What's going on y'all? It is Friday, October 10th. I'm really excited for today's episode. We have three awesome segments for you. We start off with spending 15 minutes with Miles Mclofflin. Now, Miles is the number one rusher in the United States of America.
Yes, he leads the country in rushing yards. He talks about his journey thus far, how their team's been doing. They compete for a a conference title tonight against Breamman. Going to be a great game there. and talks about looking forward into the postseason as well as what recovery looks like for him. I mean, he's rushed as many as 50 times in one game.
Even if you're not a football person, spend 15 minutes with a high school senior who is the number one in the country. Incredible. After that, we've got a fun segment for you where Shane and I play is this town in Indiana. He's going to give me some different unincorporated communities in Indiana and I have to guess whether they're in the state or out of the state. If you know the state of Indiana well and you know small towns, that's going to be a very fun segment. We round it out with a special interview in studio with Sydney Shrewsbury.
Now, Sydney holds the title for Miss Indiana USA. We're going to talk about her journey to winning that title, and at the end of the month, she's going out to represent our entire state for MissUSA. We're going to talk about what that looks like, all the preparation, what goes into the pageant. It's going to be a great, great interview. I know you're going to love it. Sydney brings a ton of energy.
very very fun. All that and more packed into this episode. I know you're going to love it. Seriously, go out there, have the greatest weekend known to man. The Colts are hosting the Cardinals on Sunday. It's going to be great.
If you are in the greater Evansville area, you have to make it out to Fall Festival. This is the second largest street festival in the entire nation behind Marty Gro. Place is wild. Their halfpots's up over a million dollars. You can participate in the halfp pot no matter where you are. We'll put the link down in the show notes.
It's crazy. That place, they have hundreds of vendors. It makes a huge impact in the Evansville community. You need to go check it out. The Fall Festival presented by the Westside Nut Club. I hope you enjoy the episode.
Let's get into it. I'm joined by the number one rusher in the nation out of Knox, Indiana up in Stark County. This season, he has carried the ball 220 times for 2,468 yards, 39 touchdowns. He has a total of 9,461 career yards. He's 1,46 yards off of the career rushing record for the state of Indiana. Someone had sent me something over the summer saying like, "Hey, this guy had a pretty great junior campaign and is is geared up."
And I was like, "Okay, I'll keep some tabs on it." Obviously being a Northern Indiana guy myself, I was pumped up to see someone from u from up north doing well. And then this season just kind of started to go absolutely crazy, man. Like I mean, give us an update for those that that might not follow along as closely at home. How's the year been going?
7-0 playing for a Commerce Championship this week. So, it's real exciting.
And you got the the the Breamman Lions this uh this Friday night tonight. How are we feeling?
Feeling good. They uh upset us last year pretty bad. And uh we're we're locked in for this week for sure.
Talk to me about about you and how life has been going this senior year. Like obviously when Max Prep starts putting out stuff saying number one rusher in the nation, like I mean how has it been for you? I mean you're a high school senior to be getting this national attention.
Crazy for sure. I mean like all the attention I'm getting and stuff is it's cool. Comes with some hate, too. But I love it.
Really? Okay. What are the What are the What are the What's the hate? Who's hating on a high school kid?
No competition.
I did a video not too long ago, right? And I was like talking about this is crazy. Whether or not you're playing like there's been many many players gone through 1A, 2A, 3A football before and have not put up these kind of numbers. So like, and it's not your fault. Like what? You're 17, 18 years old. It's like how how are they going to blame you for that, dude? Don't let that get to you. For sure.
I definitely love it. For sure. Well, when I get in there though, the the best part to me is one, you got some dogs up front. Like, those dudes are are big and they can move around. Talk to me about the boys.
We've been playing together for a long time since about sixth grade. I mean, uh some of us even played Pop Warner together and uh we've grown up. It's always been a goal of ours to to be what we are right now. I mean, we've always talked about this. So, it's real real cool to see it all coming together finally.
You know, it's a team sport. there's 11 guys on the field, you know, but you know, in the stat book, it's it's all Miles, you know. So, how do you like, you know, how do you manage that? The hate, the love, all the things coming along while also still like staying focused on the team sport.
I think everybody on the team, I mean, everyone's pretty positive with it all. I mean, I give them the credit as much as I can. I mean, I would not be able to do what I do without them, obviously. I mean, there's there's some dogs up front for sure. I mean, they're getting their own looks of their own for sure. So, I mean, I I try to give him breakfast every now and then on Saturday mornings and stuff, but
dude, that see and that's like the sign of a true leader, I feel like. Right. It's like though, I mean, you're doing a lot of the work when you get like up into the second level and beyond, but like to get there to put this team together, it takes a lot. Catch us up from like a team perspective. You guys are seven and0. You're going for a conference title. Obviously, you have large, you know, state aspirations, but like are is there a lot of D1 talent on this team? We have some linemen that are there are some big boys that can definitely play at the next level,
but no one no one committed or anything yet.
No one's committed yet or anything, but we have uh we have a lot of guys getting looks for sure. So,
dude, that's kind of sick.
It's it's hard. I feel like a lot of people think that we don't play anybody or I mean, no, our competition is not good, but we're playing uh some some good teams for sure.
You're going crazy. And uh Jack Kaiser, he is uh I've talked to him a few times and it was like he came through a similar conference. Uh it's a little bit different than than it is now, but like same thing. Like he was just running it up, but like he I feel like that wasn't uh a deterrent from him. No one was like, "Oh, Jack doesn't." And then he goes on to Notre Dame and, you know, plays and is in the NFL now. You know, like turns out guys from small schools can do big things. Who would have thought it? Okay. Well, talk to me about this. when you're carrying the ball. I mean, what 40, 20, 35, 51 times versus Tippy Valley. Like, what does Saturday and Sunday look like when you like you wake up feeling like you just got hit by a car?
That Saturday, I woke up and uh I could not move very well. I was super stiff, but I had to be in Indie for a visit at University of Indianapolis. So, I was like dragging myself on through the day. But then Sunday came and I I woke up feeling a little bit better. And then Monday hit me hard that that week.
That's that's unreal. Okay, so throughout the season, have there been any moments where you're just like, dude, this is unreal. Like, were you just like stop and look around and take it all in?
Kind of on Friday, I mean, I kind of just took in the crowd and stuff. I was like, I'm not going to be able to do this too many more times here, my home home field. And I I just looked around. I was just like, this is this is crazy. It's what we've dreamed about for a long time, me and my my team and I. And uh it was just it was a cool experience on Friday.
Yeah. Have there been any like closer call games?
Tippy Valley game was the closer game. I mean, they they gave us a hard fight. It was a it was a close game going into halftime, but then we come out in the first half. We do this we've done this a few games. Come out in the in the second half and we uh we dominate. We I think we wear people out and uh then our defense steps up pretty big, too.
I mean, let's just say like look at the stat line from Gymtown, right? I think you rushed for 362 and six touchdowns. Like, what is the what does the cardio look like for you and the team? Like how much I don't know conditioning you guys having to do to be able to run like that?
We condition all of June. So we don't have to run in practice. We we run on the track 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning uh all of June and then we do the same thing in July. And by the time we get to uh to August, we don't we don't uh do much. We just do what we need to do in practice. We don't have to work on running.
So over the summer, you got the big boys out at the track early in the morning. I'm sure they love you for that, dude. Okay, so we're we're getting ready, right? We have the conference championship this weekend, then we're starting to think about postseason, obviously later on down the road. When you look back at it and let's say a year from now, we talk again, you're doing whatever you wanted to be doing next year. What do you hope the legacy that you're leaving across Indiana high school football and across the Knox Stark County community? What do you hope that legacy is?
