I can look back and say, "Oh my gosh, I have helped so many bis small businesses. They don't know that they helped me as well." There's probably over 2,000 Where's Sherman stickers? I would say [music] probably more than that. That's incredible. I mean, we are talking about the restaurant.
The the story is the local connection and [music] what they're bringing to the table locally. The world is your oyster. What's one [music] spot that is still on the Where is Sherman bucket list? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hooser State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. Before we dive into today's episode, a quick shout out to [music] our friends at NCW, the team that's been building one of the fastest growing staffing and recruiting companies in America for over 25 years.
[music] They specialize in the skilled trades. But here's the thing, they're also growing their own internal team. If you or someone you know is interested [music] in recruiting sales or just making businesses run smoother, you'll want to check them out at teamncw. com. This is just another job pitch. [music] NCW has been voted a top workplace by the indie star, landed on the IBJ Fast25 list, and made the Inc.
5000 list multiple [music] times. I'll tell you, I've got plenty of friends who work there and they all love it. Go check out teamncw. com. Now, let's get into the episode. My guest today is Sherman Burdette and he is a feature reporter and producer at Fox 59 [music] where he has become one of Indiana's most recognizable storytellers through his segment Where's Sherman?
Every week he takes viewers across Indiana and beyond spotlighting the people, places, traditions, and hidden gems that make communities special. What makes Sherman unique is that he does more than just report on the stories. He becomes a part of them. Whether he's riding in race cars, visiting small town festivals, meeting local business owners, or uncovering stories people may otherwise never hear, he has built a career on celebrating the everyday hooser. He is the I say the OG influencer, the founder of this whole niche, I would say, of going out highlighting people not just in the big city, but also in the small towns. You have definitely any listener out there have seen his sticker at a local business all around the state of Indiana.
Sherman, welcome to the show, man. Thank you, Nate. I'm like, I don't even recognize the guy you just spoke of. Oh, well, I mean, the guy the guy I had just introduced, his journey started four blocks from here, actually. Yeah. Broadripple High School.
Broadle High School grad. I mean, you do you know what year? Uh, I don't know the year. I didn't put that in the notes. I didn't want to, you know, we don't want to like age. Well, 1978 1978.
I mean, Broadle High School pipeline for media talent back in the day. You and Dave. Yeah. And there's several local reporter Leslie Olsen. Um gosh, there are several local reporters who wound up from Broadripple as well. Home of the Rockets, baby.
Let's go. So you ended up I mean a similar pathway Doug the media pipeline from Broadripple high school to then Ball State. Yes. And then graduated from Ball State in the media school. Yeah. [clears throat] Telecommunication I think TCOM at the time.
I think it's still TCOM but TCO. So the telecommunications school. And then you ended up getting your first job back here in Indianapolis, but not in front of the camera. It was behind the camera. Yeah. So, I went from Ball State.
Uh Ball State at the time had this really cool program. Uh I wound up being a videotape editor. What is a video tape editor? Well, yeah. So, you don't know what that is, do you? You didn't know what video tape.
You don't have that anymore. But videoape videotape came right after film in in terms of a news gathering uh news gathering camera or equipment. Okay. And it was 1982. Um videotape editor. So what I did.
So I edited stories that you'd see on a newscast, you know, for Wish TV. Uh what do they call it then? Uh the 8:00. I don't I don't remember their slogan at the time, but yeah, that's what I did. I edited for Debbie Knox. And [clears throat] was was that like editing as in having a software that you were working in or it was like physically editing tape together?
It was a machine that did the editing. You punched in your time code where you want your edit to start and where you want the edit to finish. You push a button and it was like an AB roll. It would do the magic and there is your package. No way. So it's not like not splicing together like uh we would do with film.
Yeah. Uh and it's not what you do when it comes to digital. It's in between. Yeah. And I'm assuming it wasn't as easy as like if I messed something up, I press like command Z and it does undo. You're like you had to be precise with this.
Yeah, you had to. And if you did, you had to go back and you had to redo it. Uh so there were processes that you had to go through to edit. And so you know what's really interesting you bring it up cuz videape film, there's video cape videotape, there's digital and they're all different. So one of my pet peeves when someone tells me or says, "Hey, what time are you filming?" It just kind of goes right through me because I know that that's not really what we're doing.
I know that's the slang. That's it's accepted. But technically, what we're doing today is not filming. We're recording. We're recording. We're recording cuz it's digital.
Yes. Well, so from Broadbable High School and Ball State, did you know you wanted to get into the news business from the beginning? Yes and no. I mean, I I did I worked in news newspaper at the and yearbook at Broadle, but I really wanted to be an actor. Oh. And but I was told by I'm raised with my grandparents, hey, uh yeah, if you want to go do that, then you're on your own.
We're not helping you. That's not a career. Wow. I mean, this is the what you said the So that would have been 197877. And like, you know, this is a time where people want they want you to go get a stable career. They want you to um education, especially growing up young black American male, you have to have an education.
There's no way you're going to do anything if you don't do that. And so the encouragement was you got to go get it. So if you go to college, great. I'll pay for whatever scholarship doesn't or whatever and you do not owe me back. This is what my grandfather said. And so uh but then after you get that, then you want to go try to be an actor, then do it.
But but but it was you have to for sure go to college and get a degree that you had four-year B. In this case, Ball State was a bachelor of science at that time. Okay. So then when you graduate, do is the inkling to still like go and try to be an actor there? Oh my gosh. Yeah, Nate, I couldn't get it out of me.
So I did, you know, I did eventually go I did eventually move to Los Angeles and pursue a career in acting. I did I did some stuff here. So one of um the Helen Wells Agency, I don't know if you know, Helen Wells Agency is a local agency that started in 1980 uh modeling commercial talent agent or agency. And um so I was I signed with them locally. So I did some stuff. I did some modeling.
I did a couple of commercials little but I never I didn't really pursue it. It was eh I audition. I go Yeah. Whatever. I wasn't trying to make a living off of it. Yeah.
But I decided to move to LA. I actually moved to LA with my then partner uh boyfriend at the time to Los Angeles. And I spent almost four years. How old were you? Oh god. 26.
You're 2. So this was you had come back and worked in news and I was in news. I worked got my first job. Then I um for almost four years at WISH and then I decided you know what I wanted to be in TV. They were telling me I could I was told by a one of my bosses there that I would never be on TV. You do not have the talent the thing you this not you need to find a different career is what I was told.
Um, and you have to remember the time. I mean, that it's 80s. It's, you know, all the news guys are pretty much white guys with comb over hair, you know. Um, and maybe there's a a white female here and there and and maybe a person of something, but it was predominantly white male in order, you know, in order to be a newscaster, that's what you had to be. Yeah. And Sherman, it's not going to happen for you.
So, I left and that's when I went to LA. And you spent four years. What were you do? Like, how were you paying the bills? auditioning. I wasn't.
My partner did. All right. Come on. So, you're you're auditioning and then did we get did we get any parts? Did we get any? I came right as I was getting ready to leave.
