August 12, 2024 • 47 mins
Host Jim Chapman sits down and explores the world of investigative journalist Kiran Chawla. From her early days as an intern to her renowned award filled career, Kieran discusses the challenges and rewards of reporting truth. Jim delves into her decision to launch, "Unfiltered with Kiran,” and her latest venture, her podcast, "Louisiana Unfiltered,”. Kiran’s dedication to community involvement and impactful storytelling highlight this episode, offering a glimpse into her inspiring journey as a dedicated journalist.
#kiranchawla #unfilteredwithkiran #louisianaunfiltered #localleaders #podcast #leadership #business
Timestamps
02:44 Kiran Chawla's Journalism Journey
03:20 Humility
04:55 Kiran Early Beginnings in Journalism
06:43 Passion for News Reporting
08:06 Dedication to Journalism Internship
09:50 Rediscovering Passion for Journalism
11:25 Early Journalism Challenges
14:34 Transition to Investigative Journalism
18:06 Courage in Investigative Reporting
22:56 Launching Unfiltered with Kieran
32:11 Importance of Trust in Journalism
38:01 Impact of Unfiltered Podcast Interviews
40:39 Highlighting the Ryan Sharp Investigation
44:29 Fun Facts about Kiran
You can learn more about Kiran and find links to everything we discussed today by visiting: https://unfilteredwithkiran.com
This episode is sponsored by Level Dumpsters You can learn more about Level Dumpsters by visiting: https://www.leveldumpsters.com
SAVE 100.00 OFF YOUR DUMPSTER RENTAL JUST BY MENTIONING LOCAL LEADERS THE PODCAST!
#kiranchawla #unfilteredwithkiran #louisianaunfiltered #localleaders #podcast #leadership #business
Timestamps
02:44 Kiran Chawla's Journalism Journey
03:20 Humility
04:55 Kiran Early Beginnings in Journalism
06:43 Passion for News Reporting
08:06 Dedication to Journalism Internship
09:50 Rediscovering Passion for Journalism
11:25 Early Journalism Challenges
14:34 Transition to Investigative Journalism
18:06 Courage in Investigative Reporting
22:56 Launching Unfiltered with Kieran
32:11 Importance of Trust in Journalism
38:01 Impact of Unfiltered Podcast Interviews
40:39 Highlighting the Ryan Sharp Investigation
44:29 Fun Facts about Kiran
You can learn more about Kiran and find links to everything we discussed today by visiting: https://unfilteredwithkiran.com
This episode is sponsored by Level Dumpsters You can learn more about Level Dumpsters by visiting: https://www.leveldumpsters.com
SAVE 100.00 OFF YOUR DUMPSTER RENTAL JUST BY MENTIONING LOCAL LEADERS THE PODCAST!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, this is Lori Johnson with Hancock Whitney Bank, and
you're listening to Local Leaders the podcast. Visit Local leadersthepodcast
dot com for previous episodes or for information on peering
on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, before we get started, I want to thank our
sponsors for this podcast, the amazing people at Level Dumpsters. Look.
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off right now for new customers. Level Dumpsters a verified
partner of Local Leaders of podcasts. Now. I've been looking
forward to this podcast for a very long time, y'all.
I'm excited about this one, and I'll tell you why.
Go on Facebook and type in Unfiltered with Karen and
(01:19):
you'll discover a very active page with over one hundred
and fifty two thousand subscribers, her TikTok nearly one hundred
thousand in her website, millions of collects. She is one
of those investigative journalists that is going to get to
the truth and give you the straight facts. That's what
(01:39):
a reputation is. Let me give you a little bit
more about our background. Her journalism career began as a
senior in high school with a two week trial internship
at WWLLEN, New Orleans, and in those two weeks a
mentor told her that he saw the newsbug had already
bitten her and there was no turning back. Those two
weeks extended into a full senior year internship that in
(02:03):
turn a part time job, and after college it became
full time. Then fourteen years ago, she got into the
investigative side of journalism and gained a reputation of being
absolutely fearless. She has won fourteen regional and three national
Edward R. Murrow Awards and four Emmy Awards. She is
(02:27):
a Louisiana Association a Broadcaster Reporter of the Year, an
Associated Press Newsperson of the Year and get this, y'all
two two five magazine's Best local news Personality in twenty
twenty two, twenty twenty three, and twenty twenty four. And
if all that is not enough, three years ago, a
(02:49):
shocking event in her life prompted her to launch Unfiltered
with Kieren, and through that she has built a media
empire to include her most recent edition with her podcast,
Louisiana Unfiltered. She is hands down the most recognizable news
personality in the entire state of Louisiana. She is here
today and I can only be talking about the amazing
(03:12):
Kiaran Shaula. Welcome to Local Leaders of podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Thank you, good Lord. That intro chill.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Look. If y'all know Kieren she is she is very
humble to say the least, and so she does not
like to be doted on when it comes to her accolades.
Totally earned and totally you know the facts of the facts,
Giaran Shalla, and that is the facts. We are glad
(03:40):
to have you here today. And my first question is
going to be I want you to kind of go
back to we talked about high school. You were in
the news realm, the bug bit you, and then you
went to college and you finally got out there and
got full time in news.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You know what the odd thing is now, Jim, I
have interns at Unfiltered with Kieren who are in high school.
In fact today is he's a senior now and the
parking spot, the crown, all of that. But that excitement
that sparkle in his eyes and he's one of our interns,
(04:18):
and I'm reminded of what it was like, you know,
sometime ago, but just a few years ago. But I'm
taken back to this was you, this was you a
billion years ago, it feels like. But I see that
spark and it's actually brought back. There are days when
(04:41):
we work crazy hours. I've come in here and been like, Jim,
I'm dead to the world. But he's brought back that
spark in a sense of like, this is why you
got into it. And I love till this day. I
love what I do. I love the team we have.
But yeah, I started in high school and in fact,
I used to to just a small little job. You're
(05:02):
in high school. I used to teach dance, and I
think a lot of people don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
That I.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Used to teach dance to little girls. I was one
of the teachers at Creative Dance in slide El, Louisiana,
and I had girls from two three years old all
the way up to high school girls. Frank Davis, I
don't know if people even remember him, but naturally no
Leans from New Orleans from WWLL. His grandson actually took
(05:32):
classes there and I grew up watching him, and I
just got to talking to him that what it's like
being at WWL, which was back then the CBS affiliate
there was like the station you watched. Got to talking
as far as news goes, and I said, I wish
I could get my foot in the door and just
see what it's like. Just see it. It's all I
(05:54):
wanted at that point, and he goes, well, let me
let me put connect you with the HR person. So
senior year of high school, North Shore High they allowed
people to do internships, but the internships were pretty much set.
You could go do the medical direction or I think
teaching was the other one. Why didn't care to do either?
(06:15):
So in typical care and fashion, I went and paved
my own path that can I do something else? If
they sign off on it? We all sign off on it.
So I had the introduction made with HR, and I
went and asked HR at WWL that this is something
I think I may want to pursue, and they said,
(06:37):
we don't allow internships for high schools. They said that,
but why don't we do a two week trial. Let's
see if you like it, and more importantly, let's see
if the newsroom is okay with you. So two weeks
in and I'm in love. Like it took two weeks
and the mentor who I'm talking about, Bill Capo, he
(06:59):
told me early. He goes, I can see that news
bug has bit you. He goes, I'd love to try
to tell you things that don't do this profession, which
now I see the reasons of don't do it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
But two weeks in I go in and go meet
with the HR guy again and he explains that, what
do you think? So I'm trying not to be over
crazy that oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
I'm trying to be professional like, oh it's nice. Yeah,
and he goes, well, the newsroom down there they love you.
