know, not always I I've learned to be better about like the people pleasing side, but yeah, those that stress that you can never just you can never I don't want to say sleep soundly, but you're always kind of on call. That's that's heavy.

SPEAKER_01 56:08

Yeah, yeah. Um for you, what was there like a moment where things started to click for you and you're like, oh, I think I'm like I'm getting somewhere with this?

SPEAKER_00 56:26

Yeah. Um it had to kind of go the the dream kind of had to fizzle out first. Um so I, you know, we we talked about how I this is this is what I've wanted to do. I've wanted to go work in broadcast doing what I am now, but um this was trying to think. I okay, so like during during college, I my husband were building his business, I got heavily involved on the production side, in in producing, in running, and being a very small production team. It was often one producer and one camera operator. So that producer is handling your your soundboard, your switching, your graphics, um videotape, replays, everything like that. Um, and it and I learned a lot about it. Um and I had worked some various roles prior to that in in live production, of course, like I mentioned. But um I I started to really grow in that space and I really liked it. Um outside of that, I mentioned my my freelance business. I was doing um freelance videography and social media content. And I would like I was I don't consider myself a photographer, but very novicely, if they would need some quick photos for like social or or for um a graphic we're working on, like I would, I'd be happy to stop out and um and take care of that for them. My clients were were all motorsports base and most of them local to like the Minneapolis area. Um I was becoming really happy with that. Um, and I think part of this is like you want the instant gratification of like, okay, I'm I don't I don't have any immediate opportunity lined up that could get me closer to where I want to be. Um so you start to like almost like lose lose faith a little bit. Um, but also this other side of my career that I didn't know that I would really latch on to is starting to really grow and and I'm really enjoying it there. And along the way, I became very content with that. And there's nothing wrong with this. It was that like I could, I think I could make a career out of this side of broadcasting media and be perfectly happy. Maybe it would be more stability than what it is I'm going for in the first place. So I just like gravitated towards that um with my freelance business. And it was in 2017, actually, um, and someone who I had worked with um occasionally with my freelance clients leading up to that, um it was the president of Snowcross, um, Hamsville Championship Snowcross. He reached out to me about doing social media and some PR for them. I'm like, sure, why not? Um, and so at this point, like, no, no real intentions of doing anything like reporting-wise, broadcast-wise. Um, that was the year. So my my br my teammate today, Katie Osborne, who I've worked with on and off for many years, pretty much dating back to 2017. Um, she was our reporter at the time. And she were getting ready to go to the pits um with her, our shooter Ted, um who's also one of our shooter producers. Um, and I would tag along because as I was just getting involved on the professional side, it was important that I be meeting folks. Um, and uh I would also just kind of help out with some storylines. And they'd be like, Okay, well, we need to shoot us uh an interview segment. It's sponsored by Art at Cat. Like, let's put our brains together, see what we can come up with. And so I would occasionally throw out a story. And so, like, Katie or Ted would would pursue that. Um, and so one day we're on our way out to the pits, and um, this requires like going from the trailer, it's warm in there, you don't have your snowsuit on, we gotta get all geared up. Katie's like, okay, just one second. Um, will you hold this? I'm just gonna go use a ladies' room. And she hands me um her mic, notebook, and and jacket or whatever. And I looked at Ted and I'm like, this microphone, I'm holding it, the CBS mic. This is surreal, boys wanted to do this. And it wasn't even doing an interview, I was just literally holding this mic that was off. And he's like, Really? I had no idea. Um, well, I could use some help, like creating content because Katie has to like shift gears and then focus on the broadcast at the night show. And I'm like, cool, put me in, coach. And so we did, and it was like they were just very basic, quick on-the-fly interviews with racers in the pits. And um he really liked them. They got what they needed for our sponsor and content obligations, and so he's like, Well, we're just gonna give these to the TV truck, and if they use them, cool. If they don't, they don't. They played the crap out of him, and they are the president and actually the owner of the series too. They saw it and they're like, These are really good. Can you do more? So they started just like handing me stuff, stuff that they didn't that didn't necessarily need to, they didn't really need to trouble Katie with, just so she could focus on the on the broadcast job. I'm like, sure, bring it on all day. So for a few years there, I was doing um content, even if it wasn't live, I was doing some reporting for them. So that was where it like I had to where it clicked for me, but I like I said, it had to, it kind of went away first. So it like re-clicked with me around 2017. The like, okay, now that I'm getting some seat time. In fact, this is the first entity to ever take a chance on me and hand me a mic and give me an opportunity, and I just like I I leaned into that. Um, and I'd been leaning in from uh from from that day on.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:48

I think that's that's so cool. Like, what a a rad moment that she steps away for a minute and hands you the microphone and the notebook and everything, and you're just like yeah, this is this is what I've been after, and like the right person sees and hears that at the right time. Like that's so cool. And I feel like that's so much of like what this world is, is like right place, right time with the right person or group of people to like see or hear something and be like, wait, what? And then it can just go from there.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Yeah, absolutely. And and like just to just to credit her too, like she's she's awesome, she's always been awesome. Um, I've I I'd say one of my my my biggest like allies in the sport. Um and but yeah, it was just the the being being trusted to like to do something like this, being in the right place at the right time. And again, it's it it's it's the combination of like what can you do? Um sometimes it's who you know, where you're at, and in the rooms that you're in. Um, and and back to previously in our conversation, like it at no point in there was anyone like, well, it was Ted like, hold on, wait, I'm gonna need to see that diploma. Like, it's more of like, what can you do? Um, what can you do for this organization? Um, what can you do for this sport to make it better? Um, and yeah, it just happened to the pieces happened to align in that moment.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:18

Yeah. So where did it from that moment on, like kind of where did things go for you?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:25

