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We cover the sport of CrossFit from all angles. We talk with athletes, coaches and celebrities that compete and surround in the sport of CrossFit at all levels. We also bring you Breaking News, Human Interest Stories and report on the Methodology of CrossFit. We also use the methodology to make ourselves the fittest we can be.
I was born to kill it.
I was meant to win.
I am down and willing,
so I will find a way.
It took a minute,
now it didn't have to ride away.
When it get hot in the kitchen,
you decide to stay.
That's how it winters made.
Stick a fork in the heater
on my dinner plate.
I walk into the fire like it's
What is going on, everybody?
Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
My name is Scott Schweitzer.
I'm the Clydesdale.
We're here to celebrate and
highlight the athletes of
the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games.
And I'm so honored and
privileged to have with me five-time,
now six-time CrossFit Games athlete,
Kenzie Riley.
What's going on, Kenzie?
Hey, your average Thursday night.
There you go.
Me hiding in the garage
trying to do a phone call.
There you are.
So when we were messaging back and forth,
you asked if our paths had crossed.
And I'm going to tell my
embarrassing story that
makes me look really, really bad.
So we were both at the games.
I want to say it was 2022.
2022, I think.
Okay.
Yeah.
You were there pushing a stroller.
I ran up behind you and I
thought you were Jen dancer.
Yes.
Yes.
And I felt like this tall
when you turned around and
I realized you are not Jen dancer.
You are in fact, Kenzie Riley.
Well, if it makes you feel any better,
you're not the only person
to ever get that confused.
Apparently we are.
look like and but I don't
know there's something that
gives the same vibe
apparently so I've not
gotten that um that only
time so well I had her and
sam on the show just right
before that talking about
motherhood and having the
baby and um and so like all
that the stroller
everything clicked in I was
like oh it's got to be jen
and then I get there and
boom nope it was kenzie
No, I do remember that, but like I said,
I've had that happen to me a couple times,
so whatever.
And you know what?
I know Jen, and we're cool, and I like her,
and she's awesome,
so I could think of worse
people to be confused for, so...
you're, you're both incredible athletes.
What an honor.
Yeah.
Um,
so you are the first athlete I've had
on this week that has been
to the games before
everybody else I've had on
is going as a rookie.
Oh, can,
what advice would you give to the
rookies going to the
CrossFit games for the first time?
Oh, geez.
Well, it kind of depends on,
I think what stage of life you're in.
Um,
For me going as a rookie when I was,
oh my gosh, I was like 29.
I was almost 30 my very first year.
And being in a completely
different part of my life with, you know,
less obligations and more
time to just focus on training.
So I think it depends on how
big of a part CrossFit
plays in your life and how
big piece of the pie it gets.
but it's really easy to just
get overwhelmed and sucked up.
And I, this is me talking to myself,
not to other people, but like to enjoy,
like everyone says, Oh, enjoy it.
But like, but like actually enjoy it.
And remember like,
it's just working out and
putting so much like
pressure on yourself and
like being so worried about
things really robs you of the,
the fun that we like, we're,
we're supposed to enjoy this.
Like,
that's what I always have to remind
myself instead of, you know,
feeling like, oh gosh,
I have to warm up again.
Oh gosh, another event.
Is this over yet?
Like inevitably that's the
attitude kind of,
I think once you get into the weekend,
but just remember like, damn,
this is awesome.
And like,
I get to do this and I like to do
this and it's just working out.
I do this all the time.
I do this every day.
Let's go have some fun with this.
Cause yeah,
it can easily get turned into
something that's not supposed to be.
Don't take it too seriously,
I guess is what I'm saying.
have you done any masters
competitions or is this your first one?
I think technically it's my first one.
Well, I don't know.
I competed with me,
Elijah Muhammad and I did a,
a team competition.
And I don't know if we're in
the masters division or the open division,
but we're both masters athletes.
So
I think it must've just been
regular division.
No,
I haven't really messed too much with
masters.
Cause I've ever since I've
been master's age,
I've either been pregnant
or too close postpartum to
really like can compete at
least in like a game, the game season.
So I'm just trying to think
on like a local level,
which I don't get too many
opportunities with that.
So I don't know.
Wait, yes, I did crash crucible,
which is like a competition down here,
which J.R.
Howell and like,
they're friends with like Hiller and Sevan,
like anybody who watches that podcast, um,
might be familiar with him, but his gym,
like Jason Hopper, I didn't believe,
believe trains out of,
it's just a couple hours from me.