So I'm thinking, really, in the two weeks, I've made
that impression and the rest is history.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And you know, it's caring it. It is a different
field in a lot of ways, especially when you're that young.
Maybe maybe you don't look at it the same way
as you do as you get older. But it's not
ours like people go to a job and it's nine
to five and that job is so not that it's not.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
In fact, I loved it. I did, and I guess
back then I didn't see that because I had to
go fulfill my hours for school. But for school, you're
required to do what four hours? Three hours? How many
ever it is, I wasn't doing just the minimum. If
I'm going at two o'clock, well, the news doesn't go
on till five and six o'clock, I'm required to fill
(08:19):
three or four hours. What am I learning If I
only stay till five. I stayed till seven. Or if
you're sent out with a reporter and a photographer and
you're on breaking news, they're not driving back just to
drop you off. You're stuck. But you would think you're stuck.
You're getting the experience of a lifetime. That journalism is
one of those careers you do not learn out of
(08:41):
a book. And so I have this internship. I'm doing
it simply for credit. It's not money or anything. I
get out of high school and I got my very
first job. Ever. It's a part time job while I'm
going to college at Loyola University. I gave up all
my weekends, so I worked Friday, Saturday, Sun nights during college.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
During college, everybody else is party.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Everybody's party, And in fact, this is how much of
a loser I was. We'd get off the news at
ten o'clock and ww well is right in the quarter.
It's towards the end of you walk two three blocks.
You're on Bourbon Street, the Blacksmith Bar. That was the
hangout for all the Channel four people. Ten forty five
eleven we were. We were all off at eleven o'clock.
(09:26):
We're all walking to the Blacksmith. I'm the youngest of
the group, and I'm the only one who sing I'm
going home. You know, I've just never been that drinker partier.
I'd go hang out because at first I'm like, I'm
gonna come across as a loser, or maybe I do
(09:48):
need to be hanging out and working with some of
these people. But by midnight, I'm thinking I'm struggling. Oh
I'm struggling I've just never been a big night owl.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah. During that internship, I'm sure you learn many different
aspects of the news. Did you do pretty much everything
from setting up a camera?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
And I did not learn setting up a camera.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
The business has changed so much in giving away my
age twenty two years twenty two years ago, as a reporter,
you didn't have to shoot your own stuff, so I
wanted to do reporting, and as an intern, I never
had to learn how to do my own videography. I
learned how to edit, but I never had to learn
(10:33):
how to do my own videography. Now, everybody going in
as a first time reporter, you're a one man band, sure,
meaning you have to shoot, edit, do everything on your own.
And truth be told, times have changed so much for
new reporters coming in because you don't only have the
television aspect. You have a digital aspect that is requiring
(10:54):
you to do now. Yes, but your boss is requiring
you to do television. Yeah, and you're torn. You're basically
doing You're a photographer, you're an editor, you're a reporter,
you're a digital writer. Four jobs, one salary.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Wow, And you know technology the way it has advanced.
I mean when you started in news, you were probably
still free handing a lot of time.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And we were still tape to tape editing, which people
may not even know what that means. Now it's so
easy to edit with digital editing. But back then, if
you have a murder and the script says you're edited,
piece says I don't know the name of the suspect
is not known at this time, but at four point
(11:41):
thirty they put out a press release saying, the name
of the person is this. The photographer now has to
go back and find that one clip re edit that.
But then you have to re edit everything after that. Yeah,
tape to tape, that's all. And I mean it was crazy.
Now you think about that, it's as simple as hurry up,
go retrack it, drop it in.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Not back then, you graduate from Lola.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I did. In fact, Katrina came what would have been
my junior year. I should have been class of seven,
but I got out a year early. I had enough
credits in high school that counted towards college. But then
so I only really needed one more semester, and Katrina
(12:29):
had shut down all of New Orleans Loyola's flooded. I
came to LSU for that one semester. Life is upside down.
I don't know where I'm going. The house is flooded,
like Katrina was just a rough time and you covered that.
I did. I covered it, I lived it. My own
house is underwater, my school is underwater. My WWL went underwater.
(12:51):
So it's a hard time. You're twenty one, you're not
a night I'm lying. I was not twenty one yet.
I was only twenty because I ran in my twenty
first birthday covering a hurricane and we were on twelve
hour shifts and I here in Baton Rouge and I
ended up in the er for my twenty first birthday
because a frame fell on my head in the middle
(13:13):
of the night when it was my time to sleep.
Oh wow, that was my twenty first birthday.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Happy birthday, right.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So I've really given this profession a lot of my
personal time.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, you really have. And you know, it's it's a
whole different world than what normal people's lives and going
back and forth to work on like, like I said,
an eight to five job or nine to five job,
it is a news changes on the dime.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It does, And I'm sorry, I digress. That's what I
was trying to answer earlier. But just two days ago,
I was walking around in the house and I'm thinking,
you know, there's a special person made to cover news
and work in news, because, like you said, it's not
a nine to five job. In the mornings, I say, hey,
(14:06):
I'm going to go do my two mile walk or
I'm going to work out. That's a good idea. Well,
what if there was a double shooting overnight. The first
thing you were doing in the morning is writing that up.
But then you need to confirm it. You need this,
you need that. Now it's been forty five minutes and
that's your walktime. Yeah, so there are times at twelve
thirty I've been working in the middle of the night.
(14:28):
I'll stay up till three o'clock working. But I love
what I do. Yeah, and I don't expect that from
every single person, right, but it's not a nine to
five job.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Let's move on to investigative journalism. And that was something
it's fourteen years ago that you got into, and investigative
journalism really took off around that time it did. That
was when it kind of really hit and it takes
a different type of reporter to do investigative journalism, you
have to be very you have to be corgeous because
(15:02):
a lot of times you are investigating things people don't
want you investigating. Quite frankly, you know somebody's probably on
the other side doing something wrong, and so it takes
a little courage, It takes a lot of I guess,
an inquisitive nature. Someone who likes to do puzzles and
figure doesn't surprise me a bit. For me, I remember
(15:26):
you back in those days, and I remember thinking, Wow,
this girl right here is good. What was it about
investigative journalism specifically that intragy.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I think there was an opening you had, Paul Gates
at waf For a long time, the market had kind
of settled as far as investigative journalism had not died down,
but it's slowed, and like you said, this is a
time when investigative journalism across the country's picking back up.
So I'm approached. I actually, when I first started a
(16:00):
w AFB, I was also the weekend anchor. They pulled
me off the anchor desk and they claimed that the
ratings were down, by the way, and so I came
off the anchor desk and I went full time as
a reporter, but in exchange it was about also meshing
(16:21):
investigative journalism. Sounds good, let's do it. And the very
first pieces that we did were things that were going
missing from LSU and Southern University and a cow went
missing from LSU. How do you lose a cow? That
was my no, that was my very first investigation, and
(16:44):
I mean again the bug bit, and I was hooked.
But from there, I mean, and that was one of
the easier ones. When I say easier, I mean like
to look at some documents and see, hey, you are
supposed to have X, Y Z and inventory and you're
missing this. Some investigations, there are times I worked for
(17:05):
months on pieces and we realized there's nothing here. Call
it quits, really, yep, because it's not worth it if
regardless if you spent months on it, or you spent
a bunch of money pulling records, but you find out
nothing was done wrong, there's nothing there, Yeah, drop it.
And I learned that lesson early on. In fact, I
(17:27):
remember spending three months investigating. I can't remember exactly what
it was, but we spent a lot of money on
it too, and a lot of time, and I had
to go to the news director and tell them there's
nothing here. Wow, we dropped it. But then after that
it just got It's kind of like when you start
a puzzle. You may do one hundred piece first, and
then you're like, oh, I can do a puzzle, Okay,
(17:47):
two hundred, two fifty. Eventually you're at that thousand piece puzzle.