I came really close, but there there was a breakup in my personal life and uh I couldn't afford to stay there by myself. So, but I was right on the verge actually of getting a role, possibly getting a role in the show called TV show called In the Heat of the Night, M which was really popular at the time, but it was we didn't I didn't know when you go to an audition, your agent tells you, hey, you're going to here's your side. So, you're reading, you don't know what the show really is, but you said, "Hey, it's a show that's going to be probably mostly filmed at the time because they were using that mostly filmed in um in the south somewhere. So, if you get this role, you're probably going to be that's where you won't be living in LA if you do this." But, so I got down to like I don't remember the top 10 or so finalists for this job. And then all this stuff was happening in my personal life.
I didn't get the part. Um, if you ever watch In the Heat Night, this a part Wilson Sweet is the cop. That's what I was up for. So soon after I was I was up for another commercial, Kodak commercial. I didn't get that and so I was done. Was that hard to say like, man, I gave this the old college try, but I guess it's just not in the cards for me.
Mhm. Well, looking back, there were people actors who have been there forever and I, you know, been an act. When you're an actor in LA, a lot of times the working actors know the non-working actors. I mean, you're you're you have maybe you have the same coach. You might even have the same agent. You might be in the same acting class, you know.
So, that's the behind the scenes in living in LA or even in New York, too. But, um, so I had a couple comedian George Wallace. I was in class with Rosie O'Donnell. They're like, Sherman, you just got to stick with it. You know, it's a numbers game. But, you know, I Yeah.
Yeah, I mean that's the same thing today. It's it's different I feel like in 2026 than it was in the 80s. But a big piece of it is like content like people who start posting Well, you know what influencers I'm glad you mentioned that because what's happened here Nate? What's going on today is that more people are being able to be seen by those who do the hiring. or the you know the in this case we're talking you know acting the casting director whatever you know maybe you start following them on Insta or whatever and they start following you or they start seeing and so there is a market now of actors who are being seen doing things or singers I mean singers become you know get a record deal because they start singing on the social media next thing you know boom they got a contract but it's like everyone thinks that it's like oh it was the video and it's like no, if you go back on their page, it's like they've been posting covers for three years and just never gave up, right?
And a lot of times it's just like you have to you you have to be a little bit relentless for a extended period of time and like not give up on on whatever that is. And so, you know, push comes to shove, times, you know, are challenging. You end up where do you end up going from LA? Where does your career take you? Uh, so I come back to Indie for a minute. I get together a resume tape.
There was a thing called the media line where you had to you call the media line to see what job opening was open. Dial in your code because you paid, you know, monthly and you listen to the job openings around the state, around the country. Write down, oh, I think I want to send my Oh, there's oh wait, uh, Rowanoke, Virginia. I'll send a tape there. And so you got your resume reel together, put in the mail, snail mail, 3/4 in was the video at the time, and then you'd send it. So what I did, I sent tapes.
I came home, start I worked at the Weston Hotel, which was just it just opened downtown. I was a Bellman. Oh, okay. That's a hospitality. [clears throat] Come on. Friendly face, you know.
So yeah, actually I got they Hey, Sherman, did you you sure you don't want to do a management job? We can. So I had a backup. If this didn't work, I was actually going to go work at hotel management. Okay. So I sent my tape around.
And so from here, from LA, pit stop back home, I wind up in Meridian, Mississippi. Meridian, Mississippi as a sports anchor. You end up at Were you a sports guy? Mhm. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. [clears throat] Indiana grew up in I mean in the height of Broad. Yeah. Come on. So you're in Mar where where is that? Southern, Northern, Central.
Where is it? Yeah, it's central east central. East Well, mostly east. It's right on the the border Alabama. Okay. Um covering high school near Auburn.
near Auburn. So, was that like you get to cover a little bit of Auburn? Uh, actually, so is this a little tiny market? Probably the studio that we're sitting in was probably bigger than the newsroom. It was a tiny newsroom. Okay.
No, I basically covered sports via uh news feed. So, we did Southern Miss. That's when Brett Favre was actually a quarterback at Southern Miss at Southern Miss, Mississippi State. Um, so that's what I did, but I didn't go those places because this was a tiny TV station with no budget. zero budget actually. Uh I was making I don't know 14,000 $12,000 a year.
Um how do you live on $12,000 a year? Yeah, you don't. U but that was that was Meridian, Mississippi. And and so um Meridian, Mississippi is when you go to TV market size, think uh so today even there's 222 220 TV markets. Number one is New York. Number 220 is I think uh Glendive Montana is like the smallest TV market in the country.
Uh Meridian was let's see market 190 170. No way. Yeah. So it's tiny. You're not making money. Station was run by a family.
They had one radio station and one TV station. Wow. Glendive. Is that you said was the the smallest? Today today there's 210. Uh, at least on the on the Wikipedia page, there's 210.
Glendive is 210. Meridian is 192. Okay, there we go. Wow. I think it was 191 at the time. W Lafayette, Indiana 189.
That gives you like a perspective of where you're what kind. Yeah. Yeah. And I worked in St. Joseph, Missouri, which is also probably 170 somewhere. Oh, St.
Joseph actually has dropped to 2011. Oh. Oh my gosh. [clears throat] Yep. There you go. So, you end up going So, is that where you went after Meridian?
doing you you're doing small market TV and I think a lot of people young people in TV today or they they think they want to be in TV whatever um you know hey I'm going to jump in I'm going to work at I'm going to do what Sherman does uh whatever um you got to crawl especially back in the day you literally had to crawl before you walked and that was paying your dues one of my good friends is Don Miranda sports guy for WTR you know we're college buddies and like all of us were going out to get like our corporate jobs and move to Indie or Chicago or wherever He took it he takes a gig in Terode Indiana. Yeah. And it's like well that's what I'm talking about. And it's like you're making literally you're probably paying like you're you're your net worth is going down by having this job. And so when you think of that, right? And so especially in my time we didn't think in terms of net worth.
We thought in terms of paying our dues. So in TV anyway. Yeah. So it wasn't about that. It was had nothing to do with the money. Absolutely.
Wow. It was just like you loved it. you like this is what I want to do in front of people and eventually if I do it long enough if I'm good enough I might get to the level you have to you know the dangling carrot in front of you is maybe you go to network or maybe you go to a big market and that's where you actually make a living where where in the journey did you feel like you had a breakthrough well I was upstate New York in Rochester the company comes in they fire all I was an anchor fire me fire everyone um I'm out of Wait, you got your breakthrough by getting fired? Well, yeah, because I wind up signing with this huge agency in New York. Like they they hire all all the talent that you see on network news today mostly comes through this p this agency. So, I get signed with this great agency.
I'm like, "Yeah, long story short, I get dropped by them." No. Okay. Why does that happen? Here's my bra. Uh, you know what?
really to be honest what I was told I was too gay and the owner of the mark of the agency said you need to tone down your gayness. I didn't really know what that meant but he thought I was he thought I was too you're too flamboyant. So uh I tried to do that but I didn't really know what he meant. So eventually they dropped me. They're dude that's then they said but you're not getting your tape's not getting any um traction so we're dropping you. that.