Small town schools can do can do big things. I mean, it's it's awesome what I'm doing. I just want to we're building a tradition at our school. We haven't had a we weren't known for football very much and uh we've built a tradition. I feel like when we started probably my eighth grade year, we got coach Russ and uh he's built this tradition. I just wanted to keep going for the younger kids.
Heck yeah, dude. And I mean, if you would have said, "Oh my gosh." Okay, so I graduated 10 years ago. 10 years ago, Knox to route Gymtown 56 to 13. That I don't know. I don't know that much. I know that like Gymtown was at the top of the NFC. one of the best for for you guys to be able to do that and and to score six touchdowns like that. I don't know. I think it's I think it's really insane. Okay, you talked about going on a visit down to UND. What can we expect? What what down the road, especially after, right, we take care of business with conference. We take care of business through the postseason. What do you want to do with uh with your future?
I want to play college football. I do not know where yet. This recruiting world is it's pretty crazy uh with the portal and everything. So, I'm just trying to find a home and uh yeah, I'm excited.
Okay. Going into the season, what kind of schools were you talking to? And has like have any big schools like all of a sudden seen you at the top of these boards and been like, "Hey, you know what? Like, we could we could probably find a spot for the nation's leading rusher."
Max schools have been uh they've been hitting me up. It's a It's been late uh ever since I started doing this these crazy stats that I think has definitely helped. Uh I went to Eastern Illinois on Saturday, which that was a really cool place, and uh I've been in contact with those guys. But so like max schools Western Michigan, I'm going there in a few weeks. Eastern Michigan, I'm going there sometime soon. Um Miami of Ohio too. So I mean it's definitely picking up.
That's really really cool. We had um I had Carson Steel on the pod over the summer and he talks about like dude coming out of high school uh well he had an injury as a junior coming out of high school. He didn't get the Big 10 offers. Like he was and he's like I'm putting up numbers. I'm doing all that I can do. like he got his opportunity at Ball State and ended up going out to UCLA and then obviously, you know, makes a Super Bowl run with the Chiefs. And I mean, it's all part of the story, right? Like you just got to keep going, keep doing your stuff. I thought it was so crazy. What did I I think in the stat I was like, "Yeah, he's going to need seven more games if he continues to average 350 yards a game. Is football everything?" Like, are you only a football player? I
play uh basketball and baseball. And I actually was doing two spring sports. I was doing track last year and I I didn't like what it was doing to my body. Track was beating my body up.
51 51 carries a game, but it's running on the track. You know, those shins, dude, they're it's no joke. I love that, dude. I think it's super cool. Uh, obviously, I remember watching Charlie Spiegel coming up through again similar. Not I mean, New Pal's not small, but it wasn't like an a normal, you know, 6A powerhouse that people think of.
And he gets his opportunity. He ends up, oh my gosh, what does he he ends up IU and then I think at Ball State and now he's in a fifth year getting I bet he's getting his masters or obviously like this is this is a wild ride. Like don't don't wish away the president, right? Like you're you're the nation's leading rusher. You're going into a conference final. Seems like you know it's Monday when we're recording this interview.
Getting your head right to go out and win a conference championship on senior night. It doesn't get much better than that, dude. I love it. Okay, so we know what we're looking at playing at the next level next year. Uh, obviously you're, you know, conference going through the postseason. I mean, is there anything else?
What is, what does the state of Indiana need to know about Miles Mclofflin?
I'm a real humble person. I don't like to put myself out there like that, but uh, I mean, I feel like I can I can play at the next level for sure. I know a lot of people say that uh, if I played at these bigger schools, I wouldn't I wouldn't even be a starter and stuff, but uh, I think if I played anywhere, I could I could play at a lot of places for sure. And I would say like anyone that's on the internet yapping like don't mind that you know like again how many years have we played football in all the divisions across Indiana and it's like if it was that easy to be the nation's leading rusher we would have done it a lot of times by now you know and it's like dude you guys are out there like they didn't see you guys in June they didn't see you in July putting in the work like getting yourself right they don't see you on Saturday mornings uh the internet is a crazy place and uh and I dude I'm a fan like even if you don't want to like be super uh like hype yourself up, I'll hype you up because I think it's so sick and and you represent like I love what I live in Indianapolis now, but obviously I love small towns.
I think they're they're sick and uh it's cool to see someone from Stark County, from Knox, Indiana, making a national impact. I do have to ask, what do we need to hit up when we're in the greater Knox Stark County area? Where do we need to go to?
Family-owned Finger Hut Bakery. Uh my great-grandparents started it a long long time ago and it's uh it's still in the family. It's donuts, cakes, whatever you want.
Hey, there we go.
I mean, I live here at Bass Lake, so uh hit up sport or the pub. You got uh the the woodshed. All great places around here.
Hey, there we go. I love that. Bass Lake. That was I think Bass Lake was how I ended up uh getting you on my radar in the first place. So, uh yeah, someone they uh they reached out and and we're talking about dude, there's this guy at Knox, he's he's doing pretty great. Um, man, I love it. I think it's so cool. You're crushing it. Stay humble, but keep working. Obviously, keep breakfast. You got to you got to take care of the big boys up front cuz they're taking care of you, right? I love it, man. Any final any final words of of wisdom? Any words of advice? Any shout outs that we want to give to
parents? And uh shout out to the Knox community for uh staying along with us for this long ride.
We'll keep following along. I think there's some some pretty cool I saw some some chatter. There's going to be some cool people out at Friday night's game. So, just keep rocking and rolling, dude.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
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co or meet them in person at one of their upcoming investor master classes. More details on their website, rootsreality. co. Let's get back into it. Now, we've come to a fun portion of the show where Shane is going to see how well I know the state of Indiana where we're talking about unincorporated townships across the state. Shane's going to give me four towns.
Three of them are in Indiana. One of them is not.
You're the master of small towns and small town breakdowns. We're going much smaller than that. These are not recognized as incorporated towns or cities
in Indiana or in Midwestern states. So, you've got to just pick out the one town that isn't in the Hoosier State.
I think I'll shoot for three for five. Three for five.
Uh, no, I'll go four for five.
Let's lead it off with group one.
First town, BB Town. We've got Bass Station, Beaver Dam, and Bear Branch.
Beaver Dam is a place in Indiana. I 100% know that. I'm going to say BB Town's not in Indiana.
You You got it. Bingo. Let's go.
It's in Harrison County, Iowa. It's over near Omaha on the western border.
Be town. Huh?
Do you know why do you know where Beaver Dam is?
Beaver Dam is up near Kaziasco County. Oh, it's in Kaziasco County.
Yeah, Beaver Dam. They do I think they serve at the dairy bar or they have a spot at the Kaziasco County Fair and it was always like Beaver Dam like come down to our restaurant or whatever.
Bass station
that just feels like it would be up near like Bass Lake or up near Couch like somewhere in that area.
And what about Bear Branch?
Bear Branch. I have no idea. It just seemed like
it's in Ohio County. Southeast Indiana.
Southeast. There you go. Uh come on.
Hey, you're one for one. Here we go.
Group two. Cyclone Farmers Champion in Nebraska.
I think that's a trick. So, Nebraska, Indiana is an unincorporated town. This one I'm going to get strictly off cuz I think I found your pattern and cyclones have to do with Iowa, farmers have to do with Iowa, and Nebraska is not here. I'm going to say that Champion is not in Indiana.
He's in my head.
He's two for two.
Come on. Two for two.
Champion is in Nebraska.
So, I threw Nebraska in there. And Champion is in Chase County, Nebraska. It's way out in western Nebraska near Colorado in the state line.
Wow, look at that.
Do you know where Cyclone and Farmers are at?
Cyclone Farmers and In Nebraska. In Nebraska. Now, where are they at?
Cyclone is in Clinton County. It's 10 minutes southeast of Frankfurt. So, not too far from here.