Um, and they do a great competition.
So I did that in like
October in the master's division.
Yeah.
My Sunday night co-host, uh,
competed against you, Jamie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
Yep.
Yeah.
And so we watched the stream
the whole weekend, uh, and did,
did little wrap up shows from it, uh,
just because, and it was so good.
Quite a show.
Oh yeah.
It was, it was a great competition.
Um, he's great.
So any,
any opportunity anybody has to go compete,
uh,
he has does like one or two events a
year.
It's definitely highly recommend.
So you're in North Carolina.
What part?
I'm in Charlotte in.
Yep.
Yep.
Charlotte proper.
My wife has a lot of family there.
So we've,
we've been there for family reunions,
different things like that.
So I'm very familiar with
the Charlotte area.
Oh, that's cool.
I don't hear that too often.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a nice, it's, it's a nice place.
I don't think it's,
but I'm not like from here.
I've only lived here like
seven years going on eight years,
which is kind of a long time.
But I'm from the Midwest.
I'm from Illinois.
Okay.
Born and raised.
So this is just a venture we
went on to kind of do
something different besides
live in Illinois our whole lives.
Yeah, I'm in Columbus, Ohio.
Oh, yeah.
So midwest myself.
Yeah.
And I love them.
I mean, we go back and I'm always like, oh,
I kind of miss it,
but I don't really miss the winters.
And, you know, I wanted to just do like,
we were just like, dude,
let's not live here forever, you know?
So who knows what the future will hold,
but we're here and we like
it and we're not going
anywhere anytime soon,
but we're not like born Southern.
We're not Southerners, you know,
it's not like in us, but it's, you know,
we like to pretend we are sometimes.
I moved to Northern Florida
for four years and I couldn't,
I couldn't deal with the Southern way.
Like it,
it's just much slower than I'm
accustomed to.
And if you like it and that's your,
your style, good for you.
I just couldn't live in that
style very long.
And honestly though,
I was thinking about this earlier.
I'm like, dude, I'm not like,
I'm not Southern in my core.
Um,
But my kids are going to be
born and raised Carolina kids.
And I'm just like,
is my kid going to have an accent?
Is he going to have the
mountains and the beach in his heart?
Because I've got cornfields
in my heart because that's
what I grew up around.
And so I'm like,
I wonder if he'll resonate with this.
Even though we don't have those roots,
is he going to have those roots?
So I'm curious to see if
they're going to be like
true Carolinian children.
So what was your background
that got you into this CrossFit world?
So I was a swimmer the
majority of my childhood, like 15 years.
I swam for a couple of years in college,
super burnout by that point in time.
And I don't know.
That's my background.
Oh, yeah.
I made it two months into my
freshman year.
Exactly.
Yeah, I did it because I was like,
this is what I do.
But I like hated it so much.
I was so over it.
I didn't know what I didn't.
That was my problem,
as I didn't know what to do
if I didn't do it.
I was like, this is who I am.
This is what I do.
Which is now my problem with CrossFit.
But it becomes just, like, yeah, a part of,
like, your identity, kind of.
So, yeah, I had that, like, aerobic base.
So coming into CrossFit,
I was 25 when I walked in
my first CrossFit gym.
Like, I was super late to the game.
So, yeah,
I spent about five years in
between swimming and CrossFit where I,
like...
did a lot of gym workouts, group exercise,
marathon, like half marathoning,
just thinking I was really
fit because I just like did
a whole bunch of gym rat shit.
But I was never like training.
I'd never like lifted heavy,
touched a barbell, done a full depth,
like back squat, like with any weight.
Like I didn't,
like I didn't like know any
of that stuff.
But when I came into CrossFit,
I was like aerobic base.
That was not the problem.
Coordination,
Like, I'm a pretty, like,
just naturally coordinated kind of human,
like, body awareness and coordination,
like, rhythm.
Like, okay, so Olympic lifting, I could,
like, pick that up a little bit.
And some things just clicked.
But I was just, yeah, I don't know.
One of my old swim teammates
was the one that told me to try it.
And then my cousin actually
was into it too.
So I just kept hearing about it.
And I was like,
I don't even know where you
go to do this.
You have to like, I Googled it up,
like CrossFit gym.
Like, is this a place you go?
Like,
I didn't really understand the
concept of it being
different than like a gym, but yeah,
that was 2012.
