June 18, 2025 • 48 mins
Former pro Hally Leadbetter joins the Par-Tee to discuss her journey from playing college golf to becoming a prominent figure in golf media, launching her own creative agency and production company, and her thoughts on the future of women's golf under new leadership. Plus, Hally reflects on how growing up as the daughter of renowned golf instructor David Leadbetter helped shaped her career.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you remember how long ago we met? College is
college guys, college golf, college golf. It was Palm Springs.
You were playing already for Rollins. I played for Calsei Fullers,
a thirty six hole. It was a thirty six whole day.
And I'll never forget what I saw on my score
because I got my scorecard first and it said Halle
(00:21):
led better. And I was like, oh my god, I'm
playing with a lead better. And I was like, that's
kind of crazy. And I don't know if you recall this,
but my college coach, who played on the LPGA Tour
was coached by your dad, and so she was super
excited and she was like, oh my god, I watched
Halle grow up and this and that, and so that
was when we first met. And I don't even think
you remember this. We both we both hit it into
(00:43):
the water on the first hole checks out. I snap
hooked it. Halle sliced it because she's left. Yeah, and
then we both somehow parted the whole.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I know, we dropped it and parted it. We were
not like, in my opinion, unless you we call something different.
We were not like the bubbly fun people that we
are I legit did? We didn't talk and I took
golf so seriously, Tish like me too. We weren't as
funny as we are now and we didn't smile we.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Really have It probably wasn't very fun. No, we got
way more fun playing now.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Oh yeah, Now, now is a different story.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
That was twelve hours of not speaking, which was crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
What is going on? Everyone? Welcome back to the party. Also,
Happy Pride Month. Now, as you know that I'm sharing
more of my voice. I always try to start each
probably with a little bit more about me or a
story or what have you. So before we dive into
our guest, who I know you're going to love, and
I'm sure many of you know, I figured that in
honor of Pride Month, today's topic will be my coming
(01:48):
out story. Gosh, it is a tough one and even
after all these years, it still makes me emotional. So
here we go. I realized my sexuality in twenty sixteen,
So what is that like nine years ago now? And
I figured it out as many do. I simply fell
in love with a woman for the first time. And
I remember when it first happened. It was by complete accident.
(02:12):
It happened even through social media, not even in person,
so what a wild way to do it. Conversation really
went from DMS to text messages to phone calls, and
then I realized, Okay, this is definitely more than just
a friend type of feeling, and I really tried so
hard to push those feelings away. My background is Filipino,
and as you can guess, my family is also very religious.
(02:35):
So yeah, you can already imagine how this story is
going to go before it gets better. But I really
tried to push those feelings away, and it came to
the point where I couldn't deny it any longer, and
I quietly pursued it. And of course, in pursuing it,
I had to share with a few people to stay sane,
and I opened up to my childhood friends first, one
(02:56):
by one, individual call by individual call cried, and I
opened up to my closest, closest golfriends, and all of
them loved me dearly. And then I had to tell
my sponsors. I was playing professionally at the time, and
I had a successful twenty fifteen twenty sixteen year as
a professional, and the mini tour circuit I had won
a couple times. I had barely missed the cuts on
(03:18):
in Q school and I was top on the money list.
I was doing pretty well, and during that time I
really thought had a chance. And so I had to
tell my sponsors, which my biggest one was Cobra Puma
at the time, and they received it well. I think
they were shocked, but they received it well. And then
it came to the point where I needed to tell
my parents. Now, my dad is a different story. I
told him so far down the line, which we will
(03:40):
circle back to. But my mom is my best friend.
She is my best friend to this day, and this
moment only made us stronger and is really just a
blip in time. But of course mother's intuition, she realized
it and caught on before I could even tell her,
confronted me about it, and it didn't smooth over the best,
And I think in that moment it was just really
(04:00):
the shock factor and the feeling I think she must
have felt was as if she didn't know her daughter
all along, and she had this perception in her brain
that I was going to change change my image, change
my everything, and she didn't believe me when I said
I was I was still always going to be the same.
I was going to look the same, act the same,
I just love the same. And it took a while
(04:20):
for her to register that, and so I decided to
distance myself from the family and essentially go on to
pursue my career on my own and also pursue this relationship.
Twenty sixteen to twenty eighteen became the most trialing periods
of my life on the growth of social media, trying
to hide everything from the world, my sexuality, my relationship,
(04:41):
my distance from my family, and how much hurt that
caused me every single day, and the fights that it
caused between family, between partner, all the things, all while
depleting money just so so fast because I was paying
for entry fees. We were living like Nomad's hotel to hotel.
I started to have some injuries that costed money. I
(05:02):
tried to become essentially like an honorary member at golf clubs,
and I'm pretty sure I got kicked out because they
realized my sexuality, and that was the reality of golf
back then, lots of fear and lots of pushback, and
I definitely wasn't confident in coming out in the golf
world because of everything golf was and is to some
degree at this point, you know, just very conservative, very
(05:25):
male dominated, and I was afraid to lose more than
I already had, and losing my family was already too
much to lose at that point. Fast forward to twenty eighteen,
it came to the point where things were very unhealthy
for me in all which ways, to the point where
I was like a skeleton. I had not cut my
hair in those two years. I had to quit professional
golf because I could no longer take it mentally. And
(05:46):
although my name is Tisha all In, I went all
in on trying to pursue this relationship and figuring out
my sexuality. But man, it drove me to the point
of completely losing myself and everything that I am. I
have a lot of will power, but that was beyond
and we decided to end that relationship because it was
not healthy in so many ways. And I then came
(06:07):
back to my family, and once they saw how distraught
and how low of a point that I was in
and how just fragile I was, we slowly worked together
to heal and build our relationship back, and my family
promised me that they would do everything they can to
take steps forward in the right direction of accepting me,
(06:28):
and I would also do my due diligence and being
patient with them. And before any of you can even say,
you know, how dare your family or what have you? Again,
please understand the culture and background. I completely respect my
family for the way they went about it, and I
commend my family for their growth. I commend my mom
for her growth. I know a lot of people who
(06:48):
were in my shoes that still don't have that acceptance,
and my mom really chose love over anything anything else,
which meant everything to me. And so from there I knew, Okay,
I can do this. I can get better. And even
though I didn't go back into professional golf, I really
got to go full force into hosting in social media.
And then I thought, okay, it's twenty nineteen. I feel
(07:09):
a calling to come out publicly. And wow did that
hit my family sideways. They said, really, we already took
so much, now we're gonna do this. But you know,
for me, think about like the person I was in
twenty sixteen was so scared to even come to the
realization because I didn't see it out there. I didn't
see any other women who were coming out at the time,
especially in the golf world, I didn't see anyone who
(07:30):
was maybe a little more feminine facing. I didn't see
anyone in the AAPI world. I had no I didn't
I was googling, how do you know that you're gay?
Like that's the point where I was. I didn't see representations.
So for me, I felt this innate calling to come
out to help others in the same place, but also
to show that twenty sixteen version of me that like, hey,
we're gonna come out on top, because twenty sixteen version
(07:52):
of me, all, gosh, it just reminds me of the dark,
dark place because I remember each day not knowing how
I was going to wake up. I didn't want to
and that was the truth of it. And so twenty
nineteen I came out publicly with Scratch TV, which is
an entity of the PGA Tour, one of their media companies,
and they treated my story with so much vulnerability, so
(08:13):
much care, and so much nurture. So shout out to
them and allowing me to share my coming out story.
It was so beautifully captured, and I even had my
mom a part of it, and my closest child and friends,
A part of it. We did it in June of
twenty nineteen. And what gave me a lot more strength
besides my mom finally coming around the corner was also
(08:36):
my sponsor at the time, Cobra Puma. They actually gifted
me right before I decided to come out publicly these
custom wedges that were printed and printed with rainbow writing.
My tattoo which says I Am greater than my highs
and lows, and my other wedge was stamped in rainbow
and it said all in. And that's when I knew, gosh,
(08:59):
I have my pea behind me. And then I told
my dad and it took him by surprise. We had
a chat, and long story short, I remember asking him.
At the end of our chat, we're both crying, and
I said, Dad, if I were to ever walk down
the aisle, would you be beside me? Would you walk
me down? And oh god, he said, if it happened today,
(09:21):
I don't know. I don't know if I could, I'd
probably be too shocked. But I promise you that when
that day comes, I will be ready and I will
be there. And then the following week I came up publicly,
and so to me, no matter what the response was
I knew I was gonna be okay because I had
everyone I loved in my corner. So when I hit
that send button and we went live, I remember telling
(09:43):
my agent and my team, gosh, I'm gonna throw social
media away. I can't look, I can't look. After an
hour goes by, I've opened my phone, blown up messages
at galore, and with the overall positive perception, it was
honestly the best thing I could have possibly expected, And
to this day it's one of the most memorable, but
also one of the best days of my life, aside
(10:04):
from being proposed to. I'd say it was just such
a beautiful moment because I just remember thinking, gosh, I
never thought this would be possible. And so I hope
you enjoyed that story. Got a little teary eye there,
but now we're bringing it back. So I'm really excited
for today's guests because she's not only a great golfer,
she's also a really great friend of mine. She's a
(10:26):
leading voice in the golf space. You may recognize her
from the work she's done with Golf Digest or CBS Sports,
or even her funny, relatable social content. She also comes
from a very renowned golf family. Her dad happens to
be a legendary coach who runs an international chain of
golf academies. I think you already know who I'm talking about.
And just recently she launched Better Content Co. Which is
a creative golf agency and production company. So I can't
(10:48):
wait for you to learn more about her. Without further ado,
please welcome my dear friend, halle Ledbetter to the party.
Welcome to the par t.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I see what you did there. First of all, say,
I'm so proud of you, and I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
It's not make me.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I'm very mind I mean, is this the first pod
since the clothing line has launched?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Okay, well wait, let me just take up a second.
Then let me ask you about the clothing line. Okay,
it's so exciting.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I did just launch my own women's golf apparel line.
It's called all In Golf. That's actually not my last name.
People think it is. It's my full first name to
sha all In. And when you fanatically say it, it's
all In. So that that's yeah. And so that was
a play on name. And a little over a year ago,
I hosted my first junior girls event it was at
Top Golf. We had a great showing and I really
(11:39):
wanted to make the girls have an unforgettable moment. And
when we did that, I were like, we got to
give him something. We can't just give them balls and hats,
like we they got to wear something. And so I
worked with La GC and we collaborated on in my
golf called Era crew Neck. It was only meant for
the girls. And then after the event happened, I can't
tell you how many d ms, how many messages I
(12:00):
got about this crew neck. So then we went public
with it. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing.
