Welcome to Momentum, a motorsports podcast powered by High Gear Success. I'm your host, Heather Wilson Schiltz Here we share the stories and strategies that keep the world of motorsports moving forward. My guest today is Haley Shanley, a commentator, reporter, and host for some major racing series such as Championship Off-Road, Snocross, AMA Supercross, and Pro Motocross. And I'm excited to get to chat with you. about your career in motorsports and chat with a woman who essentially has a pretty similar college degree as me, but took it in a different direction. So thanks for being on the show today. Thank you, Heather. I'm excited to finally chat with you. I know we've been social friends for a long time, so it's exciting to finally meet you and talk about what we're both passionate about. Yeah. And I first came to know you through Snocross and Championship Off-Road because I had a few clients in those series at the time. And in fact, when I was watching those races, my now husband even commented, he was like, that woman is really good. Like she's got a great voice. She knows her stuff and he can be pretty critical sometimes. So, uh, you really impressed him. And of course it's been really cool to watch your career progress pretty quickly over these last couple of years. That is so rad and that's a high praise. So I appreciate that. I know as a motorsports fan first myself, but I am also hyper critical. so that it means a lot to me, the feedback and yeah, Snocross is where I feel like I really got traction in my career took off. even though I'm not broadcasting with Snocross at least on a primary basis these days, it's still where a lot of people recognize me from and it's still so special to me. So, uh, that's really cool. And that's when you first came familiar with my name. Yeah. So you were a motorsports fan growing up, but you really found your love for broadcasting in high school. So what sparked that shift from being a spectator to being a storyteller in the sports? Yeah, so back to my teenage years, I'll go back to is being a hardcore fan. I'm watching Supercross every Saturday night. I'm following along with Snocross on the weekends and Pro Motocross in the summer. All of it. I'm watching so intently and loved it to such a point where like, wow, like I am getting to a point in my life where our high school counselors and teachers are starting to prod you. Like, what do you want to do with your life after high school? And so that's when the gears started to turn. It's like, I love this so much, I love racing so much, how can I make a career out of this? I'm starting to check off the boxes of what's not possible. Well, I don't want to say not possible, but not very likely. The professional racer route, likely not going to pan out for me. So checking that off, other things that I may not be interested in, but what did interest me is the storytelling, the media side of it. And given the opportunity to actually get hands-on experience with that in high school, we had broadcast journalism classes, video production, video editing, all of that. And that's where it first connected for me. like, wow, I can take an actual. Uh, trade a field of study and combine that with my passion. It was just this, this beautiful, um, it is this beautiful match that in my mind, I'm like, know what? I think that's it. think media and specifically broadcast is what I want to do. So since then it's just been wide open working towards it. And, it's not been a short. story. Like this has been over a decade in the making. So it's really cool to be here now and talking about it. But that's where the two intersected was knowing my passion for this and seeing how I can turn, uh seeing different ways in which I can turn my passion into a career. And it just happened to be broadcast in media. So fast forward a little bit, you're in college, you're asked to write a persuasive essay about the topic of your choosing and you choose to write about Chad Reed. And then full circle moment, you get to interview him. So what was that like? my gosh, that was so cool. Though the essay was about, can't even remember the specific topic that it was or what the assignment was. Cause what I would often do is just take any, any subject and I would find a way to just mold it like clay into, into my passion, of course, motor sports. uh And so, yeah, I remember writing about guys like Chad Reed and Kevin Windham submitted that as dudes to ride an off-road motorcycle. So of course I've always been huge fans of them and You know, when I get the opportunity to work at Supercross, you start to see some of these characters that you've looked up to for so many years. You've followed along with their careers. You watch them every Saturday on TV. And so like, there's this period of time when I'm first getting started with Supercross where like, I'm having to play it cool. You know, like you can't be too much of a fan. You gotta be professional. And that was never hard for me, but there are the butterflies that come with that. uh And then fast forward to 2024. um little over a year into uh my relationship with Supercross, so my second year with them, and I got to meet Chatreed. And that was so cool for me. And just so down to earth, so just like easy to speak to, of course. I think I already kind of had that idea just watching his interviews from over the years. But yeah, that was definitely a really cool moment. And we had a really good conversation. I can't remember if the segment aired or not. I know it was pre-recorded. I think they may end up not airing it on that broadcast of Daytona because it was so