Yeah.
Farmers is in Owen County. So, down near McCormix Creek State Park. Yep. Done a little feature on them. And then Nebraska is in Jennings County. It's between Versailles and North Vernon.
Okay. Yeah.
Group three. Yep.
Cape Sandy, Prince William, Mariah Hill. This sounds like first and last name. Mariah Hill in Scott's Corner.
Oh my gosh. All right. This one is so hard, but I if I had to guess, I would say that Prince William is not in Indiana.
Oh no.
All right. We stumped him finally. Prince William is in Carroll County,
about 20 miles east of Yep. You've got Cape Sandies in Crawford County, southern Indiana, way down on the Ohio River. Mariah Hills and Spencer County, so really close to believe Holiday World and Splash Safari's down in that area kind of. Yeah.
So it's like four or five miles north of Holiday World. And then Scott's Corner is the one that is not in Indiana and it's in Carlton County, Minnesota. Uh, see I thought see like there's uh Scottsburg and I thought that it might I thought out of all of them I thought that one was the worst.
There's a couple Scots but not Scots at Scott's Corner. All right, you're two for three. Group four. Back to animals. Raccoon, Rabbitville, Pig, and Pigeon.
Oh my. What? These are towns.
These are unincorporated towns.
Raccoon. That's in Indiana. Rabbitville.
I'm not sold on that one.
In Pigeon,
you know, raccoons in Indiana.
I'm saying it is.
Well, it's between Green Castle and Crawford'sville.
Raccoon Lake. It's right up there by that. Yeah, Raccoon Lake. That's what I thought. Okay. That So, that like kind of validates that. Okay. So, now we have three.
You got Rabbitville, Pig, and Pigeon.
I'm going to say Rabbitville is not in Indiana.
TWO FOR FOUR.
COME ON. Rabbitville is in Lawrence County. It's located between Bedford and Mitchell. We just made that trip. I
You didn't see Rabbitville?
I didn't see Rabbitville.
Pigeon is in Spencer County. So again, back down by Holiday World. And then Pig
is not in India.
Wait, Pigeon is where? In Spencer County.
Spencer County.
And then Pig is in Edmonson County, Kentucky,
down kind of by Bowling Green, Kentucky. So, all right. This is a big one.
Living high on the hog down there.
You said you were going to go three for five.
Yep.
Let's do it.
Here it is.
Group number five. Okay.
Friendship
that is in Indiana.
Hell,
Gem and Mentor.
Okay. One. Oh, this is good. Gem is in Indiana. It's in Hancock County on the near It's like just outside of Indianapolis cuz I wanted to go there cuz it was hidden. That's funny. I think I know the answer. I think I know the answer and I'm going to go three for five. Friendship is in Indiana.
Where's it at? I don't entirely know.
Southeast. It's down by like Rising Sun.
Yes.
In that neck of the woods.
Yeah. And uh I believe that hell is in Michigan.
It is in Michigan
cuz it's not in Indiana.
Well, it's sandwiched between Ann Arbor, Lancing, and Detroit. Like that just sounds like hell.
Yeah. Amen. And Mentor is here in Indiana. Where is it?
It's We're heading there very soon.
It's county. Come on now. All right. There it is. Three for five.
Three for five. You caught it.
Let's go. That's that's pretty for unincorporated towns
and there are some weird names out there.
Next we have a fun interview with Miss Indiana USA Sydney Shrewsbury. Sydney is awesome. Brings a ton of energy here. We're going to learn what goes into winning the Miss Indiana pageant and what we can expect from the Miss USA pageant at the end of the month. We're really excited to talk about all things pageantry. Let's get into it.
All right, we've come to the part in the show where we're going to interview Miss Indiana USA. I'm joined in studio by Sydney Shrewsbury and she is the reigning Miss Indiana USA 2025. She's a 24year-old graduate of Western Kentucky University go top. She's got a bachelor's in marketing sales and applied data analytics. She moved to Indianapolis after graduation and now works at Salesforce. I'm excited to dive into all things tech as well.
Um, between balancing a corporate career with public appearances, Sydney uses her platform to promote softsklls development, mentorship, and confidence in young women across Indiana. Today, we're going to learn all the fun things that go into competing for Miss Indiana USA and her upcoming trip out west to Reno where you'll compete for MissUSA. Sydney, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Heck yeah. So, we're going to get it. We're just going to talk about it upfront. That is not southern Indiana dialect. That is that is not Bedford, Indiana. That is Kentucky. Right. So you were you grew up in Kentucky. You went to western Kentucky and then ended up you're a Hoosier by choice.
Correct. I'm an Indiana transplant. So born, raised, went to college in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Applied for around 200 do jobs from December to
200
May. Got nos from all of them. I'm not kidding. And then I got one yes and it happened to be from Salesforce, the third largest software company in the world. And they were like, would you move to Indianapolis? And I was like, sure. I've never been there, nor do I know anyone, but I can figure it out. You know, I've done crazier things. So I said yes. Selected an apartment that happened to be like right on Massav. Great location. Don't know how my Spidey senses picked that one out.
Yeah.
Um and then I've ended up here and I love it, obviously. That's Well, that's that applied data analytics, right? 200 jobs. You had this Excel spreadsheet like tracking all that. Like, oh, we just got to get to one. Yes.
I I did track it on a spreadsheet and it was so disheartening because it was like red red.
Wow. Okay. That's um that's that's awesome. We love it. We love So, you say Indiana transplant. I think the the term that we like is who's your by choice?
Who's your by choice?
Yeah. You you get to pick to live here. And now, not only do you pick to live here, you now get to represent the great hoosier state in MissUSA at the nationals. What do you call this?
The national level.
At the national level. Okay. So, the first thing we have to know is this. There are there are kind of two different
pageantry pathways per se, right? One would lead you down the MissUSA route and the other one leads you down the Miss America route. Correct. Can you talk to us about the differences there so that everyone knows what pageantry we're talking about?
Yes. I've actually participated in both.
So, we'll start with Miss America. Their scoring categories are gown. So, you know, you do your gown. You've got fitness um where you do you model some active wear.
Oh, it's not like a workout. No.
Like they don't have you doing burpees on stage?
No. I wish that would be way more fun.
Like how much can you bench press?
Exactly. Uh, they do talent 90 seconds. They do an interview.
What was your talent?
Dance. I did ballet my whole life. I've done ballet for 15 years.
Oh, yeah.
There we go. All right. Now we're talking. Okay.
I moved to New York for it, but then I decided I didn't want to pursue it professionally. So, I was like, business it is.
Yeah. We didn't doubt. If if the answer isn't ballet, it's business. Duh. Data analytics. Come on.
Exactly. Um, and then they also do a section on your social impact initiative. So, how you're making a difference in your community, they have you speak to it a little bit. Um, and then answer an onstage question as well.
That's like the perfect date, right? And it's that scene from Miss Congeniality where it's not too hot and it's not too cold.
What is it? Is it April 27th?
April 25th. April 25th. Jay Scott's got us here. He says April 25th.
I know that. That's embarrassing.
Yeah. Okay. So, that was Miss America. And then there's MissUSA, which leads into Miss Universe,
correct?
Okay. I I think I have the pipeline there. So talk to us about what Miss Universe is.
Miss Universe, you got delegates from every country across the world um that are competing at the international level. So the national level is just a qualifying round or a preliminary round for Miss Universe. And our categories are gown, swim, and interview.
An interview.
And there's like an overall impression score as well that kind of factors in your stage presence, your onstage question. How do they decide what the categories would be?
Just kind of unique to the values of the organization. So this may be an incorrect answer, but the way that I see it Yeah.
is um America is kind of a brand ambassador spokes model of sorts for their social impact initiative. Yeah.