I'm just gonna go print and go get some already
made sweaters and go do it. And then it popped off.
It sold out. Then I did a pride when it
sold out, and then I was like, wait a second,
something can really happen here. And I was like, let's
just do this. And then trademarking happened, and I was
like bawling. I'm like, oh my god, I can't even
(12:20):
trade wark my name, Like why so are why this
is so expensive? And then came you know, factories, tariffs,
real life things, and you don't really learn anything until
you're just thrown into it, right, And I just literally
kept looking down and I'm like, I'm not going to quit.
And then we launched and it was the best thing
I could have ever asked for. And my only thought
(12:41):
through this was I'm going to create it so intentionally.
I'm going to create a community behind it, and I'm
going to solve problems. I'm going to create hats that
have tea holders, because God forbid, we go to the
shower and we got teas fall out.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Of our hair, and there I have a little holder
in my shower for tease. Now, I mean it's you
can definitely tell through all the pieces. It's very intentional. Guys,
just absolutely crush it.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Thank you, thank you. I got to stop my promo now,
but anyways, thank you so much for so I actually
have a fundable game. It's just rapid fire questions. Here
we go. You have to choose your dog or your
man's Oh no coming in? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Wow, that's really hard.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
I feel like when I come home from a long trip,
I'm always faced with that, like like, like, who do
I say hello to you?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Who do you cuddles with first?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
She's really sad.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Okay, golfing with your dad or your brother.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Oh that's a really great question. I really like both.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
I'll have to say my dad in this situation because
I just don't get to do it as much anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
So, okay, last rapid Fire podcast studio or en coourse Mic.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Man, these are hard ish, I'll go on course, Mic,
but like not in a traditional golf seting.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I would say, yeah, en.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Course, but like not like he's got one hundred and
twenty when not.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Right?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Yeah, yeah, which I enjoy, but I you know, I'd
like to do a little more.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yes, I love that. Okay, that is it for our
Rapid Fire. So y'all, Hallie and I have actually known
each other for a very long time, but we have
to start from the very beginning. What is your golf
origin story? How did it all begin or were you
just born? And then you're like, oh, golf is normal
because your family is.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
We a lot of golf, a lot a lot of golf,
always had a set of clubs. I always tell people like,
I love golf like I love my parents. I don't
know life without it. It's literally given me. Everything is
a lens through which I see the world.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
That is so.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
True, which at times, you know, as I've gotten older
and you know, I moved to New York City and
then I moved out here, it's been like such an
eye opener for me because I'm like, wait, the biggest
issue in the world isn't the golf ball roll back?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Like facts on the.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Right concerned about Yeah, And so that was, you know,
growing up in my little golf bubble.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
That was a really interesting point for me.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
After college, she'd be like, oh shit, there's a lot
of stuff going on the way outside of golf. But
as a kid grew up in the golf bubble, would
go to like junior clinics and stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But I was just there for the snacks.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Like I really did not like golf, and so my
parents didn't force me onto it. And I'm really glad
they didn't because I think if they would have, I
think I would have been like burnt out, probably so
out of no, no, thank you. But so I rode horses.
I did competitive horse jumping like till I was like
thirteen fourteen. Yeah, because my home family plays golf and
my dad's brother's whole family in England does show jumping.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So I and growing up with two brothers.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I have two beautiful cousins that were seven eight years
older than me, and I was just like, I just
want to be like Kate and Hannah, like I want
to ride the ponies over the fences, and so that's
what I wanted to do. And so again, I like
I had a horse. I did competitive things. And then
ultimately when I was like fourteen, when I was like, oh,
my brothers were playing golf and they're really and everybody's
(16:00):
talking about it, and like.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
All right, let's see what this is all about.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Well, so you started at thirteen.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I mean again, I always had a set of clubs.
But no, I think I played my first eighteen holes
when I was twelve or thirteen.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
That's a late start. But you were just always around,
was a conversation of it, just never really played it.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
So yeah, I remember I shot one hundred and thirty
six when my first eighteen holes.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Oh snap, rough, it's okay, but it's the first.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
First eighteen holes.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
You can only go down from there, down, up truly,
but down up but down. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But I am a very for better or for worse,
like a very all or nothing person. So as soon
as I was like, I'm going to play golf, you
know what, I'm going to be professional golfer.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Very much was just like I'm going I go all
in on things.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
So that's why I ended up went to IMG for
high school because I knew if I wanted to play
in college, I needed to get a lot better.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, very very quickly. And so yeah that's what I did.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
You started at thirteen and then you just started competing.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Oh yeah, and I feel bad for people I was
paired with because I was bad.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I remember not always. No, you improved fast I did.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
It was actually really interesting sometimes remember FCWTS, Yes, yes,
another Junior Golf Tour guys. So I played in FCWTS
because I was not good enough to play in a
jagas because FDBT all you got to do is pay
for a shoots her score. So fwt's I would play.
And it's really interesting if I go back to look
at my FCWT scoring average, I improved about ten strokes
(17:35):
a year WOA, So that's.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Actually it was pretty weazy.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So I would go.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I would shoot, like in seventh grade, I was shooting
in the hundreds.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
And then it was the nineties and then it was
the eighties.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
And I kept shopping away, so I got a lot better,
very very quickly. The girls that were maybe you know,
beating me by twenty strokes now meaning by ten I
be okay, now I'm like kind of keeping up with them,
and then ultimately got good enough to play in college.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
That's right, Which leads to the next question is you've
committed to University of Arkansas, played there for two years,
and then you transferred. So what led to that transfer?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, it was a couple things.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
It was interesting because when I was at Arkansas, I
played my first year that I was there, and my
second year I had a torn labrum.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Slash, I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
On the shoulder.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, okay, yes, slash.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I like probably wasn't good enough to take the lineup
because we had Gabby Lopez.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
During our team, A Tilbert too.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, now, you know, really incredible players and so for me, like,
I had a really difficult time making the lineup. But
I also like whenever we'd have qualifying I would put
so much of my self worth it was attached to golf,
Like I literally would be shaking and qualifying because I
get it though, I was so nervous and I was
(18:50):
just like, if you don't make this lineup, you're worthless.
It was really difficult for me to play well under
that pressure. Granted, I practiced so much. I did everything,
I worked out so hard, I did all these things
I needed to do, and then i'd go qualify, and
instead of just being okay with like, listen, you might
shoot seventy three or seventy four and not make a
line up make it, I would shoot eighty five because
(19:10):
I would be so nervous. Instead of that my best
wouldn't be good enough that I just would just sabotage myself.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
And so ultimately that's so real.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yeah, And so end the you know, end of my
second year, Arkansas decided that I hated golf. Like I
was like, I hate it. I'm so over this. I
worked so hard and I just can't get on my
own way.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
I hate it.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And I had already signed up for all these tournaments
over the summer. I had the Southern Amateur, the Western Ameter,
Usoken Qualifier, like all this stuff, and my parents had
paid for this stuff. And so I was like, well,
I got a plan it, but like I don't give
a fuck when happens. Yeah, and I played the best
golf of my life. Of course, I won the Southern Ameter,
I got to the semis of the Western. By the
end of the summer, I was the tenth thrank diameter
(19:49):
in the country. Amazing, and I actually was having fun
doing it.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And so it was.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I remember trying to then go qualify for the US Open,
and I think I missed it by like two shots,
and I just broke down crying and called my mom
and I was like, I just I don't think I
can go back to Arkansas like I want to play,
and I just I needed more going on in my
life than just golf. So ultimately ended up transferring to Rollins,
(20:15):
which is a D two school. But I felt like
at the time I was thinking about I still maybe
wanted to turn pro, but I was like, I just
need to just reframe where what golf is in my life.
End up going to Rollins. Was on the Student Athlete Committee,
did a college radio show. My coach was very much
about explore your other interests, and yeah, I played a
(20:37):
lot better, and ultimately I think that's like for me.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I did end up turning pro after college.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I was going to ask I didn't know if you.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
So you did it for like six months, and I
was like just kidding, but I could never quite crack
the how do I get out of my own way?
Because I still to this day like believe like physically
I'm good. I have a great obviously coach in place,
(21:04):
and I can and I have shot great scores. I
just could never quite figure out how to not attach
so much of my self worth to golf and so
yeah to the result. And so for me now, I
really enjoy playing tournaments just knowing that, like my living
isn't attached to it, right, but it's interesting and it's
(21:26):
and even to this day, I find myself doing what
I do now sometimes reverting into my old patterns and golf,
whether it's like if I don't get this job, then
I'm worthless, you know, if this company doesn't want to
work with me, then I suck or whatever. And it's
like kind of having to relearn all those lessons because
in the same way that I was so passionate about golf,
I'm so passionate about everything that I work on now.
(21:48):
So it's really really difficult to be like this is
what I do, this is not who.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I am, and when and one.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
What you do is an.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Expression of who you are.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Sure it's as you know, it's so hard hard to
not take criticism personally and just look at it as
like this is my craft. And what I found is
that very similar on the golf course, whether it's when
I'm nervous, generally it results in like a very very
quick swing. Yeah, And when I'm nervous now with a
micropvernt of my face, I normally start like stuttering and
(22:18):
sort of talking really quickly. And the body sensation of
like breaking into a cold sweat is the exact same
feeling if there was like out of bounds on the left.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, my god, Wow, you're speaking so much life into me.
Like I actually didn't realize how similar our experiences were
from transitioning from professional golf to what we do now,
Like I am the same way. It was life or
death for me when I was a junior golfer and
coming into my professional golf. I had a little bit
of success on the miniataur circuit, but I still would
(22:46):
beat myself and that same mindset carried me over to
what we do now being a media personality. So I
feel you and I truly.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Believe more than ever.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
And I've been recently talking to, you know, some girls
that are graduating from Rollins. I truly believe that doing
what you love for work is a real privilege. It is,
and it might take a really long time to get there. So,
like when you're just coming out of college, it's an experiment, right,
like you think you have an inkling. I was like,
don't get so caught up in the titles. Go towards
(23:16):
the feeling of what you really love to do. And
then solely, but surely, maybe the job that your first
job ever you ten percent you absolutely love, and then
your next job is twenty percent, but you have to love.
And then you get closer and closer to like loving everything,
and listen, you're never going to love everything. There's always
going to be it's hard day. It's like, I use
my dad as a perfect example of someone that genuinely loves,
(23:36):
loves his job, loves loves loves everything about his career.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Except you know, there's certain events and I'll be like.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Oh, I really don't want to go to that he
has to go. But I think it's really hard when
what you do for a living you are so passionate
about and it is an expression of who you are
as a person. It's really really difficult to separate it
from who you are.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, I want to.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Bring it back to how you even got into the media.