long, because there was just so much I wanted to talk to him about and he just kept going. uh So that was really cool. And I've gotten actually to speak to him again for Legends and Heroes, which is what we do with each Supercross race where we get to honor a special individual. So I've got to meet Ellie, his wife and his kids. And so that's just really special to me. And I don't take those interactions for granted. Yeah, I feel like that's one of the coolest things that I've experienced in my career as well as I grew up on the inside of the industry with my dad owning a dealership and racing. And so I was always surrounded by these people and now I get to work with these people as, you know, uh coworkers. so, like you said, it's hard sometimes to not be like a fan girl and want to, you know, take a picture with them or something, but it's cool to get to actually work with them. At a peer level now. Totally, and I think that there's definitely an authenticity to still having that like, fanship when you meet someone, right? And I think that part of them, appreciate that too, at least that authenticity. that part is really cool, like you said, getting to work with some of these individuals on a peer basis now is, yeah man, that's so rad. Going back to what I know as your start in motorsports, maybe it started before this, but how did you break into announcing for a Snocross and championship off road? Yeah, so this started in the 2017-2018 season. That was the first season that I was actually working with Long Haul Productions, which is the parent company to Snocross. And a few years later, they started Champ Off-Road And it was that season. I knew that I had wanted to get into commentating, but that was at a point in my career where I hadn't been given an opportunity yet. And if you haven't been given an opportunity, you don't have a demo reel. No one sees that you are even capable nor interested in this. So. when I was offered that position, it was actually a social media position. So, and I was totally happy doing that, doing like some marketing, graphic design, social media, all that stuff. um And so it got to that my first race with them would have been Shakopee that season in January. And Carl Schubitzke the series president, was like, everyone meet Haley. She's our new social media gal. Haley, I think it would be great if you went around the pits with Ted Anderson, is still one of our producers and creative director today. And at the time, the reporter for Snocross was Kate Osborne, who I now work with. Again, we've kind of crossed paths throughout the years, work with her today. She's my teammate at SuperMotocross So we're going around the pits. I'm kind of helping feed storylines. you know, I think we should go talk to Jake Yurk, Daniel Benham, Kody Kamm. Here's some interesting tidbits. So I would just kind of throw some stuff out there if Katie needed some ideas. And that turned into they needed someone to help come up with ideas for sponsor content. For example, let's say Arctic Cat, big sponsor of the series. Well, as part of that sponsorship deliverable, Snocross needed to provide X amount of video segments to them per season. So Ted, who was managing that at the time was like, you know, I need something for Arctic Cat. do you got? I'm like, we could go talk to so-and-so. Well, while Kate was busy doing her job as a commentator, going to talk to racers and getting notes. He's like, what do you think? Would you want to try it? I'm like, sure. uh So that same day before we did it, we're about to head to the pits. Katie needs to use the restroom or something or get her coat on. So she asked me to hold onto her notebook and microphone. And most people would think nothing of that, but I just kind of turned to Ted and I was holding the CBS mic and I'm like, this is so surreal. I'm holding this CBS mic flag and mic for the first time. And he's like, really? that's, that's, that's really cool to you. Like, why is that so special? And I'm like, yeah, this is actually what I want to do. And he's like, I had no idea. So let's put you to work. uh, that day, this was in, um, you know, two events later after, like I said, that first race in Shakopee, we're in Michigan, uh, and just put me to work, rifled off some interviews and he was impressed with it. And so instead of just putting those like on Dropbox for the sponsor, he's like, these are good and these are good. Like let's send them to the TV truck that they can just play throughout the day just to help fill time or whatever. That immediately got the attention of John Daniels, the series owner and Carl Schubitzke and they're like, whoa, we have another person on our team who can help create more content, who can help with storylines. Like this is amazing. Let's keep giving her more. ah So that's how it really snowballed was just seeing an opportunity. or I wouldn't even say seeking out an opportunity and going after it. Rather, I just kind of like knew what their needs were. I knew where I could fill in and it was a happy marriage from the get go, if you will. So that's what ultimately snowballed into within the next few years with Snocross uh turning into more work. The first few years, it was pre-recorded content that we would shoot and produce in the pits, we'd give to the TV truck. And then in soon seasons after that, that turned into commentating as the daytime reporter for our more amateur or youth divisions. And then I would fill in for reporter for the night show season later. And then in 2021, it was I got my first opportunity to come to the booth and they kept me there. So that's kind of how it started