Well, I I I've stuck with Snowcross for for a long time. So when I officially started with them in the winter of 2017-2018, um, I kept with that. That role evolved. I started doing their like their daytime broadcast, which is the amateur portion of the show. So I would go do the podiums for that. Um, and then that in just a few short years, they I was doing a lot of content for them at this time too. Um, I think it was 20 2020. Um, our our analyst uh at the time, um, Mike Schroeder, who is like one of the legendary voices of Snow Cross. He he he was older, he'd been doing it for a very long time. I I can't remember what specifically it was, but it was something health related where um he couldn't he couldn't fly. Um and so um as an emergency, they needed to put someone in there and only had less than a week's notice to do it. And so they called me and they're like, you know the sport in and out. Um and similar to Mike, I wouldn't be an analyst in the seat of a former racer. It was analysts from the position of like the historian stat person, um, being able to add that context to the, you know, how and what's the significance to to our viewers, to what they're seeing on camera. Um, so they put me in, and the first weekend, it was a lot less scary than I thought, but still very scary because to this point I had only had experience doing reporting. And I say the term like reporting lightly because anything I had done in the pits, it was all pre-recorded, it wasn't live. And anything I had done live was simply podium interviews. It wasn't going to seek out a story and to um, you know, give a a stand-up hit or open up a or close a broadcast. Um, they threw me in there. Boy, did they ever, and it was a lot of fun. And I it was also helps that I'm working with a play-by-play, Paul Small is his name, who is very good at what he does. He'd been doing it for a long time. So he would just like he'd carry the show, he would tee me up, ask me questions, and we just like had a good, really good chemistry. Um, and then the next year, I I think there was a scheduling conflict, so they moved me over to play by play after one year of doing um being in the booth is is somewhat of a um color commentator. They moved me over to play by play. Um, and then that's when they brought in um a gentleman named Robbie Malinowski, and he was he's a three time champion, Ryder Melanoski's father, actually, um SMX next raiders. Racers and so he was my uh color analyst for for a few years, and so I I love Robbie to death. Um, so I got to the opportunity to work in the booth ultimately until 2024 when I wasn't able to continue because at that point it was time where I I was had to make a decision. I knew I had to make a decision of am I going to go all in with super cross? Um, or am I going to continue to try and manage both? And ultimately, like for career growth, I had to go one way or the other. And I it pains me to have walked away from Snowcross in in that role. Um, but ultimately, like, I'm I'm here now because of that decision. So um that's where uh that's kind of how that role developed over the years, and so I so short story long, I stuck with Snowcross as long as I possibly could. But also I was taking opportunities and like live MCing at the one of my clients who's a racetrack in Minnesota. They had anything from monster trucks to concerts, what have you, it's like a live MC, I would I would go help them out on the mic. I would also, a lot of the producing I was doing at that time was for dirt track racing. I really like sprint cars and open wheel like midget cars. And so I would take opportunities to go do reporting and dirt track racing. Um, so those were kind of the early opportunities that I got in in motorsports and I have taken on um other series and like short course off-road racing is a big one I've been a part of for seven, eight years now. Um, but that's kind of the the early beginnings of my my four serious to this day uh broadcast career.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:38

How did um the opportunity with Supercross present itself to you?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:45

Yeah, so the my one of my bosses, um, she I didn't know her previously. I actually did not have any contacts within the series. They had seen my work. And so they reached out to me. The only way you really, the the only easiest way you can um without having a direct contact them was through social media. Um, and this was in 2020, that would have been in like fall 2021, so just before the 2022 season. And it at that point, I had already committed to another season in the booth with Snowcross. And so I but I still I I wasn't gonna tell them no, like you crazy. So I I kept the conversation going with them. I I interviewed slash I kind of auditioned for it, mostly interviewed with them. Um, and and I ended up not making the cut. They went another direction that year with someone who's fabulous, and we kept in contact, however, though, um, because in 2023 the position was open. And so they they circled back and asked if I would want to interview again for it. And that's when I knew, like, okay, I and again, this was happening in like November that following year. I had already committed again to Snowcross because I didn't know they were gonna come back to me. What are the chances of that? So I had said yes, I I I did get the opportunity. And I said, because of the timeline, I want to honor my commitment to Snowcross. It's seven, seven or six, six or seven weekends, I think, um, that would have conflicted with it with Supercross. I said, would you be willing to support me for those races that I can't be there? And they said, Yes, we'll take you. Whatever the availability is, we got you. And so like, this is so cool. This is a dream situation. I get to have the best of both worlds. Um, but then like I mentioned, 2024 came around and I knew like they're I don't know for how much longer they're gonna be cool with that. I knew Snowcross was fine with it because I was I was still doing all the events, I was given 100% effort both ways. So that part wasn't an issue, but I I needed, I felt like I I gotta go all in with them. They they really took care of me that first year in in support of me when I couldn't be there for all the rounds, and so I want to give that back to them and also like this is someone I've always wanted to be. And so um, since 2024, I've been full-time with them. This last year in 2025, I got to do most of the outdoors between the TV broadcast and the live PA announcing and press conferences. Um, but and then in addition, I'll still do off-road trucks throughout the summer too. So um that's where that was kind of that turning point, if you will, of deciding. And no one forced me to either. No one was like, hey, Haley, you're not gonna have a job at Supercross here if you don't like give us all of them. That was just me kind of kind of reading the room, but also anticipating like I'd I need to be up front with Snowcross about my my intention here. They totally respect my decision. I still work with them today, just some not I'm just not announcing for them, um, which is a dream scenario. I'm very thankful for them. And and I'm thankful to uh Supercross for for sticking with me and and supporting me for for these last few years.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:08

What what was uh that experience like when you finally jump on board with Supercross and doing what you're doing, being on the floor, like what was it surreal, kind of like how did I get here type thing, or was it a like what was that transition like for you?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:30

Yeah, like my first year in 23.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:34