So anyway, fast forward. I get a break because the guy who hired me in St. Joseph is now the news director in Scranton, Wilsbury, Pennsylvania at a station called W&P. Hey, I got an opening. It's a lifestyle consumer job. It's yours if you want it.
And you bring your personality. So that was the break. And was lifestyle like was this a big thing? This is probably is this the '9s by this point? Uh late or mid early 2000? Early 2000.
And like had lifestyle television kind of like Yeah. Lifestyle TV. Yeah. Reporters or whatever. Lifestyle. They used to call them entertainment reporters, but uh they've been around.
Yeah. But but this station was the dominant station in that market. One of the top rated local stations in the country. And they had a huge audience. I mean, they were doing like a 30 50 60 share in audience and for their for their newscast, which is unheard of. Yeah.
But anyway, um 3050 share like let's say the we go by rating. If you're, let's say you got a 10 rating with a 60 share. Okay. So 10 mean rating is oh great. Um the market share at the time that audience who's watching TV 60% of them are watching you. I got you're saying they were like 30 to 50.
Usually actually probably more like 60 to 70 but that was how so yeah every every thousand. They made all the money in the market cuz that's what the advertisers pay, you know, based on you can, you know, your commercial local commercials are based how much you can charge or based on your share of the market. Got you. So, but anyway, he's like, "Hey, you can be this. This is yours. You come do it.
It's called Action 16. You do it. I did it." And that led to actually me coming here bringing that personality and they I went on air as just Sherman. There was no last name. Hey, Sherman's here.
So I turned into like share and it was like all of a sudden it's just Sherman's here. So that's how Sherman Yeah. on TV started. It was there. And were you doing the same kind of like thing that you're doing today? Yeah.
It was mostly consumer driven. What does that mean? So we were doing consumer news you could use. That has a good ring to it. Yeah. And we were also doing this thing called does it work where we took all those as seen on TV products.
You know I go to people's houses whatever I we go test them to see if they really work. It was huge there. Were you pitching these ideas? Uh, yeah, it was. So, they they some of this the Action 16 was already an established entity in that market that they that had gone away. I can't I was hired to bring it back.
Okay. And it just took off. Does it work? People used to love the Does it work? Then, you know, you see the I don't know, the can opener that's magically opens any little thing. And so, we would go in someone's house and test it or we go to a school and test out the new crayons or whatever.
Yeah. And that's so cool. You know, like the head scratcher, but wait, there's the flex seal or whatever. Well, we did flex seal, right? You take a screen door and try to make it into a boat. We actually did that here and we had fun with it, of course.
So, how then does the Indianapolis job, [laughter] how does the Indianapolis job end up coming about? So that is I get an email friend of mine who I worked with who is no longer in the business. He goes, "Hey, this news director guy in Indie, they're looking for a new feature reporter and I know you're from there and is it okay if I give him your name?" And so he did. They looked and next thing you know, I get an email. Hey, we have this job opening um for our morning show.
It uh we're not going to actually start the new position until July. This was 2009. At the time, my mother was battling um pancreatic cancer living here. Yeah. I was going back and forth from Pennsylvania, Scranton, Bulsbury, coming home to visit when I could and it was on the verge of actually taking a leave of absence so I could help her cuz she was she had decided no, I don't want to do any more treatment. Yeah.
Uh so she was near the end of her life. So I imagine well you know depending on your belief but yeah so I get this email hey we have this job I come home to visit her I go meet the guys at now um Fox 59 CBS Ford and we have a little meeting I go back home two days later I get a job offer next thing you know I'm back home so I came home July 16th is actually the start date I had at the time 2009 so that's when it started started and that was a journey to try to get to what we do today. Yeah. Cuz you were no longer lifestyle entertainment. Uh no, now I'm a feature guy which I had never done. So feature meaning kind of um well feature is actually a generic name.
It's like how how do you make it feature? Like what do we do with that? So at first I had what we call franchises in the business. So I had three franchises I did. Does it work? because they wanted me to bring that to from from Pennsylvania to here.
So I did does a work Wednesdays on what Foxi morning is. I did paying it forward which tells stories about people doing cool things. Mhm. And then we did we just called it Sherman Live where I went somewhere and did something. It was descriptive, very generic, right? So it was just kind of mostly events.
Well, then the conversation I we get the news director leaves. is we got a new news director. She's not very friendly. She asked me to lunch. I thought she was going to fire me and then she's like, "Hey, we got to we're going to take away the paying it forward and we're going to scale back doesn't work. We need to really focus on branding what you're doing."
And so we're having this meeting at Panera and they're like, he says, "Well, how about where's Sherman?" And I go, "Well, actually, we have something we already call searching for Sherman, where we would go around different places around the state, Joseph Dequiz, which we mentioned before we started recording. Different places around the state, Elcart, whatever." Uh, that's what I did for a minute. She wanted to get rid of that, too. So, we're not going to travel around the state.
You're going to stay in pretty much in our doughut market area, maybe about outside, about an hour plus outside. That's about it. But we're going to we're going to we got to brand it. And first, she said, "So, she said, "Where's Sherman?" I said, "Uh, okay. How about where's Sherman or where is Sherman?"
So, we sort of they're interchangeable. Where's Sherman? Where is Sherman? Sort of back and forth. So, we use both. But that's how where Sherman started literally out of a meeting at Panera when I was thinking that I was being demoted, you know.
But she's like, "No, this is what And so when we start we started doing where Sherman, that's when we started doing um restaurants." Yeah. Where'd you start at? where where was the where was the first time? So interesting. Yeah.
I um you I'm writing a little journey or book about uh some of my journey. Not done, not finished. Once I retire, we'll publish it. But um the first very first restaurant under Where Sherman was uh Public Greens in Broadripple right on the Mona, which is no longer Yeah. was part of the Cafe P. I mean, we're making a triangle of your career right here.
We've got Broadripple High School over on the east side. We're over here where we're interviewing today. And then Public Greens on the north side. Yeah, look at that. The triangle of Sherman and it's thanks to Nate. All roads lead back to BRIP.
Come on. So you do Public Greens in this new Where's Where is Sherman? Where kind of interchangeable there. You do this and like how did you spin it to Public Greens? Like do you talk to them or do you just show up and say I'm here and I'm having the kale salad? Yeah.
Right. Uh, so Indianapolis started becoming this foodie destination, right? Couple of our um one of our morning show planning managers, Cheryl, and my photographer BJ, who we've been a team for the last 17 years. So BJ is a real foodie. He's like, "Sh, we got to do they were pushing me to do foodie stuff. I'm resisting.
I am not a foodie. I'm a bologn and cheese guy." Okay. I'm like, "What?" Okay. So, hey, but Indianapolis is going, you know, uh Jonathan Brooks, Milk Tooth, um there was RBistro, there all these restaurants that were years this uh so when all this happens is around 2013.
Okay. So, you'd been with you'd been in the market working here since where Sherman blows up. I mean, once we change the to where Sherman, it starts becoming really really popular. Well, and like all these places want you to and then we're adding food to it and it becomes even more popular. And so, but um it I didn't really come up with the food part because that's not something that I would have done. So, what happened was this.