and snowballed. Shakopee was actually my first live introduction to Snocross. So my husband's from Minnesota, Southern Minnesota, but we have some friends up in the Minneapolis area. So when I had a client that was racing that series at the time, I came out and actually got my introduction to that, which I loved because there was indoor seating as well. So you could actually stay a little bit warm as a fan. So I don't know how you do it. being outside and those sometimes freezing temperatures. know sometimes it's actually hard to get snow for the races, but just being able to talk and not having your face frozen. Man, it is, and this is not a sponsor plug, I swear, but like having quality gear like FXR has been the gear provider and an official gear brand of Snocross for many years. And it's because it's purpose-built high quality stuff that we can survive and perform in those temperatures. Because it's all about dressing smart. Now, what's funny is nowadays at Supercross, a lot of my teammates are from all over the country, a lot of West Coast, a lot of just warmer areas. warm places around the world. And they're like, Haley, she's from Minnesota. She's from Snocross. Like she can handle this. No problem. To a point I can, but if you are not dressed properly and if I can't wear certain items because of like sponsor conflicts or what have you or logos that they don't want on camera, like that's fine. I'll respect it. Um, but then you're kind of playing like a guessing game of what's going to work for this event. Um, and for example, one that just really caught us all off guard, Will Christian, JT and I was, um, Philadelphia this year. It was probably in like the high 40s, but it was drizzling all day. And when you're in that environment for 10 hours, gets to a point where like your facial muscles, your cheeks, tongue, lips, they're not connecting with your brain at the speed that you need them to. So we're just like, I mean, I didn't notice from watching their work, but I know from the in stadium show that I was having a... really hard time getting my words out that night. on one hand, like, yeah, us upper Midwesterners, like, we're tough, but it's all about dressing really appropriately and smart. Yeah, yeah, it was really cool to get to experience that because living in Ohio, we don't get a lot of snow in central Ohio. So that's not really a thing around here. But up there, snowmobiling is life. And in fact, my husband owned a snowmobile when we first started dating. But then he moved to Ohio and I was like, well, you might as well sell that because it's not going to be useful here. I didn't realize you were Ohio-based. I don't know why in my mind I always assumed you were Wisconsin. Because I think a lot of people from the Snow Cross community, I just assumed. So, okay, you're my neighbor to the east then. Well, it's like a running joke too. He is born and raised in Minnesota, but lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin when we met. So we're always kind of back there from time to time visiting and have a lot of connections in those areas. So yeah, it's probably hard to identify where I really am most of the time. Midwest. that's a yeah, I'm I'm glad you got to have the experience of Shakopee, especially for your first one, because that one is just that one is so comfortable. It feels so glamorous. Those big like horse track and racing lights. It's such a spectacle. Moving forward, you got an Instagram DM to apply for a role with Supercross. So what were you feeling when you got that DM and does that seem like such a casual way to acquire a job eventually? Yeah, so that was a uh really, that was a day that will forever stand out to me because I got the DM and went to my requests folder because um the individual who sent me the DM, now one of my bosses, they weren't following each other. So I really had no idea. Their Instagram may have been private. I'm not totally sure, but anyway, I didn't have a whole lot of reason to instantly believe that this is legitimate. So I'm like, okay. I have to go back and read what the DM said, but they introduced themselves. They're like, I'm so insane with Feld Entertainment. uh We're looking to build a bench for talent for Monster Energy Supercross. Do you have a reel? And immediately I'm thinking like, okay, I gotta be careful how I respond. don't wanna say like, assuming that this could be like a phishing scam or some kind of like scheme, even like responding yes can just like, can be, you Misconceived I just want to be as careful as possible and maybe I was just being paranoid but um I'm shaking and so I carefully cracked a response and I asked some follow-up questions and immediately I I learned that okay, this is legitimate um And so it wasn't immediate job offer It was yeah, but it was a an opportunity to submit a real and to apply an audition for it, which that right there was like bucket that off. Yeah. Yes, that's exactly what it was. um So I followed through with it. um I center off my materials, interviewed a time or two, and ultimately it didn't pan out that year. A couple of reasons, like really, really great talent that they were also interviewing and auditioning, but also I didn't have the availability. I was committed to SnowCrafts for another season and I wanted to honor that commitment. didn't work out, but we stayed in contact throughout the year. And they came back to me the next year and they're like, hey, we have an open seat. Would you want to go through that process again? And at that point I'm like, I am silly to not take this up because they're not going to come back around a