It was yeah, it was surreal. Um, because I had been to so many supercross races. Um fortunately, I had been to so many, just like I'd we love Supercross so much in this house that we will try we'd traveled to uh I went to Tampa with one of my my best girlfriends. I'd been to um Anaheim 2 to San Diego, of course, to the Metrodome and US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. So I'd been to a bunch of them. I even got the opportunity to do one of the VIP track walks in um Minneapolis because a friend of mine handed me his credential. Sweet. So I'd been on the floor before, I'd been to so many races, but even still, that doesn't prepare you for when you are down there on the floor at the podium and you have that mic in your hand, and you are like getting to do something that you've been just the geekiest fan of for a very long time. Um, so yeah, there was there's maybe some some jitters there, but um on the other hand, too, it felt very right. Like you've been a fan of this for so long, like you've been so immersed on it on a on a hardcore fan level. It wasn't like I was going to um, you know, um a football game for my um high school televised news. It's not like I didn't know anything about it. Like on one hand, there was kind of an at-home feeling. This feels right. Um, I'm, you know, getting, I'll have an interview with Eli Tomac in 15 minutes. Well, his it's not like, yes, there is like a uh I don't want to say a nervousness, but like um starstruck feeling on on one hand, but that fades quickly because this is a face and a voice I've been used to hearing for a very long time, just through through a TV screen. So I already know about this individual. Um, so it in one ways it was very surreal, even still to this day. I do have to pinch myself sometimes because I I haven't lost sight of the fact how rad this is. Um, but on the other hand, it like it feels feels very right.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:37

Yeah. In I think it was 2019. So I was I grew up, I told this story a bit on the podcast. I'm sure people are tired of hearing it, but bear with me. Um I was a I grew up big Blink 182 fan, like massive Blink 182 fan. And um still am to this day. And Tom DeLong from Blink, I was like it was weird. We had like I knew people that knew people that knew him, and like vice versa, so it was like kind of like orbiting around each other's worlds over the years. It was like very weird how like certain people knew like it kept the dots connected. And in 2019, um I got hit up by Meta, which then turned into Vana. Um they were doing a project with Tom, uh like a story in the magazine or book about his passion for riding motorcycles, and they were gonna do a video component to it, and they wanted me to shoot the video component. I was literally like, okay, that's cool, let me know. But I was like, There's no way. There is no way in hell that like the dude from Blink 182 is gonna have any interest in talking to any of us in our small little world about motorcycles or anything like that. It's not gonna happen. So I just I like kind of brushed it off because like there's no way. And then maybe a month goes by, hey, we have a date locked in, it's gonna be this day. Are you available? And I'm like, Yeah, but I'm still not buying it. And then the date gets pushed back, and then like I think we had to reschedule like two or three times, and then I think it was the third time was locked in for January 2019, but up here's the date, and I was like, Okay. And I still wasn't buying it until like the day before. And I was like, Oh shit, like okay, this is actually happening. And then driving down to San Diego and like my wife, like all my friends are like, Are you gonna be okay? Like, how are you gonna do this? Because like this is like my guy. And I'm like, I it's I understand, but it's also like the same thing with like kind of what you were saying, like Eli Tomac, or like just any of these guys uh in the sport that we've worked with, like you have insane respect for what they do, and yeah, we see them on the TV every weekend, but I have always been fortunate or whatever to be able to separate that. So like once we're there, like in the moment, it's like okay, like I have a job to do, I can separate those two things. So it was kind of the same thing with Tom. Like, I remember we it was weird. Like, we drove to his house and I'm like in his driveway, and I'm like, what the fuck? Like, how this is not real life. Yeah, and then he comes out of his front door, and I'm like, remember I remember I took a couple like deep breaths, I'm like, okay, here we go. And then just like locked in for the we I think we had him for six and a half hours, just locked in. And he was so cool, so humble, like you'd have no idea he does what he does, like just a normal dude. And I remember at the end of the day we exchanged phone numbers because like we took a couple photos together, and I was like, Hey, is there any way I could get the photos? And he's like, Yeah, dude, just give me your number, I'll text him to you right now. And I was like, Holy shit. I was like, Okay. And then I remember getting in my car and just like screaming, like finally being able to like breathe and just like let it out. And I was like, Oh my god. But it's like you know how to like once you're in those moments, you can separate it to get your job done. And then yeah, that was for me, like still sometimes I'm like, I don't know how that happened, like that was so weird.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:19

Yeah, it it's that is that is such a cool story. I I feel like I've I've experienced a bit of the same, and even if it's not like the excitement that you have to stow away and car compartmentalize, it's like other things, like when the job requires it. It's I've surprised myself over the years with my ability to just shut it out, the blinders come on, and you are so focused. And yeah, maybe when that when that broadcast ends or the job ends and you're back at your hotel, yeah, maybe the emotions come out, but like it's um it's funny. Some of the things like you know, and I'm sure you've maybe experienced too when it comes to um it doing an interview. Like someone gets into like a really deep, deep topic, and you can't be too emotionally invested, but at the same time, like you're a human, like what they're saying is resonating with you, but you kind of just have to be the middleman, you have to be somewhat neutral um and and get the job done and get the story done, but like, yeah, afterwards, like sometimes that all that stuff then does come out for better or worse, and it's so it's it's cool to hear you talk about the same experience.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:24

Yeah, do you uh you mentioned earlier but talking about like like having trust with the athletes that you're working with, and I feel like that's a big thing, especially in the world of dirt bikes. Like I feel like these guys are pretty good about knowing who they can trust to like kind of for lack of a better term, be vulnerable with and and who they can't. And for me, like what I did in 2015 and 2016, I did this self-funded docuseries called Spectrum, and it was these like half-hour long episodes, and they were like very in-depth. Like, my whole goal was to share like my idea was we know who they are on the motorcycle, but who are they off the motorcycle? Like, who are they as a human being? And so they would be these like 90 minute, two-hour long interviews that we would do when we would finish, and they'd be like, Man, I feel like I just went through like a therapy session. And over time in doing those, I learned that like, oh, these guys like they trust me and they don't see me as like a media guy that's just trying to get a headline to like you know, for reviews or whatever, like I'm uh trying to like very authentically share their story. Um and I think part of that comes from in what you do or what I used to do is like being vulnerable to some aspect, like you gotta you gotta give some to get some, if that makes sense. So for you, like how do you what's your approach with these guys to like make sure that they trust you and you they know that you're not there to like just drag their name through the mud?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:06