They said, "Hey, we're going to do food." I'm like, "That's that's so boring. Really? What am I going to do to make this interesting?" So, I decided that I have to interact. So, we we need a star.
It can't be. Well, who's the star of this restaurant feature? Okay, there's the restaurant, but who's who's the visual star of this segment? Well, it's the food. Okay, how do I do? Well, guess what?
In order to make the food the star, I need to interact with the food. I need to eat. I need to eat. I need to chew. I need to make all the mess on camera I can to make it fun and interesting. And so, that's what I did.
That was totally my my decision. Most people do not want to be on TV showing being, you know, they're chomping and biting and going. Half of the guests who who are on TV with me at a restaurant, I mean, 95% of them never want to eat on camera. So, I do. That's how people started noticing it, though. Yeah.
And so, once a week you start going out to these different places. Uh, well, we So, we scale back everything. Everything all of a sudden by 2014ish, everything's wear Sherman. Wow. There's no more dozen of work. There's And it's Monday through Friday, every day.
And I'm the producer. I'm the writer. I do all the planning. I do everything. So, the only thing I don't do is shoot it. That's where my photographer BJ comes in.
We do a lot. He does all the the live and the look live. So, when you go somewhere, so like public greens for the first one. How long are you on site for? Uh, typically, so we do go live around 7 to 7. So, it we're probably there depending on the place.
um you know 2 hours basically 2 hours. And how are you like are you getting recommendations or are you picking your favorite places? How does that work? People are emailing. I mean I've got several I have to answer as I speak. Um yeah people email or they'll reach out to me these days a lot is um social uh Instagram messages since now you can share message.
You don't you have to follow a person they can reach out to you. Back in the day, Facebook, you had to follow each other to even get the message. Yeah. You know, you could So, people started saying, "Hey, you need to come check out this." Or people email me say, I mean, recently we were at a place um this new uh restaurant and it's called the Besties Table. I don't know if you've heard of it yet, but uh Yeah.
Is it down on I haven't been yet, but it's down on the east side or like the near east side. South Yeah, southeast side. Southeast side. Is it like It's soul food. It's a Yeah. Uh it's right right really across from IU or I UND.
Okay. Yeah. Oh, so south. Okay, I got you. Yeah, really far. So, oh, it's so far.
Right on the railroad track there. Right. A railroad track across and who did I see talking about this? Um, so it's been all over. So, you know, we were talking about influencers going and so there are a lot of influencers have gone there and so now they're super busy. You can, you know, Besties Table.
The Besties Table. Wow. I mean, that looks good. Yeah. Wait, so you were just there? Yeah, recently.
So what happens is we go there, we eat, we interact. Boom. They had already had a lot of attention from, you know, social media influencers. Chad uh Chad Ojoso went there. That was the big thing. And he also talked about it on with Shannon with Shannon Sharp.
Yeah. Uh with that, what did they do? What show? I don't I don't remember what show was, but I saw that's what he talked about where he was like cuz they talked about Country Kitchen cuz you know he's like Yeah. Okay. But then this you got to go.
So they have blown up. So they've they've had social media attention. They had attention on local TV. And then, you know, national attention was, you know, Chad Chad Osco. Is that how that? Yeah.
Well, he used to be Chad Johnson, but Chad Osenco. Yeah. Yeah. I saw a post of him talking with with Shannon Sharp talking Yeah. And they were talking about how great it was. Uh, that's incredible.
Okay. So, you were down there. Yeah. You just start going to all these places now. 5 days a week, you're out. And does your market stay within an hour?
coming up. Actually, I'm going to go a little bit outside of an hour. We're going to do a little road trip. So, let's say if you're heading traveling heading north of Indie, here's a little spot and there's a little diner that's attached to a gas station that you would probably never know of, but apparently it has great food. People love going there. So, we're exploring some of those things.
Now, here's the thing about food reviewing is one, you're not a food critic. I'm also not a food critic. So that's why some people will go in and like, you [clears throat] know, they will just Yeah. You know, they've built a following by being, I don't know, kind of dicks at times, you know, like they'll just like eat the food and like, okay, that's a nice way to say a name. I mean, I'm I'm just I call spade a spade. And [clears throat] what they don't know is like a lot of these are small businesses.
There are people trying like yes, not every place I'm guaranteeing every place you go to is not a fivestar elegant experience, but there's still a story behind it. And that's why I always like to tell it's more than just like order the chicken wings because they're really good. It's the story of the entrepreneur, the the grandma in the back of the kitchen, whoever it might be. Yeah. And that's what I love about what you're what you're doing cuz I was telling you I started following you and it's the same thing. So, you know, people will say to me, one of the most the questions I always get is, "Did that really taste good?
Did you really like it?" Or or what happens if you taste something you don't like? And I try to explain that. So what you just said, I mean, we are talking about the restaurant, but we're really talking about the story behind the restaurant, the person who's the young entrepreneur doing it, this new business, or maybe they are um um they've been in the business for a while and they've expanded or maybe they franchisee, franchise owner, whatever. But the the story is the local connection. Yeah.
And what they're bringing to the table locally. Yes, the restaurant is bad because that's what they've established or maybe it's a small uh retail space or whatever, but it's not we're not there to say whether the food is good or bad or oh my god, this sucks. You know, first of all, why would I do that? You know, you said who's going to be a dick like that? I would never do that. No.
And uh even if I don't like something, I'm not going to say it, but I'm not going to say typically I won't say that I like it. Yeah. You know, I'll taste it. I won't say but um I'm not we're not there to make you look bad. Yeah. And you're not there you're not there to be a food critic.
And I'm not a critic. I I mean I don't have the pallet to be a critic. Well, and this is the thing that I think that you know anyone who is looking at these reviews, looking at Instagram, looking wherever needs to know is the beauty comes from the story in my opinion, you know, like yes, you have to have table stakes, good food, like it needs to be serviceable, but I'll take like the best service in the world that you can't really capture that through a video. The ambiance, the environment were did it feel like I was having dinner at my grandma's house? Did it feel like me and my old friends were getting back together and sharing a beer and having a great time? Like it's that if all you're looking for is just like a plate to be put in front of you that blows your mind, like I think that that's just such a small sight of the whole experience.
Yeah. And I think what you're saying too is it's the experience. I mean, it's the overall. And so talking about experiences, when did you go from cuz I would also say like you've been doing this for a while, you know, 13 years all in on where Sherman. Um Yeah. Yeah.
On Where's Sherman? 13 years. 17 years collectively at at Fox 59. Yeah. And it's like you can only eat chicken wings and smile and say it's so good so many times without at some point being bored, you know, like Well, truthfully, actually, so we do I do so many different things. So it's not all restaurants.
Yeah. I mean, well, that's what I was going to ask. When did it get into experiences? Um, so when we when we did Sherman Live the first time, we were doing more experiences. Uh, we were doing I did a segment at one one time called Sherman Do My Job where I was doing different people's jobs. The OG Mike Row.