third time, honey. Like you need to see, just see what this is about. um And I'm glad I did ah because we're here today. But that going back to that day when I got that message, like, I remember like my husband, went out to a Mexican restaurant that night because I was so just like whipped up of like, my gosh, like I'm overwhelmed. I'm committed to Snocross, which is already like a dream that I'm checking out my box. Now this, this is what I've always wanted. I could be faced with a really like crazy decision, have to make a decision here. I was just so overstimulated. And I remember going to that Mexican restaurant and we're just talking about like, what if I am again, so overstimulated that I'm almost like excited. but anxious, like I was crying at a Mexican restaurant, but I kind of was, I was a little bit emotional. So that day was just what will ever stand out to me. And for that whole year, like I said, they didn't, it didn't work out that year, but even still, I think it was summer 2022 before they came back around to me that following fall for the next season, I told myself, okay, this, this may be it. They have no obligation to come back to me. um That was maybe my one shot. It didn't work out. It's all good. But I was still so content with the fact that whether they found me on Instagram or they saw me on another production with Snocross, Sprint Car Racing, Watercross, or on another network and just reached out to me there, that was kind of enough. Like that was so special to me. So it still is so special to me today. 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So when you are interviewing people, how do you avoid asking repetitive questions, asking the same questions over and over again in interviews. That's really good question. it's a lot of first and foremost being present. There are times where, yes, you need to go in an interview with an understanding of what it is I want to ask this individual. But to avoid asking questions that have already been asked to that racer 10, 20, 100 times online by other media, what have you, you need to be following along to what's happening in the industry. need to be consuming other media. So That's where when I do go to an athlete to ask a question, I'm bearing in mind, what is it that I want to know? Do I already know this bit of information that's already been put out there? If so, do I need to recapture that for our production? Because sometimes our producers want that. They're like, okay, this is kind of an obvious thing, but we need to address it from their mouth for our show. So that's what I do have to take into account. In other words, to keep it fresh and not ask repetitive questions, it's to lean, like I said, lean on what I want to know. And follow-up questions are the best questions. If you go to an interview sometimes with pre-determined a lot of times with pre-determined questions of I want to ask A, B, and C, that becomes more of a Q &A rather than a conversational interview. And we always want to go for conversational interviews. That's when we get the best stuff. That's when we connect best with our athlete or person from the industry and build that rapport. So that's how I keep it fresh and try not to ask questions that I've already asked or that our audience may already know the answer to. Yeah, you mentioned consuming other media to know what's already been asked out there, but how much research does it take for you to prepare ahead of an event? So you're up to date on everything because these events are coming fast. They're on a weekly basis almost. So it's not like you have a long time to consume a lot of information. Exactly. And that's a great question. It's a, it's a, very busy weeks that we have, whether it's like a Supercross or promoters motocross schedule where you're going back to back weekends, or it's something like champ off road or Snocross where you do have one or two weekends off in between. Boy, it goes fast. So even though at super motocross, we do have more resources to get us the information, the data statistics that we need. It still requires a lot of like heavy lifting from us as well. So how do I prepare for it? What all goes into it is I'm consuming force of the motocross, the materials that they give us. It's an event preview guide. If we have specific questions or we want a specific element or athletes history analyzed, I have people I can go to to help me with that. So that way I can focus on more of the qualitative stories or the human interest stories. And that takes hours, that takes days. And when I'm not sitting down at my computer doing research and coming up with my stories and questions for the next week, I am consuming other podcasts. reading articles. I am on social media. uh And not all of that do I feel is homework. A lot of that is just because I'm immersed in it anyway as a fan. Like I want to be consuming all this stuff because just like all of our fans, I too want to be the first to know. So that's a... That's what it looks like. It's kind of immersive throughout the week. I don't really get away from it, but I'm trying, like I'm trying to have some self-discipline in the week to where I can just shut off for a day where I'm not looking at anything dirt bike or off-road truck related or snowmobile related at the time. So it's all about time management, but to summarize, yeah, it's kind of an ongoing thing throughout the week and there are hours where I just really set aside to deep dive into it. And a lot of times on the flight out to the next event on Thursdays, that's what I'm really diving in. I'm laying the groundwork for it earlier