Yeah, it's it's another another good question. It it's something that I'm always working at, and I am I'm not super close best buddies with any one of the racers, and and that's intentional. Like I'm I'm there to be a professional. It's not to say that I like can't or it's forbidden. I just like to I like to maintain that neutrality. I'm I'm big on boundaries, like I just don't I don't need to have that to be good at my job and to have rapport with with these athletes. And and so like even you can still have uh a good level of trust and respect um with with these subjects with without without having that. Um and it's no matter what, it's a it's a continuous thing. Um, one thing I've experienced with with the racers is they they have a lot going on. They're trying to to race, they're trying to manage their brand, they have a team around them who's you know trying to advise them in the best way possible, they're trying to manage who's in their corner. It's a lot. And so, like, if they don't like a narrative that the media is is is saying about them, it's hard for them sometimes to pinpoint, or they they don't even like it, it doesn't matter who said it, they'll I'm not saying all these on all the athletes and interview subjects do this, but they will group all media as one. And and you know, I I I don't think that in our sport, and I'll speak for those who are credentialed media members, I think there are a lot, there's so many great podcasts in our sport. Um for the most part, like no one's trying to do anything that's that's super damaging. Um, you know, someone may have an opinion on something that a racer doesn't like. That's that that's gonna happen. Um, but it's there, it's it is frustrating when a racer will become more reserved with me, but it's not just me, it's all media. Um I can only control what I can control, and that is to just do good by them. Like I am trusted by my employer. I I'd like to be trusted by our audience. I I'm always working towards that too. Um, I'm trusted to tell these stories being objective and honestly and ethically. That involves also earning the racers trust. If they tell me something that is uh off the record, number one, like that is a that can get you into big legal trouble as a journalist if you were to then go spill that information. So you're certainly not gonna do that. Um, if you sense that like they tell you something that just doesn't sit right with you, that like, oh boy, if I went and quoted this individual on camera, I recognize that this could make them look really bad or this could put them in hot water. I have the ethical responsibility to filter that in a way. And I'm not saying change the story or put words in their mouth. Um, and that's where my job is in ways a bit different than than other media as the broadcast team and as someone who's employed by the the racing series. Like we're there to make the racers look good. We're there to tell stories, we are there to be objective, um, but I'm not going to do something that is, I'm not going to expose someone's uh, I don't know, private life. Now it's like they that's not like they confide in me with that, you know what I mean? But I know what the boundaries are. And for me, it's what information does how does it affect the racing? What does the audience need to know that could affect the racing ultimately? And if I if I stick to that generally, that's I'm doing my job. I think the racers respect that. I think like I'm not in a position either where I have to I have to provide too many opinions because I'm not an analyst. I'm there to ask the questions and to get information. It's not always my job to analyze that. Um sometimes it is, um, but sometimes it's not. So that that right there, like it, it's you know, they they don't always have a a lot of material to to get upset with me with or to not trust me. So I I just try to to do right by them, to read the room, knowing when someone doesn't want to be approached, like reading their body language, um, reading like when I do go strike up a conversation, if I if I can sense that, yeah, it's just not a good time, they don't want to be in this right now. If I am to like ignore that, uh they're not gonna want to talk to me, and they're certainly not gonna want to be vulnerable with me. So you have to just really read people, read the room, and just try to do right by by everyone. Um, that's that that's the recipe that I try to stick with. Um, and and like I said, it's it's an ongoing thing. I I certainly don't automatically have the trust and and respect from the people that I interview. You do have to earn that, and you certainly have to maintain it over time. So just some of these athletes are a little bit easier to break through than others when it comes to getting them to to loosen up and and and give me some material or give our give our viewers a good story.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:03

Yeah. Reading the room is a uh a big one. I there's a friend of mine, Nathan, that he filmed, he's still filming in the dirt bike industry. He's doing stuff for Le Big right now. And he's younger, he's kind of been like a bit of like I've been mentoring him for quite a few years, and even though I'm out of it now, he still like hits me up and I'll be like, hey, here's what I would do in this situation or handle this or whatnot. And so these last few rounds, he's been doing these videos, shadowing, I think he shadowed Jason Anderson, he shadowed Sexton at A1 for LeBig, and he was asking me, like, hey, how like here's kind of the parameters, how should I go about this? And one of the things we talked about was like you gotta read the room with these guys. Like if there's drama going on, be on the other side of the tent. And if you think it's gonna be okay to capture it, like be on a long lens. So you're just sniping and they don't even need to know that you're there because I have seen a lot of people they'll shoot on like wider lenses and they're just they're just in the grill. And I did a lot of work on Red Bull Motospy over the years, and that was somewhat sometimes something I think we did, not me, but other people that would shoot where we would just kind of be in it and I'm like if we stand further back, you long lens it, you we're out of their way, they don't even know we're there, it's gonna be more authentic, you're gonna avoid them potentially getting pissed off at us or whatever it may be. Um and just reading the room. And so I was telling Nathan that, like, long lens it, read the room, like if it feels right, go for it. But like you don't need to be in their grill, and you can I would always do Amber Barcia and Justin can attest to this because I work with them a lot over the years. And this my approach would be like if there was something going on, I would just be on the other side of the tent with a long long lens, and then I would very slowly creep up because I could read that the situation like Justin's calming down or whatever it may be, like it's getting a little less tense. So I would just like very slowly every handful of minutes kind of creep up to get closer and closer. Also, so I would have just kind of different angles because I'm usually just one person like doing everything by myself. So how do I make it look more dynamic and not just one camera? Um even though it is. So I would always approach it that way, and it seemed to work more often than not. There was one time at Unadilla in 2023 where I did that, and Justin, it's on camera, he told me to go fuck off. And it was it was it was comical though. Like I felt really bad because I thought I was in like a safe enough distance. And he was like literally like told me to go fuck off, and then uh because yeah, it was Red Bull or Red Unadold. Adilla 2023, his first race back, he crashed in the first turn, DNF'd, and it was in between motos. And then before the second moto, he comes up to me and gives me a hug, and he's like, dude, I'm so sorry. Heat of the moment, I love what you do. Don't stop doing it. It probably won't be the last time I'll tell you to go fuck off. But like, don't stop because I love it. I was like, Okay. But yeah, reading the room.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:20