And that's kind of how it became. And before I
knew it, I was so deep in for hardcore investigation
and we were making a difference. We are making a difference.
Should I say absolutely that I just fell in love
(18:09):
with holding people accountable and don't think you're above the
law because you have a badge or because you were
an elected official where you're a judge. Yeah, whatever, it
might be right.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And uh, you know, I've heard stories that sometimes your
I guess it's your camera cameraman, what do they call it,
videographer is holding you back by your shirt?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Oh my god. In fact, I still remember one of
my photographer and she's one of my closest friends. We're
actually out in Livingston doing some story and I think
a bunch of employees get let go. They never got
their last check. Well, those people count on that money.
They've got bills to pay and up. I'm very much
(18:57):
pro victim. That really hurts me that they did a
job pay them. So I knocked on the door. The
guy answers, we're rolling, and he tells me something and
it's none of your business what I do with the business.
And I just kept on asking questions. Are they going
to get paid? Are they going to get paid? Are
they going to get paid? And I've literally on the
(19:17):
back of my shirt, i feel somebody pulling, and I'm like,
who would be pulling me when I'm in the middle
of an interview, and it's her trying to grab me
by the shirt and just saying, let's go good because
he's already told me get off my property. Yeah, and
at that I should have known at that point, after
you've been told one time that's trespassing, after sure, And
(19:37):
I was just in the heat of the moment. I
had to get an answer for these people because they're
begging us to get an answer for them. Yeah, but yeah,
I've run her into polls. Yeah, it's been bad.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Some people. There will be hesitation. You're for example, you
went and you just knocked on that door. You just
knocked on that door, and and something is not right
with these people not getting paid and I'm gonna I'm
gonna get to the bottom of it. A lot of
people they would have they would be nervous about that, right,
Do you don't have that?
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Nope?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Wow, that's pretty awesome and perfect for this field, right
because if you had that, there's no way you'd be successful.
And you have seen a lot of success when you
when you started in news to now and I just
read you earlier that intro. I just did that intro.
Would you have imagined?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Never?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Really?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I never even saw myself owning my own company.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Never. And had you told me even five years ago
this is where you're gonna be, I would have laughed
at you.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Really.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I mean there are days I sit back. We just
celebrated our three year anniversary. But it's only been three years.
And we have a great company. We have a great staff.
The staff is who makes this as well as the
love and support what we have from the public because
they choose to come to us for their news.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
But we have a podcast, we have an app, We're
on all platforms, we have advertisers.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You have a website that is second to none.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Well, thank you. We just did a brand new website
and all that within three years. Yeah, I'm very proud
of that.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You should be.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
And I'll tell you this and we'll get into a
little bit of the new stuff that you have going on,
and I guess since you brought it up, we'll talk
about the website and I'll tell you one of my
favorite things about it is you can go to unfilteredkiron
dot com and if you're in Livingston Parish, maybe you
(21:45):
don't maybe, I mean, you may not care about something
going on and Plaquamin you can click on Livingston Parish
specifically and it will only have Livingston Parish articles, Livingston
Parish news. It won't have something out of Plaquemen. Now,
you can go to Plaquemen and you can collect that
if you want to see it, but it breaks it
(22:06):
down by parish. That's unique.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Yep, yep, And that's I have to give that credit
to Daniel Brown, one of our executive producer. He came
up with that idea. But even the advertisers on that
parish page are specific to that parish. So hopefully if
you live in the parish you're reading that content, you're
going to go support those advertisers. Yeah, and that's what
a lot as a small business. I wanted to make
(22:31):
sure we take care of other small businesses well. If
our supporters go support those advertisers, they are able to
keep continuing to support us.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
The world goes round and round.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That's exactly right. And when you started Unfiltered with Karen
three years ago, uh, nerves scared?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Not at all? No, wow, not at all, because I
think that is well known. I was fired. I applied
for jobs, applied for jobs. It's deep COVID, and I
had doors closed in my face NonStop. And I was done.
I was done being told no. I don't like being
(23:14):
told I can't do something right. And times were changing,
times were changing so much in news. So I told myself,
let's you have this idea in your head. It may
sound stupid that your channel channel is on YouTube instead
of a TV. Let's do it. What's the worst that
(23:35):
can happen? It doesn't work, Okay, sounds good, and you
give it a year. If it doesn't take off in
a year, you call it quits and you go to plan.
By at that time, I had no idea what a
plan B was. I still don't know what plan B
would be, but what was the worst that could have happened?
It didn't work right, and it sure did and it
(23:56):
somehow did it did.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
And took off almost I wouldn't must say immediately you
really saw some traction with it. And you know, you
picked an interesting name because you picked unfiltered with Kieran.
Now that time in the news conventional news world, there
(24:19):
were glaring issues with you know, the news just not
being what it used to be, agenda based right, and
especially a lot of these larger networks, and a lot
of people did not want that. They felt like they
were being lined to quite frankly, and being manipulated by
(24:40):
the news media. You launched Unfiltered with Kieren, and I
think unfiltered is kind.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Of the key and the odd thing though Jim is like, again,
God has guided this path from the very beginning, but
me launching unfiltered from the in fact the day I
know this is everybody listening is watching the video. But
the logo that I created it's not perfect. I know
(25:08):
it's not perfect. It's pretty good, but not according to
Daniel No, I know it's not. My magnifying glass doesn't
magnify the on I get it. But the reason this
has so much meaning is I did an interview and
I'm on a zoom call with a station for about
(25:29):
almost forty five minutes yea. And the look on his
face because I never hid the fact that I was terminated,
I wasn't gonna lie to anybody, and so when he
asked me that your best investigation in the last six months,
IS said, I haven't been employed in the last six months.
And the look on his face was just like do what.
But in that moment, when I saw his eyes get
(25:50):
that much bigger, I decided I'm done. I'm done applying
for jobs, and I went inside and I created this
logo that very night. Now, Grant, the logo wasn't like
this to begin with. I had friends who told me no,
I had Halloween eyes on it, and they're like, uh uh,
But this is the one I created that night, and
(26:11):
I'm thinking, okay, if you're going to start your company,
the name just came to me one day that if
I were to start it, I'm literally driving out of
the house. The name came to me like that, unfiltered
with Kiaren, and it stuck. I did not spend hours
and hours and hours thinking about this. It just came
to me like that that was God. But even our
slogan the news you deserve unfiltered, same thing. That was
(26:35):
the thought process of you know what, I want to
do something to where it's the news that the people deserve,
and the slogan came to me like I firmly believe
that was God saying here, this is what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah, amazing. And you know Daniel Brown, who you mentioned
rockstar on his own right, he is what he does,
he does extremely well, and uh, he came to work
for you. And one of the things that he said
that I that really appealed to me was, Uh, when
(27:13):
I saw what Kieren was doing, she wasn't just reporting
the news, she was telling a story. That's a big difference.
That's a big difference. And it sounds simple, but when
you're out there and you're just reporting and so and
so was shot at this place or whatever, and you're
(27:35):
out there and you're telling not only the story of
the shooting, but you're you're focusing on the victims, You're
you're putting faces to names, it matters. It makes a difference.
And that appealed to him and one of the reasons
that he wanted to get involved. You're You're not only
well known for your reporting, you're also well known for
(27:57):
your community involvement. You believe giving back. You sit on
a board for is it CALEH and tell people who
are unaware of what that is.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
CALIFF is an amazing nonprofit Capital Area law enforcement foundation.