Uh, yeah, we were doing Mike Row was doing we were doing it on a local level. Uh, that that was difficult to do in the morning show format. Yes. Um, very fun to do. I've like been a plumber for a day and I've done some of that. very fun to do on the social format, hard to do in a morning show format.
There's a lot of stuff that I'm not really good at. And so, but they thought I was I was looking like an idiot, like, you know, I don't but I was just learning how to do how someone does their job, but it was taking it was taken out of context. Yeah. So, we did it for a while. Um but the actual focus of um local businesses and small businesses didn't didn't evolve until where Sherman. Okay.
So even from the beginning it wasn't just restaurants. So like what were the kinds of experiences you were going and doing? Let's say I was a shrimp farmer. [sighs] Oh my gosh, there's so many. Dog trainer. Um so we I'm a huge dog person.
And I don't know if you know that about me, but um I have two golden doodles. So anytime you can go to like a a dog daycare, when I actually when I'm writing about my favorite when someone says, "What's your favorite thing to do or your favorite restaurant?" I'm like, "Well, actually my favorite thing is to do something with dogs or do something where I play dress up and gets that allows me to be the actor in me." Yeah. And then allows me with the dogs to be the with the thing that I probably love the most. Yeah.
the most in life really. Wow. So, how do you keep it interesting? How do you keep it exciting? How do you stay motivated? I think it's being involved.
I think it's actually in a situation like this like you our conversation 101 to me uh it means a lot to me to actually have this conversation. Uh just before I came and sat down here, I was somewhere else in Broadle where we were on location. Uh the pit stop is well it's not actually Broad but it's 30 38th in college. Um, but more Butler talking. No, actually, what is I forget what what neighborhood that is. But anyway, um, we wind up having this great conversation with the owner and the and the general manager.
So, we wind up talking and having conversation, meeting people. So, I to me that really is the driving force behind everything. Yeah. You know, I I've been to places where I hated the vibe of the person I was on TV with, you know, for whatever. It's just not. But I never treat them any differently.
No. So on TV, you give them the respect. You give them the shout out. You not necessarily maybe you don't go back, but there are places where we repeat. And typically it's because of who they are. Yeah.
And the connection that you have with them. You know, some people will say, "Well, God, you're always in you're always in Caramel. You're always here. You're always there." But, you know, we do a lot of new places and that's where a lot of the new places are, right? Yeah.
But at the end of the day, it is the connection. Yeah. And I think that is a piece that maybe is hard. How long is a package like a [clears throat] where's Sherman package on the news? Like how long does it last? It's crazy because you think wow I think it's only 3 minutes, right?
But when I'm out and about the number of people who know who I am and what I do is crazy. Yeah. So it's 9 minutes in the of in a morning show that in that particular show from 7 to 10 is 3 hours long. Is it the same 3 minutes three times? It's the same. No.
So, it's kind of the same same time slot each 7:50, 8:50, 9:50, but different segments. So, we'll shoot a live segment, and it might we might focus on pie. The next segment it's on salads, the next segment it's on entree. So, each segment is different. Okay. So, nine unique minutes every morning.
And I mean you but you spend 2 hours a day on on site at these places on site and then I spend the rest of the time writing planning. Yeah. So it's like I always think that that's funny too like when we do a real somewhere it's like yeah it's 90 seconds long but you might spend 2 hours or whatever like putting it all together and then another two hours editing. Well think of this. If you're watching a local newscast and you see a reporter and a photographer out on a story they do this this this this. Okay.
Bye. So maybe that's a minute 30, right? Time run time. It probably took them, it might have taken them the entire shift, which may have been 6 hours to get it together because you got to do the you got to do the leg work first. You got to find the interview. Then you got to hook up with them.
I mean, sometimes the what do you call it? U the video helps or you know when you can do a video with a person and oh Zoom call or whatever. Zoom. There you go. That helps. But you got to get to the location.
So you got traffic. You got to sit down. You got to research. So you got to know what you're talking about. Then you got maybe if you got more than one interview that day, you got to go and go to another location which might be on the other side of town to get the this interview. Then they might in between the news desk will call you and say, "Hey, we need you to pick up we need the the term they love to use is, "Hey, we need you to swing by a certain place to pick up something else for the desk."
So now you got to do that. then you got to get back to whatever you're doing. And maybe, oh, by the way, you might be caught out on breaking news. So, then you're on something else. So, there's a lot to being a local reporter. I don't live that life anymore.
I did. But even still, for me, it's research, research, research. 90% of what I do is research. Really? So, what are you using to research and find these places? Uh, it depends.
I mean, if someone reaches out to me and say, "Hey, you should go to this restaurant." Well, then I've got to do my little search, I got to go see what if and then sometimes somebody will rec recommend a place and, oh, you should go here. I'm like, well, hey, do you know the owner? You know the manager? Do you know the person in charge, the brother person? Do they really want to be on TV?
A lot of people don't want to be on TV. So, I got to find that, too. one, what are the qualities of what these places that make it a great story for you? Yeah, you know, it's a great question, uh, Nate, because, you know, I think people think just because they reach out to me that they that we're going to put them on just because and [clears throat] obviously there has to be some criteria and it's it it just it varies. Yeah. Uh, it varies with the type of place.
Um, it's not I think a lot of people think it's location. Oh, you don't go to the east side. Well, yeah, we do. You don't go this. Yeah, we do. But it's definitely trying to figure out h is this going to work?
Yeah. Does this person really can he do they understand exactly what we need? Because people think, yeah, I got to be on TV. Yeah. I mean, I get I mean, you know, I get a lot of DMs in a lot of restaurants. Come try our food.
We'll give you a free blah blah blah. Come try our food. And I'm like I if I could if there were unlimited hours in every day I would go to all of them and promote all of them. But it's like I always just feel like such a jerk because I don't have time to make it to all of them. And they're like oh you don't you won't come support our business but you'll go support the other barbecue joint or whatever. And I'm like I used to get really offended by that.
But I don't anymore because I know you know for me [clears throat] it's a matter of planning, it's a matter of timing. There's so many things that are involved in that and some of it comes by how you pitch your story. You talk about like, you know, it's not like you're they're sending press releases, but I mean, if you're saying like, "Hey, you know, we're we're we sell pizza. You should come to our shop. So, you're not giving me a lot to go off of here." versus other times I'll get like really thoughtful like hey like we sold everything we owned moved across the country opened this pizza shop in our hometown where our mom was from she just passed away and in her honor we named it Susan's Pizza Joint and it's like you know two paragraphs and like the answer still might be hey I can't fit that into the schedule right now but I'm at least going to remember it I'll talk about it like and if I can make it there I will do it versus like so many people just see me or you as a transaction like, "Hey, bring Sherman in because it's going to help our business."
"Hey, bring Nate in to help our business." Yeah. And so, you know, I you know, sometimes with someone will reach out to me and if I if I don't respond, that means I'm not interested, right? Because what happens is if you at least in my experience, if if I engage and someone that I know I'm not going to have on, I I know I'm going to tell them no. Then once you start engaging, then they'll come back with the reasons why you should or all of a sudden they put it on you. They're disappointed with you because you said, "Hey, I'm not."