Yeah, it is, yeah. Yeah, and and just the fact that he was very honest with you about that. And I can when you say that he told you to fuck off, I'm hearing it in his accent. Yeah. Um the fact that he told you that afterwards, like he he respects you. And and I think like, yeah, just these the simple things of just not not being in someone's way, not pushing it when they are just on a just seeing them as a human in those moments where it's just like, yeah, it may be a common part of our sport, but as a human, that person could be on the verge of a breakdown. That is how like intense and career defining maybe this moment is. And yeah, if like if you can't, you can't see that, it's like, oh, that could uh it could really hurt hurt your career. Um, so in media, we are trusted with those moments to be with uh the subject that we're shooting or interviewing in some really vulnerable moments. And those, like, yes, we recognize, like I'm sure you would agree, that like that's great material, that it's our our viewers, it's important that they see that so they can really understand the depth of the situation. But those are not always fun, that rarely are those fun environments to be shooting in. Like it the the times like when myself or Will or JT or Katie or whoever have been tasked with going to speak to the racer who is leading and crashed on the last lap or something, and they're just like they can't even speak, they're just in in such a a dark moment, and it may only last a few minutes, but you're sent though, sent there in those few minutes. That's oh, I hate those moments. It's part of the job, and that's what we sign up for, but like it is uh yeah, it's it's tough, but you're right. Like we're just being able to read that and respect that is it goes a very, very long way. And I and I think that that goes beyond just just our job, just a life policy in general.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:09

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was gonna that was gonna be one of the things I was gonna ask you, but you just kind of touched on it there. Just I just I an example would be, I guess, Sexton if he's leading and something happens and then it's like, hey, Haley, we need to go have you get a word with Chase um about what happened, like for you, like is it like a god damn it? Or like like what is that like for you? Because obviously it is like a very fine line, like you have to you you're there to do a job, but there's also like that human element of like how do I approach this? I don't want to like make the situation worse than what it already is.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:48

Right. Yeah, it's I mean there there's a lot that goes on in those moments, and there's it for as far as my role goes, like there's not always a much of a window that you have to prepare for it. It could be 15 seconds, it could be uh two minutes, it could be just a short period of time, and I feel like just you have to walk with with empathy. You have to like A, like first and foremost, right off the top, is just like how not just how how would I want to be approached in this moment, because I don't want to be approached in this moment, but like what's the what's the least damaging thing I could say? And and I think some damaging things you can even say to them or ask the obvious questions of like what happened, or like we we saw what happened. Um, we're trying to get to the the story of like, well, where do we go from here? Like, how what exactly is going through your mind? We see you, you you're clearly pensive, you're you're you're thinking you might feel like deflated or dejected right now. Um, so just trying to unpack like the the human side of it. Um I I feel like generally these guys understand that we're there to do a job. Um, I also know that I'm walking into a situation where I'm fully prepared for them to say, like, not right now, get out of my face. Like that, that's that's all part of it. Um I I try to I've tried to express too, and in that moment, this isn't the right time for me to say something like this. Um, because the fact that I'm walking on eggshells, like they don't care about that, the moments about them, but there have been other moments where it's not like as critical, but I've had to approach a racer maybe the next week about a really challenging situation. And I've had like just really quick conversations with them being like, hey, this makes me sick to my stomach that I have to ask you this. And it like I just have this obligation for our show, for our viewers. I'm going to pitch it to you, and I trust that you will take it any direction that you see fit. But I just like I and maybe that's not the exact script that I use. I I'm reading that moment. Um, but I just at least want them to know, like, hey, like, I I don't want to be here either, buddy. Like, we just I'd rather I want to work with you to lay this to rest. I too want this to be done for you. Let's let's move it forward and let and allow you to control the narrative too. So it's there's situations when you can kind of put the power back in their hands, or you are putting the power back in their hands, letting them control the narrative. Um, and so it's yeah, it's it takes a lot of empathy, I think, and tact to to navigate these situations for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:25

Yeah, absolutely. What um um for you on race day, like when you're getting ready to go live, what's that like feeling like for you, knowing like, all right, it's about to be showtime and we're going live. Like, what's kind of going through your head and what are those kind of emotions like for you?

SPEAKER_00 1:33:44

Mmm. It's good. It's a really like those few the few moments and seconds leading to the the the red light going on on the camera, those can sometimes like it to me, like that's about managing like my heart rate and my breathing. And it's not nervousness, like I don't get nervous for most shows that I work on. Um I I do get I do get nervous for one, and that's that's the French show, because French is not my first language, but that's like that's the exception. But for everything else, I I'm not nervous, but it is just pure excitement. Um, it's knowing that like these these bikes are about to be revving up behind me, and man, dirt bikes are awesome. Man, like I am I am here, I'm gonna be feeling these flames in a few hours. Like these are the stories we get to tell today. It's like I gotta, Haley, you gotta dial it down. Like, you need to have that enthusiasm, I suppose, for the viewers. But like, if if I let my mind just like run wild there, I'm gonna be tripping over my words, my mind may go blank. It's just from a place of pure excitement. Um, I guess rather than nervousness, because that's one thing people like to ask me. It's like, do you do you do you get nervous? Um, it's not that situation, but also like getting to a point where I'm just feeling really good in the hour leading up to the show, um, or to the point where I need to be working, even if I'm like have to be on before we technically go live. I've had to really refine my race day process. Um I I like and this starts the night before. Like, I could be maybe working an hour or two later than than I should be. But if you're compromising your sleep, that affects everything the next day. Your brain's not as clear. So getting to just knowing when to shut it off at a good time, there are certain segments I won't prepare for until the morning. I will, my alarm goes off, I will like take my vitamins, start hydrating for the day, maybe put on some eye patches while I like work on what I what it is I would like to convey in that segment. And when I can do that with a fresh brain, when I've just woken up and I'm not rushed to be getting ready yet, I've found that that's a really productive time to be working. And it kickstarts my brain before I've even got to the stadium. Because in years past, I would just like wake up, get ready. My brain wouldn't even start to be thinking about work until I got to the stadium, and I found that's too late. Like my brain needs to be functioning hours beforehand. So this year that's really got me nice and leveled out before I even go to the TV truck to uh start to get mic'd up and monitored up. Um, so that that puts me in a an even better head space before we go live. Um, I also have to like warm up, especially like my vocal cords, my mouth, like your facial muscles, everything has to warm up so that you can speak coherently when when it counts on the broadcast. And they'll have me oftentimes like announcing to the fans in the bowl, just welcoming fans, tell them about what they're gonna be seeing and qualifying throughout the day, PA announcements, that sort of thing. Um, and it is fun. I do enjoy that. That's a really good warm-up for me. So by the time we get to that point where it's like 60 seconds out from the start of Race Day Live, I'm staying cool. And in fact, I'm trying to stay cooler than uh my my excitement wants me to be right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:06