Whereas MissUSA, Miss Universe, you're a brand ambassador for Miss Universe organization which does promote your platform. Um, but it also promotes a lot of other opportunities. So, modeling, um, PR, fun, marketing, activation events, they want you to be a strong pillar of your community, but they also want you to be able to get opportunities that kind of further you to where you want to be in life as well.
That makes a lot of sense. Okay. How quickly after moving to Indiana did you realize like one, have you done pageantss before?
I I did one like several years ago. That's when I did the Miss America system and I just decided
while you were in Kentucky or while you were in Indiana.
While I was in Kentucky.
Okay. So then you moved to Indiana and you know it's like hey in the world of fresh starts we're going down the MissUSA route.
Correct.
Okay.
So basically I had one problem. Well I had a few problems but the first one was that I was going to work and I was coming home and I was doing nothing. I wasn't turning on my lights. I wasn't changing into pajamas. I was going home and going to bed on my couch in the clothes that I wore to work that day and it was disgusting. So, I was like, "Okay, I've got to figure out a way to make me take care of myself." Because I mean, adjusting to postgrad's hard and 22 years old in a city where I didn't know anybody makes it a little harder.
So,
I mean, yeah, when you just I mean, you can't spend every night at the Rascal, right? Like, there's only so many times we can hang out there.
Exactly. So, I adopted a dog first and that helped me get out of the house more for sure, but I still wasn't taking care of myself how I used to. So, I also was a little bit too comfortable. Around four to five months after moving here, I was like, I already have a good set of established friends and I love them to death, but I've moved here to be uncomfortable.
And I was like, I can't be comfortable after four months of living here. So, I was like, I might just do a pageant. And then I was like, I can meet more people all across Indiana, not specifically Indianapolis, and it could just help me establish myself. So, that was the thought process. And then I did it and I walked out and I looked at my mom and I was like, "Mom, I think I could win that."
Okay. So, you did it in uh
2024.
2024 and did not win.
Correct. I made semi-finals. I didn't even make like finals. So,
how many how many women uh compete in the state level?
I think there were around 30 to 40 that year. Um and I made the top 15, but I didn't make the top five.
Okay.
And then this year, same around the same amount of contestants and ended up bringing it home.
Winning. Yeah.
How did that moment feel when you won Miss Indiana USA?
It felt great. It took a lot of hard work and discipline and sacrifice to get there.
Okay, let's dive into that a little bit cuz I think that when the average person thinks about winning a pageant, there's like
be pretty, wear a nice dress, and go out on stage like truthfully, right?
So, like you're talking about hard work and sacrifice. What does that look like?
Don't judge me for saying this, but I did decide to go on the carnivore diet to prepare.
Oh, hell yeah. So, I ate only steak for the 3 months, steak and eggs, leading up to Miss Indiana USA, and I was ripped. No carbs, no sugar. That's the big one is no sugar. The carbs can
What was the hardest thing to to lose on that one? Like
coffee.
So, you can have coffee,
but you just have to be black.
Yes.
Oh, no iced coffee. They're out.
You can have iced. Just no iced caramel macchiato. And dairy for me. I love cheese. I love milk. I love Don't we all?
Yeah.
So, you get to go on this diet.
I didn't have to. I chose to.
You chose to. Yeah. Well, you chose to cuz you're like, I can win this thing.
And like you were a top 15 year one and you know what? We're coming back for the whole thing.
Okay. So, that's a big sacrifice then. Like, do you have to train, prepare? Like, what does that look like?
Lots of walking practice. Being a dancer, you would think that it would be second nature to me.
Yeah.
No. I look like a Barbie doll. You know how they don't bend their legs and it's like they're real stiff? That's what I looked like prior to winning. Um, but I put a lot of hard work in with a lot of different people in a lot of different places.
Do you have like coaches and people that help you?
Yeah. What kind of coaches?
You can do walking coaches, you can use stylists, you can use interview coaches, you can use personal branding coaches. There's I mean you can get you can get a consultant for about anything. And my advice if anyone's looking to compete in pageantss are to get as many opinions as you can and just take and leave some of the advice. You don't have to use it all for like Bible.
Like how much of it does like uniqueness and individuality versus like knowing the guard rails of like what's cuz if you just like flaunted yourself, you know, and I was just like swinging back and forth and doing my thing like I'm sure they wouldn't that wouldn't be typical. Like how much of it is, you know, learning the right ways to do things in a unique way. Talk about that. It's a good question because there are a lot of guard rails in pageantry, but some are meant to be broken in my opinion. When you're going up against 51 other women, you've got to break some or they're not going to remember you and you're just going to blend in with the wall. That's not what we're there to do. So, you have to know which ones to break and which ones to not. And I think you have to know your personality to know where you need to push the boundary a little bit. M
for me
I like to push the boundary on social media in a sense I'm not posting like crazy stuff but
in a traditional sense you know you want to be perfect for a pageant right it's about presentation it's about poise it's about being put together but everybody knows that is not anybody's reality so why would I pretend like it is on my social media and I think that's the biggest opportunity for growth in pageantry too is if girls could figure out more of a balance of showcasing the not so perfect side of things. It would make our ability to connect with people a lot easier and our reach
Yeah.
a lot larger and we can have a lot bigger of an impact as a title holder.
Yeah. Because think about like how many people see whatever it is like the winners and they're like, "Oh, that can never be me." Like how many like young girls are like, "Oh, like I'm not perfect. I'm not this. I'm not that." And it's like
I used to think that
transparently I like thought I could never compete in USA because I thought it was like for the super super pretty like model type of girls and I thought like I don't fit in that box. It's not really the system for me. Transparently the only reason I tried it was because I didn't want to work on my talent cuz I have a bad hip and I was like I'm too old to be dancing again so I got to do USA. It's
like I turned 24 and I had a bad hip. like can't can't get out there and do ballet anymore.
But I loved it because it's fast-paced, it's fun, it's like you work on presentation, it's a lot less pressure for me and it just fosters an environment where you can be yourself and still win. I mean, here I am standing.
Yeah, I love it. Okay, so the rounds to get to Miss Universe looks like you have to win the state. Well, do you have to like how do you even become how do you even get into the the state level competition?
So, each state is a little different. In Indiana, it's an application basis. So, you would just reach out to the national office um tell them you're interested and then from there they would get the ball rolling. I think there are some states that do like preliminaries, but
they still offer at large options for the most part.
Okay. So, then you make the fine like 15 people get brought to the state level pageant.
Okay.
Or no, there's more than that. How? It's unlimited. Okay.
But then you do prelims.
Yep.
And then 15 get chosen for semi-finals and then five get chosen for finals.
Wow. Okay. So, so the first year you don't get chosen for the final five.
Year two coming back when they call your name and you get taken to the finals. How did that feel?
First of all, they call my name first, which is so nerve-wracking because I don't I I just was like, I don't know what to do.
Yeah. Um, I joke around with my director and I tell him I'm still mad at him to this day and I'm not going to forgive him, but I'm just kidding. It was so exciting. I trusted myself enough to believe that I should have been in the five. So, like I had that piece of confidence while we were waiting for names to get called. Um, but yeah, when they called Indianapolis, Sydney Shrewsbury, I was like, "Yes,
there you go." Hey. Hey. At least you'd have to like wait through the whole like imagine being five. Like if you're waiting through four other names being called, you're kind of like like nerve-wracking.
Yeah, exactly. Sure. Okay. So, you win that then. What do duties of Miss Indiana USA look like? When when was the state competition?
This was back in April.
So, April and then now in October is when you go to compete for MissUSA. What does April to October look like?
A lot of different things. So, I always tell people I have two jobs as Miss Indiana USA. The first one is being Miss Indiana USA, being present um and being active in the community. So obviously, you know, furthering my cause, which is future focus, my online community for young professionals, but then also professionals that are just looking for a career change. Really, what I try to emphasize is making the skills and resources accessible for people to get jobs that compensate them fairly for the skills and degrees that they have. it can be quite hard especially out of college to get a entry level role that's an ROI on that degree that you paid so much money for.