It came about after the twenty sixteen ambush on law
enforcement and we raise money for the vests, the Angel
Armor vest that protect police officers, sheriff's deputies, any law
enforcement against higher powered rounds. And in fact, our the
(28:32):
Angel Armor vest just saved a deputy in the East
bountin Roote sheriff shooting a few months ago, two officers
were shot. This deputy realized well after the fact that
he had been shot because the bullet was stuck in
his vest.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
So I know what we're doing is making a big difference.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
It sure is. And you also partner with Dudley Debojer
and you'll do difference makers.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
We do. I love that One Difference Maker is a
series that Dudley de Boecher has always done difference Makers,
but we partnered up with the people in the community
who have a need, they fill out a nomination for him.
It goes straight to Dudley de boser. They choose who
they're going to be able to help given how much
the cost is. But so far we have replaced a roof.
(29:19):
This lady. Her neighbor recommended her. She was pregnant, she
was expecting, her boyfriend died in a shooting, and she
had no way to compensate for what was coming. Dudley
de Bocher stepped in and brought in all sorts of
things and we are able to go interview that family.
(29:39):
While we're in the middle of the interview, Chad and
Steve walk up and surprise them. And usually I'm just
holding back tears because we need that. And I highly
respect Chad and Steve, which is half the reason for
the partnership, because they actually are the people who give
back to the community.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah. Yeah, well, it's it's a beautiful program. And you
can actually go to Unfiltered with Karen and you can
click on Difference Makers and you can go back and
check out you can the articles and whatnot. Let me
ask you, in all your years of reporting, it is
there one particular story or two that stick out to
(30:22):
you that more than others that you really enjoyed reporting on,
or maybe it changed you in some sort of.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Way, good, bad, ugly, what.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Whatever you stand out to you.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I mean, I know the investigation series I did on
Mayor Broom. It was the Brave grant that was a
big one. And then recently we just did the water
sewage fee and because of our reporting, it was discovered
that there was no non disclosure when it came to
(30:59):
the water fee that was going to be pretty much
taxed to all of East Benton Ridge Parish. They refused
to answer questions, saying there was a federal non disclosure
and it prevented them. Federal government came back and said,
we don't even know of a non disclosure the water
I keep calling it water sewage fee. I can't remember
the exact terminology of it, but it was taken off
(31:22):
to where it's not even an item to consider anymore.
And then back in seventeen sixteen, I can't remember what
year it was, but a major federal grant that we got.
My investigation showed that a lot of the money that
was coming in was being handed out to friends and
political allies, and we shut that federal grant down. But
(31:48):
that really proved to me hardcore investigative journalism does make
a difference. It really does, because in the grant situation,
that's our tax dollars. That's all of our tax dollars.
When it's a federal grant, it comes back to us.
But then in the water sewage story, there were some
people who were going to get tax ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
People can't afford that.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
No, they can't. No, how important is trust in what
you did?
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Oh my god, it's huge. Sometimes it bothers me that
I get called out all the time, Well UWK won't
even touch this one. Oh, she won't touch this one.
She won't touch this one. People come up with some
weird reasons why. The main reason is I don't have
the staff. We can't do everything. I remember when Woody
(32:46):
had asked me, what is the one thing that really
bothers you? I responded with, I can't get to everybody.
There's no way I can get to everybody.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
But you're not asking of all other medias to get
to you guys. Yeah, and we do our absolute level best,
but there's no way we can get to everyone.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Well, you know what's amazing to me in the time
that I've been involved with you in your business is
people will sit down and they will talk to you
right here in the studio and you'll ask them, you
know what made you talk to me today, and they said,
because we trust you. And y'all, I cannot tell you
(33:27):
the amount of times that comes out of people's mouths
that sit across from Karen and talk to her about
some of the most personal things in life period and
you're the only one they will talk to.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
The odd thing is, I don't know the why you
asked the question a second agoing I digressed and told
you this story. We can't get to everybody. But the
truth is, I don't know why.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
I think it's because they trust you.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
But why.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Well, because you're Kieran Challa and you you just have
a way about reporting and that's a feather in your cap.
That is what you have earned over twenty plus years
in journalism, and.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
I'm blessed for that. I don't understand the why. Yeah
I don't, because this is the journalism I was taught
how to do twenty years ago by the veterans at WW. Well.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Yeah, well that's some pretty good people to learn.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
They are they are to tell you that.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Let's talk about Louisiana Filtered. So one thing that I
personally love about Kieran's podcast is look in the news world.
You you know, you can't sometimes tell an entire story.
You have to cut it. You're limited, right, You're you
know it's a five minute segment or a ten minute segment.
(34:58):
Maybe they're so I'm much more behind that story that
people don't hear on a traditional news outlet because of
time limitation greed. So whey podcast is adventagious to not
only the person reporting it, but also the person in
(35:19):
taking that information is there is no limit. You're gonna
get the entire story. What I love about yours is
a lot of times it's you'll report a crime of
some sort that occurred on Unfiltered with Karen, and then
you'll do a podcast with the victims of that crime
(35:42):
or the families of the victim if it was someone
you know. Sadly, some of these people have been murdered,
and it might be the families of that victim, but
you get the actual story from the actual people involved,
and it's you know, it's the entire story. It's thirty
(36:03):
forty fifty minutes of an interview, and you are such
a good interviewer. It just flows. It goes that quick.
But it's a podcast that just opens up a whole
another avenue for your media company. Would you agree?
Speaker 3 (36:22):
I agree? And you know this better than anybody. I
was not for starting a podcast.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
No, she did.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
She wanted one more thing on her plate.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
I did not. Like we were and a half years
in and they they ganged up on me. They said,
we have to do a zoom meeting real quick. The
staff did, and Farren and Daniel came up and said,
let's do this. All you got to do is show
up at the studio and record one day, one hour
a week. The rest we're going to do it. Yeah,
(36:52):
And how do I say no to that?
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:54):
So finally I'm like, okay, I guess. And we launched
in this year and then you came in there and
you probably regret that now.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Nope, sure, but.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
I'm not gonna lie, Jim. They're with as busy as
we are with unfiltered and just day to day news.
It's hard. I mean, my phones are both literally sitting
here are ninety five percent of the time whenever we
do these podcasts because I'm out of the mix. Sure
for that one hour, hour and a half whatever, I'm
out of the mix. So if breaking news is happening,
I'm missing it. But my point is, these interviews are
(37:30):
set up, and on the drive here, I'm thinking, why
why am I doing this? I don't have the time.
Do we really have the time. But then when I
sit here and I start talking to these people, and
when it finishes, it's this complete opposite feeling of wow,
(37:51):
yeah that And I know that many a times you're
right here. Many at times it's their first time ever
speaking up. Sometimes it's been seven years, eight years, nine years,
ten years, only year, but they feel relieved. For me
to sit on that side and be doing the interview
and see that relief, it's just this whole.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
And at that very moment, I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Like, I love this. Yes, yeah, And look she is
exactly describing it accurately as it as it happens. But
it is. It is something that not everybody's made for podcasting.
I knew Kieran was, and you know a lot of newspeople.
(38:38):
It's a natural progression for most of them. But what
separates you, what makes you different is the trust that
these people have in you and some of them that
We've had people that Kieran has sat down in here
that have never talked to anybody Nope, and they will
only talk to Kieran. And I can tell you it's
(39:00):
an amazing podcast. And number one, I would encourage everyone
to go checking out. I know there's a little bit
of confusion with what we can't find it, you know
under Unfiltered with care Well, it's separate. It's Louisiana Unfiltered.
So I want to make that clear. But I also
want to make something else clear. There's a series right
(39:21):
now playing on there that is absolutely fire.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
I'm so proud of.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
That one amazing series. Tell people about it.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Our staff has killed that series. They've done such a
good job on it. But that was another one where
people spoke of for the very first time. We did
almost I think it's going to end up being a
four part series into the ACCU serial killer Ryan Sharp.