So at what point did you realize you wanted to
step into the golf media while you were at Golf Digest. Yeah,
I bring me back.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Well, I think I always really wanted to.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Like I think when I was younger, I always joke
and this isn't really even a joke.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Like I genuinely thought the Golf Channel show.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
The Morning Drive was the news, and I thought I
was like, oh yeah, Like I was like, oh man,
like what is da Damon Hack gonna tell us today?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Like this is this is the VBC.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
And so for me, I was like, I'm going to
live in Orlando and I'm gonna host the Morning Drive.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Morning Drive doesn't exist anymore.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Like literally would watch to host the Morning Drive because
it does not exist. So for me, I always thought
that was really cool, and I would go with my
dad on shoots and I was always just really fascinated
by it.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And then I was like, no, I'm gonna play profession.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And then I think when I was at Rollins was
when my college golf coach really encouraged me to explore
my other interests, and that's when I started hosting the
college radio show that I would do before our team workout.
So I'd go five am to seven am college radio
with my friend Spencer Mumford, who you met. He was
a pitcher at Rollins and so we had a show
together no Way, which was really fun. And eventually, you know,
(25:22):
we got moved up to like a better time slot
in the afternoon and we would have our friends come
on the show.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And Rawlins is very small, it's basically a big high school.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
He'd go to the cafeteria and like ask the lunch
ladies if they would put on the w p r
K radio station so that all of our friends in
the cafeteria could.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Hear us on the radio. It's so cute and so yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
So that was kind of when I was like, oh,
this is really fun. I love interviewing people and I
love talking to people. Maybe I could somehow combine my
golf knowledge and my love for this. Then, after college
turn pro for a little bit, I did an internship
to complete my degree in New York City, and when
I was there, I got connected did via social media
with Ashley Mayo, who at the time was at Golf Digest,
(26:04):
and so her and I played golf at Bethpage Black
and then she texted me a couple months later, uh huh.
I was like, I don't know if you're sure if
you'd be interested in this, but like, we have an
opening for a social media coordinator. And when I found
myself way more excited about moving to New York to
go work for Golf Digests and work with her than
living with my parents and continuing to pursue professional golf,
I knew that was kind of the move for me.
(26:26):
So I ended up going to Golf Digests and Ashley
was such an amazing person to learn from. Learn social
media basically sitting at a computer for eight hours a
day scheduling Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. I think God
wouldn't have TikTok at the time. Yeah, an feel for
all the social managers, like all the.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Like stop in.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
So that was a really great way to just learn,
especially with most of the stuff that I'm doing, whether
it's for myself or for brands or whatever, just having
a really understanding of like, Okay, well where is this
living and even like one of your shooting stuff and
I'm like, the camera you're really tight on me, Like
this is gonna be nine x sixteen. So, you know,
that's been really helpful just having that understanding, like because
(27:10):
as you know, you could have something really great, but
if it needs to be packaged a certain way for
sure to be seen to be the smallest thing exactly
so crazy it's captioning orventions or hooking them in the
first three seconds, god forbid, you know, So things like
that that I think I really gained an appreciation for.
And then also, you know, Ashley and the rest of
(27:30):
Golf Digest team, I would just kind of raise my
hand for like I'd be like, Hey, can I interview
this is on like Facebook Lives or really yeah? Yeah,
So I'd be like, can I do a Facebook live
with like Michelle Wee or Fasic Live with like whoever whoever.
I would just start like asking if I could do things,
and if it was a no, it was a no.
But if it was a yes, then I would be
like okay, and so yeah, just kind of but then.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
From there it evolved to then you creating and scripting
and editing and also talking and then at what point
did you realize like I actually enjoyed being in front
of the camera.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I think I always knew that I wanted to be
in front of the camera. A lot of those things
that I was like raising my hand for, yeah, I
would find myself in front of the camera, the.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Interviewing and yeah, yeah, yeah that makes so.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
And if I'm completely honest, I think it had probably
started as a bit of an ego thing and seeing
the Golf Channel people and like wanting to be on
camera and wanting to be seen like that.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
But what I found more and more over time, I'm
almost going back the other direction, Like if I can't
make it better, then I don't want to be on camera.
For me, it's all about working with other creative people
and coming up with really cool stuff. And if I
can be in it and it makes sense to be
in it, then great. But if I can't make it
any better or someone else is better than me, by
(28:43):
all means, let's have them do it. Because I now
just enjoy like making content.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah that actually segways next my next question. But before
I asked that, what do you enjoy more of now?
Because you're in this really unique position, right, I mean,
I feel like, the most sucessful people in our world
are multi hyphenates, and I strongly believe that you are
a multi hyphen in so many ways. You succeed in
many different realms, whether you are directing, scripting, creating, editing,
(29:09):
face of camera, being an influencer. What aspect do you
love the most? Like, what is it that you want
to be known for the most?
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I think as much as being a multi hyphen it
is exciting, especially for someone with like ADHD because you're like,
ooh ooh, I.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Do really believe.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
There's a book called Essentialism that was recommended to me
that you can be good at a lot of things,
or you can be great at one or two things. Absolutely,
and I have found I am a bit of control freak,
so I do like to insert myself and so I'm
recently now I'm trying to take on the mindset like
where can I make the highest point of contribution. So
(29:48):
even if it's like various projects where it's like okay,
I could do that, but I think I'll just focus
on this part of it because this is part of
my one or two things yea, you know. So for me,
it's it's hosting and it's producing slash like what I'm
calling like creative consulting. And I think it kind of
goes back to what I've been talking to, like these
young girls that that are graduating college recently.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I'm like, what lights you up inside?
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Because sometimes I've realized that's when I knew that, oh,
it isn't just being on camera, because I've had opportunities
where I've been on camera and I'm like, this is
fucking boring, and other times where I've been behind the
camera and I've been like.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
This is so freaking fun.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Yeah, you know, And so when I found it's like
it's just that through line of like creativity for me,
whether that's working with brands on the campaign or writing
sketches or you know.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Get really good at that.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Thank you, yeah, thank you, Well I can't. It's definitely.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
We have a really great team that we put together
in LA We've got Kate Scarpetta, who's an amazing writer.
Played golf a Princeton, so she knows the game really well.
And for a Shaw, who's a stand up comedian, and
my brother and law Tuk. So we found like our
little crew and we meet and you know, get to
it's just so fun. So I say that's probably honestly,
my favorite part is like our weekly meetings where you're
(30:57):
just like.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Wouldn't it be funny? Da you just do it?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Can you just do it? Well?
Speaker 1 (31:01):
No, tell me about it. So you've created an agency
now called the Better Content Code. Yeah, and so what
led to that moment? Because you've done everything, as I mentioned,
You've done the podcasting with Michelle Henny all. Yeah, actually
you've done a ton of your brother yeah, a lot,
a lot of different podcasts, and then you've worked with
the biggest you know, media entities in golf, and now
you've created an agency. What led to that moment? And
(31:23):
tell me all about it.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
So, Andrew Wantak, who's my business partner, I was doing
this show for Golf Pass and how I got connected
with him was actually through Connor Moore, just such a
talented guy, and he had a show for Golf Pass
and I moved out here.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
He said, hey, do you want to be in like
an episode or two?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
So I was like yeah, So I thought that was
so cool, and we got to work with comedians like
Matt Walsh and Jim Jefferies and so ultimately, like a
year after that, I got to do a show for them,
which was a lot of sketch comedy. And Andrew was
my producer and so we had so much fun and
we thought we were going to get a second season,
and ultimately Golf Pass ended up pivoting to just golf Instruction,
(31:59):
and at the time I was very upset, but again,
looking back, I'm really glad they did.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Think if they did that it would have pushed me
to do what we're doing now, which, like Andrew and
I were like, hey, I'm like, I still really love
making these sketches.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I want to continue to do it. I think there's
a space for it.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
So him and I teamed up to continue to do
those and then from that we started getting brands asking
us to be like, hey, could.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
You make something funny and engaging for us.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
So that's how we decided to start Better Content CO.
And what we say our mission is to connect and
inspire the modern golf audience.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
So many different, many type people are playing golf.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
The largest growing demographic of golfers that is growing as
young women. There is this new audience that we've spoken
to and a lot of times they're on social It's
not necessarily they're tuning in.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Maybe it is a traditional broadcast, maybe it's not.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
So.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Yeah, we started that in January and it's been going great.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Right, And I think it's really been fun to watch
you produce and create that because it's a different kind
of creative. Like we're all creatives, right, but there are
the things in silos that we do best in, Like
I know where my pillars are, and it is not
that it is not that like I like for you
guys to plan to script to Yeah, it's a very
(33:16):
different nuance, but I will say that it is really
cool to like watch you do your thing, and it's
been really cool to see commercials come into fruition in
such a short amount of time of establishing your company. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
No, it's really fun and we've been really just so
grateful for the reception and the interest.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
So we're gonna shift things a little bit. I wanted
to actually touch on your dad, Yes, being David ledbetter.
So for those of you who may be newer to golf,
maybe not the traditional golfer, let me tell you her
dad is a goat and he is one of the
most renowned instructors in the world and has created an
empire of academies and fun fact, I am actually led
(33:55):
Better certified. So me and Hallie are related. Yeah, we're
don't you see it? Yeah? So like I'm literally an
instructed because of her father, which is so unique. But
I just wanted to ask out of curiosity, like what
was that like for you growing up in golf and
then now becoming your own person in golf, but also
having your dad as your dad?
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Yeah, so you know, it's funny. There's like a couple
of funny moments I can think of on the golfers. One,
I used to be really afraid to play in front
of people, and then a mental coach they worked with
at the time was like, are you nervous playing in
front of your dad? And I was like no, It's
like okay, well then you have no one else to
feel nervous in front.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
I was like, well, fair.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Point, that's a good point. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
But I think when I played golf, like I initially
would maybe get a little self conscious about it, but
then I realized, I mean, I feel like Charlie Woods
is kind of going through the same thing, but on like,
but time's a bajillion gagillion, right, you know, But for me,
it was very much like if you play well, of
course you play well, and if you don't play well,
it's what the hell's wrong with you? So ultimately I
(34:57):
was just like, oh, whatever, I can't do anything of it.
You know, it is what it is. And so over time,
and I think too maybe with him being my coach
as well, when I was in high school, it was
really difficult for me. I was very argumentative as a teenager,
and so then it was only really until college and
when in college when I was like able to be like, Okay,
he's my dad right now. Now he's my golf coach,
(35:19):
and you know, vice versa. So we've always had a
really great relationship. I really admire my dad so much
just for the passions, work ethic and just who he
is as a person. And he also like really takes
everything very well, like when it comes to social media
comments or things people say about him or his teaching
methods or anything like, he's very much just like water
(35:41):
off a ducts back and I'm very much not I'm
like you, And he's like hally like, the more successful
you get, the more people you're gonna get talking about you. Yeah,
he's always on a great sounding board for that, but
I think too, like coming into the media space, it's
(36:01):
so different from what he does. But even now I'll
get like I think when I posted about better content
co on LinkedIn, some guy commented, must be nice to
have a dad like that, I'm like.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
My dad doesn't know shit about production?