Um Who's been is there like a moment for you that stands out just in terms of like an interview with someone or a story that you've been able to tell with these guys that you're like you look back on and you're like damn, that was that was a good moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:27

Oh, there's so many. I think any times that I've had the opportunity to do or to pursue like a a seated one-on-one interview, um, those have usually been something where myself and maybe my teammates too have been like, yeah, that's I think there's some there's something to unpack there. There's some there can be some depth to that story, you should pursue it. Um I've I've typically had really, really interesting stories come from there. Um Ken Roxon last year, I sat down with him at Glendale and we did a a feature together, and that one was we went he has a really deep story that goes like back years with with his injuries that could have been career-ending, that you know, depression and things of that nature. Like that was it was it was it was cool that he was willing to share that with me um and bring us back because fans were along for the ride, he wasn't keeping any of it secret, but like in hindsight, years after the fact, like, oh man, a lot went on for he and his family um during just really throughout his career. So there was there was some pretty deep moments there. Um I'm trying to think, like, there is there's really so many. It's hard to narrow them down. Um, I think too, like Cody Shock also, it's sometimes when these guys just catch me off guard with what they're going to say, like sometimes it's the uh a last chance qualifier winner interview. And I feel like if I'm not mistaken, this was in Vegas this year, Cody Shock. He won. He's always really excited, right? And he was. And after he just can you know he answered my question, he pivoted and he got really serious. And he's like, you know, there's some times you just really think about giving up. There's some things like times you just have really dark days and you're questioning everything with your career. And my my fiance, now his wife, is the one to like be there in his corner and say, like, no, like you're gonna keep going. Like, you've you've got this, you're leaning on her, you're leaning on each other. And I'm just like, oh man, like I am, this is not where I expected he was going to go with it. Um it just like that emotion just came out, and I am I'm thankful for those moments. And it was just a it provided um just kind of a cool broadcast moment for us to just pause, take that in. And I think that's how I even wrapped that up because I'm like, wow, I I want to hear from Adam and Justin. Like you guys have you're of course former racers, like you've never been in that spot before? Like, what do you what do you take from that kind of a thing? So it was just uh things don't always go according to plan. That interview didn't, but it worked out for for the better because he was just willing to be open with our audience and and with me as the conduit to them. So yeah, there's I I think we could talk all day about just some some cool stories that have caught me off guard or just some moments where like, whoa, was not expecting that. Um, yeah, those just a couple from from recent history.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:21

All right. Um, only a few more things for you, then we'll get you out of here. Um what for you? I guess kind of on that that thread of what Cody Shock was talking about about like those tough days and wanting to give up on his career. For you, have there been any moments in this journey where you're like, man, maybe this just like isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:40:48

Yeah, I I think it I think it goes back to that that period where I was started to, I was kind of at this crossroads, if you will. Um I didn't really realize it at the time that it was like a definitive crossroads, but when I was starting to do more of like the producing and um I would have been so content and and satisfied generally with working as a as a producer, as a switcher, or as something on the production end, or even continuing on with my freelance business. Um I think it in those times, like I I realized that like okay, that that lofty, lofty goal of becoming an on-air commentator, it statistically very rare that you would even get there. Um, just because for two track side reporters, there are 400 athletes or something like that. Like it's just you know, there's and maybe thousands of pe thousands and thousands of people who would be vying for that position. Um, and so like it did, like there was a a little bit of like, yes, I I am very content with my career maybe going in this certain direction. But on the other hand, like it was there was a little bit of s sadness or like a a mellow feeling um of like you know, that could have been. It's perhaps not in the cards for me, and that's okay, but I still recognize that that's that's kind of a bummer because at one point I really, really did want that, and I think I'll never stop wanting that, but you know, how how much can you really like you you're kind of you're all you can only control what you can control, kind of a thing. So um that was one point where I just considered like you know, it's it's maybe not happening, and tried to find uh some positivity, and you know what? But look what else has been laid out in front of me here that I've worked very hard for.

unknown 1:42:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:41

So try to put a try to find a positive spin on it.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:43

For sure. Um, what for you, what are the goals moving forward like with your career? Like what are you working towards? Is there anything you want to keep like that's not been checked off yet that you're you're chasing after?