He was operating in East Flea Shanna Parish and East
Mountain Roach Parish back in twenty seventeen. This manreaked havoc
(39:56):
for that area. But I remember it so well, I
can't remember things now and for some reason, I remember
every single trip to East Fleciana Parish seven years ago.
Long story short, four people, four men were shot, three
of them died, and he was eventually caught, and he
said that he was told by the federal government that
(40:17):
he was he had hunting tags and he had to
fulfill those tags, so that's why he was killing the men. Well,
his trial just wrapped up, but our staff did an
amazing job interviewing all the victims. The victim, including the
person who survived buck Hornsby survived. Those families haven't spoken
(40:38):
to anybody else. We had the sheriff, we had the
chief deputy, we had the Eastboundery Sheriff's office walking us
through how they got him, how they had a clear
line of fire in case it was needed as they
took down this guy, things like that that I'm sitting
on your side, and as I'm hearing this, I'm thinking,
oh my god, I can't believe they just said that.
(41:00):
Where the families are talking and opening up for the
very first time, the wives, the father in laws, the kids. Yeah,
and Daniel and Farren took all of that and just
pieced it into this beautifully written story that is in
multiple parts. In fact, when I was in East Fleecy
and a parish covering the trial, I had people telling me,
(41:21):
oh my god, you leave me hanging every time. Why
can't you just drop all of them at the same time.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
You're always going to get those and look, I get
them on my side too. It's it's some people just
hate to wait, yeah, and all of that. Unfortunately, you know,
sometimes you just can't. You can't tell the whole story
in one hour. So one of the things interesting about
this series, and incidentally, y'all, it's called Hunting Games genius name,
(41:47):
but one of the things interesting about it is that
it is highly produced. It's got the theatrical background music
with it, and none of that stuffs the easy. Shout
out to Dan Brown who did a great job of
intertwining that music into that series. And look, y'all, this
(42:08):
lady sitting across from me right now. You cannot impress
her no matter what you try to do. And it
is actually on fire. The numbers look really, really good,
and I'm not surprised to bet it's a phenomenal series.
Definitely go check it out and you can find that.
(42:28):
You can get the website at um Filtered with Karen.
You can find it there. You can check out the
Facebook page, and of course everybody study promoting that great
series and you should be very proud.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
Of I am. The staff did an awesome job on
this one. And we've the fourth part that is being
written right now. I kind of don't you want to
reveal it, but we've got our hands on something that
you're going to hear from the suspected killer himself. And
I'm still calling him suspected though.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yeah he's convicted.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
He's victed in one case. You still got three more
to go, so I guess convicted a que serial killer.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Yeah, there you go. That sounds good to me. A
couple more questions. First, I might ask you some fun facts.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would
you get?
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Where would you Colorado?
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Colorado?
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Anywhere in the world, anywhere in the world.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
You going to Colorado? Well, Colorado's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
Yellow Stone it's so peaceful there. Technically that's not Colorado.
I guess we flew into Denver, so that's why I
have Colorado. But yes, so I meant to say Yellowstone.
It's just so peaceful.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
My wife a Yellowstone.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
Well, Wendy, I'm going to give you the list for
Jim to take you to second I see, I told me, yep,
call me Wendy. No, but Yellowstone is gorgeous. We love
to travel, yeah, but the peace you get just seeing nature,
it was. It was so pretty anywhere in the world though,
(44:04):
I don't know. I mean my nationality is Indian. Yeah,
I love going back to India and seeing that side
of my culture, my life. I love to travel.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yeah, so I'm not.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
I can't sit here until you have a favorite spot.
If I had to right now, it's Yellowstone, Colorado, the mountains,
It's just Estes Park. It's so pretty.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
Well I got to check those out, and personally for me,
Iceland or New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
Iceland is where we were actually planning to go in October,
and then we ended up calling it off because I
was like, I think it needs a little more planning.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a big one.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
If you can have any superpower in the world, what would.
Speaker 3 (44:50):
You pick more time in the day.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Wow? And you answered that really fast. Yes, so if
you could add an extra.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Hour more, yeah, each day, I have like thirty six hours. Yes,
I agree.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
I can relate there. I get that one hundred percent.
Kieren Challill, thank you for coming on and spending a
little time with us. I know your time is valuable. Folks.
We're going to link every single thing you can possibly
think of in the description as podcast or website. Will
link her Facebook, her TikTok. Y'all go check out her TikTok.
(45:25):
It's great if your people, if you have a type
of person into that short form content, you can't beat it.
So go check that out. And I think you too much.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Thank you. And the YouTube nowadays, well everybody to us
start TVs, pull up our channel on your TV. I mean,
we've got documentaries up there, award winning documentaries. So our
TV channel is our YouTube on Filtered with Karen. Very good, Jim,
I'm going to take over this podcast for a quick second.
That thank you. Thank you for what you do. You
(45:58):
also chase your dream. And the reason that you and
I get along so well is the other day the
interview I did, he even said, it's the people who
you surround yourself with and that's who you become. I
am blessed to call you my friend. We met for work,
but immediately something clicked and we became friends. But you
(46:19):
just are a generally good human being with a great heart,
and you, if you're rising, you're not going by yourself.
You're taking your friends with you. So thank you for
having me on and thank you for being very punch.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
You're gonna make me blessed.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
You did that to me earlier.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
So there. If if you'd like to check out more
from local leaders of the podcast, please do so. We
are obviously in audio form, but our big, big platform
is YouTube, so go to YouTube give us a follow
if you haven't done so. Thank you to our sponsor again,
Leveled Dumpsters, and until next time, I'm Jim Chapman. You
(47:00):
love your community, support local business, and keep leading. Thank
you very much,
Hi, this is Lori Johnson with Hancock Whitney Bank, and
you're listening to Local Leaders the podcast. Visit Local leadersthepodcast
dot com for previous episodes or for information on peering
on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, before we get started, I want to thank our
sponsors for this podcast, the amazing people at Level Dumpsters. Look.
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(00:59):
off right now for new customers. Level Dumpsters a verified
partner of Local Leaders of podcasts. Now. I've been looking
forward to this podcast for a very long time, y'all.
I'm excited about this one, and I'll tell you why.
Go on Facebook and type in Unfiltered with Karen and
(01:19):
you'll discover a very active page with over one hundred
and fifty two thousand subscribers, her TikTok nearly one hundred
thousand in her website, millions of collects. She is one
of those investigative journalists that is going to get to
the truth and give you the straight facts. That's what
(01:39):
a reputation is. Let me give you a little bit
more about our background. Her journalism career began as a
senior in high school with a two week trial internship
at WWLLEN, New Orleans, and in those two weeks a
mentor told her that he saw the newsbug had already
bitten her and there was no turning back. Those two
weeks extended into a full senior year internship that in
(02:03):
turn a part time job, and after college it became
full time. Then fourteen years ago, she got into the
investigative side of journalism and gained a reputation of being
absolutely fearless. She has won fourteen regional and three national
Edward R. Murrow Awards and four Emmy Awards. She is
(02:27):
a Louisiana Association a Broadcaster Reporter of the Year, an
Associated Press Newsperson of the Year and get this, y'all
two two five magazine's Best local news Personality in twenty
twenty two, twenty twenty three, and twenty twenty four. And
if all that is not enough, three years ago, a
(02:49):
shocking event in her life prompted her to launch Unfiltered
with Kieren, and through that she has built a media
empire to include her most recent edition with her podcast,
Louisiana Unfiltered. She is hands down the most recognizable news
personality in the entire state of Louisiana. She is here
today and I can only be talking about the amazing
(03:12):
Kiaran Shaula. Welcome to Local Leaders of podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Thank you, good Lord. That intro chill.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Look. If y'all know Kieren she is she is very
humble to say the least, and so she does not
like to be doted on when it comes to her accolades.