And by 2013, I was like, yeah,
like where's, is there a competition?
Can I like go compete in this somewhere?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's funny.
I had a girl that went to
the Olympic trials in swimming on Friday.
And she's 34 years old,
and she uses CrossFit to train.
She only gets in the pool one day a week.
Yeah.
And she CrossFits five days a week.
Now, she's a sprinter.
And she found that her body
responded to that way more
than doing a bunch of pool time.
And she, at 34 years old,
made the Olympic trials.
Really?
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Is this somebody I should know?
Who is this?
Am I competing against her?
Her name is Caitlin Johnson.
What's her name?
Caitlin Johnson.
Oh, I've definitely heard of her.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah,
and she's dabbling in CrossFit comps too.
She's done Wadapalooza, TFF,
some of those things as well.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Cause I, and I remember when I started,
like basically as I was
like phasing out of my like
runner girl era that I thought I was,
I was definitely not,
but I didn't know what else to do,
but I would like do these
half marathons and like,
train for half marathons.
Anyways.
Um, I was like,
I had one in October and I
started crossfitting in
like July and I wasn't like
ever really doing,
I would do like one longer
run a week and just
crossfit the rest of the time.
And I like had the best, like best,
like half marathon
experience run feeling good
of my time that I was a runner.
Um, and I was like,
I really didn't like train
running really.
Um, so yeah,
I fully believe that that's possible.
So you're a registered dietitian.
You've surrounded yourself
with health and fitness by
being an athlete and your
career is nutrition and all
of that stuff.
Growing up,
was that always your desire or
was it just because you
were always in sports?
Um, you know, that's a funny question.
Cause it's definitely, yeah,
it's kind of like a saga.
Um, because I think,
I think a lot of people that come into,
I mean, in this space in general, um,
like nutrition and fitness
go hand in hand.
And of course I started out, um,
like I've always been an athlete.
Like that's, like I said,
like always something I
felt very like called to like
called to be and just like a
part of me and it was very
natural for me to always
want to be like training
doing exercise making
myself better trying to be
better than how I was like
that's like that's just
comes to me naturally I
don't know what that's
about genetics or like just
personality but for me
that's not hard to do so
whenever especially
whenever I was like in college I
Like, I would be, like, I was, like,
the girl at the rec all the time.
Like, that's where people knew me from.
Because I was, like,
I was just working out all the time.
That was, like,
the one thing I always wanted to do.
And it's, like, I'm going to college.
I got to pick something that I, you know,
like, I would love to be an athlete.
Like, ideally,
if I could just work out all
day and get paid for it, that was, like,
the one thing I actually want to do.
But.
That's not a major option.
You know, you can't pick that in college.
So I was like, well,
what's something close?
Like clearly I'm not going
to be in like I'm not
making my sport a career.
So I was like, well, it's something close.
And I played along with
round of like athletic training,
of course, like physical therapy.
You see a lot of physical
therapists in like the CrossFit space.
But I knew I wanted to do
something that I could like
work in athletics.
Like I want to be in athletics,
even if I wasn't doing it.
um and so dietetics got in
the mix in my brain um and
so I ended up going that
route just to try and stay
in the sport realm and um
so I knew I wanted to work
in athletics but the whole
time I just really wanted
to be the athlete
um but this is as close as I
could get so um luckily
it's worked out though that
I can because I do work in
most I get to work with a
lot of athletes um being
kind of now also still
waving the flag of athlete
myself obviously at
different degrees
throughout the past few
years but um it allows me
to kind of like walk the
walk and talk the talk have
the experience relate to
the individuals um
know so I get to to kind of
have that as a unique kind
of um twist to to my
profession as a dietitian
so um yeah it's always been
natural for me um but also
kind of to add to that
story I also went through a
pretty aggressive bout of
eating disorder when I was
in high school um in my
freshman to sophomore year
of high school and
that drug on, I would say for a good bit,
I mean,
probably the better half of a
decade where it was, you know,
varying stages and phases
of a disordered eating situation.
And once I started CrossFit
and started eating and
performing at a high level
and eating to perform and
really understood what that meant,
I learned a lot about, again,
athletics and sports and
nutrition and how it works together.
So that made me better able
to be like a sports specific dietitian.
So
So you were all work together.
You were battling an eating
disorder while you were
studying dietetics in college.
Yeah.
It's super embarrassing.
Like to like, yeah,
like now I can talk about
it and like admit that.
But at the time it's like,
you never want to admit that.