in the week, but Thursday is when I really dive in and prepare for the next day of production. Are you able to have an iPad or a phone to help you when you're on site at those events to kind of recall some of that information? Yeah, absolutely. ah So I always have my notebook on me. It's digital paper. So I'll download a lot of like PDFs and spreadsheets to it if I need to reference it. And I'm always, I spend a lot of time like making sure I have all the documents and you know, notes and in other miscellaneous things on that tablet that I may need. But so often like I only reference them maybe 10 % of the time because I don't have time or I just by that point it should be so ingrained up here that I can just, you know, pull it off the top of my head. However, if there are very specific and important, like numerical things or facts that I'm like, okay, I really don't want to get wrong. That's when I'll pull it up to just make sure I got it right. So yeah, my phone's on me and my tablet. However, not every stadium or outdoor venue do I have cell service just because all the fans show up. So I would say like, if I have service during an event, it's maybe a quarter of the time or less. I'm like, really out there blind without my phone. And if someone needs to get a message to me, like from our production team, they'll get they'll reach me through radio or IFB or headset. But yeah, I do I do always have them on me. But whether or not I can use them is up to circumstances. So at one point during the Supercross season, I feel like you lost your voice and you had to sit out around maybe two, I can't recall. So how do you prepare your voice and your body for a full weekend of announcing or reporting and sometimes extreme conditions too? Yes, that was not fun. I never want to go back to that place. was the 2024 season pretty early on. One thing that we get hit with a lot that I hadn't really experienced with other forms of racing, that one thing I get with Supercross and motocross is exposure to illnesses because we are around people in close proximity every single weekend and we are flying. And when you are air traveling, you're going to get everything. Your pads. Yes, it's oh gosh, I hate it. So I'm doing the best that I can with you know, vitamin C, sleep, just taking care of my body a lot more. Stress is a big factor too. Your stress that hits your immune system, you're more susceptible to it. So what had happened that year is I happened to get a stomach bug and I also had like a sinus infection of a respiratory illness and that passed quickly. It's like a 48 hour thing but Typically what I'll also get is, you know, I'll start to lose my voice even after the initial illness seems to have subsided. Well, that happened and it wasn't really getting better. I get to the event Friday in, this would have been San Francisco. And there was a lot of talking involved on Fridays for me, even though we're not live. I'm shooting interviews, I'm having conversations with people in the pits offline to prepare for the next day, rehearsal production meetings. And so. towards the end of the day, we're rehearsing and our producer is like, um, Haley, are you feeling okay? I'm like, yeah, I'm feeling great. And they're like, we don't sound great. like, I know. It's just like, I've been rehearsing for an hour here and I've been talking to people. So I just need to rest. And they're like, okay, well, we're going to cut you loose. And you you're done for the day. You're good. Next day, um, I woke up and my voice was really not good. Um, so they pulled me. So that was a bummer. They didn't let me stay at the race or anything. like, nope, you need to go to the hotel and just rest. I really wanted to watch the race that night. And so I get home, I immediately book an appointment to go to urgent care to get on the steroid that they'll often prescribe vocalists and commentators if you lose your voice. uh And so I get on that. And mind you, I have a six day turnaround window before the next event. It did not improve at all. In fact, It got worse and then I had other really bad side effects from it. But that wasn't the issue. The fact of the is my voice was not back for San Diego that next weekend. And so I was there. It was clear to them that I was not contagious and I wasn't ill. This was just something I'm still dealing with. So they allowed me to actually work that weekend. And so I was spotting for the drone actually in San Francisco or San Diego that next weekend, which is really cool. And I got to kind of help, you know, field produce for them. And I was about to work the next weekend, but that was probably a lot more information than you needed from me on that. But just to like show you how stressful that was for me in that two week period on top of just being sick a few weeks ago with being weak from it, that was not fun. I hated to put my employer in that position, but luckily I have great teammates that have my back and stepped up to fill in for me. uh yeah, so that was I, I appreciate the entire team. Well, the hard part about what you do is like, you're obviously talking all the time. You're also the face on the camera. And so when you're sick, it impacts a lot of different things versus where I'm just working remotely at home on my laptop. I can be sick and I'm not interacting with people and people don't hear me or see me for the most part. So it's a lot less stressful of a situation versus that type of. role that you have where you're in the public eye and needing to be on site at an event, you know, a hundred percent all the time. Yeah, it's not fun no matter what, but yeah, that