Totally earned and totally you know the facts of the facts,
Giaran Shalla, and that is the facts. We are glad
(03:40):
to have you here today. And my first question is
going to be I want you to kind of go
back to we talked about high school. You were in
the news realm, the bug bit you, and then you
went to college and you finally got out there and
got full time in news.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You know what the odd thing is now, Jim, I
have interns at Unfiltered with Kieren who are in high school.
In fact today is he's a senior now and the
parking spot, the crown, all of that. But that excitement
that sparkle in his eyes and he's one of our interns,
(04:18):
and I'm reminded of what it was like, you know,
sometime ago, but just a few years ago. But I'm
taken back to this was you, this was you a
billion years ago, it feels like. But I see that
spark and it's actually brought back. There are days when
(04:41):
we work crazy hours. I've come in here and been like, Jim,
I'm dead to the world. But he's brought back that
spark in a sense of like, this is why you
got into it. And I love till this day. I
love what I do. I love the team we have.
But yeah, I started in high school and in fact,
I used to to just a small little job. You're
(05:02):
in high school. I used to teach dance, and I
think a lot of people don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
That I.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Used to teach dance to little girls. I was one
of the teachers at Creative Dance in slide El, Louisiana,
and I had girls from two three years old all
the way up to high school girls. Frank Davis, I
don't know if people even remember him, but naturally no
Leans from New Orleans from WWLL. His grandson actually took
(05:32):
classes there and I grew up watching him, and I
just got to talking to him that what it's like
being at WWL, which was back then the CBS affiliate
there was like the station you watched. Got to talking
as far as news goes, and I said, I wish
I could get my foot in the door and just
see what it's like. Just see it. It's all I
(05:54):
wanted at that point, and he goes, well, let me
let me put connect you with the HR person. So
senior year of high school, North Shore High they allowed
people to do internships, but the internships were pretty much set.
You could go do the medical direction or I think
teaching was the other one. Why didn't care to do either?
(06:15):
So in typical care and fashion, I went and paved
my own path that can I do something else? If
they sign off on it? We all sign off on it.
So I had the introduction made with HR, and I
went and asked HR at WWL that this is something
I think I may want to pursue, and they said,
(06:37):
we don't allow internships for high schools. They said that,
but why don't we do a two week trial. Let's
see if you like it, and more importantly, let's see
if the newsroom is okay with you. So two weeks
in and I'm in love. Like it took two weeks
and the mentor who I'm talking about, Bill Capo, he
(06:59):
told me early. He goes, I can see that news
bug has bit you. He goes, I'd love to try
to tell you things that don't do this profession, which
now I see the reasons of don't do it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
But two weeks in I go in and go meet
with the HR guy again and he explains that, what
do you think? So I'm trying not to be over
crazy that oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
I'm trying to be professional like, oh it's nice. Yeah,
and he goes, well, the newsroom down there they love you.
So I'm thinking, really, in the two weeks, I've made
that impression and the rest is history.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And you know, it's caring it. It is a different
field in a lot of ways, especially when you're that young.
Maybe maybe you don't look at it the same way
as you do as you get older. But it's not
ours like people go to a job and it's nine
to five and that job is so not that it's not.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
In fact, I loved it. I did, and I guess
back then I didn't see that because I had to
go fulfill my hours for school. But for school, you're
required to do what four hours? Three hours? How many
ever it is, I wasn't doing just the minimum. If
I'm going at two o'clock, well, the news doesn't go
on till five and six o'clock, I'm required to fill
(08:19):
three or four hours. What am I learning If I
only stay till five. I stayed till seven. Or if
you're sent out with a reporter and a photographer and
you're on breaking news, they're not driving back just to
drop you off. You're stuck. But you would think you're stuck.
You're getting the experience of a lifetime. That journalism is
one of those careers you do not learn out of
(08:41):
a book. And so I have this internship. I'm doing
it simply for credit. It's not money or anything. I
get out of high school and I got my very
first job. Ever. It's a part time job while I'm
going to college at Loyola University. I gave up all
my weekends, so I worked Friday, Saturday, Sun nights during college.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
During college, everybody else is party.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Everybody's party, And in fact, this is how much of
a loser I was. We'd get off the news at
ten o'clock and ww well is right in the quarter.
It's towards the end of you walk two three blocks.
You're on Bourbon Street, the Blacksmith Bar. That was the
hangout for all the Channel four people. Ten forty five
eleven we were. We were all off at eleven o'clock.
(09:26):
We're all walking to the Blacksmith. I'm the youngest of
the group, and I'm the only one who sing I'm
going home. You know, I've just never been that drinker partier.
I'd go hang out because at first I'm like, I'm
gonna come across as a loser, or maybe I do
(09:48):
need to be hanging out and working with some of
these people. But by midnight, I'm thinking I'm struggling. Oh
I'm struggling I've just never been a big night owl.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah. During that internship, I'm sure you learn many different
aspects of the news. Did you do pretty much everything
from setting up a camera?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
And I did not learn setting up a camera.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
The business has changed so much in giving away my
age twenty two years twenty two years ago, as a reporter,
you didn't have to shoot your own stuff, so I
wanted to do reporting, and as an intern, I never
had to learn how to do my own videography. I
learned how to edit, but I never had to learn
(10:33):
how to do my own videography. Now, everybody going in
as a first time reporter, you're a one man band, sure,
meaning you have to shoot, edit, do everything on your own.
And truth be told, times have changed so much for
new reporters coming in because you don't only have the
television aspect. You have a digital aspect that is requiring
(10:54):
you to do now. Yes, but your boss is requiring
you to do television. Yeah, and you're torn. You're basically
doing You're a photographer, you're an editor, you're a reporter,
you're a digital writer. Four jobs, one salary.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Wow, And you know technology the way it has advanced.
I mean when you started in news, you were probably
still free handing a lot of time.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And we were still tape to tape editing, which people
may not even know what that means. Now it's so
easy to edit with digital editing. But back then, if
you have a murder and the script says you're edited,
piece says I don't know the name of the suspect
is not known at this time, but at four point
(11:41):
thirty they put out a press release saying, the name
of the person is this. The photographer now has to
go back and find that one clip re edit that.
But then you have to re edit everything after that. Yeah,
tape to tape, that's all. And I mean it was crazy.
Now you think about that, it's as simple as hurry up,
go retrack it, drop it in.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Not back then, you graduate from Lola.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I did. In fact, Katrina came what would have been
my junior year. I should have been class of seven,
but I got out a year early. I had enough
credits in high school that counted towards college. But then
so I only really needed one more semester, and Katrina
(12:29):
had shut down all of New Orleans Loyola's flooded. I
came to LSU for that one semester. Life is upside down.
I don't know where I'm going. The house is flooded,
like Katrina was just a rough time and you covered that.
I did. I covered it, I lived it. My own
house is underwater, my school is underwater. My WWL went underwater.
(12:51):
So it's a hard time. You're twenty one, you're not
a night I'm lying. I was not twenty one yet.
I was only twenty because I ran in my twenty
first birthday covering a hurricane and we were on twelve
hour shifts and I here in Baton Rouge and I
ended up in the er for my twenty first birthday
because a frame fell on my head in the middle
(13:13):
of the night when it was my time to sleep.