Yeah. Okay.
Um so that is like my personal goal but at the same time um we have lots of different charitable partners. So one for instance is Best Buddies. We've done a lot of work with them at their gaylas also um at just convent also at events out in the community.
Whoa. Did you just jumble your words? You're telling me Miss Indiana USA doesn't get exactly every paragraph correct? Well,
absolutely not.
Okay. Um, so you're out like doing different events.
Mhm. And then if you want to like book an appearance, you would just go on to our website and then you can just put a form in. There's lots of different things.
What's the most interesting appearance that you've been booked for?
For me, parades are always just exciting to see come through on my calendar because looking at my younger self and being like, "Yeah, people would want to book you to be in their parade." Like that's just something like that's
Yeah.
It It just makes me giddy. So I don't know if it's interesting, but
No, that's cool.
It just makes me happy.
Yeah. I didn't know if it was like like Yeah. One time I ended up at this guy's like 20th birthday party and said Miss India USA like we're we're hanging out.
If my director sent me to somebody's house party, birthday party, we would have
There are like there are levels of qualification. Okay. Good to know. Good to know. People were wondering. You're making appearances and then you're I'm assuming like practicing and preparing. That's what I was going to say. The second part of the job is preparing for MissUSA. And there's a lot that goes into that first with like personal branding. Like I said, you're going up against 51 girls. So,
what makes you different? What's your differentiating factor? Right? That's the number one thing you got to figure out. Once you get that down, you can work on interview. You can work on styling. You can work on social media. And then obviously the stage stuff, the walking. I think the key is you want it all to align and you want to put together a cohesive presentation because if I show up looking like a 2000's rock star on day one, but my evening gown is like super classy, elegant.
Oh, there's like a theme. There's like a trend.
There doesn't have to be, but okay.
In a pageant, especially when you have so many girls competing, you you want to give some co cohesive
Yeah. How did you learn about this? But how did you learn about pageantry?
I grew up watching it. I loved watching Miss America. I loved watching MissUSA. If you would have told my younger self that I would be going to MissUSA one day, I would be like, "What?" Like, there's no way. So, I started as a pageant fan and then my friend in college is the one who got me into the Miss America organization and that was just a favor for her and I ended up winning the local and going to Miss Kentucky. That was fun, but
but it's okay. It was I thought it was like a one-time thing. Like I thought one and done. I've experienced pageantss. I I'll stick to watching them. Yeah. And then like I said, I moved here, got a little bored.
Yeah. What's interesting too about this is what I mean a large portion of contestants also have full-time jobs. Like we're forgetting that you are uh I don't know how how far into your just a couple years into your career at Salesforce. So, it's not like you can just I don't know like the average person can't block off like a ton of their calendar when they're still like earning their stripes at work which pays their salary, right?
So, like I feel like and and I'm assuming like all the different things that come into pageantry does I don't know if you win and all a sudden everything's free.
No.
Yeah. So, like having to fun having to fund coaches and different things to like go and pursue this dream like there's a whole piece in itself there. So, we have a lot of great sponsors. A lot of the coaches that I'm working with are free if I think actually all of them are. And we have a nice gown sponsor, too. Thank you, Ashley Renee. But
shout out, we'll let it we don't let any free advert Ashley Renee will give you some free advertising there. Let's go. Come on.
But no, we have a lot of great sponsors that help out with the majority of cost, but there still is a large cost that is on us. So, yeah, working a full-time job is absolutely necessary to stay in the competition. Um, luckily, Salesforce has just been more than great in terms of working with me on this. A lot of people in corporate America probably are under the impression that if I'm walking on stage in a swimsuit and it's being, you know, judged and scored, I probably have no business being in corporate America. But I love to talk about it, brag about it, post about it, etc. Because I think women absolutely can do both.
And there is nothing in my employee handbook that says you cannot do a swimsuit competition. So you best bet. I talk about it every chance I get and everyone at work just loves it. I remember I was scared to tell them at first and they found out my director actually, so like my boss's boss's boss found out on Instagram and she came in and made a huge scene in the office like telling everybody Sydney's going to be competing at Miss Indiana USA and that to me was so
that's exactly how she sounds also like that's her voice, right? Yeah,
probably Vanessa if you're seeing this. Uh but no, it was so heartwarming honestly to know that people cared and supported me. Yeah,
that much especially in the workplace. Well, I think that's a common thread with kind of like your your whole mindset behind this is one, you're owning the fact that it's unrealistic to think that anyone's perfect and like is not unique and have their own quirky, you know, individualism and then thinking that in the workplace too of hey this is a a part of your identity that is unique and fun and yeah, how many times do people have co-workers across the nation that are Miss Indiana USA? You know, that that can be such an interesting conversation. an icebreaker, you know, like what's your fun fact? And someone's like, I ran a marathon. And you're like, well, I actually won Miss Indiana USA.
Exactly. Got to compete at Miss USA.
And so another interesting piece is that Indiana has never won MissUSA. Correct.
Correct.
So you are I mean I don't know how many how long how long is this pageant going on?
75 years.
So in the 75 year history of MissUSA, Indiana has never had a winner.
Correct.
Is that going to change this year?
Absolutely. Let's go.
If it's up to me, which last I checked, it is.
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So, like you're going out there to do something that has not been done by a hooer.
For sure.
Is that a lot of pressure?
In a way, yeah, cuz I don't want to disappoint anyone. I've won the delegates choice award for my class at Indiana USA this year. So, of everyone that competed, they voted that I would be the best representation of Indiana at MissUSA.
Wow.
Yeah. I like cried. I was like, "Oh my god." That's honestly like more more meaningful than
absolutely
the judge is liking you.
Absolutely. Yeah. The judge has talked to me for three minutes. So that's not a lot of time.
If these these other women have been around you for I'm assuming an extended period of time.
A few days.
And so after a few days together, they're like, "You know what? If I don't win, I want Sydney to win."
Yeah. And
I mean, that's pretty cool.
It is. But at the same time, like I want to make them proud, right? I want to make all my sponsors proud. I want to make everyone who has been a cheerleader in my corner proud. So, there is a little bit of pressure, but I wouldn't say in a daunting way. If anything, I feel like it's a motivational pressure.
Yeah. Like, no pressure, no diamonds, right? Like, come on.
Um, okay. So, talk to us about what we can expect. What? October 24th. You have Well, you'll be out there, but the contest
is October 24th in Reno.
What like how can people watch at home? we turning on cable and checking this thing out like what how do we support you?
There's a lot of different ways. It's a week long in Reno, Nevada, as we already mentioned. Um, but there's a state costume portion of the competition, so you can tune in for that. I can't tell you, but it's really exciting and really fun and I know for a fact you you will like it.
Uh, I'm going to call it here. I do not know the answer. She did not tell me. It's definitely checkered flag themed.
Wrong.
No. A corn cop. It's something that Indiana has never worn on the MissUSA stage before.
Those are totally fake ideas. But if I was in charge of you're So you do a costume to represent the state of Indiana.
Correct.
Okay. So in my head I'm thinking like what like a funny costume, but is this like also like a like a is it supposed to look like cool or is it supposed to be like a funny representation?
It could be either.
Okay. Well, so this would be an interesting year. This would be a I don't think it would be a good costume for the pageant, but I think that it would be cool because this is the first year that IU brought back the bison and their logo. So, having a bison costume could have been great. Like, you would have got the I the Indiana Hooers behind you cuz this is the first year that we're bringing back the bison mascot.
Uh if But if I was looking for something that was cool, I'd probably do Yeah. something Indy500 themed or corn cop themed or pork tenderloin themed.