was definitely the worst of it. And what I learned from that experience and how to maybe prevent it moving forward is illness is gonna hit. But whatever you can do to help your immune system to maybe prevent getting sick to the best of your ability is minimizing your stress, getting sleep. And those two things are, they're hard when you just wanna grind all the time and be working all the time. dedicating time for self care, uh but also like for, you know, physically beyond that, how do you prepare for it? Like I have been using a vocal steamer, ah even when I'm not sick, like throughout the winter in the really dry air, I bring it, have one that I bring on the road with me and it just like that hot steam on your vocal cords and your throat is so soothing, especially after an event when my voice is so exhausted and my throat doesn't. hurt, but it's almost like there's, yeah, there's strain going on there. And now I know that there is a limit to my voice. Like when you get either when you're sick or when you've just exhausted your voice too much, knowing what that threshold is to where if you push it, you'll actually do damage to your vocal cords. didn't know what that was before, but now I know my limit. So it was a, in a way, there were good things that came out of this really crappy situation. talking about vocal cords and talking, do you adjust your vocal tone or energy depending on the type of event, even the type of series? Obviously your voice probably changes a little bit from your conversational voice to more of an, I don't know, a broadcast type voice? Yeah, little bit. it depends on the type of show. So for example, when I am doing Grey's Day Live, that is more of a broadcast. uh How would you say? Like uh it's a broadcast performance. So it's not going to be as much as what I would have for the live in stadium show for Supercross where I'm not on the live broadcast. At the night show, that's when it's a lot of like really projecting your voice, hyping fans up, getting them excited. And it's more like education and butterflies, we call it. ah It's, you know, very top level. ah Need to know information. You don't go as in depth with it. However, for the NBC broadcast or for race day live, I'm Supercross am, you know, it's, it's a little bit more calm and muted and serious and going a lot more in depth with your information. So your voice changes with that. Like I said, and that when you're announcing for a live stadium, it's a lot more projection, hype, excitement. When I was working with Snocross and the same thing for Champ Off Road, there's no budget there to have a separate TV broadcast and a separate live audience show. It's the same one. So you're having to meet in the middle. And that's what I feel like really served me well when I got to Supercross. Yes, I had to learn how to differentiate them, but the fact that I was able to do both simultaneously helped me out a lot. And sometimes you'll see it, like sometimes during a broadcast, I'll get really passionate or excited about something and maybe appear more like personable and authentic than maybe I did early on in my broadcast career. uh And that just comes from, again, my experience and getting to do both. So how you inflect, how you project your voice and the tone of voice, it changes a little bit. But I've prided myself on using my very, as natural of a voice as possible for me and my broadcast work. When I listen to local news, for example, or even uh major network news, they have a very distinct uh way of speaking. And I'm not saying like it's, it's good or bad. It's just like, I've personally found that very hard to do. I've never like sought training on it. I do have a vocal training that I've done, but I haven't been able to brand like a broadcast voice. So as far as like my, my tone in ways. it'll stay kind of consistent that way, if that makes sense. um And I do try to make it as authentic as possible. Because when I do try to force it, and I do try to practice maybe honing more of a uh broadcast tone, if you will, uh I don't know, it just doesn't come across as me. uh What is your approach to building rapport with riders so that they open up with you on camera? Do you find that people are a little more reserved, especially in your early years of getting to know you? And are they willing to share more information once you kind of have that established relationship with them? Yeah, it's different for each athlete or each interview subject. For a lot of times, especially the younger athletes, like they're still trying to get confident on camera in general. And I can't help them with that. What I can help them with is being comfortable in speaking to me and helping them understand that this is a conversation. No matter what, if I'm working for a broadcast, if I'm on the NBC broadcast or if it's for in the stadium or race day live on Peacock, it's I still want good interviews out of these individuals. And so how I build rapport with them is, A, it's going to take time. I have to establish trust with them. I need them to know that if we discuss something that's off the record, it's going to stay off the record. I may be asking these things to understand it so I can better provide an angle to something or tell a story some way while respecting their boundaries of information that they don't want out there. And also trusting that I'm going to tell their story accurately in their voice, if you will, even if it's not in the form of an interview. If I'm doing a standup or, you know, speaking, chiming in during the race, um I need to be to addressing things accurately and telling their