And so [clears throat] my I'm way too busy to engage in that. And so I if it's not happening, if someone says me something and I don't respond, it just means guess what? We're not doing it. And it may it has for whatever reason. It's almost like applying for a job. You didn't get the job.
Well, I don't know. But does that mean you're going to stop applying for jobs forever? Like no. No. And so I've had people who reach out to me several times before we actually did something with them or I always tell people when they're new a lot of times you see on social like you you know a lot of the influencers they're going to some place it's brand new right oh my god it's new but I will tell someone you know what you might need to get your legs first because what's going to happen you know if you start advertising that you're here like oh you're thinking money but if that person has a bad experience you're not prepared. I've had places that have, you know, they see, "Oh my god, you're on Sherman."
I hear that all the time. Somebody a small business, I say, people come in, they say, "You were on Sherman." You have to be ready for that influx if it happens. And most times it's going to happen, right? And so I try to tell people to wait. You know, this is not a race.
We're not doing breaking news. I'm not doing breaking news on a new restaurant just because we don't have to be first. Okay? You want to be able to put your best foot forward and say, "This is, look, I we've got our chef, our menus in, you know, our our tables are set, our place is clean, the bathrooms, I mean, the whole picture." And then now you're ready for the exposure. Yeah.
Cuz you don't want to bring in, let's say, you even bring in 500, 200 new customers. They all have a bad experience and they're never coming back. versus you wait a little bit, make it a great experience and then you create lifelong customers and you get to engage. So you like to eng you you do your stuff, you engage, you eat, you do I love to engage. I mean I have this red mark on my face right now because I was engaging and getting an experience or a thing that someone can get to help u take away sunspots on their face. So I'm actually experiencing at home what you might feel at home through me.
So that experience that you get at a restaurant when you're sitting there and getting it, it should be the full thing. It should it's not just about a plate. Is there ever a story where you went in and meaningfully impacted a business in in like a crazy fashion where they were like, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe how how great the ripple effect of where Sherman has been." Yeah. You know what I mean? I had several I've had several people have that experience that will tell me some people will email me or reach out and say, "Hey," or I'll get a note, you know, oldfashioned note and snail mail.
And I've gotten some where people accuse me of being an alcoholic on TV cuz I took a sip of beer or you know so I try to I could never do this like I think in so when you someone I mean you know this guy who identified himself as a pastor he writes this horrible letter and email and he he CC's the news director and the general manager that I'm promoting alcoholism and all I did was sip a martini and whatever you know and the irony is that I'm not I'm not even a huge drinker in my own world, but we were doing it to promote. It was a bar and there was a cocktail bar. That's what they do. So, you know, in actuality, to be full circle in that particular case, you know, I I'll tell a restaurant, hey, don't put alcohol in it. No one's going to know. You don't have to put don't waste your booze.
You know, I'm not a boozer. I'm not going to drink a martini at 7 o'clock in the morning. This is just to show people we're we're we're showcasing them. Yeah. you know, and it's like news flash, the world drinks. There are people who news flash at if I did.
Hey. Um, but you know, that's you just take that in stride. Yeah. I mean, but on the other side, it's always great to get the feedback where it's like, hey, you know, two months later, people are still pouring in the door. Oh my gosh. I've had people that say, you know what, Sherman, you literally put my business on the map.
That your presence is 6 months later. I still have people coming in saying, and this is the the the phrase that people say to me is they they say, "I saw you on Sherman." That's what I've heard a gazillion times. I saw you on Sherman. I saw you on Sherman. When did the stickers come into play?
10 years ago. So, you have a there's a decade worth of stickers out there and they've changed over the different colors. How many How many stickers do you think are out there? Oh my gosh, Nate. If you had to just give me a a vast estimate Oh my god. 10 decades of stickers.
Oh jeez. I I well it's like what three how many 200 whatever work days in a year 5 days a week. Um several thousand there's probably over 2,000 Where's Sherman stickers? I would say probably more than that but yeah. Mhm. In 10 years you've helped helped over 2,000 small businesses get sh probably and probably more but yeah that's incredible.
Mhm. Are there any I mean this is going to be the average. I'm not going to ask about your favorite cuz it's so hard to pick a favorite child, but are there any stories from your travels with where Sherman that just stick with you forever? So, I'm going to I'm going to do a a a Zumba story. Okay, I'm in. We're featuring Zumba.
Uh it's at a plate. It's no longer a business, but it's a a Zumba studio uh northeast side near Castleton. Go in. I'm there to meet the owner. We're going to do Zumba. We're going to talk about the Zumba Club and they had this event coming up that that weekend that we were promoting.
It was a fundraiser. And so we're and as I so when I get on the set or set when I get on location, I'm I'm also the field producer. So I'm telling people what we're we're going to do, how is this going to work. So I'm standing on the stage where the Zumba instructor will be. There's probably about 15 to 20 ladies who are there to be on TV. As I'm explaining what we're doing, I catch someone in the crowd and I look and I'm like, [gasps] "Oh my god."
And she looks at me and she's like, [sighs] "Oh my gosh." So all of a sudden this loud scream comes for both of us. I jump off the podium. I run up to her. We're hugging. We're kissing.
And oh my gosh, it is the person who I grew up with next door. I grew up at 40th and in Byron, 40th and Clarin Butler Tarington. Mhm. She lived right next door. There's an alleyway that divided the two houses. Uh her name is Mona.
Mona Oglesby. It was Mona. There she was. I had not seen Modus since 19 I don't know 82 and this now this was uh gosh 20 what is it now 2020 this is probably like 2018 at the time no way we hadn't seen I didn't know she was still alive her mother we called her neighbor she was a a teacher at Christmas addicts high school anyway so she was a big part of my life growing up and Mona was this person who I want to be Mona I mean she went to college she this and she lived the life of being a flight attendant, flew all around the the world actually and here we are. That moment to me stood out as one of the most incredible moments on a personal level. But I've also interviewed so many I mean I've interviewed Hillary Clinton.
I mean I've done politicians. I've done a lot more than just Sherman. But yeah, but like I mean that's a that moment Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So, and we're now back in touch and she comes to family cookouts.
That's so great. Wow. Now, what about a story of a place that you've been to that that outkicked its coverage where you go in there and you have an expectation. You're like, "Okay, I'm going to this Zumba class or chicken wing joint or whatever." And then then it's like the non-manufactured serendipity. You're just like, "That place k far out kicks its weight class."
far out kicks its coverage that was really like amazing right that I didn't expect that you didn't expect because like I mean for instance when I think of I mean we talked about Joseph Dequiz earlier it's like I've just heard so much hype around it yeah so I'm surprised you knew about know about so it's in it's in Rowano uh outside of uh Fort Wayne Wagu beef farm Wagu beef farm they have the farm they have the bed and breakfast they have the restaurant uh you can go there's a wedding venue event venue who uh they play New York Yankees baseball games to the Wagu beef. I don't know if you didn't know that. No, the owner's a New York Yankees fan. So they play all these old games from way back from even before TV. It was radio game. They do.
So Wagu uh cattle like to be engaged. They're kind they're pampered. They're like golden doodles. Yeah. They're the golden doodles of cattle. Yeah.