I pork tenderloin so good.
You just walked out there
just eating pork tenderloin. Yeah. Well, no, like as a sandwich.
I would want to be eating it, too, though, is what I'm saying.
There you go. U So, but this is a totally unique costume. No one's ever
And and this is interesting cuz I I would be curious. Was this someone else's idea or was it your idea?
It was my idea. I had the idea before as soon as I knew I wanted to sign up. Obviously, I went to rewatch all the past MissUSA's.
And
can you give us some examples of what previous costumes have been?
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff around the Indie 500. Um that's tends to be a popular one. Also, a lot of times Indiana will do space themes. Um, a lot of times girls also will like recreate their state flag um in a bit of like a Victoria Secret supermodel take on it if that makes sense.
Yeah. All right. So, none of those. All those out?
No.
Okay. So, you had this idea. I I'm I'm intrigued now. I'm very I'm very You'll
have to watch. I'm invested. I'm invested. I'm thinking through other like Yeah. fun ideas. And it' be interesting because you've only been in Indiana a few years. So, like not being a lifelong hooer, it's kind of interesting to feel like, okay, in in just a few years, what has your outside perspective and your time being in Indiana impacted you enough that you'd be willing to dress in a costume of that?
Absolutely. And I think that's part of why I did have like a little bit more of a creative route is because I am newer to Indiana. The other part is just I don't know. I feel like I'm a creative person. I don't feel like I know I'm a creative person and so my brain moves so quickly at all times and the minute I turned on the screen to like re-watch a MissUSA I was like oh my god that's a I I have a genius state costume if I were to win and go to MissUSA. So I've I've been sitting on this idea for
Isn't that funny? It's like the the things where you're like you like I'm sure there's other women competing in this contest all across the country, all across the world that like their costume is like such a pain. They're like, "Oh my gosh, I can't." And you're like, "Nope, nope. I have that part knocked out."
That's the one thing I do know.
Yeah. Okay. I can't wait. I'm I'm intrigued. Okay. So, you're going to have the costume contest
and then there's preliminary rounds which all women compete in. And then the last
is it 51 that what do they cut to?
51. and then they cut to a top 20 in finals. 16 are top scorers, four are fan voting. So that's what I'm getting to next. There is an app where you will have the ability to vote for me in a variety of different ways. Um so if you want to see me in finals and get me a guaranteed spot, the MissUSA app, it will be on the app store. Um also if you want to watch it from home, you can live stream on the Queen Beauty network. It is an app on Roku. And
so we're for for a small price of a couple app downloads, we we could have you just Yeah, you just got to click the buttons around. We could have our first ever
Miss Indiana USA that becomes MissUSA and gets to go on and represent the United States of America at Miss in Thailand, which is 5 days after MissUSA, by the way.
So it's like I would win and go to Thailand for 30 days.
Yeah. I just like imagine that like email. Hey, I'm going to have to be O for the next 5 days cuz I'm going to Thailand. That's sick.
Yeah, I know, right?
So, you're out there for a week. You have that and then then you go through the cont What other things are you'll be doing while you're out there?
All different things.
Is it kind of all in one day? Like, do you do all the portions of it in a day or is it like
It's a week long. So, we'll we'll arrive, check in one day, we've got a photo shoot, and then they want to get some B-roll around the hotel so we can help them out with marketing. Uh, next day I think we have more B-roll and then we have an outing out in Reno. So, we're doing some things for the city of Reno. Um, and then the following day it's all spread out. We'll do interviews on one day, we'll do prelims on another day. There's also a teen portion. Um, oh yeah, which we have not discussed yet. So, the teens, we like alternate show days. Sometimes we do shows on the same day, but all of this will take place over the course of around six days.
Who's the teen representative for Indiana?
Kayn Broad. She goes to Carmel High School. She's a I don't know. I don't know if Indiana's going to love Caramel Heights. No, I'm just kidding. We like caramel. We like all sizes and shapes of Indiana on this show, but I do like Caramel gets the most hate of anywhere in Indiana.
I guess how it goes.
It shouldn't. It's so pretty.
I think that's why it gets the hate, you know. It's It's fair though.
There's a quote though. It's like if you want to make a hated character, make her pretty. It's true for
Oh, look at that. Look at that. Okay, I'm here for that. So you head out there, you spend five days a week, something out there in Reno.
Six, I think.
Six days. And then that could parlay itself into an international trip to Thailand
for 30 days.
For 30 days. That's sick,
isn't it?
30 days in Thailand.
Yeah. And they have a lot of
You be homesick. I'd be a little homesick if I just 30 days in Thailand.
They don't let you have visitation with your friends and family.
They don't sell pork tenderloins in Thailand.
No. Uh
there's no corn. There's no sweet corn on the cob and tie.
How would I even get a ribeye? Like
like Oh, okay. That would be a that would be a I mean, one, we're going to be rooting. Obviously, we're download the apps, vote, all the fun stuff. So that Indiana could one
have our first Miss USA. Yeah. Like that would be huge.
Bring it home for the first time.
Come on. And that would be a heck of an experience to spend 30 days across the globe.
100%.
I don't know. like coming from smalltown Kentucky to western Kentucky to Indianapolis. I don't like think about this journey that you've been on even thus far. Like getting to represent a state that you've only been a part of for a couple years.
What does that mean to you?
A lot. I mean, when I first moved here, I it still is. The world is my oyster, specifically here in Indianapolis. But when I first moved here, I just remember thinking downtown was huge. Like I didn't know what to think. I had never been to a Costco. Had never been to a Trader Joe's. I mean, this was my slice of heaven. Truly, just to think that, yeah, I get to represent the entire state on a national scale. Yeah. And again, potentially bring MissUSA back to Indiana for the first time is insane and exciting.
What would you say to other young professionals that might be considering a move? Like, let's say they're like, "Oh, I'm between Chicago and New York and LA." And I there's this thing in Indianapolis like that might like maybe going to Indianapolis. What would you say to those people?
Do it. Don't think about it. Don't limit yourself to one location. Be open. Especially if you're right out of college. See where life takes you. Worst case scenario, you can move somewhere else. Like it's life isn't going anywhere. So just
And I would even I would even press in too. It's like I feel like from Kentucky, you could have gone to somewhere like Nashville. I'm from around 45 minutes north of Nashville.
And I would say Nashville has definitely attracted this age group of 25 to 35 year olds. They think that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Not saying it is, not saying it isn't, but you end up in Indianapolis. Obviously, the job brings you here, but sometimes I think Indianapolis flies under the radar in terms of like being undervalued. So like you moving from just outside of Nashville in Kentucky from WKU to Indianapolis. What would you say to people that are considering moving to Indianapolis?
India is one of the most underrated cities for a variety of reasons. Number one, it is huge landwise. It's very spread out, but that you will not get bored here. Every time I go somewhere new, I swear I drive through a new part of Indianapolis. You know, I'm like, how did I not know this existed? But number two, the cost of living is so low for what you get. You can find a low cost of living in a lot of places, specifically rural places. I come from one, but
small towns still rock.
Exactly. But you don't get much in return. Like we've got how many malls here? How many colleges here? It's
just you just get a bang for your buck for the price. And then my favorite reason though, Indie is one of the best host cities in the United States because of that. It's like a revolving door of people and tourists and you go out to dinner one night downtown Indianapolis and it's true like you don't know who you will meet and who you will run into. I have met fascinating people random and I've don't really keep up with them but it's it's cool to know that there's opportunity to meet just and hear people's stories here.