Cause it's like, no,
who wants to get advice
from someone who doesn't
have their own shit together kind of,
you know,
and not to sound like rude to
anybody else that, you know,
is in a situation like that,
but it was insecurity of mine.
Right.
So yeah.
I knew that's why I got a nutrition coach.
I got somebody to help me because I knew,
even though I knew it
because I was a professional,
I was not doing myself any
service by helping myself
by clearly struggling.
So I view it in a different perspective.
I think you understand it
more than anybody else
because you fought that
fight and you overcame it.
Yeah, no,
I now get to speak about it and
like really help people.
So from where I'm at in my life now,
I feel like I've lived like
several lives.
So I've got, you know,
this eating disorder
history that I have taken
some specialty education around.
So I try and like I semi
specialize in that.
Also, you see a lot of that, unfortunately,
in our sport and in sports in general,
just a big struggle with that.
Aesthetics versus
performance versus just
shit we learn or like
absorb through the world
and how we're supposed to
feel about food and our bodies.
So there's a lot of that going on.
So I get to play that role
and kind of have that scope.
And then I also have just performance,
high level, like serious athlete scope.
And then also as a mom who's
gone through pregnant
postpartum experience,
I also kind of have that experience.
So I have a few different
hats in my practice.
So that's something I'm
super grateful for.
And I love working with a
variety of people in all those realms.
Are you still with M2 or are
you out on your own?
No, I work for M2.
They're my...
I started – like,
that's where I started in this space.
Mike, who – Mike Malloy, who started M2,
he was my – like,
my nutrition coach that
helped me understand a
little bit more eating at a
high level of performance.
And so I will always, like,
wave that flag because that's my, like,
origin story kind of in all
of this space.
But I also work for a local
company here in Charlotte doing –
Yeah.
Another, another dietetic job.
Cause with them too,
I'm a nutrition coach here in Charlotte.
I'm working with a company
that's specifically RD licensed.
So I get a, I get a,
get a lot of like the
sports action still like with them too.
Cause that's a lot of people
are coming through the
CrossFit space and through
sports specific.
But yeah, here locally,
I get to work with another
gamut of people.
Yeah.
Mike is one of the nicest
people I think I've ever
met in this life.
And he's so smart.
I've learned so much from
him and I'm so glad that he
turned that into what he, yeah,
he's built like something really awesome.
All the M2 coaches are, we, he,
he teaches us a lot.
We learn a lot.
So that's why we're,
we're a really great
company with good coaches
is he puts a lot into his
coaches to learn and
understand and be better.
So yeah, he's amazing.
I read somewhere in one of
your bios that you found
after you got pregnant and
you weren't competing as much,
you'd kind of found peace
in a 60 to 90 minute a day
workout and with no pressure.
Now you're being an athlete again.
Are you still in that 60 to
90 minutes a day or have
you upped the volume?
Dude, I add another kid in the mix.
So no, we're,
we're honestly down in volume.
Like 60 minutes is asking a
lot these days.
So yeah,
Oh yeah.
For the better part of this year,
it's like 35,
anywhere between 35 to 60 minutes, um,
depending on the day and
what I have going on.
I work out in my garage.
Sometimes I really love when
I can get to the gym.
Um, so I, if anything,
I've been trying to get to
the gym more as I prep for the games,
like making sure I'm in the
gym using different implements,
not just like what I have
in my low ceiling garage.
Um,
Or I even work out at the
YMCA where I can drop my
kids off and they watch
them for an hour for me and
I go use whatever sort of,
they've got a rower, they got dumbbells.
So it's like some version of that.
Yeah, it's a total random mix.
But yeah,
having a second child has for
sure downed the volume, if anything.
So the stress down the volume of training.
So with two kids, both young, um,
two jobs kind of, um,
and a husband as well.
How do you balance all this stuff?
You know, that's the thing is I,
I'm doing it all good,
but I'm not doing any of it.
Great.
I think is like the real
best way to put it.
Like the third mother that
said that to me this week.
That's,
and I think it's just the way that
it is and you can have it all.
Like I tell people like you
can't have it all, you can't do it all,
but
None of it is going to be, like,
to the best of your abilities.
And I'm okay with that
because I choose to be able
to have it all.
Like, I can't make up my mind.
I have a really hard time
with decision making.
So I just keep doing all the things.
And unfortunately, like,
there are some things you
can't sacrifice.
Like, I can't just not work.