I did not know that. Okay. Yeah. And so they love to be pampered. That's part of But like I just heard so many great things that you got to go in there with high expectations. So I went to a bakery recently and I wasn't or not b it was a market that I wasn't really expect.
I didn't know what to expect but it's brand new. It's in it's in Planefield and it's amazing what they have a butcher. They have a deli roots the market and ery. It's amazing. And I didn't know what to expect. Not saying I didn't think it was going to be great but it was just exceeded what I thought.
I mean, it's just it's really cute little market right there on Main Street in Planeville. It's amazing. And the and the people are fantastic. They're just like welcoming and Singing Crust Bakery. I love me some sweets, let me tell you. I'm a choahholic.
Whatever. There I'm a connoisseur. Oh, there we go. Uh I love peanut butter cookies. I had the best peanut butter cookie I ever had at the Singing Crust. And that was out a couple of weeks ago.
Oh, the Singing Crust. What's the biggest misconception about working in television? Oh gosh, I don't even know that anymore. I used to would say I would have said, "Oh, that you make a lot of money, but I don't know if people really think that anymore." I don't really know. I think the misconception is that um that it's easy or that there's a lot of bias, especially I mean there's bias in news.
We all are born with the bias. bias that is what we think or how we see things. Um [clears throat] on a local level, you don't really have time to have a bias, you know, not for the most part. But I do know that they're um so I think that in the money well and the misconception of of for you it's oh well he just goes and Oh, that that misconception for me is that oh you only go to certain neighborhoods. Yeah. Or you or it's just a job where you eat cookies for 3 minutes.
Oh, they so easy. Like the here's the question I get all the time. So what are you doing after this when I'm on a location? Now that person who asked that typically knows that I've set all this up. We've emailed sometimes we call. We've set you know whatever to make it all happen to make that moment happen.
I engage to make it happen. So I do a lot of leg work. Yeah. And it's like, well, you know, tomorrow we have to go do this same thing again. And like tomorrow, I mean, you know, I'm off somewhere else. And, you know, I had to make sure, you know, I got that settled that they're going to be there.
What's the furthest you've traveled for a segment? California. What? And Florida, too. Why those two? We did behind the scenes with Ringley Brothers, Baron Bailey Circus at the time, and then we did behind the scenes with Disney on Ice.
That's pretty fun. Mh. They're owned by Feld Entertainment. Okay. Know that. So Feld owns the rights to those two shows.
Well, Ringling's no longer, but let's say Monster Jam they own and a couple of things, but Disney on Ice is owned by Feld through Disney. They the they're the licensed to put on the shows that you see. And so we were invited to go behind the scenes, see how they do Disney on Eyes. It was fun. That's pretty fun. Actually, one part I was in [snorts] Oh, wow.
I think it was Sacramento where I was actually part of the show. It was so fun. What What were you What was your part of the show? So, there's a Disney character, Latin character plays a guitar, whatever. And I don't remember his name cuz I don't have kids, but I be I was that character. That was pretty fun.
Your acting career full circle. Playing dress up. My favorite thing. When you look back at your entire career in media, a lot of it being here in Indianapolis, what are you the most proud of? Wow, you're really good at asking questions, my man. Thanks, Sherman.
Um, you know, I It's kind of a long long story. I I think the fact that we were able um I say we with my photographer BJ um to bring a little bit of joy each morning for the people who actually tune in. [clears throat] Just a little bit of joy to a local news. A little bit of and and humor. I think those two things are what you know really keeps what what makes people want to watch. Yeah.
And again, it is the business or whatever we're doing, the interaction as well. But I think it's the joy and I think it's the the humor really. Absolutely. And the fact that we look back, I can look back and say, "Oh my gosh, I have helped so many biz small businesses thrive in their journey, which is great." But they don't know that they helped me as well as a person. I get so energized from leaving when we film.
like we'll go to a bakery, we'll go wherever, we'll be on and I'm like I'm fired up, ready to rip and like because you're you've done something great actually and then you get like the message or the email or whatever after it goes live and it gets a lot of views and they're like oh my gosh this is so great like we were so worried or this that the other thing and you make it easy for them. Yeah, absolutely. Um we've come to the part of the show where we get to talk all things Indiana. Okay. And so this question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart. They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond.
Check them out at home isjart. com. My question for you Sherman, why do you call Indiana home? H well I was born and raised. That is why little hospital general hospital which is now Eskenazi. Um so born and raised and reared and so therefore it is home.
There we go. So, you were born with it. Uh, what is the weirdest thing you've ever done on air? I'm gonna go with this one. The I I did a tight rope at a circus. I walked the tight rope at the Peru circus.
Did you get all the way over? Uh, it was weird and no because I was so scared and but it was the that is the weirdest experience being on it even though you're tethered and I just oh my gosh I lost it. I hope when he steps in. I don't know. Maybe one or two. All right.
Peru Circus. If you uh if we want to do redemption on the tight rope I'm in. I don't [clears throat] know if they'll ever invite me back. That's he makes it two step. I mean cuz you're high up. Yeah.
And it looks a lot higher. I mean, it looks a lot lower as you're looking up, too. And then once you get up there, and I'm not a I'm not necessarily afraid of heights, but I don't necessarily love them. And so, yeah, I don't know what the secret is, but one foot in front of the other, I suppose. Okay. Your favorite Indiana State Fair food.
Corn dogs. Oh, come on. A restaurant in Indiana that's worth the drive. I'm going to go with what we talked about and I'm going to go with Joseph in Rowan Oak. I think that is an experience that I think everyone needs to go experience what goes on in that little town. It's amazing.
Uhhuh. What's your best advice for upand cominging people that want to be in media? Well, first of all, I would say actually really try pursue actually getting a background in journalism as opposed to just hey here I am. if you're actually doing really if you're trying to be a news guy or gal. Uh, but I think the best my my best advice is to really think about and research before you jump because it's not what it seems on the outside. Yeah, that's good advice.
Yeah, it's like if you're doing this just for because you think you're going to get a lot of views or fame or I'm going to be on TV. I mean, you know, especially if you if you're doing it on a social media level, that's different. If you're doing it as your as an entrepreneur, that's different, right? But if you're pursuing actually working for a TV station or network or ESPN or whatever you're doing, if you if that's the goal, then I would definitely look look before you leave. Well, this is true, too. I want to dive into that for any of the young journalists out there looking.
Too many people want to go the TV route and they don't realize that you're not the show, even though the show's named Sherman. Like, where's Sherman? and you are doing the thing. [clears throat] It's not about you. No, I'm so glad you said that. It's got to be I mean that is and it's so easy uh like we get a lot of feedback that what we do really well is go out there and interact with the person who is the story, you know, like and and maybe they're giving you the information and maybe they don't want to be on camera and don't want to be filmed, but it's your job then to help translate that story for whoever the viewer is, but not make it about you.
Like too often it's like what's your take? What's your thing? It's like you telling make it about you, you you and your personality. And the best videos, the best I know people in this space are storytellers. They're out there collecting information. They're hearing the story and they are translating it to you through whatever the device is.