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Like literally doesn't know anything, And so you kind of
just have to like let those comments go. But at
the same time, like, I don't think you'd mind me
sharing this, But like Michelle Wee Wes's husband, Johnny West
I had a conversation with him about it, and his
dad is Jerry West Right, and he was like, listen, like,
am I who I am because of my dad? Yeah,
in the sense that, like, do I probably know more
(36:35):
about basketball than the average guy?
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Do I have insights more than the average guy? Like absolutely?
For me. A lot of times when if people.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Don't know who my dad is and they're like, oh,
I'll give into the golf industry, I'm like, well, I'm
thirty two, thirty two years, like I've literally been around
this game more than most old white men, and I
know it probably better than they. Yeah, you know, and
so maybe for a while when I was really trying
to start making a name for myself, used to really
grind my gears. And now I'm like, I'm proud of
my dad, Like I'm proud of everything that he's accomplished.
(37:04):
You know, my mom played on the LPGA, She's fantastic.
I'm really proud of my family. And while yes, I've
definitely had advantages and I used them in the same
way that like, you know, my dad, he was going
to like I think of how I like, you know,
one of my best friends in the world as Amanda
Balliones and I met her because in college my dad
was going I don't know if it was like Royal
Liverpool at the time, like some British Open and I
(37:26):
was like, Dad, can I come with you to the
British Open and intern?
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Can I just like email around? And He's like okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
So you know, we ended up finding some intern I
got coffee for people, and I held an umbrella over
Amanda Ballionis's head.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Oh no way, And that's how I met her.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
And so you look back and it's like, yes, would
I have had that opportunity if I didn't have my
dad and he wasn't able to ask like, hey, can
my daughter come and hold an umbrella over Amanda's head,
Like for sure, but it's not like my dad was like, hey,
Golf Digest, like give Hallie her own show, you know.
And so yes, I'm not shy at all to say
(38:03):
that I have used my name to my advantage. But
I also think that I have a very unique take
on things and I know a lot of shit because
of my upbringing.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
So I think he said it really well. And I
have grown up in golf, so I have known of
your dad's name for a while, but I can attest
for anyone who is just now looking at Halley stuff
or whatnot, Like I feel like, holl you have made
such a name for yourself out outside of your dad,
and you started this pod saying like how happy and
proud you are of me. But I'm gonna return the
favor because I am so proud of you. Like what
(38:34):
you do is so different, And yeah, you may have
had these opportunities to go to these places, but like
the amount of initiative it takes to be able to
accomplish what you've had, cold emailing, just having the courage
to just come up to people meet and just shake
hands and keep doing it for years and years and
years so that you can have the opportunities that you
have that was not handed to you like you did that.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
No, no, I do.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
You're creative.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
I don't think your dad is he's not out. No,
he's super funny, but he's not. You know, I always laugh.
I'm like, what would David Levetter have been like on TikTok?
Like what did that have been?
Speaker 1 (39:06):
That'd be pretty funny, be really good.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
But no, and so yeah, I'm not try to say
I at all like I used my advantages or you know,
tried to get in rooms.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
But once you get in there, you better be able
to perform for sure.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Like I wouldn't want anybody ever to second guess my
work ethic or my knowledge or my commitment that might
assume that I think I can skate by any means.
If anything, I think people look at me and go like,
well you you better like show up, you know, you
know exactly, So I really try to do my do
my absolute best.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Shifting gears now into a different realm. I think one
thing that I also love in terms of following you
is how vulnerable that I feel like you've been especially
in terms of of your mental health and mental health awareness,
and just wanted to ask you about like your journey
and your mental health.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
So I I've always had really severe OCD, like ever
since I was a little girl. And I'm talking about
like weird stuff like having to touch things an even
amount of times, and like wearing certain colors on certain days,
and like my brain's always just been like a little funky.
And as I got older, I stopped doing the things
that were like outward because I realized that it was
(40:29):
like weird.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
But my brain, I realized that people were like what
are you doing? Why are you tapping things?
Speaker 1 (40:35):
You know?
Speaker 3 (40:35):
And so as I got older and I realized like
it was like it's weird, stop doing it.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
But my brain still works the same, Like it's still
you know.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
You know, you watch those documentaries about people that like
wash their hands certain amount of time, you like have
to go back and check the ovens off because they're
afraid their house is going to burn down.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Yeah, like that is me.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
But over time you learn that OCD is a coping
mechanism to deal with feeling like things are out of control,
and it also can be partially genetic as well. So
there's all different types of factors that can I guess
cause it.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
But it's kind of like exima, which I also have.
Speaker 5 (41:11):
Then it flares up, you know, like you're always gonna
have ecima and when you go to Colorado and it's
real dry, like you better pack your cortizone cream. You know,
that's kind of like and so my meds are kind
of like my cortisone cream, you know, And so it
definitely flares up.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Like when I was at the Masters this year, like
was it bad?
Speaker 3 (41:31):
You know, like my brain it was like really bad
because I again which is needed to feel like hyper
and control because I was It's a situation that I
perceived is very very important.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
So then my brain goes, we have to keep everything
under control.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
And so you learn with you know, via therapy, with meds,
you learn to kind of cope with it, and you
learn to also realize that like it's a double edged
sword as well. You know, like I am very organized
and I can think of like any possible outcome because
I'm always trying to predict the future.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yeah, I get that, and.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
So you kind of just have to like curb the
negative side effects if you will at certain times.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
So then how do you manage your mental health with
social media? One, because it's a very tough place, right,
even the most sane human being will not be okay
if you are just ingrained and you embody social media.
But also how do you manage it in social media
and being an in person always on talent because that's hard. Yeah, yeah,
(42:32):
well you chose quite the job. Yeah, well, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
You're really honest.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
My therapist has said to me multiple times, your lifestyle
is not conducive to fantastic mental health. I'm like, okay,
well I'm not willing to change, right, So what are
some other levers that we can pull? And so for me,
it's like prioritizing rest, which and I'm curious what your
thought is on this because it might just be because
(42:59):
we come from this like very heavy athletic background, like resting.
To me, it's very difficult, Like it's very difficult, And
I really have tried to switch my mode instead of
like glorifying constantly feeling drained and stressed and being like
that's what makes a champion, because for whatever reason, I've
(43:19):
really internalized that that you have to be at.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
Your wits end at all times to.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Make sure that it means because that means that you're
giving it at all, and you have you got to
grind team no sleep, And like I've just realized recently,
if I'm unhappy and I'm not enjoying what I'm doing,
then what are we even doing here?
Speaker 1 (43:40):
You know?
Speaker 3 (43:40):
And so like yesterday I called Billy and I was like,
I've watched three episodes of Hacks and I feel bad.
And He's like, Hallie, Like it's almost like the opposite,
Like you need to get mad at yourself when you
don't let yourself rest. Because I've had a situations where
I've been like so burnt out and then we'll be
on a shoot and I literally will burst into tears
because I got like some feedback that upset me. Then
(44:03):
it becomes not fair to the people that have just
hired you because now you're burnt out. So that's where
I've like kind of reason. I'm like, listen, if you
do want to perform your best, you do need to
allow yourself to rest. Yeah, And so I've also kind
of realized that, like listen, I am thirty two years old.
I have lived with this, with this grind my mindset,
this athlete mindset, my whole life. It's gotten me to
(44:26):
this point. And I don't think I'm going to change,
Like I don't think I'm all of a sudden gonna
be able to be someone different. But like you know,
with working with my therapist, she's like, you're your ninety
percent is still like most people's like full you know,
Oh absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
I had to tell myself that too. So I am
very much under sail. So it's like really just a
game of balances and it it is so hard. So
we are actually already whining down in time. But I
do want to make sure that we cover this topic
because we are women golfers that have grown in it
for all of our lives. By literally what is your
thoughts on where woman's golf is at right now?
Speaker 3 (45:06):
Ooh, well, we are doing this podcast right after the
new LPGA commissioner was announced. It's incredible, I kind of
crazy timing and that I was at a PGA of
America meeting just a couple of weeks ago and I
sat next to Craig and spoke to him for quite
a while.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
The new commissioner, Yeah, and obviously he wasn't gonna be Like.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
I really enjoyed chatting with him and just learning, you know,
about his family, and he's such a nice guy. I
think the LPGA is going to be in great hands.
So I'm super excited, you know, as someone that wanted
to be on the LPGA and like yourself, it means
so much to us, and so I'm really excited to
see with his leadership what this new chapter brings. But
(45:51):
in terms of women's golf in general, I'm just so
excited to see so many women diving into it. Like
I mentioned earlier, the largest growing demo being young women.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
I hung out with some women from Bunker Club this morning.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
You did I did? We love to Hillary.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
Yes, she is doing some amazing stuff obviously with your
clothing line, which is so cool. And then we see
companies like Nike looking to reinvest in women's golf. That
says a lot. I think it's really it's a really
really exciting time. So yeah, I think I'm just really
encouraged by the growth of I would say casual women's.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
And then this new leadership in the LPGA is very
very exciting to me.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
What is something that you want to see more of
in women's golf, Like, if you were the commissioner and
you can make the rules, what is something that you'd
want to implement or change?
Speaker 3 (46:46):
Well, one, I'm hoping that Craig, given his very strong
golf industry background, will have the ear of the PGA
Tour a little bit more sure, and you know Grant
Thornton all day it's great, but like, I'd love to
see more of that.
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I mean, I saw that Nelly tire Woods content like
that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
That Morella what you're saying events.
Speaker 3 (47:09):
Yeah, sorry, but most of the guys out there aren't
the most interesting dudes, and there's a lot of really
fantastic personalities on the LPGA, so let's infuse those together.
So yeah, I would say a lot more cross collaboration,
which I think would be more beneficial for the PGA
Tour than they think I am, and obviously incredibly beneficial
for the LPGA.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
So I'd love to see more of that.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
I love that answer. How that is all the time
that we have for you today. It was so fun.
Thank you so much for joining the party. Welcome to
the party with Tisha Allen is an Iheartwoman's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports Entertainment. I'm your host
Tisha Allen. Christina Everett is our executive producer, and Jennifer
Bassett is our producer. Sound mixing and mastering by Mary Doo.