But I love to just not work, of course.
Unfortunately, my household,
this is not a choice.
You know, my husband is amazing.
He has a great job as a teacher,
but he has a great job as a teacher.
So I will always be working
to some degree to support my family.
And CrossFit does not pay that bill.
So I will continue being a
dietitian until further notice.
Yeah.
But, yeah,
it's because I want to do it all
and I refuse to miss these
years with my kids.
I refuse to, yeah, not support my family.
And I refuse to give up on
doing something that gives
me a feeling of, like,
accomplishment and purpose.
And I don't love to hurt anyone.
I really don't even like to hurt anymore,
but I find myself in this
position where I've
qualified for the CrossFit games, um,
with making myself hurt minimally.
And so, yeah, um, I don't know.
I just still like to work
out and it still gets me to
where it still gets me here.
So now it's a question of if
I want to hurt, if I'm willing to, um, to,
to make this worth it, I guess, but no,
there is no balance.
Um, all the balls are in the air.
But I don't know how.
It's probably not good.
Like my brain and my nervous
system are probably not at peak health.
But in some aspects,
it's a season of life and
you are modeling good
behaviors for your kids.
Oh, yeah.
I mean,
I think that it's funny because I know,
like, we hear,
because we're surrounded by
this stuff all the time and in this space,
like, we see and hear, like,
so many kids at gyms and, like,
people's kids, like, on pull-up bars and,
like, oh,
my kid's going to grow up knowing this.
And it's like, well,
I feel like that's more
kids than not that I see.
That's because that's all I
see because that's what's
on my algorithms and that's
who my friends are and all of that.
But, like...
when you look at like the
greater picture like when I
think about the kids and my
friends or my the kids the
friends in my kids classes
I'm like I know these kids
don't see this so for my
son to be like yeah I swing
on these rings and I you
know he he's like mom I
want to do your workout
like you know like that's
not a normal thing I think
for kids to to see and do
so the fact that it's just
something that they're just gonna
Just be like, yeah,
that's how it is at my house.
It's super awesome.
And whether they decide they
like it and want to do it
is a different story,
but it's not going to be
something weird for them to
be exposed to.
And I think more and more
that's happening.
Again, it's just because I see that in my,
you know, my surroundings, but I love it.
So I will definitely, yeah, absolutely.
No regrets on that being a
byproduct of it.
How old are the kids?
Four and one and a half.
So we're in the real crazy little times.
So the four-year-old is
getting close to a point where he,
is it a he?
Yeah.
That he'll want to work out
with mom and that he'll
want to do some of these things.
That's my hope.
I ask him all the time or
he'll say he wants to do a workout.
Like his attention span is like a fly.
Yeah.
So he says he wants to do it
and he'll do like one squat
and then he'll like pick up
his baseball bat and like
run over and do something
else and like run back.
And like he's all he's dude,
he's like a ping pong ball.
So, yeah,
whenever he like has the
attention span to want to
like actually do something.
And he says and he wants to watch me.
The thing is,
he'll watch me because he's
like my little Velcro child.
Um,
we're very close bonded to where I'm like,
okay,
I'm going to go outside and grab a
workout.
You got the kids.
Oh yeah.
Like I'm going to turn on
the TV and then we'll like, go do this,
blah, blah, blah.
So in my mind,
like my husband's got this
covered and I've come out
here and we've got a little door, um,
for our cat to come in and
out of the garage from the
inside of the house.
And I'm like in the middle
of like trying to get my
workout on and like the
door opens and like a
little hand comes out, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah.
And I'm like,
Oh my gosh.
Like, or just like, yeah,
I see like little hands
reaching out the door and
then it's like so distracting.
But at that point I'm like, screw it.
And I'm just like, come out,
just come out here, whatever.
And it's definitely like chaos.
And I'm like, buddy,
why don't you go inside with dad?
And he's like, I just want to,
I just going to sit here
until you're done.
I'm just going to sit here and watch you.
And I'm like, whatever.
Okay.
So yeah.
I mean, yeah,
he sometimes like gets on my
rower and like,
like right before I'm supposed to be like,
sometimes he's like in the way,
but I'm also, and I told my husband this,
cause I think I heard Jason Kalipa say,
I never want to tell my kids.
I think what he was saying
is he would get up and
always work out super early
in the morning.
Cause he never wanted to tell his kids.
I can't, I have to go to the gym.