SPEAKER_00 1:42:59

As far as where I want to be, I want to be in this sport. That's really all I've ever wanted is to be covering uh dirt bike racing at the most premier level it with um super cross and pro mono cross. Like that's always where I wanted to be. I I see this role of mine continuing to evolve as our broadcast evolves. It keeps evolving year after year. Um, just since since I've been on board and since the inception of SMX, our team has grown, our broadcast capabilities have grown. I am able to do in this position uh a little bit of a little bit of everything from those sit-down, really intimate one-on-one interviews, which I really, really enjoy. Um, getting to in at times be an MC for f fans that are live at the event. And you don't see that on the live broadcast. That's that's more of a live event hosting or live event um MCing. I'll get to go up into the booth this year. Um, I've done it a in a few rounds so far where I'm up there hosting with Adam and Justin, and that's where they get to kind of kick back and be analysts. Like that is so cool to me, and that brings me back to my snow cross days. So, like, and in the French broadcast too, I'm getting to do such a diverse palette of things, and like I just wanna, I'm very curious to see like what other opportunities are there gonna be. Um, and as this broadcast and production continues to grow. But as far as my home, I like I like being here. And if and when the day comes that they decide they want to go another direction and I don't have a position anymore, or you know, life life changes. Um I I don't, to be honest, I don't know where else I would want to be as a broadcaster. Hockey, I love hockey, but um who knows, maybe at that point I will maybe I'll go back to producing. Maybe I will take a total turn and go to a totally different industry industry just to prove to myself that I can. Like I've I've been known to do things like that as well. I've I I have a business here in Indianapolis, it's not like my my career, but um, I love like I love starting businesses, love working with brands. So, you know, I as far as an ultimate goal, like I I want to be here, I want to keep growing in this role is but ultimately it's not all about me. I want to keep upping my contribution to this sport. I don't want to just take from it and go on to the next thing. Like I wanna, what's the next thing the viewers want to want to see? What is what is how could we better tell these stories? Um, as long as I can be meeting the demands of this sport, um, then I feel like I'm I'm actually giving something back to it. So I wanna I want to keep growing so that I can keep giving back.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:38

Nice. Well, you're doing a hell of a job, I would say. So you thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:43

That means a lot to me. I know that our audience is can be very critical. And I say that because I I am part of the audience. I've been very critical for years. Where you know, I I get it. So when I get um praise from from industry insiders and professionals like you, like that really does mean a lot to me. So I I appreciate it so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:05

Yeah, of course. What's it um um what's it like having JB and AC um as your partners in this?

SPEAKER_00 1:46:14

It's so great. They're they're awesome, they're a lot of fun, and it's really cool this year because this is the first year where our broadcast team has not changed. Um, and I'll say, like, I have truly enjoyed every single individual that I've worked with. Um, we've had a few different producers as well, like they've all been great, but this year it's been a consistent, like same producer, same broadcast team, so we can just continue to grow. And there were some shows last year where I didn't hardly see Adam and Justin at all on Rice Day because they'd be up at the opposite side of the stadium in the booth the whole time. And our only interactions are through the headset and when we do get to interact on camera, and those are some pretty sweet moments, but like getting to spend a little bit more time with those two is is is a lot of fun. They have such good personalities, like we we vibe off camera too, like we're just we we get along great. Um, so it's it's really fun in that position, too, where I know that um Adam and Justin have taken on kind of a hybrid position as analysts, but they're also kind of hosts too. So that's that's very new. Um, so when I come up there, at least I'd like to think, and I think that it does take some of those hosting responsibilities off during that segment to where they can just bench race, they can just kick back and just let just let I get to just set them up and let them do their thing and let them shine. And so they're they're just awesome. I can't say enough good things about them, and I'm honored to be doing it with them. And so, like when they get to go do the the pre-ray show and post-show, I'm watching on Sunday on my flight home. Like, yeah, you guys, you guys go. You're they're just they're very good at their jobs as good as they are people.

SPEAKER_01 1:47:59

Yeah, nice. Um so the last thing uh these are just a few quick questions I ask everybody at the very end, um, just random stuff. Um guilty pleasure for you. It can be whatever you want.

SPEAKER_00 1:48:15

Guilty pleasure. Maybe it's taking too much time. I'm not a big procrastinator, but when I get locked in on a hobby, I will then defer uh or I'll I will um put off doing the work that maybe needs to be done, whether it's preparing for a broadcast or doing something important that I know is at like top of my to-do list, but I'm so locked in doing this hobby, whether it's like working on my bike or deciding like, ooh, I could make I can maybe sneak in a ride today, or I'm I'm really big into stained glass, so I'm like, I'll be like, what's what's maybe just 15 more minutes or maybe just two more hours doing that doing this project? Um that's kind of a guilty pleasure, is I guess you could say procrastination for the sake of my hobbies. Um but I'm trying to think like like a that's more of a general thing. Like you talking something like really specific, like a food or the it it it can be that.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:16

I mean for me, mine oh boy. Um mine is uh Taco Bell and reality TV. Like big time.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:28

That is yeah. Not good. Taco Bell's the best, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:34

Okay, that yeah. Yeah. Sorry, everybody to cut you off there. No, no, you're good. My uh and when COVID hit, um we live like fifteen minutes away from Disneyland, and that's my wife and I, that's where we met. We used to work out there a long time ago. And uh so during COVID it was everything was shut down, so we would take our dog and we would go out to Disneyland Park by the by the park. We literally just Just walked a sidewalk like around Disneyland. It was like a four-mile loop. And then we leave and we go to Taco Bell and we get Taco Bell and come home and eat in bed. That was like our Friday routine during COVID. Like every Friday. And it's the the Disneyland's open again, but the Taco Bell has still stayed as part of our like weekly routine. It's like if we're feeling sad or just blah Taco Bell. Like it's like our we like our comfort food.

SPEAKER_00 1:50:27

I love that. And that that does that does trigger trigger a thought too. I love after a hard day's work at the racetrack, having I don't like to do this like before race day because like if food is fuel, if you put something not so good in your body, it'll affect your brain, affect your body the next day. But like after a long day at the racetrack, I do love, and Taco Bell is at the top of my list for my little treat. Um my my not so good meal. Um that's yeah, that that is fantastic. In N Out Burger is another good one. I love to take advantage of that when I'm out on the West Coast. Um, but also like when I after the snow cross races or the short course off-road races, because it's actually all one company, the same team. Okay, we get together and we'll get um like we call it shit pizza, just because it's like it's not high quality, like a domino's like pizza hut, whatever. Yeah, but goddamn, is it good after a long day? And we just sit there and we commiserate and we make jokes. And at that point in the day, we're all so tired, so we just get a little like slap happy, um, ridiculous. But those those are some of the best times, and even if I'm just by myself and it's Taco Bell, it's it's a reward.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:43

Yeah, I feel that. Um are you a Swifty or not?