story how they want it to be told. And I also have to take into account that my job is not always promotional. I can't always be like, you know, this person is so great at what they're doing. They look good right now. It's just wins, wins, wins. It's not always that way. I do have an obligation to be objective and address things as I see them and provide my analysis. That is part of the job that I have to sprinkle in. But there is a finesse to that in doing it in a way that's not defamatory, that's not disrespectful. um You can be honest, but professional and paint people, paint their stories in a good light and authentic light. it's A, establishing that trust, getting them comfortable in speaking to me. is another one, and that is sometimes asking the right questions. I'm, you know, not everyone is going to respond to a very direct, blunt question that I may ask one athlete. Some need a little bit more massaging to that question, if you will, and you need to go about it in more of a sweet angle. So it's, yeah, it's all about understanding how each individual likes to be spoken to. And when I have a better understanding of how each, what makes each person tick, what they... may not be receptive to in conversation. If I can just be acutely aware of these things, it's going to generate better information in my interviews and it's going to provide a lot more trust. And when I can break through with someone and I start to see that they're trusting me and respecting me, I value that so much, not just for my work, but on the human level. That's really cool to me. When someone comes up to me and says, like, hey, just so know, like I had a really bad this week. I'm like, okay, that's very serious thing. Like, can we talk about it? And they're like, yeah, well, when they've trusted me to break that news to the industry and, you know, there was always been people who were like, this isn't news. I knew about this. Yeah, okay, sure. But the general audience did not. In fact, this athlete trusted me to broadcast that out on one of the biggest platforms is something I take very seriously. And you got to you earn trust, you got to keep that trust too. So it's all about just getting them comfortable with you and maintaining that trust in me have been two of the biggest things. I feel like I could talk to you for another hour, but I do kind of have a timeline for the show that I'm going to stick to. So I wanted to kind of have you give maybe some advice, especially to young women who want to get into motorsports media about what they could be doing to break into the industry. Yes, this is a great question Heather and I love talking about this because I can speak to my experience and that was I set a goal early on and it's never too late to set a goal. But what is a goal if you're not going to stick to it and you your pathway, it may not be linear, may meander, it may evolve over time, but having a goal in mind is so, so important. So for me, that was broadcast. For some people it may be. photography and maybe writing and maybe advertising. Maybe someone wants to be a sports agent because gosh darn, if there aren't enough female sports agents out there, certainly not in motor sports, I want to see more of it. uh So set that goal. And to get there, you may not immediately have an internship or an entry level position with a company or in the field that you want to work in. But if motor sports or baseball, hockey is what you want to work in, start with whatever you can do to get your foot in the door and maybe just maybe put yourself in a position to shake hands with someone who could be a decision maker one day or who could write a letter of recommendation for you. And that could be while you're still in high school, in college, or after college. You don't even have to have a degree. It's just trying to get into it any way that you can into that field you want to work in. I knew that in order to get there and to be handed a mic for the first time, I just had to be in the room. So I would take positions, you know, such as graphic design, photography, videography, running a camera for the live broadcast, running cable for broadcasts, like any position that I could. And that is ultimately how I not only affirmed that this is what I want to do for a living is that end goal, but I built those connections that helped get me there. And I learned so much about the disciplines that I wanted to cover along the way. I've been a fan, but until you're there, on the ground, dirtying your face, experiencing it, and even getting to interact with some of the key players. That's where you're really going to learn a lot, and that's the best education, in my opinion. So take any opportunity you can. I love that advice. And I definitely have found that same advice to be true and getting me to where I am in my career. So let people know where they can connect with you online, whether it's Instagram or where they can keep up with your journey. Absolutely, I am pretty active on Instagram at Haley Shanley TV. I'm also on Facebook, I do drop by there occasionally. I am on TikTok as well. I don't use it as much, I'm more of a doom-scroller. uh And I have YouTube as well, but I'm not super active on there. But if you're looking for me, at Haley Shanley TV on Instagram is the best way to get a hold of me or simply follow along. Perfect. Well, thank you so much for joining me today and thanks to everybody for tuning into Momentum. This has been a production of High Gear Success. If you want to connect to recommend a guest, head to MomentumMotorsportsPodcast.com. Until next time, keep the momentum rolling.