(47:53):
Special things to Jesse Katz at iHeart, and to Jess
McCallister and the teams at GERSH and Catalyst nine. Listen
to Welcome of the Party with Tisha Allen on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Do you remember how long ago we met? College is
college guys, college golf, college golf. It was Palm Springs.
You were playing already for Rollins. I played for Calsei Fullers,
a thirty six hole. It was a thirty six whole day.
And I'll never forget what I saw on my score
because I got my scorecard first and it said Halle
(00:21):
led better. And I was like, oh my god, I'm
playing with a lead better. And I was like, that's
kind of crazy. And I don't know if you recall this,
but my college coach, who played on the LPGA Tour
was coached by your dad, and so she was super
excited and she was like, oh my god, I watched
Halle grow up and this and that, and so that
was when we first met. And I don't even think
you remember this. We both we both hit it into
(00:43):
the water on the first hole checks out. I snap
hooked it. Halle sliced it because she's left. Yeah, and
then we both somehow parted the whole.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I know, we dropped it and parted it. We were
not like, in my opinion, unless you we call something different.
We were not like the bubbly fun people that we
are I legit did? We didn't talk and I took
golf so seriously, Tish like me too. We weren't as
funny as we are now and we didn't smile we.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Really have It probably wasn't very fun. No, we got
way more fun playing now.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Oh yeah, Now, now is a different story.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
That was twelve hours of not speaking, which was crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
What is going on? Everyone? Welcome back to the party. Also,
Happy Pride Month. Now, as you know that I'm sharing
more of my voice. I always try to start each
probably with a little bit more about me or a
story or what have you. So before we dive into
our guest, who I know you're going to love, and
I'm sure many of you know, I figured that in
honor of Pride Month, today's topic will be my coming
(01:48):
out story. Gosh, it is a tough one and even
after all these years, it still makes me emotional. So
here we go. I realized my sexuality in twenty sixteen,
So what is that like nine years ago now? And
I figured it out as many do. I simply fell
in love with a woman for the first time. And
I remember when it first happened. It was by complete accident.
(02:12):
It happened even through social media, not even in person,
so what a wild way to do it. Conversation really
went from DMS to text messages to phone calls, and
then I realized, Okay, this is definitely more than just
a friend type of feeling, and I really tried so
hard to push those feelings away. My background is Filipino,
and as you can guess, my family is also very religious.
(02:35):
So yeah, you can already imagine how this story is
going to go before it gets better. But I really
tried to push those feelings away, and it came to
the point where I couldn't deny it any longer, and
I quietly pursued it. And of course, in pursuing it,
I had to share with a few people to stay sane,
and I opened up to my childhood friends first, one
(02:56):
by one, individual call by individual call cried, and I
opened up to my closest, closest golfriends, and all of
them loved me dearly. And then I had to tell
my sponsors. I was playing professionally at the time, and
I had a successful twenty fifteen twenty sixteen year as
a professional, and the mini tour circuit I had won
a couple times. I had barely missed the cuts on
(03:18):
in Q school and I was top on the money list.
I was doing pretty well, and during that time I
really thought had a chance. And so I had to
tell my sponsors, which my biggest one was Cobra Puma
at the time, and they received it well. I think
they were shocked, but they received it well. And then
it came to the point where I needed to tell
my parents. Now, my dad is a different story. I
told him so far down the line, which we will
(03:40):
circle back to. But my mom is my best friend.
She is my best friend to this day, and this
moment only made us stronger and is really just a
blip in time. But of course mother's intuition, she realized
it and caught on before I could even tell her,
confronted me about it, and it didn't smooth over the best,
And I think in that moment it was just really
(04:00):
the shock factor and the feeling I think she must
have felt was as if she didn't know her daughter
all along, and she had this perception in her brain
that I was going to change change my image, change
my everything, and she didn't believe me when I said
I was I was still always going to be the same.
I was going to look the same, act the same,
I just love the same. And it took a while
(04:20):
for her to register that, and so I decided to
distance myself from the family and essentially go on to
pursue my career on my own and also pursue this relationship.
Twenty sixteen to twenty eighteen became the most trialing periods
of my life on the growth of social media, trying
to hide everything from the world, my sexuality, my relationship,
(04:41):
my distance from my family, and how much hurt that
caused me every single day, and the fights that it
caused between family, between partner, all the things, all while
depleting money just so so fast because I was paying
for entry fees. We were living like Nomad's hotel to hotel.
I started to have some injuries that costed money. I
(05:02):
tried to become essentially like an honorary member at golf clubs,
and I'm pretty sure I got kicked out because they
realized my sexuality, and that was the reality of golf
back then, lots of fear and lots of pushback, and
I definitely wasn't confident in coming out in the golf
world because of everything golf was and is to some
degree at this point, you know, just very conservative, very
(05:25):
male dominated, and I was afraid to lose more than
I already had, and losing my family was already too
much to lose at that point. Fast forward to twenty eighteen,
it came to the point where things were very unhealthy
for me in all which ways, to the point where
I was like a skeleton. I had not cut my
hair in those two years. I had to quit professional
golf because I could no longer take it mentally. And
(05:46):
although my name is Tisha all In, I went all
in on trying to pursue this relationship and figuring out
my sexuality. But man, it drove me to the point
of completely losing myself and everything that I am. I
have a lot of will power, but that was beyond
and we decided to end that relationship because it was
not healthy in so many ways. And I then came
(06:07):
back to my family, and once they saw how distraught
and how low of a point that I was in
and how just fragile I was, we slowly worked together
to heal and build our relationship back, and my family
promised me that they would do everything they can to
take steps forward in the right direction of accepting me,
(06:28):
and I would also do my due diligence and being
patient with them. And before any of you can even say,
you know, how dare your family or what have you? Again,
please understand the culture and background. I completely respect my
family for the way they went about it, and I
commend my family for their growth. I commend my mom
for her growth. I know a lot of people who
(06:48):
were in my shoes that still don't have that acceptance,
and my mom really chose love over anything anything else,
which meant everything to me. And so from there I knew, Okay,
I can do this. I can get better. And even
though I didn't go back into professional golf, I really
got to go full force into hosting in social media.
And then I thought, okay, it's twenty nineteen. I feel
(07:09):
a calling to come out publicly. And wow did that
hit my family sideways. They said, really, we already took
so much, now we're gonna do this. But you know,
for me, think about like the person I was in
twenty sixteen was so scared to even come to the
realization because I didn't see it out there. I didn't
see any other women who were coming out at the time,
especially in the golf world, I didn't see anyone who
(07:30):
was maybe a little more feminine facing. I didn't see
anyone in the AAPI world. I had no I didn't
I was googling, how do you know that you're gay?
Like that's the point where I was. I didn't see representations.
So for me, I felt this innate calling to come
out to help others in the same place, but also
to show that twenty sixteen version of me that like, hey,
we're gonna come out on top, because twenty sixteen version
(07:52):
of me, all, gosh, it just reminds me of the dark,
dark place because I remember each day not knowing how
I was going to wake up. I didn't want to
and that was the truth of it. And so twenty
nineteen I came out publicly with Scratch TV, which is
an entity of the PGA Tour, one of their media companies,
and they treated my story with so much vulnerability, so
(08:13):
much care, and so much nurture. So shout out to
them and allowing me to share my coming out story.
It was so beautifully captured, and I even had my
mom a part of it, and my closest child and friends,
A part of it. We did it in June of
twenty nineteen. And what gave me a lot more strength
besides my mom finally coming around the corner was also
(08:36):
my sponsor at the time, Cobra Puma. They actually gifted
me right before I decided to come out publicly these
custom wedges that were printed and printed with rainbow writing.
My tattoo which says I Am greater than my highs
and lows, and my other wedge was stamped in rainbow
and it said all in. And that's when I knew, gosh,
(08:59):
I have my pea behind me. And then I told
my dad and it took him by surprise. We had
a chat, and long story short, I remember asking him.
At the end of our chat, we're both crying, and
I said, Dad, if I were to ever walk down
the aisle, would you be beside me? Would you walk
me down? And oh god, he said, if it happened today,
(09:21):
I don't know. I don't know if I could, I'd
probably be too shocked. But I promise you that when
that day comes, I will be ready and I will
be there. And then the following week I came up publicly,
and so to me, no matter what the response was
I knew I was gonna be okay because I had
everyone I loved in my corner. So when I hit
that send button and we went live, I remember telling
(09:43):
my agent and my team, gosh, I'm gonna throw social
media away. I can't look, I can't look. After an
hour goes by, I've opened my phone, blown up messages
at galore, and with the overall positive perception, it was
honestly the best thing I could have possibly expected, And
to this day it's one of the most memorable, but
also one of the best days of my life, aside
(10:04):
from being proposed to. I'd say it was just such
a beautiful moment because I just remember thinking, gosh, I
never thought this would be possible. And so I hope
you enjoyed that story. Got a little teary eye there,
but now we're bringing it back. So I'm really excited
for today's guests because she's not only a great golfer,
she's also a really great friend of mine. She's a
(10:26):
leading voice in the golf space. You may recognize her
from the work she's done with Golf Digest or CBS Sports,
or even her funny, relatable social content. She also comes
from a very renowned golf family. Her dad happens to
be a legendary coach who runs an international chain of
golf academies. I think you already know who I'm talking about.
And just recently she launched Better Content Co. Which is
a creative golf agency and production company. So I can't
(10:48):
wait for you to learn more about her. Without further ado,
please welcome my dear friend, halle Ledbetter to the party.
Welcome to the par t.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I see what you did there. First of all, say,
I'm so proud of you, and I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
It's not make me.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I'm very mind I mean, is this the first pod
since the clothing line has launched?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Okay, well wait, let me just take up a second.
Then let me ask you about the clothing line. Okay,
it's so exciting.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I did just launch my own women's golf apparel line.
It's called all In Golf. That's actually not my last name.
People think it is. It's my full first name to
sha all In. And when you fanatically say it, it's
all In. So that that's yeah. And so that was
a play on name. And a little over a year ago,
I hosted my first junior girls event it was at
Top Golf. We had a great showing and I really
(11:39):
wanted to make the girls have an unforgettable moment. And
when we did that, I were like, we got to
give him something. We can't just give them balls and hats,
like we they got to wear something. And so I
worked with La GC and we collaborated on in my
golf called Era crew Neck. It was only meant for
the girls. And then after the event happened, I can't
tell you how many d ms, how many messages I
(12:00):
got about this crew neck. So then we went public
with it. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing.
I'm just gonna go print and go get some already
made sweaters and go do it. And then it popped off.