SPEAKER_00 1:51:53

I don't have a strong opinion. Like I I I'll tell you this. I there are some songs I I enjoy. My she's not really in in the genre that I I really vibe with, but I respect the hell out of what she's done for music and with her own career. I think it's absolutely incredible. So I look at it through that lens, but I wouldn't say that I'm like uh a swifty, like going I like going to the concerts, wearing the jewelry. It's it's amazing. I just don't consider myself like that die hard of a fan, but so much respect.

SPEAKER_01 1:52:27

Yeah. Um if you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would they be?

SPEAKER_00 1:52:37

Oh man. Dead or alive. Oh, this is an this is a thought-provoking one, my friend. Um put me on the spot here. Um I now it's like when you get asked to like introduce yourself to the room and talk about what you do, you just can't do it. Like this is a real a really good question. It's got me thinking back to like who who have I like r admired, looked up to, um I'm trying to remember what mine were.

SPEAKER_01 1:53:22

I forgot. I think mine were JFK Walt Disney, and then I don't remember who my third was. I feel like my third sh like moves around. Like it changes.

SPEAKER_00 1:53:38

Okay. Yeah, yeah. There there's I mean it's so it's so broad and like for so many reasons. Okay, I I would have you say have have dinner with anyone, yeah. Anyone dead or alive? Okay. I would say um, I guess anyone from the band Sleep Token. I have so many questions. Like my favorite band right now. Um up there, like top five favorite bands. Got a lot of questions. Even if like, you don't even here's the deal. You don't even have to show me your face. Like, what like I'll respect that. Yeah. Keep the mask on. I just got some questions for you. Yeah. Uh like uh amazing. My favorite band. So I would say, I would say them, um, any member of that band. Um, it's I'm really big into music, so it's easy for me to go down the route of like, ooh, what what bands or what like what artist would I want to dine with? Um I have yeah, I think they're I think JFK is a really intriguing one. Um, I'm gonna I'm gonna be a bit of a copycat here. Um, and this is nothing to do with I know some people get like so hung up on on politics one way or the other. This is just someone who has had an impact on US history. Um I yes, JFK. I I have uh there's there's a lot I would I would like to know there. Um I would say then third What about um Amelia Earhart? Oh, that's another one like yeah, and then just someone who I just like was fascinated with and I always loved history growing up um in in that in that that that class in social studies. So um yeah, I'd say Amelia R Earhart, JFK, and anyone from Sleep Token. Okay let's let's let's get a let's get a date on the calendar. Nice.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:41

So okay, then I have to ask, who are like some of your top bands right now that you're into?

SPEAKER_00 1:55:47

I am really big, like I really like motionless and white. Um, and so like I've I've just they've been on my playlist for a while. I've gotten to see them twice. That was one hell of a show. Um, and I think maybe it's just kind of surrounding their putting out no music now. So I'm diving back into motionless and white. I really like Ice Nine Kills, seen them a number of times too. And I just when I was in Paris early this fall, uh I've such a big fan that we went to go see them overseas. So we got to see them in in Paris, which is cool. Um, and yeah, I'd probably say probably say sleep token. Um, and and I'm just like, I'd I I just love music in general, but I would say that the one genre that I just always revert back to is more like metal, new metal, and that all began when you said blink 182, like yes, my people, because my love for this kind of music really started with the Blink 182 good Charlotte um AFI days, um, and blossomed to uh my musical taste today.

SPEAKER_01 1:56:47

Nice, that's uh yeah, that's awesome. Um sweet. Oh, you know what? I think I'm gonna throw for my third one because it always is like interchangeable. I'm gonna say AC because I for some reason, uh even though I was in the sport for so long, I don't think him and I ever got to work together. And the dude, I just I'm like, man, he seems so interesting. Like I would love to sit down and just like pick his brain because I feel like him and I both could go down some very deep rabbit holes.

SPEAKER_00 1:57:15

Oh yeah, yeah. Someone like I yeah, I feel like he is he's so easy to talk to. He I feel like he's someone who also knows a lot of about a lot of things. Like he is just uh he's it he's a very, very good one to have a conversation with and a very easy one to have a conversation with. So good choice. Yeah. Um sweet.

SPEAKER_01 1:57:34

I think that's it. Is there anything you want to add or touch on that we didn't hit?

SPEAKER_00 1:57:39

No, thank you so much. I wish I would have had been more equipped for like good answers for the with three people you could have a have a meal with, dead or alive, because that now that was that one's still gonna be racked in my brain. Oh, we're gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:57:50

I feel like I had good responses there, but if you want to change them, let us know.

SPEAKER_00 1:57:55

It won't hit me until like a really strange time, I'm sure, after we're done recording. But food for thought, I guess. But no, thank you for having me today. It's just so much fun chatting with you and getting to know a little bit more about you as well. And I appreciate the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:10

Yeah, no, I'm stoked. Like I said, thanks for uh reaching out and being so quick. I was like, we're gonna shoot the shot and see what happens. Worst case, nothing, but might as well try. So I was stoked to see that you got back quickly and were like so down to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:58:26

Yeah, and I think I don't care if it was on a Wednesday or Thursday that you tagged me, but I think I saw it on a Thursday, and I'm traveling, so I'm doing nothing but doom scrolling on the plane. So it was perfect timing and uh again stoked to be part of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:40

Yeah, of course. Um this will probably I'm trying to like stack up a handful of episodes, so I have like, I don't know, five to six weeks worth of stuff like in the chamber, just ready to go. So you're my second one that I've recorded, and I have a few more lined up. So I'm this will probably get released sometime in March, I think. Um but once we get closer, I'll let you know. Um and I'll probably hit you up for just some photos and whatnot to build out some reels for social. Sweet.

SPEAKER_00 1:59:10

Yeah, that sounds good to me. I'm happy to get you whatever you need. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:59:13

No, I appreciate it. Um yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:59:17

Yeah, no, thank you. Do you need me to um once I I leave the call here, I notice that it says it's like uploading. Do I need to like be mindful of not closing it down or anything of that nature?

SPEAKER_01 1:59:30

No, we should be all good. Everything is on my side, so I'll have both our audio files and whatnot on my side, so we sh should be dialed. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 1:59:39

Cool. Well, thank you so much, Kyle. And