It's always interesting to get the perspective before you moved to Indianapolis. What was your perspective of Indiana? It was a border state, so I was like, "This sounds perfect because it's not going to be too cold for me. It's going to be around the same." So, I moved here with my lightweight Northface jacket, my little naive self. And I quickly learned north of the Ohio River is a lot different. Even though we're border states, it is way colder here. So, I've had to get used to snow, but I've done it. I've I walk to work every day in the snow sometimes, and it I I've lived to tell the tale. I had to get a parka. A long one. No lightweight.
Northace.
Yeah, the fall. That's a fall jacket. That's not a That's not a January jacket.
I didn't know any better.
No, just wait until Sydney visits Southbend in the winter. You Let me tell you, you're in for a treat up there.
I know, right?
U Okay. I think it's always interesting hearing what people's perspective because I think that this is the biggest thing kind of like your first comment is it's not whether or not people hate Indiana or love Indiana. A lot of times when you're not here, they don't think of it at all,
you know? It's like
it is this it's a flyover state, you know? And that's like a big thing of what we're trying to do here is like there's tons of cool stuff going on. There's an opportunity. I mean, I don't know if you told someone you could move to a new city and within two years you could be representing that new state on the national level.
Like I don't know. That's pretty crazy to me.
Absolutely.
That's cool. like this is a a place where you can come in and if you're driven to make an impact, you can make an impact and you're clearly doing it.
So when I think of Indiana and maybe even more so specifically Indianapolis, I think of community like that is what I experienced right off the bat. You were actually one of the first people I met here in Indie.
Shout out.
Yeah. And you all took me in under your wing in a way. you didn't owe me anything, but you all went out of your way to take me to new places, introduce me to as many people that you could introduce me to, and then those people did the same. And that's inevitably why I was so comfortable so quickly is because it was like I never even moved here. It was like you knew me your whole life.
It's it's like uh the who's your ways is you can make old friends very quickly.
People say southern hospitality and I'm here to tell you southern hospitality has nothing on who's your hospitality. And I mean that like I'm not just saying that. Come on, let's go. Clip that. Clip that. Let's go. I love it. Um, we're coming down towards the end of the show. Um, obviously October 24th, that is like the official culmination. That's when the
the coronation
the coronation the coronation happens throughout that week. Can people vote online? Like how can we support Sydney in this quest to become MissUSA?
Yeah, you can vote online on the app throughout that week. I think there's different fan voting. Um, and then there's just like an in general one where it's like usually a dollar or two for a vote. Yeah. Um, but then I think they're trying
like the charitable organizations. I think I saw a stat that like a million I think $40 million annually goes to charity from the MissUSA organization. So like obviously making an impact,
right? And well each girl has their own platform, right? So you have to think about
that number probably comes from
a culmination of that. Yeah. Correct.
Sweet. Okay. So, vote on the app. If people want to connect with you, if they want to follow you, if they want to follow the journey and see all the shenanigans in Reno to Thailand, obviously, because we're just going to wheel that into existence. How can they do that?
Yes. Uh, my personal page is Sid Shrews, Sydrs, and then the official page um for Miss Indiana USA is Missin USA.
Heck yeah. All right. This is the final portion of the show where we talk all things Indiana. This question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart. They're a leader in creating enjoyable living spaces at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at home isjart.com. Sydney,
they're my landlord. I have to say
shout out to JC Hart. Come on, let's go. Do you like uh Yeah. Talk about Yeah. Yeah. Probably not. I I just realized we're not going to talk about which property, but we're going to say Do you enjoy living at a JC Hart apartment?
I do enjoy it and they're they're very nice, very responsive. Um, I don't know that they enjoy me. I'm a high maintenance tenant. I have a lot of questions and I call them frequently.
I'm sure they love it. I'm sure they love it. Okay. Well, shout out to our friends at JC Hart. Great landlords. Don't don't take my word for it.
Take Sydney's. I mean, since winning Miss Indiana USA, you've traveled all over LA, New York, all these places. I'm sure that Salesforce has offices all over the place. You could choose all these different You could go back home. You could be in Kentucky. But why do you call Indiana home?
I call Indiana home because of the community. I was welcomed here with more than open arms. Like I said, people took me under their wing like I was their kid and they didn't owe me anything. And just to have that level of being that connected on day one of moving here. It was Fourth of July weekend of 2023 and I already had it was July 2nd and I already had plans for the weekend to go to someone's lakehouse and like this large group of people and I how does that happen when you move somewhere without knowing anyone?
That's who's your hospitality? Come on.
100%.
The I do think the people make the place like 100%.
100%. And I I've really have never met people like I've met here in Indiana truly.
Shout out to you Hoosiers. What would you say to the young girls that are seeing you up there representing our state that maybe were are in a similar space to where you thought like, "Oh, that couldn't be me." Like, that's really cool that she gets to do that, but that couldn't be me.
You can quite literally do anything that you put your mind to. You just have to set yourself up to be there, right? So if I decided that I wanted to dance again, not that I do, I would need to take dance classes, then I could try to be a professional dancer.
So really, it's about aligning your life and your choices and your the people you surround yourself with and the opportunities that you take
to get you to that end goal and to stop at nothing. And don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it either because there will be people that try.
Yeah. And I think that I mean you're charged to know where you want to go and then work backwards from there and figure out the steps to take it like starting a clothing brand.
Yes.
Yeah. That's that's been a passion and a dream of yours and now you're putting that to life in 2026, right?
Yes. So when I was working in corporate America at Salesforce, we don't have a dress code. Um and I just noticed that women don't really have a cute, presentable, comfortable option to wear to the workplace. Guys at work will wear like joggers in a sweatshirt or khakis and a polo and they look way more put together than if I wear that. It looks like I'm in my pajamas if I do it.
The classic like corporate polo that's like the golf shirt is so comfortable and it's a cheat code. You can just throw that on and you're good to go.
Women don't have one. I wanted to make my own clothing brand but I had a problem. I didn't know anything about fashion and honestly my personal style is pretty casual as is. So I was like how can I learn the fashion industry as fast as possible? Pageantss. And then I was like, do I want to do that? And then
the problems I listed off earlier, I was like, okay, all roads are leading to pageantss. I need to just jump in and do it. And yeah, I could say confidently if all of this, if I gave up my title tomorrow and crowned a new Miss Indiana USA, I will have gotten the experience, the network, the knowledge, and the opportunities that I needed to do that. And we are launching next year. So,
heck yeah.
Yeah.
I can't wait.
Women's work leisure clothing brand. I'm trying to think of like a funny riff off Polo. Sheilos.
Sheilos. Mhm.
We're We're launching Sheilos.
Sheilos.
Come on.
Love it.
All right. Uh, what's been your favorite Indiana event to go to?
I loved the parade, the Fourth of July parade in Caramel. It was so fun. It was so hot. I was honestly dreading it, but I met so many fun people there and just adorable little kids. I loved every second of it. Um, but in terms of like event event, Rev Indie was an absolute blast. Obviously, when I moved here, I saw it on social media and I had FOMO. I was like, I want to be there. I want to go. I want to go. Um, and then I had no idea that Miss Indiana USA gets to go. So, that was a blast. And I got to try food from restaurants all around Indie, which food is the way to my heart. So, that was a great It was actually my first appearance, too. So, that was a great first appearance for me.
Yeah, Rev is sick.
Uh, yeah. Okay. And it was a blast.
On the day of a competition,
what's the what's on the playlist? Like, how are you pumping yourself up to go out there and make the best appearance possible?
Mix of Britney Spears. I love Britney Spears. But then also the song When I Grow Up, the When I Grow Up, I want to be famous. I want to be a star. That one
because it really just lets me channel my inner diva. I used to teach workout classes too and I used to like throw on an alter ego for it because it's
kind of an intimate setting that you have to be like a lot and I'm gonna be in a lot on stage, but in a small room with like eight people, it's kind of awkward. So, I would I would just like flip a switch into this persona and it's kind of the same for pageantry.