Like if they want to do something,
like I can't cause I've got
to work out and like make
them feel like they're a less priority.
So if I'm working out in here,
I never want to make them
feel like this is more
important than them and
they can't be a part of it.
Or, you know,
like if it's going to cramp
my style because my kid is
on my equipment or whatever,
I'm just like,
I can take 10 seconds and
like move them over and
like explain it or move it around.
Like, I don't care.
Like, what's that costing me?
Nothing.
But like for me to feel like,
I'm making them feel less by
excluding them.
Like that makes me feel worse, you know?
So I,
I let it be chaotic because of the
bigger picture of what it really is.
And not that like my workout
is going to be ruined.
Cause that's not important.
Yeah.
That that's special.
And so who are you taking
with you to the games?
Everyone.
Well, everyone in my house.
So, yes, everyone's on deck.
Unfortunately, we are not in a like, oh,
we'll just call grandma and
grandma can come stay for
the week situation.
Actually,
my in-laws are going to be on a cruise.
I was going to I tried to
recruit them to Birmingham
to come to come and be on
hand and they're going to be gone.
So we have some friends here who are big,
big CrossFit fans, big Kinsey fans,
and spend a lot of time with my kids.
So they're going to come and
hopefully run some
interference on child watch
duty so that my husband
doesn't have to do all of it.
Yeah, so it's mostly us, our family,
and then our two friends and kids.
truthfully and then all my
misfit squad like all like
so I'm still coached and
associated with misfit
which is also like another
half job that I do I do
some remote coaching um for
them so yeah add that to
the list um so they'll be
there so I've got a big
like team of of not like
family but like my fitness
family um so they'll be
there but as far as like oh and like
No one's uprooting their
life for the Masters games,
I don't think.
No one's traveling from Charlotte,
I really don't think,
outside of my two friends.
So I don't know.
I also haven't really broadcasted it.
So maybe I should be trying
to recruit some spectators, but whatever.
I've said this a couple times.
Like,
I don't know if people even realize this.
The athletes from 35 to 49...
have a collective 3 million
followers on Instagram.
And so people like they're
not giving the masters
credit that they have
followers and they have
people that are fans, but they really do.
Yeah.
I mean, it's not, it's not nothing,
you know?
Yeah.
If a third of those people
watch the stream,
that's a successful stream.
I mean, that's a lot.
Yeah, for sure.
I agree.
I mean,
it doesn't sound like a lot
compared to the Open Division.
Do the math on those followers, you know?
So it's, you know, it pales in comparison,
but it's also like, you know, yeah,
what does success mean for
this competition?
And if they, yeah,
if they want some viewership and...
I guess, yeah,
there's people out there supporting.
It's just a lot of,
I think people that are related to me,
a lot of friends and family, not a lot of,
I do.
I still have a pretty, honestly, I,
I never was trying to have
the biggest following.
I never really tried to make
a career and a big paycheck
off of my social media ads
and posts and sponsorships
a little bit here and there
over the years.
But yeah,
Nothing crazy.
I'm not trying to launch a
brand or anything, so I never really gave
a lot of that, my energy.
And even since going through
this phase of change of life,
now I have a lot of mom content.
Yeah, I lose some followers,
but I gain some mom
followers and people that
care about that.
So I'm not even sure who's
out there giving a crap
about what I do on social media anymore,
but I just put out there
what I want to put out there,
not what I have to contractually anymore.
So whoever's hanging around for that,
I appreciate them.
And
I know that they really do
like what I'm serving
because it's been kind of
all over the place over the
last few years.
So in regards to kind of like, yeah,
that following and that support,
like not that you asked,
but just kind of naturally
came up in this conversation.
But like, I know the people that,
that do care, like, like actually care.
And it's not just like for, you know,
other reasons that people
are following me.
So.
Right.
Real is always better.
Apparently I don't, I like,
I can't even keep up with that crap.
Yeah, I'm saying like R-E-A-L.
Oh, sorry.
Real.
Real is always better.
No, that's what I've always said.
Like, you know, what is this like,
you know, quality over quantity.
So I'm just like,
I may not have a ton of
people following me,
but I know that the people
that I do like I'm engaged
with and like they
appreciate what I'm
bringing and I appreciate
them for appreciating me.
So I just try and I hope to
be relatable is all.
So that's hopefully what
people are getting because
that's all I got.
I heard John Woolley talk about it,
who was Make Wads Great Again,
lost his account, had to start a new one.