I mean, I couldn't agree with you anymore. I I mean, that's what I am, a storyteller. I mean, you do that. You do it well. You know what I'm You know what I'm talking about. And it's really is I mentioned earlier when you start doing restaurants and how that happened when you asked me, "Well, guess what?
The plate is the star. It's not me. I'm engaging with it, but it's about that. It's about the person who created the plate. Yeah. And the person who runs the show at that particular place.
So, it is definitely about it's the story. Yeah. We all have them. That's why I write my own little memoir because people because I want to encourage people to tell their stories. Everybody's got one. whether and and whether you think it's interesting or you don't think it's interesting like it's all in how you tell that you know like everyone's story is interesting you've lived lots of days and hours and years and months in the whole nine yards so I I do can I totally agree everyone's got their story I do have to ask you were recently we talked about it before you recently at the Illinois Street Food Emporium what do we think I love it that's one of my favorite places you know I guess that's one of those if I said if you're coming to Indie you got to go there dude it's so new ownership with with Matthew, young guy.
Matthew's great. He's so authentic, so great. And he I think a lot of times you'll get, you know, young entrepreneur comes in and says, "I'm changing everything." And it's like, no. Like there's a reason it's been an institution in that neighborhood. He's smart.
He knows to keep it the way uh because and the people make that experience. Those who work there, they've been dedicated. I knew Vivian Ferris, the previous owner. Um, and so, uh, yeah, I mean that place and it used to be called Huddles, by the way, years ago. That little place. Was it like the pharmacy type counter thing?
It was just called Huddles. Well, it was Huddles. I mean, it was a combination, but Yeah. Wow. back in the day. I mean, I go there.
I get the I love the naming the naming convention of the stuff like the Rocky Ripple roast beef. Yeah. Or like the HLE ham and cheese or whatever it is. Oh, dude. They they do a a I could just call it a Butler Tarington cottage pie or something like that. And then you get the the chicken velvet soup.
Yeah. That like goes way back through the LS LSIs and the tea room and the whatnot there. Yeah. Y'all miss those days. Yeah. Not not me, but I know.
But I like history, so I get the I'm telling you, back in the day when when department stores were king and you'd shop at you know, let's say LSAs or Blocks and you know, they had several levels. was the women's level here or this and off the top was the the the lunchroom if you will. That's and you know LS was known for that whole the chicken velvet soup. Oh, okay. Final final question and then I have my same three that I ask everybody. So budget time, no constraints, the world is your oyster.
What's one spot that is still on the Where is Sherman bucket list? Oh my gosh. Does that have to be Indiana? It could be anywhere. world. One spot where I would what I I guess it would be something that I would create, it would be a big farm with every animal I could get on that farm and that would be my living space.
That would be the destination for me. Wow. I'm here for that. I'm like thinking through uh around, you know what a good one would be? M it's like you just need to figure out when the the Indiana spring breaks are and then Sherman just goes on spring break like two weeks before and goes there and gives them all the wrecks. It's like Yeah.
Everyone goes to like I'm here. I'm checking the weather for you. You're all going to be coming down next week. Yeah. Exactly. So that I mean to me it's something that I would create I guess is the answer to that question.
Okay. Well, we've come to our final three questions of the show. We ask this to every guest that comes on. Okay. First is your opportunity to shed some light on a part of the state that more people need to be talking about. What is a hidden gem in Indiana?
Tinker. Yeah. The firehouse. It's cute. Yeah. And that's bec It's a hidden gem because what they've done and turned this old firehouse Yeah.
into this coffee shop gathering place. And what I would say when you go there, go to the bathroom. Right. Why do I say that? because it has a list of all the firehouses in Indianapolis, when they started and where they're located, where they're so That's so cool to me. That's a It sounds like a weird thing.
The bathroom at Tinker Street or not [laughter] Tinker Street, the bathroom at Tinker Firehouse. At Tinker Coffee Firehouse, right across from Illinois Street Food Emporium. Wow, that's a good hidden gem. There's a lot of history in that bathroom. Okay, I love it. [laughter] I don't answer.
Okay, now this is where we source new guests and learn about other people that people need to know about. Who's a Hooser we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So, I I love the guys at Hercule.
I don't know if you you're familiar with this is meal prep, right? They are amazing. Their food is amazing. Uh if you're into uh portioning, trying to watch what you eat, but still enjoy a meal at home, easy, easy. uh Hercuine, those guys, the owners, the brothers, the Canary brothers, the last names. Um they I think they're somebody to watch.
And I think I I mentioned this before, the Besties Table. And I think the the owner and the chef there somebody to to look out for. I got to get down there and try it out. Uh yeah. What? Ben and Nathan Canary.
Yes. Yeah. The guys at Hercule. Hercule. Hercules. Hercules.
Hercule. Hercule. Hercule. Yeah, sermon sermon service. I got you. All right.
Uh, finally. Yes. I want you to look back from Broadripple to Ball State to your time here in Indianapolis. I want to know when you think about the greatest days, the greatest moments, the greatest things. What is your favorite Indiana memory? After my mom passed away, I take a ride.
I'm at Broadripple Park. I sit and I have this moment where I'm sitting at near the canal and just having my moment and realizing where how far I've come and that everything that I have achieved in my life is through here being a hooer. My upbringing, the values, how I treat people, um the decisions I try to make every day because every day we make a decision. You have a choice to do this or that. And uh my I thank God that my blessing or my roots are here because it's a it's a matter of appreciating and who's your hospitality sounds so weird. It's like what the heck is that?
But it's about treating people with respect everywhere you go. And I that's probably the biggest thing for me. Well, man, I I think that's truly special and the work that you do though sometimes the comments might always be great and that's just how it is. But as someone who sees it and has kind of gotten a look, obviously not on the news side, but just like going and telling stories day in and day out, like it is impactful from small businesses to these two brothers to the coffee shop to like all of these businesses. When I go into a place and we're about to shoot a video and I see the sticker, I know that there's that this is a space that I'm supposed to be in. I know that we're making an impact.
Like people come from all over and said, "I saw you on Sherman." Like that is so cool. And I know the original dream was to go be an actor, but I think honestly, you know, the impact you've had over 17 years here in Indianapolis and 40 years total in TV. Like I just think that that is is iconic and you're an excellent storyteller. I can't wait to one day down the road after retirement comes and the whole nine yards read your your memoir, read the book, learn about I mean you could also do a coffee table book of all the crazy places that Sherman's been to. Um I just think it's so special, man.
It's been a pleasure to sit down and share the mic with you and learn about the journey that started again five blocks that way. Ripple high school. Yeah. Go Rockets, baby. Uh if people want to follow you, if they want to see where where can they do that? Best place Instagram.
Sherman Sherman Bdette Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. That's where I do a lot of my posting. And then of course Fox9 Morning News 7 to 10. Wait, 7:50, 8:50, 9:50.
Yeah, you can see where's Sherman. Yeah, we even do a midday show now at 11. Hey, come on. Appreciate you, man. Thanks for stopping by. We'll talk soon.
This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you [music] so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great. We'll see you next time here on Get