It sold out. Then I did a pride when it
sold out, and then I was like, wait a second,
something can really happen here. And I was like, let's
just do this. And then trademarking happened, and I was
like bawling. I'm like, oh my god, I can't even
(12:20):
trade wark my name, Like why so are why this
is so expensive? And then came you know, factories, tariffs,
real life things, and you don't really learn anything until
you're just thrown into it, right, And I just literally
kept looking down and I'm like, I'm not going to quit.
And then we launched and it was the best thing
I could have ever asked for. And my only thought
(12:41):
through this was I'm going to create it so intentionally.
I'm going to create a community behind it, and I'm
going to solve problems. I'm going to create hats that
have tea holders, because God forbid, we go to the
shower and we got teas fall out.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Of our hair, and there I have a little holder
in my shower for tease. Now, I mean it's you
can definitely tell through all the pieces. It's very intentional. Guys,
just absolutely crush it.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Thank you, thank you. I got to stop my promo now,
but anyways, thank you so much for so I actually
have a fundable game. It's just rapid fire questions. Here
we go. You have to choose your dog or your
man's Oh no coming in? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Wow, that's really hard.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
I feel like when I come home from a long trip,
I'm always faced with that, like like, like, who do
I say hello to you?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Who do you cuddles with first?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
She's really sad.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Okay, golfing with your dad or your brother.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Oh that's a really great question. I really like both.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
I'll have to say my dad in this situation because
I just don't get to do it as much anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
So, okay, last rapid Fire podcast studio or en coourse Mic.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Man, these are hard ish, I'll go on course, Mic,
but like not in a traditional golf seting.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I would say, yeah, en.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Course, but like not like he's got one hundred and
twenty when not.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Right?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Yeah, yeah, which I enjoy, but I you know, I'd
like to do a little more.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yes, I love that. Okay, that is it for our
Rapid Fire. So y'all, Hallie and I have actually known
each other for a very long time, but we have
to start from the very beginning. What is your golf
origin story? How did it all begin or were you
just born? And then you're like, oh, golf is normal
because your family is.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
We a lot of golf, a lot a lot of golf,
always had a set of clubs. I always tell people like,
I love golf like I love my parents. I don't
know life without it. It's literally given me. Everything is
a lens through which I see the world.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
That is so.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
True, which at times, you know, as I've gotten older
and you know, I moved to New York City and
then I moved out here, it's been like such an
eye opener for me because I'm like, wait, the biggest
issue in the world isn't the golf ball roll back?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Like facts on the.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Right concerned about Yeah, And so that was, you know,
growing up in my little golf bubble.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
That was a really interesting point for me.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
After college, she'd be like, oh shit, there's a lot
of stuff going on the way outside of golf. But
as a kid grew up in the golf bubble, would
go to like junior clinics and stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But I was just there for the snacks.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Like I really did not like golf, and so my
parents didn't force me onto it. And I'm really glad
they didn't because I think if they would have, I
think I would have been like burnt out, probably so
out of no, no, thank you. But so I rode horses.
I did competitive horse jumping like till I was like
thirteen fourteen. Yeah, because my home family plays golf and
my dad's brother's whole family in England does show jumping.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So I and growing up with two brothers.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I have two beautiful cousins that were seven eight years
older than me, and I was just like, I just
want to be like Kate and Hannah, like I want
to ride the ponies over the fences, and so that's
what I wanted to do. And so again, I like
I had a horse. I did competitive things. And then
ultimately when I was like fourteen, when I was like, oh,
my brothers were playing golf and they're really and everybody's
(16:00):
talking about it, and like.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
All right, let's see what this is all about.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Well, so you started at thirteen.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I mean again, I always had a set of clubs.
But no, I think I played my first eighteen holes
when I was twelve or thirteen.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
That's a late start. But you were just always around,
was a conversation of it, just never really played it.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
So yeah, I remember I shot one hundred and thirty
six when my first eighteen holes.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Oh snap, rough, it's okay, but it's the first.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
First eighteen holes.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
You can only go down from there, down, up truly,
but down up but down. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But I am a very for better or for worse,
like a very all or nothing person. So as soon
as I was like, I'm going to play golf, you
know what, I'm going to be professional golfer.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Very much was just like I'm going I go all
in on things.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
So that's why I ended up went to IMG for
high school because I knew if I wanted to play
in college, I needed to get a lot better.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, very very quickly. And so yeah that's what I did.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
You started at thirteen and then you just started competing.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Oh yeah, and I feel bad for people I was
paired with because I was bad.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I remember not always. No, you improved fast I did.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
It was actually really interesting sometimes remember FCWTS, Yes, yes,
another Junior Golf Tour guys. So I played in FCWTS
because I was not good enough to play in a
jagas because FDBT all you got to do is pay
for a shoots her score. So fwt's I would play.
And it's really interesting if I go back to look
at my FCWT scoring average, I improved about ten strokes
(17:35):
a year WOA, So that's.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Actually it was pretty weazy.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So I would go.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I would shoot, like in seventh grade, I was shooting
in the hundreds.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
And then it was the nineties and then it was
the eighties.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
And I kept shopping away, so I got a lot better,
very very quickly. The girls that were maybe you know,
beating me by twenty strokes now meaning by ten I
be okay, now I'm like kind of keeping up with them,
and then ultimately got good enough to play in college.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
That's right, Which leads to the next question is you've
committed to University of Arkansas, played there for two years,
and then you transferred. So what led to that transfer?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, it was a couple things.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
It was interesting because when I was at Arkansas, I
played my first year that I was there, and my
second year I had a torn labrum.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Slash, I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
On the shoulder.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, okay, yes, slash.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I like probably wasn't good enough to take the lineup
because we had Gabby Lopez.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
During our team, A Tilbert too.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, now, you know, really incredible players and so for me, like,
I had a really difficult time making the lineup. But
I also like whenever we'd have qualifying I would put
so much of my self worth it was attached to golf,
Like I literally would be shaking and qualifying because I
get it though, I was so nervous and I was
(18:50):
just like, if you don't make this lineup, you're worthless.
It was really difficult for me to play well under
that pressure. Granted, I practiced so much. I did everything,
I worked out so hard, I did all these things
I needed to do, and then i'd go qualify, and
instead of just being okay with like, listen, you might
shoot seventy three or seventy four and not make a
line up make it, I would shoot eighty five because
(19:10):
I would be so nervous. Instead of that my best
wouldn't be good enough that I just would just sabotage myself.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
And so ultimately that's so real.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yeah, And so end the you know, end of my
second year, Arkansas decided that I hated golf. Like I
was like, I hate it. I'm so over this. I
worked so hard and I just can't get on my
own way.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
I hate it.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And I had already signed up for all these tournaments
over the summer. I had the Southern Amateur, the Western Ameter,
Usoken Qualifier, like all this stuff, and my parents had
paid for this stuff. And so I was like, well,
I got a plan it, but like I don't give
a fuck when happens. Yeah, and I played the best
golf of my life. Of course, I won the Southern Ameter,
I got to the semis of the Western. By the
end of the summer, I was the tenth thrank diameter
(19:49):
in the country. Amazing, and I actually was having fun
doing it.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And so it was.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I remember trying to then go qualify for the US Open,
and I think I missed it by like two shots,
and I just broke down crying and called my mom
and I was like, I just I don't think I
can go back to Arkansas like I want to play,
and I just I needed more going on in my
life than just golf. So ultimately ended up transferring to Rollins,
(20:15):
which is a D two school. But I felt like
at the time I was thinking about I still maybe
wanted to turn pro, but I was like, I just
need to just reframe where what golf is in my life.
End up going to Rollins. Was on the Student Athlete Committee,
did a college radio show. My coach was very much
about explore your other interests, and yeah, I played a
(20:37):
lot better, and ultimately I think that's like for me.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I did end up turning pro after college.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I was going to ask I didn't know if you.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
So you did it for like six months, and I
was like just kidding, but I could never quite crack
the how do I get out of my own way?
Because I still to this day like believe like physically
I'm good. I have a great obviously coach in place,
(21:04):
and I can and I have shot great scores. I
just could never quite figure out how to not attach
so much of my self worth to golf and so
yeah to the result. And so for me now, I
really enjoy playing tournaments just knowing that, like my living
isn't attached to it, right, but it's interesting and it's
(21:26):
and even to this day, I find myself doing what
I do now sometimes reverting into my old patterns and golf,
whether it's like if I don't get this job, then
I'm worthless, you know, if this company doesn't want to
work with me, then I suck or whatever. And it's
like kind of having to relearn all those lessons because
in the same way that I was so passionate about golf,
I'm so passionate about everything that I work on now.
(21:48):
So it's really really difficult to be like this is
what I do, this is not who.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I am, and when and one.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
What you do is an.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Expression of who you are.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Sure it's as you know, it's so hard hard to
not take criticism personally and just look at it as
like this is my craft. And what I found is
that very similar on the golf course, whether it's when
I'm nervous, generally it results in like a very very
quick swing. Yeah, And when I'm nervous now with a
micropvernt of my face, I normally start like stuttering and
(22:18):
sort of talking really quickly. And the body sensation of
like breaking into a cold sweat is the exact same
feeling if there was like out of bounds on the left.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, my god, Wow, you're speaking so much life into me.
Like I actually didn't realize how similar our experiences were
from transitioning from professional golf to what we do now,
Like I am the same way. It was life or
death for me when I was a junior golfer and
coming into my professional golf. I had a little bit
of success on the miniataur circuit, but I still would
(22:46):
beat myself and that same mindset carried me over to
what we do now being a media personality. So I
feel you and I truly.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Believe more than ever.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
And I've been recently talking to, you know, some girls
that are graduating from Rollins. I truly believe that doing
what you love for work is a real privilege. It is,
and it might take a really long time to get there. So,
like when you're just coming out of college, it's an experiment, right,
like you think you have an inkling. I was like,
don't get so caught up in the titles. Go towards
(23:16):
the feeling of what you really love to do. And
then solely, but surely, maybe the job that your first
job ever you ten percent you absolutely love, and then
your next job is twenty percent, but you have to love.
And then you get closer and closer to like loving everything,
and listen, you're never going to love everything. There's always
going to be it's hard day. It's like, I use
my dad as a perfect example of someone that genuinely loves,
(23:36):
loves his job, loves loves loves everything about his career.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Except you know, there's certain events and I'll be like.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Oh, I really don't want to go to that he
has to go. But I think it's really hard when
what you do for a living you are so passionate
about and it is an expression of who you are
as a person. It's really really difficult to separate it
from who you are.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, I want to.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Bring it back to how you even got into the media.