He was like,
I had a half a million
followers that weren't engaged.
They just were like passive people.
And he wanted to,
in the recreation of the new channel,
he wants it to be different
and to be more engaged.
He doesn't care about that big number.
He just wants to have a real
relationship with the
people that are following him.
Yeah.
I was going to say that's,
that's like a tricky too, because I don't,
I don't even look at, I don't analyze,
I don't look at the analytics.
I don't look at the, like, again, I,
I don't have no reason to,
but I understand like
engagement is different
than just follows.
And it's like, what's more important, um,
you know, views or likes or this or that,
like I hear about that
stuff all the time and,
or subscribers or not subscribers,
but they're being watched,
but they're not being subscribed.
Like, I don't even know, but, um,
But yeah, there's something to that.
What I do.
Yeah.
It's so frustrating, but yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
That's what I'm saying.
Like, and then,
and then you get algorithms
and things get blocked and you know, like,
yeah, I don't even, it's AI and things.
I don't know.
Some people buy followers,
some people buy subscribers.
So you don't even know what real is.
Like you have no idea if
you're doing good or bad
because you don't know what's real.
Technology is getting
terrifying just with all of
it and algorithms.
And like I said, like what I,
even when you try and then
people don't like,
sometimes they're just going to like,
things aren't going to be
seen because of algorithms.
And so I'm just like, I don't know.
Why am I caring?
Why am I trying?
So.
So I want to,
I want to thank you a ton for
taking out the time to do this.
I know you're super busy and
I really appreciate it.
We are going to be in Birmingham.
We got access to behind the scenes.
We're going to do a full
behind the scenes documentary,
just like they do for the elite athletes.
Yes.
I love those.
Yeah.
We're going to have fun.
Ellie Hiller and myself will
be backstage hanging out in
the warmup areas, the corrals,
just chatting with people
to find out how the weekend's going.
And then we'll have some
videographers getting some
footage from the floor and
Great.
Yeah,
I don't know what the deal was on media.
I heard there's a kerfuffle with media.
You know,
those media passes are not very
well freely given these days, I hear.
It's a lot of issues with
the media situation.
So I never know what to
expect with coverage.
And I don't even care what I
look like because I don't
think anyone's taking my picture.
Yeah.
So I can tell you this will
be fully live streamed.
Okay.
They actually got Sean
Woodland to call it since
he wasn't good enough to do
the games this year.
Yeah.
He's going to do the Masters.
So I think that's a win-win
for the Masters athletes.
Yes.
Yes.
So full stream.
I negotiated this like four
months ago with the
organizers of legends.
So we'll be back.
We're not going to interfere
with the live stream.
We're just doing our own
little documentary thing.
So you'll have some,
a couple of things to watch.
And when you get back,
Yes, because people always ask, you know,
all my sweet friends at home,
they're like, how can I watch this?
And I'm like, I don't even know.
Like,
I don't know what sort of coverage
there's going to be,
what heats they're going to cover,
if there's going to be
commentation or if it's
just like a camera propped
up like in the rafters and
you can just like squint
and maybe like see where I like.
I have no idea what to
expect with the coverage.
Yeah.
Okay, well, that would be great.
Because people always want
to watch me do competitions.
And I'm like,
you can never see me even at the like,
even at the games.
I'm like, Oh, look, that's my ponytail.
That's like right in front of Tia's head.
But you can't tell it's me
because it's on Tia.
But that's my ponytail that
keeps like coming in the frame.
Like, there I am.
Well,
now that they know that you're not
Jen Dancer,
we'll definitely chat backstage.
Yeah, but I mean,
she's not going to be there, though,
because Sam was not he's
not doing the Masters this year.
So if as long as she's not there, then,
you know, it's definitely me.
If you if you see somebody
who looks like me,
it's only me this time.
You'll probably have the athlete badge on.
So my name might be on my shirt.
So that will also help you.
There you go.
Kenzie, this has been awesome.
I hope you got a little break from,
from the action inside the house.
You know what?
We did this in perfect time.
I can still go in and make
sure I show my face and
they lose their mind one
more time before they have
to go to sleep.
So perfect.
Awesome.
We'll have a great rest of your night.
Thank you for doing this and
we'll see you in a burping cam.
All right.
Yep.
See you soon.
Bye.
And everybody in the chat,
thank you for being here.
Sorry, I lost my mouse.
White on white is not good for old eyes.
We'll see everybody next
time on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
Bye, guys.