Oh wow, that was my twenty first birthday.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Happy birthday, right.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So I've really given this profession a lot of my
personal time.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, you really have. And you know, it's it's a
whole different world than what normal people's lives and going
back and forth to work on like, like I said,
an eight to five job or nine to five job,
it is a news changes on the dime.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It does, And I'm sorry, I digress. That's what I
was trying to answer earlier. But just two days ago,
I was walking around in the house and I'm thinking,
you know, there's a special person made to cover news
and work in news, because, like you said, it's not
a nine to five job. In the mornings, I say, hey,
(14:06):
I'm going to go do my two mile walk or
I'm going to work out. That's a good idea. Well,
what if there was a double shooting overnight. The first
thing you were doing in the morning is writing that up.
But then you need to confirm it. You need this,
you need that. Now it's been forty five minutes and
that's your walktime. Yeah, so there are times at twelve
thirty I've been working in the middle of the night.
(14:28):
I'll stay up till three o'clock working. But I love
what I do. Yeah, and I don't expect that from
every single person, right, but it's not a nine to
five job.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Let's move on to investigative journalism. And that was something
it's fourteen years ago that you got into, and investigative
journalism really took off around that time it did. That
was when it kind of really hit and it takes
a different type of reporter to do investigative journalism, you
have to be very you have to be corgeous because
(15:02):
a lot of times you are investigating things people don't
want you investigating. Quite frankly, you know somebody's probably on
the other side doing something wrong, and so it takes
a little courage, It takes a lot of I guess,
an inquisitive nature. Someone who likes to do puzzles and
figure doesn't surprise me a bit. For me, I remember
(15:26):
you back in those days, and I remember thinking, Wow,
this girl right here is good. What was it about
investigative journalism specifically that intragy.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I think there was an opening you had, Paul Gates
at waf For a long time, the market had kind
of settled as far as investigative journalism had not died down,
but it's slowed, and like you said, this is a
time when investigative journalism across the country's picking back up.
So I'm approached. I actually, when I first started a
(16:00):
w AFB, I was also the weekend anchor. They pulled
me off the anchor desk and they claimed that the
ratings were down, by the way, and so I came
off the anchor desk and I went full time as
a reporter, but in exchange it was about also meshing
(16:21):
investigative journalism. Sounds good, let's do it. And the very
first pieces that we did were things that were going
missing from LSU and Southern University and a cow went
missing from LSU. How do you lose a cow? That
was my no, that was my very first investigation, and
(16:44):
I mean again the bug bit, and I was hooked.
But from there, I mean, and that was one of
the easier ones. When I say easier, I mean like
to look at some documents and see, hey, you are
supposed to have X, Y Z and inventory and you're
missing this. Some investigations, there are times I worked for
(17:05):
months on pieces and we realized there's nothing here. Call
it quits, really, yep, because it's not worth it if
regardless if you spent months on it, or you spent
a bunch of money pulling records, but you find out
nothing was done wrong, there's nothing there, Yeah, drop it.
And I learned that lesson early on. In fact, I
(17:27):
remember spending three months investigating. I can't remember exactly what
it was, but we spent a lot of money on
it too, and a lot of time, and I had
to go to the news director and tell them there's
nothing here. Wow, we dropped it. But then after that
it just got It's kind of like when you start
a puzzle. You may do one hundred piece first, and
then you're like, oh, I can do a puzzle, Okay,
(17:47):
two hundred, two fifty. Eventually you're at that thousand piece puzzle.
And that's kind of how it became. And before I
knew it, I was so deep in for hardcore investigation
and we were making a difference. We are making a difference.
Should I say absolutely that I just fell in love
(18:09):
with holding people accountable and don't think you're above the
law because you have a badge or because you were
an elected official where you're a judge. Yeah, whatever, it
might be right.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And uh, you know, I've heard stories that sometimes your
I guess it's your camera cameraman, what do they call it,
videographer is holding you back by your shirt?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Oh my god. In fact, I still remember one of
my photographer and she's one of my closest friends. We're
actually out in Livingston doing some story and I think
a bunch of employees get let go. They never got
their last check. Well, those people count on that money.
They've got bills to pay and up. I'm very much
(18:57):
pro victim. That really hurts me that they did a
job pay them. So I knocked on the door. The
guy answers, we're rolling, and he tells me something and
it's none of your business what I do with the business.
And I just kept on asking questions. Are they going
to get paid? Are they going to get paid? Are
they going to get paid? And I've literally on the
(19:17):
back of my shirt, i feel somebody pulling, and I'm like,
who would be pulling me when I'm in the middle
of an interview, and it's her trying to grab me
by the shirt and just saying, let's go good because
he's already told me get off my property. Yeah, and
at that I should have known at that point, after
you've been told one time that's trespassing, after sure, And
(19:37):
I was just in the heat of the moment. I
had to get an answer for these people because they're
begging us to get an answer for them. Yeah, but yeah,
I've run her into polls. Yeah, it's been bad.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Some people. There will be hesitation. You're for example, you
went and you just knocked on that door. You just
knocked on that door, and and something is not right
with these people not getting paid and I'm gonna I'm
gonna get to the bottom of it. A lot of
people they would have they would be nervous about that, right,
Do you don't have that?
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Nope?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Wow, that's pretty awesome and perfect for this field, right
because if you had that, there's no way you'd be successful.
And you have seen a lot of success when you
when you started in news to now and I just
read you earlier that intro. I just did that intro.
Would you have imagined?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Never?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Really?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I never even saw myself owning my own company.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Never. And had you told me even five years ago
this is where you're gonna be, I would have laughed
at you.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Really.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I mean there are days I sit back. We just
celebrated our three year anniversary. But it's only been three years.
And we have a great company. We have a great staff.
The staff is who makes this as well as the
love and support what we have from the public because
they choose to come to us for their news.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
But we have a podcast, we have an app, We're
on all platforms, we have advertisers.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You have a website that is second to none.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Well, thank you. We just did a brand new website
and all that within three years. Yeah, I'm very proud
of that.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You should be.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
And I'll tell you this and we'll get into a
little bit of the new stuff that you have going on,
and I guess since you brought it up, we'll talk
about the website and I'll tell you one of my
favorite things about it is you can go to unfilteredkiron
dot com and if you're in Livingston Parish, maybe you
(21:45):
don't maybe, I mean, you may not care about something
going on and Plaquamin you can click on Livingston Parish
specifically and it will only have Livingston Parish articles, Livingston
Parish news. It won't have something out of Plaquemen. Now,
you can go to Plaquemen and you can collect that
if you want to see it, but it breaks it
(22:06):
down by parish. That's unique.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Yep, yep, And that's I have to give that credit
to Daniel Brown, one of our executive producer. He came
up with that idea. But even the advertisers on that
parish page are specific to that parish. So hopefully if
you live in the parish you're reading that content, you're
going to go support those advertisers. Yeah, and that's what
a lot as a small business. I wanted to make
(22:31):
sure we take care of other small businesses well. If
our supporters go support those advertisers, they are able to
keep continuing to support us.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
The world goes round and round.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That's exactly right. And when you started Unfiltered with Karen
three years ago, uh, nerves scared?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Not at all? No, wow, not at all, because I
think that is well known. I was fired. I applied
for jobs, applied for jobs. It's deep COVID, and I
had doors closed in my face NonStop. And I was done.
I was done being told no. I don't like being
(23:14):
told I can't do something right. And times were changing,
times were changing so much in news. So I told myself,
let's you have this idea in your head. It may
sound stupid that your channel channel is on YouTube instead
of a TV. Let's do it. What's the worst that
(23:35):
can happen? It doesn't work, Okay, sounds good, and you
give it a year. If it doesn't take off in
a year, you call it quits and you go to plan.
By at that time, I had no idea what a
plan B was. I still don't know what plan B
would be, but what was the worst that could have happened?
It didn't work right, and it sure did and it
(23:56):
somehow did it did.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
And took off almost I wouldn't must say immediately you
really saw some traction with it. And you know, you
picked an interesting name because you picked unfiltered with Kieran.