So at what point did you realize you wanted to
step into the golf media while you were at Golf Digest. Yeah,
I bring me back.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Well, I think I always really wanted to.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Like I think when I was younger, I always joke
and this isn't really even a joke.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Like I genuinely thought the Golf Channel show.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
The Morning Drive was the news, and I thought I
was like, oh yeah, Like I was like, oh man,
like what is da Damon Hack gonna tell us today?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Like this is this is the VBC.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
And so for me, I was like, I'm going to
live in Orlando and I'm gonna host the Morning Drive.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Morning Drive doesn't exist anymore.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Like literally would watch to host the Morning Drive because
it does not exist. So for me, I always thought
that was really cool, and I would go with my
dad on shoots and I was always just really fascinated
by it.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And then I was like, no, I'm gonna play profession.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And then I think when I was at Rollins was
when my college golf coach really encouraged me to explore
my other interests, and that's when I started hosting the
college radio show that I would do before our team workout.
So I'd go five am to seven am college radio
with my friend Spencer Mumford, who you met. He was
a pitcher at Rollins and so we had a show
together no Way, which was really fun. And eventually, you know,
(25:22):
we got moved up to like a better time slot
in the afternoon and we would have our friends come
on the show.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And Rawlins is very small, it's basically a big high school.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
He'd go to the cafeteria and like ask the lunch
ladies if they would put on the w p r
K radio station so that all of our friends in
the cafeteria could.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Hear us on the radio. It's so cute and so yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
So that was kind of when I was like, oh,
this is really fun. I love interviewing people and I
love talking to people. Maybe I could somehow combine my
golf knowledge and my love for this. Then, after college
turn pro for a little bit, I did an internship
to complete my degree in New York City, and when
I was there, I got connected did via social media
with Ashley Mayo, who at the time was at Golf Digest,
(26:04):
and so her and I played golf at Bethpage Black
and then she texted me a couple months later, uh huh.
I was like, I don't know if you're sure if
you'd be interested in this, but like, we have an
opening for a social media coordinator. And when I found
myself way more excited about moving to New York to
go work for Golf Digests and work with her than
living with my parents and continuing to pursue professional golf,
I knew that was kind of the move for me.
(26:26):
So I ended up going to Golf Digests and Ashley
was such an amazing person to learn from. Learn social
media basically sitting at a computer for eight hours a
day scheduling Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. I think God
wouldn't have TikTok at the time. Yeah, an feel for
all the social managers, like all the.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Like stop in.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
So that was a really great way to just learn,
especially with most of the stuff that I'm doing, whether
it's for myself or for brands or whatever, just having
a really understanding of like, Okay, well where is this
living and even like one of your shooting stuff and
I'm like, the camera you're really tight on me, Like
this is gonna be nine x sixteen. So, you know,
that's been really helpful just having that understanding, like because
(27:10):
as you know, you could have something really great, but
if it needs to be packaged a certain way for
sure to be seen to be the smallest thing exactly
so crazy it's captioning orventions or hooking them in the
first three seconds, god forbid, you know, So things like
that that I think I really gained an appreciation for.
And then also, you know, Ashley and the rest of
(27:30):
Golf Digest team, I would just kind of raise my
hand for like I'd be like, Hey, can I interview
this is on like Facebook Lives or really yeah? Yeah,
So I'd be like, can I do a Facebook live
with like Michelle Wee or Fasic Live with like whoever whoever.
I would just start like asking if I could do things,
and if it was a no, it was a no.
But if it was a yes, then I would be
like okay, and so yeah, just kind of but then.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
From there it evolved to then you creating and scripting
and editing and also talking and then at what point
did you realize like I actually enjoyed being in front
of the camera.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I think I always knew that I wanted to be
in front of the camera. A lot of those things
that I was like raising my hand for, yeah, I
would find myself in front of the camera, the.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Interviewing and yeah, yeah, yeah that makes so.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
And if I'm completely honest, I think it had probably
started as a bit of an ego thing and seeing
the Golf Channel people and like wanting to be on
camera and wanting to be seen like that.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
But what I found more and more over time, I'm
almost going back the other direction, Like if I can't
make it better, then I don't want to be on camera.
For me, it's all about working with other creative people
and coming up with really cool stuff. And if I
can be in it and it makes sense to be
in it, then great. But if I can't make it
any better or someone else is better than me, by
(28:43):
all means, let's have them do it. Because I now
just enjoy like making content.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah that actually segways next my next question. But before
I asked that, what do you enjoy more of now?
Because you're in this really unique position, right, I mean,
I feel like, the most sucessful people in our world
are multi hyphenates, and I strongly believe that you are
a multi hyphen in so many ways. You succeed in
many different realms, whether you are directing, scripting, creating, editing,
(29:09):
face of camera, being an influencer. What aspect do you
love the most? Like, what is it that you want
to be known for the most?
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I think as much as being a multi hyphen it
is exciting, especially for someone with like ADHD because you're like,
ooh ooh, I.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Do really believe.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
There's a book called Essentialism that was recommended to me
that you can be good at a lot of things,
or you can be great at one or two things. Absolutely,
and I have found I am a bit of control freak,
so I do like to insert myself and so I'm
recently now I'm trying to take on the mindset like
where can I make the highest point of contribution. So
(29:48):
even if it's like various projects where it's like okay,
I could do that, but I think I'll just focus
on this part of it because this is part of
my one or two things yea, you know. So for me,
it's it's hosting and it's producing slash like what I'm
calling like creative consulting. And I think it kind of
goes back to what I've been talking to, like these
young girls that that are graduating college recently.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I'm like, what lights you up inside?
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Because sometimes I've realized that's when I knew that, oh,
it isn't just being on camera, because I've had opportunities
where I've been on camera and I'm like, this is
fucking boring, and other times where I've been behind the
camera and I've been like.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
This is so freaking fun.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Yeah, you know, And so when I found it's like
it's just that through line of like creativity for me,
whether that's working with brands on the campaign or writing
sketches or you know.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Get really good at that.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Thank you, yeah, thank you, Well I can't. It's definitely.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
We have a really great team that we put together
in LA We've got Kate Scarpetta, who's an amazing writer.
Played golf a Princeton, so she knows the game really well.
And for a Shaw, who's a stand up comedian, and
my brother and law Tuk. So we found like our
little crew and we meet and you know, get to
it's just so fun. So I say that's probably honestly,
my favorite part is like our weekly meetings where you're
(30:57):
just like.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Wouldn't it be funny? Da you just do it?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Can you just do it? Well?
Speaker 1 (31:01):
No, tell me about it. So you've created an agency
now called the Better Content Code. Yeah, and so what
led to that moment? Because you've done everything, as I mentioned,
You've done the podcasting with Michelle Henny all. Yeah, actually
you've done a ton of your brother yeah, a lot,
a lot of different podcasts, and then you've worked with
the biggest you know, media entities in golf, and now
you've created an agency. What led to that moment? And
(31:23):
tell me all about it.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
So, Andrew Wantak, who's my business partner, I was doing
this show for Golf Pass and how I got connected
with him was actually through Connor Moore, just such a
talented guy, and he had a show for Golf Pass
and I moved out here.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
He said, hey, do you want to be in like
an episode or two?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
So I was like yeah, So I thought that was
so cool, and we got to work with comedians like
Matt Walsh and Jim Jefferies and so ultimately, like a
year after that, I got to do a show for them,
which was a lot of sketch comedy. And Andrew was
my producer and so we had so much fun and
we thought we were going to get a second season,
and ultimately Golf Pass ended up pivoting to just golf Instruction,
(31:59):
and at the time I was very upset, but again,
looking back, I'm really glad they did.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Think if they did that it would have pushed me
to do what we're doing now, which, like Andrew and
I were like, hey, I'm like, I still really love
making these sketches.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I want to continue to do it. I think there's
a space for it.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
So him and I teamed up to continue to do
those and then from that we started getting brands asking
us to be like, hey, could.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
You make something funny and engaging for us.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
So that's how we decided to start Better Content CO.
And what we say our mission is to connect and
inspire the modern golf audience.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
So many different, many type people are playing golf.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
The largest growing demographic of golfers that is growing as
young women. There is this new audience that we've spoken
to and a lot of times they're on social It's
not necessarily they're tuning in.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Maybe it is a traditional broadcast, maybe it's not.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
So.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Yeah, we started that in January and it's been going great.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Right, And I think it's really been fun to watch
you produce and create that because it's a different kind
of creative. Like we're all creatives, right, but there are
the things in silos that we do best in, Like
I know where my pillars are, and it is not
that it is not that like I like for you
guys to plan to script to Yeah, it's a very
(33:16):
different nuance, but I will say that it is really
cool to like watch you do your thing, and it's
been really cool to see commercials come into fruition in
such a short amount of time of establishing your company. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
No, it's really fun and we've been really just so
grateful for the reception and the interest.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
So we're gonna shift things a little bit. I wanted
to actually touch on your dad, Yes, being David ledbetter.
So for those of you who may be newer to golf,
maybe not the traditional golfer, let me tell you her
dad is a goat and he is one of the
most renowned instructors in the world and has created an
empire of academies and fun fact, I am actually led
(33:55):
Better certified. So me and Hallie are related. Yeah, we're
don't you see it? Yeah? So like I'm literally an
instructed because of her father, which is so unique. But
I just wanted to ask out of curiosity, like what
was that like for you growing up in golf and
then now becoming your own person in golf, but also
having your dad as your dad?
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Yeah, so you know, it's funny. There's like a couple
of funny moments I can think of on the golfers. One,
I used to be really afraid to play in front
of people, and then a mental coach they worked with
at the time was like, are you nervous playing in
front of your dad? And I was like no, It's
like okay, well then you have no one else to
feel nervous in front.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
I was like, well, fair.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Point, that's a good point. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
But I think when I played golf, like I initially
would maybe get a little self conscious about it, but
then I realized, I mean, I feel like Charlie Woods
is kind of going through the same thing, but on like,
but time's a bajillion gagillion, right, you know, But for me,
it was very much like if you play well, of
course you play well, and if you don't play well,
it's what the hell's wrong with you? So ultimately I
(34:57):
was just like, oh, whatever, I can't do anything of it.
You know, it is what it is. And so over time,
and I think too maybe with him being my coach
as well, when I was in high school, it was
really difficult for me. I was very argumentative as a teenager,
and so then it was only really until college and
when in college when I was like able to be like, Okay,
he's my dad right now. Now he's my golf coach,
(35:19):
and you know, vice versa. So we've always had a
really great relationship. I really admire my dad so much
just for the passions, work ethic and just who he
is as a person. And he also like really takes
everything very well, like when it comes to social media
comments or things people say about him or his teaching
methods or anything like, he's very much just like water
(35:41):
off a ducts back and I'm very much not I'm
like you, And he's like hally like, the more successful
you get, the more people you're gonna get talking about you. Yeah,
he's always on a great sounding board for that, but
I think too, like coming into the media space, it's
(36:01):
so different from what he does. But even now I'll
get like I think when I posted about better content
co on LinkedIn, some guy commented, must be nice to
have a dad like that, I'm like.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
My dad doesn't know shit about production?