Yeah, I love it. Okay, these are the final three questions we ask every guest who comes on the show. You kind of answer this in a few ways thus far, but we're going to round it out with this one because we ask everyone this. But from Kentucky, we've spent time in a lot of different places, but what is something the world needs to know about Indiana?
Number one, the people here are amazing. You will not find better people anywhere else, and I've traveled to a lot of places. Um, number two, it is one of the best host cities in the United States. So, if you are looking to have an event, you should have it right here in Indianapolis because it is phenomenal. If they were looking to host Miss USA 2026, 2027,
I can only think of one place. So, you need to win this and then pitch the idea and then bring it back to Indie. Boom. There we go. That's what we call for the listeners out there. That's economic development. We're making it happen right here. Let's go. That's why you're downloading the app and that's why you're voting to help stimulate the Indianapolis economy down the road. I love that. Okay. This is your opportunity to shed light on a place or something within Indiana that more people need to know about and not enough people are talking about. What is a hidden gem in Indiana?
My first one is a restaurant.
Salt. If you go to my social media, you'll see I I talk about it a lot. It It's the only videos of mine that like get traction on social media is when I talk about salt. But it is genuinely the best seafood that I have ever had in my life. And I found it in Indiana. That was the first restaurant I ate when I moved here. My mom took me there. Um, and both of us just jaw on the floor. We were like,
"Yeah,
I would have never thought I would have found the best seafood I've ever had in the middle of Indiana."
Come on.
But I did and I love it and I go all the time. And they do all you can eat sushi on Sundays at the Guist location
and they just opened the caramel location.
Yeah. And it's fire.
I went to one of their openings and it was very, very good.
Shout out Salt there. Yeah. They're doing really good stuff and it's it I I put it out not too long ago. It's like it's worth the drive. Like I don't know where you live in the state of Indiana. find yourself near a salt restaurant.
There are very few meals that I think about for weeks on end after having it, but salt like I remember the first time I tried it and I rem like I think about it all the time and not to sound like a psycho, but it's that good and I'm serious. And
I just can't get enough of it. But the second one is Midland Market.
What is Midland Market?
You've never been?
No.
Oh, I have stumped the king of Indiana, y'all. I mean, he's basically the mayor. What is Midland Market?
Only the best antique shop in all of Indiana.
Ah, and there is where you lost. Okay.
You don't like antique stores? I mean, I'm not
They have the best jewelry, I think. Nope. This ring came from my mom. I have so much jewelry from there.
From Midland. Where is Midland Market at?
Like kind of close to Lockerby downtown.
Midland Market, Indianapolis. It's
like multiple floors.
Whoa.
And it's like booths. So, you can get there. I mean, there's people who are doing cowhide rugs. There's people who are doing real wood furniture. There's people who are doing coats.
Midland Market, I'm sorry I was unaware of your game. Holy smokes.
Yeah. And you
This is very cool.
I think last time I went I walked out with like three ginormous um potato sack looking things full full of stuff and it was only 60 bucks. I got a pair of pageant shoes from there. Actually, a pair of pageant heels and I wore them
to some event at during Miss Indiana USA weekend and I love to talk about them. I was like, they're my $7 Midland Market shoes.
The Midland Arts and Antiques Market is located near the heart of downtown Indianapolis. This antique store has been a prime destination for over 16 years and has been voted best antique store for many years running. Midland has over 200, count them, 200 independent art and antique dealers housed within its walls from all around the Midwest.
I can't believe you've never been there. Seriously.
Yeah, it's like a staple, you know. I'm just not a huge like retail therapy kind of guy, but I'm I'm in the relate.
Yeah. Yeah. Right.
It's the industry I'm in.
Yeah, of course. It's they're writeoffs. This is for This is a business expense. Come on.
I wish.
Yeah. Um, and obviously we have to we have to ask the final question. Um, this is where we source new guests and we learn about different Hoosiers that are making an impact in the state of Indiana.
Sydney, who is a Hoosier that we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things.
Chris Bagot. He's the co-founder of Exact Target. Uh, Salesforce acquired Exact Target. Actually, that's how I stumbled on his profile. But I noticed he has a lot of posts about health and ingredients and farming.
Tiger Ponds. I am all about that kind of stuff. I am a very much so a health nut obviously. Um so yeah, I just think it would be interesting to hear from him and have him on here to tell us story.
This is fun fact. So yeah, he's all in regenerative farming like all farmtotable like grass-fed everything and I'm actually going out there to meet with Chris like next week.
I love it.
So and he's going to come on the podcast and talk about not so much not so much his journey. Um obviously everyone knows he's built exact helped build Exact Target. He's the co-founder of Compendium and Cluster Truck and he's done some incredible things.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot about the cluster truck piece.
Can't forget about the cluster truck piece,
y'all. I love Cluster Truck.
More free advertising. I'm so sorry.
No, they're actually a partner, too. So, we love Cluster Truck here. What's your favorite? What's your favorite?
Uh, I get the pad thai with chicken.
Okay. I like the cherry. I like the beef and broccoli. You know, I'm carnivore grind. It has rice, so I cheat on carbs every now and then, but
Whoa. Okay. Uh but we're actually going out to Tiner Pond Farms to see he's now working with farmers all across Indiana to do this level of regenerative farming and his just opinions are really really interesting
of like what we should be growing and how we should be producing food and stuff. It's really interesting.
That's why I want him to sit right here.
It be a great episode and I'll tell him that Sydney from afar recommended
Miss Indiana USA has been dying to hear from you.
Absolutely. I love it.
It's so interesting to me.
Yeah, it'll be fun. We're going to learn about it. Sydney, it's been a pleasure to learn more about Miss Indiana USA, about your journey from Kentucky up to the Hoosier State, and we're honored to have you representing us at MissUSA on October 24th, the week of there. Make sure we go download our app, we vote, and we follow along the journey. You know, I I think it's really cool and we talk a lot about how Indiana is a place where you can get plugged in and make an impact very quickly, and and you are a a living testament of that, you know, like How long what year did you move to Indiana?
I moved here in June of 2023.
If you're seeing this in Kentucky right now, you could move here and be Miss Indiana within 2 years. JC Hart, we know where you should live.
I can refer you to a JC Hart property. I really can't.
No, I could refer them to a JC Hart property.
We're going to fight over the referral bonus.
No, but that's the thing also. You're trying to get more young women involved in the program. And actually, I think the Miss Universe is open to allbody. All ages.
Yeah, we there's no age cap. You can be married. You can be engaged, you can be divorced, you can have children, it does not matter. They welcome anyone. So, the youngest you can be is 14, but other than that, come one, come on.
I want to know who the oldest person to ever like attempt to win is like
she was last year in her 70s in Kentucky, right?
Stop. There's a 70year-old.
That's lit.
Yeah. But then actually, so the Miss Indiana before me, Stephanie Sullivan, she was Miss Indiana USA 2024. She was the very first married mother to be crowned estate title holder and to walk on the MissUSA stage.
That's so cool. I love it. All right, keep up the good work. Uh we'll be following along over the next few weeks as you get ready and you go out and represent the state. I think it's awesome. It was really cool to learn too the different pageantries and the different and all the things that go into and the work that goes in behind it. I think people just think you get out on the stage and you wave and you do your thing and you answer a question and you win. And there seems to be I mean it could even be a 3mon meat only carnivore diet. Like that's pretty intense. Um I love it. We'll be following along. Appreciate you.
Of course. Thank you for having me.
That's a wrap on this episode. I hope you guys enjoyed. If you have ideas for segments or guests, please feel free to email us. And if you could please leave us an honest review. Hopefully it's five stars. Wherever you listen to podcast, send it to a friend. Get out there. If you're near Fall Festival, if you're near Lucas Oil Stadium, let's make it a heck of a weekend, y'all.