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Like literally doesn't know anything, And so you kind of
just have to like let those comments go. But at
the same time, like, I don't think you'd mind me
sharing this, But like Michelle Wee Wes's husband, Johnny West
I had a conversation with him about it, and his
dad is Jerry West Right, and he was like, listen, like,
am I who I am because of my dad? Yeah,
in the sense that, like, do I probably know more
(36:35):
about basketball than the average guy?
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Do I have insights more than the average guy? Like absolutely?
For me. A lot of times when if people.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Don't know who my dad is and they're like, oh,
I'll give into the golf industry, I'm like, well, I'm
thirty two, thirty two years, like I've literally been around
this game more than most old white men, and I
know it probably better than they. Yeah, you know, and
so maybe for a while when I was really trying
to start making a name for myself, used to really
grind my gears. And now I'm like, I'm proud of
my dad, Like I'm proud of everything that he's accomplished.
(37:04):
You know, my mom played on the LPGA, She's fantastic.
I'm really proud of my family. And while yes, I've
definitely had advantages and I used them in the same
way that like, you know, my dad, he was going
to like I think of how I like, you know,
one of my best friends in the world as Amanda
Balliones and I met her because in college my dad
was going I don't know if it was like Royal
Liverpool at the time, like some British Open and I
(37:26):
was like, Dad, can I come with you to the
British Open and intern?
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Can I just like email around? And He's like okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
So you know, we ended up finding some intern I
got coffee for people, and I held an umbrella over
Amanda Ballionis's head.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Oh no way, And that's how I met her.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
And so you look back and it's like, yes, would
I have had that opportunity if I didn't have my
dad and he wasn't able to ask like, hey, can
my daughter come and hold an umbrella over Amanda's head,
Like for sure, but it's not like my dad was like, hey,
Golf Digest, like give Hallie her own show, you know.
And so yes, I'm not shy at all to say
(38:03):
that I have used my name to my advantage. But
I also think that I have a very unique take
on things and I know a lot of shit because
of my upbringing.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
So I think he said it really well. And I
have grown up in golf, so I have known of
your dad's name for a while, but I can attest
for anyone who is just now looking at Halley stuff
or whatnot, Like I feel like, holl you have made
such a name for yourself out outside of your dad,
and you started this pod saying like how happy and
proud you are of me. But I'm gonna return the
favor because I am so proud of you. Like what
(38:34):
you do is so different, And yeah, you may have
had these opportunities to go to these places, but like
the amount of initiative it takes to be able to
accomplish what you've had, cold emailing, just having the courage
to just come up to people meet and just shake
hands and keep doing it for years and years and
years so that you can have the opportunities that you
have that was not handed to you like you did that.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
No, no, I do.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
You're creative.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
I don't think your dad is he's not out. No,
he's super funny, but he's not. You know, I always laugh.
I'm like, what would David Levetter have been like on TikTok?
Like what did that have been?
Speaker 1 (39:06):
That'd be pretty funny, be really good.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
But no, and so yeah, I'm not try to say
I at all like I used my advantages or you know,
tried to get in rooms.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
But once you get in there, you better be able
to perform for sure.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Like I wouldn't want anybody ever to second guess my
work ethic or my knowledge or my commitment that might
assume that I think I can skate by any means.
If anything, I think people look at me and go like,
well you you better like show up, you know, you
know exactly, So I really try to do my do
my absolute best.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Shifting gears now into a different realm. I think one
thing that I also love in terms of following you
is how vulnerable that I feel like you've been especially
in terms of of your mental health and mental health awareness,
and just wanted to ask you about like your journey
and your mental health.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
So I I've always had really severe OCD, like ever
since I was a little girl. And I'm talking about
like weird stuff like having to touch things an even
amount of times, and like wearing certain colors on certain days,
and like my brain's always just been like a little funky.
And as I got older, I stopped doing the things
that were like outward because I realized that it was
(40:29):
like weird.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
But my brain, I realized that people were like what
are you doing? Why are you tapping things?
Speaker 1 (40:35):
You know?
Speaker 3 (40:35):
And so as I got older and I realized like
it was like it's weird, stop doing it.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
But my brain still works the same, Like it's still
you know.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
You know, you watch those documentaries about people that like
wash their hands certain amount of time, you like have
to go back and check the ovens off because they're
afraid their house is going to burn down.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Yeah, like that is me.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
But over time you learn that OCD is a coping
mechanism to deal with feeling like things are out of control,
and it also can be partially genetic as well. So
there's all different types of factors that can I guess
cause it.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
But it's kind of like exima, which I also have.
Speaker 5 (41:11):
Then it flares up, you know, like you're always gonna
have ecima and when you go to Colorado and it's
real dry, like you better pack your cortizone cream. You know,
that's kind of like and so my meds are kind
of like my cortisone cream, you know, And so it
definitely flares up.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Like when I was at the Masters this year, like
was it bad?
Speaker 3 (41:31):
You know, like my brain it was like really bad
because I again which is needed to feel like hyper
and control because I was It's a situation that I
perceived is very very important.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
So then my brain goes, we have to keep everything
under control.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
And so you learn with you know, via therapy, with meds,
you learn to kind of cope with it, and you
learn to also realize that like it's a double edged
sword as well. You know, like I am very organized
and I can think of like any possible outcome because
I'm always trying to predict the future.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yeah, I get that, and.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
So you kind of just have to like curb the
negative side effects if you will at certain times.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
So then how do you manage your mental health with
social media? One, because it's a very tough place, right,
even the most sane human being will not be okay
if you are just ingrained and you embody social media.
But also how do you manage it in social media
and being an in person always on talent because that's hard. Yeah, yeah,
(42:32):
well you chose quite the job. Yeah, well, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
You're really honest.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
My therapist has said to me multiple times, your lifestyle
is not conducive to fantastic mental health. I'm like, okay,
well I'm not willing to change, right, So what are
some other levers that we can pull? And so for me,
it's like prioritizing rest, which and I'm curious what your
thought is on this because it might just be because
(42:59):
we come from this like very heavy athletic background, like resting.
To me, it's very difficult, Like it's very difficult, And
I really have tried to switch my mode instead of
like glorifying constantly feeling drained and stressed and being like
that's what makes a champion, because for whatever reason, I've
(43:19):
really internalized that that you have to be at.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
Your wits end at all times to.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Make sure that it means because that means that you're
giving it at all, and you have you got to
grind team no sleep, And like I've just realized recently,
if I'm unhappy and I'm not enjoying what I'm doing,
then what are we even doing here?
Speaker 1 (43:40):
You know?
Speaker 3 (43:40):
And so like yesterday I called Billy and I was like,
I've watched three episodes of Hacks and I feel bad.
And He's like, Hallie, Like it's almost like the opposite,
Like you need to get mad at yourself when you
don't let yourself rest. Because I've had a situations where
I've been like so burnt out and then we'll be
on a shoot and I literally will burst into tears
because I got like some feedback that upset me. Then
(44:03):
it becomes not fair to the people that have just
hired you because now you're burnt out. So that's where
I've like kind of reason. I'm like, listen, if you
do want to perform your best, you do need to
allow yourself to rest. Yeah, And so I've also kind
of realized that, like listen, I am thirty two years old.
I have lived with this, with this grind my mindset,
this athlete mindset, my whole life. It's gotten me to
(44:26):
this point. And I don't think I'm going to change,
Like I don't think I'm all of a sudden gonna
be able to be someone different. But like you know,
with working with my therapist, she's like, you're your ninety
percent is still like most people's like full you know,
Oh absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
I had to tell myself that too. So I am
very much under sail. So it's like really just a
game of balances and it it is so hard. So
we are actually already whining down in time. But I
do want to make sure that we cover this topic
because we are women golfers that have grown in it
for all of our lives. By literally what is your
thoughts on where woman's golf is at right now?
Speaker 3 (45:06):
Ooh, well, we are doing this podcast right after the
new LPGA commissioner was announced. It's incredible, I kind of
crazy timing and that I was at a PGA of
America meeting just a couple of weeks ago and I
sat next to Craig and spoke to him for quite
a while.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
The new commissioner, Yeah, and obviously he wasn't gonna be Like.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
I really enjoyed chatting with him and just learning, you know,
about his family, and he's such a nice guy. I
think the LPGA is going to be in great hands.
So I'm super excited, you know, as someone that wanted
to be on the LPGA and like yourself, it means
so much to us, and so I'm really excited to
see with his leadership what this new chapter brings. But
(45:51):
in terms of women's golf in general, I'm just so
excited to see so many women diving into it. Like
I mentioned earlier, the largest growing demo being young women.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
I hung out with some women from Bunker Club this morning.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
You did I did? We love to Hillary.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
Yes, she is doing some amazing stuff obviously with your
clothing line, which is so cool. And then we see
companies like Nike looking to reinvest in women's golf. That
says a lot. I think it's really it's a really
really exciting time. So yeah, I think I'm just really
encouraged by the growth of I would say casual women's.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
And then this new leadership in the LPGA is very
very exciting to me.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
What is something that you want to see more of
in women's golf, Like, if you were the commissioner and
you can make the rules, what is something that you'd
want to implement or change?
Speaker 3 (46:46):
Well, one, I'm hoping that Craig, given his very strong
golf industry background, will have the ear of the PGA
Tour a little bit more sure, and you know Grant
Thornton all day it's great, but like, I'd love to
see more of that.
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I mean, I saw that Nelly tire Woods content like
that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
That Morella what you're saying events.
Speaker 3 (47:09):
Yeah, sorry, but most of the guys out there aren't
the most interesting dudes, and there's a lot of really
fantastic personalities on the LPGA, so let's infuse those together.
So yeah, I would say a lot more cross collaboration,
which I think would be more beneficial for the PGA
Tour than they think I am, and obviously incredibly beneficial
for the LPGA.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
So I'd love to see more of that.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
I love that answer. How that is all the time
that we have for you today. It was so fun.
Thank you so much for joining the party. Welcome to
the party with Tisha Allen is an Iheartwoman's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports Entertainment. I'm your host
Tisha Allen. Christina Everett is our executive producer, and Jennifer
Bassett is our producer. Sound mixing and mastering by Mary Doo.
(47:53):
Special things to Jesse Katz at iHeart, and to Jess
McCallister and the teams at GERSH and Catalyst nine. Listen
to Welcome of the Party with Tisha Allen on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Tisha Alyn
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