Now that time in the news conventional news world, there
(24:19):
were glaring issues with you know, the news just not
being what it used to be, agenda based right, and
especially a lot of these larger networks, and a lot
of people did not want that. They felt like they
were being lined to quite frankly, and being manipulated by
(24:40):
the news media. You launched Unfiltered with Kieren, and I
think unfiltered is kind.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Of the key and the odd thing though Jim is like, again,
God has guided this path from the very beginning, but
me launching unfiltered from the in fact the day I
know this is everybody listening is watching the video. But
the logo that I created it's not perfect. I know
(25:08):
it's not perfect. It's pretty good, but not according to
Daniel No, I know it's not. My magnifying glass doesn't
magnify the on I get it. But the reason this
has so much meaning is I did an interview and
I'm on a zoom call with a station for about
(25:29):
almost forty five minutes yea. And the look on his
face because I never hid the fact that I was terminated,
I wasn't gonna lie to anybody, and so when he
asked me that your best investigation in the last six months,
IS said, I haven't been employed in the last six months.
And the look on his face was just like do what.
But in that moment, when I saw his eyes get
(25:50):
that much bigger, I decided I'm done. I'm done applying
for jobs, and I went inside and I created this
logo that very night. Now, Grant, the logo wasn't like
this to begin with. I had friends who told me no,
I had Halloween eyes on it, and they're like, uh uh,
But this is the one I created that night, and
(26:11):
I'm thinking, okay, if you're going to start your company,
the name just came to me one day that if
I were to start it, I'm literally driving out of
the house. The name came to me like that, unfiltered
with Kiaren, and it stuck. I did not spend hours
and hours and hours thinking about this. It just came
to me like that that was God. But even our
slogan the news you deserve unfiltered, same thing. That was
(26:35):
the thought process of you know what, I want to
do something to where it's the news that the people deserve,
and the slogan came to me like I firmly believe
that was God saying here, this is what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah, amazing. And you know Daniel Brown, who you mentioned
rockstar on his own right, he is what he does,
he does extremely well, and uh, he came to work
for you. And one of the things that he said
that I that really appealed to me was, Uh, when
(27:13):
I saw what Kieren was doing, she wasn't just reporting
the news, she was telling a story. That's a big difference.
That's a big difference. And it sounds simple, but when
you're out there and you're just reporting and so and
so was shot at this place or whatever, and you're
(27:35):
out there and you're telling not only the story of
the shooting, but you're you're focusing on the victims, You're
you're putting faces to names, it matters. It makes a difference.
And that appealed to him and one of the reasons
that he wanted to get involved. You're You're not only
well known for your reporting, you're also well known for
(27:57):
your community involvement. You believe giving back. You sit on
a board for is it CALEH and tell people who
are unaware of what that is.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
CALIFF is an amazing nonprofit Capital Area law enforcement foundation.
It came about after the twenty sixteen ambush on law
enforcement and we raise money for the vests, the Angel
Armor vest that protect police officers, sheriff's deputies, any law
enforcement against higher powered rounds. And in fact, our the
(28:32):
Angel Armor vest just saved a deputy in the East
bountin Roote sheriff shooting a few months ago, two officers
were shot. This deputy realized well after the fact that
he had been shot because the bullet was stuck in
his vest.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
So I know what we're doing is making a big difference.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
It sure is. And you also partner with Dudley Debojer
and you'll do difference makers.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
We do. I love that One Difference Maker is a
series that Dudley de Boecher has always done difference Makers,
but we partnered up with the people in the community
who have a need, they fill out a nomination for him.
It goes straight to Dudley de boser. They choose who
they're going to be able to help given how much
the cost is. But so far we have replaced a roof.
(29:19):
This lady. Her neighbor recommended her. She was pregnant, she
was expecting, her boyfriend died in a shooting, and she
had no way to compensate for what was coming. Dudley
de Bocher stepped in and brought in all sorts of
things and we are able to go interview that family.
(29:39):
While we're in the middle of the interview, Chad and
Steve walk up and surprise them. And usually I'm just
holding back tears because we need that. And I highly
respect Chad and Steve, which is half the reason for
the partnership, because they actually are the people who give
back to the community.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah. Yeah, well, it's it's a beautiful program. And you
can actually go to Unfiltered with Karen and you can
click on Difference Makers and you can go back and
check out you can the articles and whatnot. Let me
ask you, in all your years of reporting, it is
there one particular story or two that stick out to
(30:22):
you that more than others that you really enjoyed reporting on,
or maybe it changed you in some sort of.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Way, good, bad, ugly, what.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Whatever you stand out to you.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I mean, I know the investigation series I did on
Mayor Broom. It was the Brave grant that was a
big one. And then recently we just did the water
sewage fee and because of our reporting, it was discovered
that there was no non disclosure when it came to
(30:59):
the water fee that was going to be pretty much
taxed to all of East Benton Ridge Parish. They refused
to answer questions, saying there was a federal non disclosure
and it prevented them. Federal government came back and said,
we don't even know of a non disclosure the water
I keep calling it water sewage fee. I can't remember
the exact terminology of it, but it was taken off
(31:22):
to where it's not even an item to consider anymore.
And then back in seventeen sixteen, I can't remember what
year it was, but a major federal grant that we got.
My investigation showed that a lot of the money that
was coming in was being handed out to friends and
political allies, and we shut that federal grant down. But
(31:48):
that really proved to me hardcore investigative journalism does make
a difference. It really does, because in the grant situation,
that's our tax dollars. That's all of our tax dollars.
When it's a federal grant, it comes back to us.
But then in the water sewage story, there were some
people who were going to get tax ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
People can't afford that.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
No, they can't. No, how important is trust in what
you did?
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Oh my god, it's huge. Sometimes it bothers me that
I get called out all the time, Well UWK won't
even touch this one. Oh, she won't touch this one.
She won't touch this one. People come up with some
weird reasons why. The main reason is I don't have
the staff. We can't do everything. I remember when Woody
(32:46):
had asked me, what is the one thing that really
bothers you? I responded with, I can't get to everybody.
There's no way I can get to everybody.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
But you're not asking of all other medias to get
to you guys. Yeah, and we do our absolute level best,
but there's no way we can get to everyone.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Well, you know what's amazing to me in the time
that I've been involved with you in your business is
people will sit down and they will talk to you
right here in the studio and you'll ask them, you
know what made you talk to me today, and they said,
because we trust you. And y'all, I cannot tell you
(33:27):
the amount of times that comes out of people's mouths
that sit across from Karen and talk to her about
some of the most personal things in life period and
you're the only one they will talk to.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
The odd thing is, I don't know the why you
asked the question a second agoing I digressed and told
you this story. We can't get to everybody. But the
truth is, I don't know why.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
I think it's because they trust you.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
But why.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Well, because you're Kieran Challa and you you just have
a way about reporting and that's a feather in your cap.
That is what you have earned over twenty plus years
in journalism, and.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
I'm blessed for that. I don't understand the why. Yeah
I don't, because this is the journalism I was taught
how to do twenty years ago by the veterans at WW. Well.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Yeah, well that's some pretty good people to learn.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
They are they are to tell you that.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Let's talk about Louisiana Filtered. So one thing that I
personally love about Kieran's podcast is look in the news world.
You you know, you can't sometimes tell an entire story.
You have to cut it. You're limited, right, You're you
know it's a five minute segment or a ten minute segment.
(34:58):
Maybe they're so I'm much more behind that story that
people don't hear on a traditional news outlet because of
time limitation greed. So whey podcast is adventagious to not
only the person reporting it, but also the person in
(35:19):
taking that information is there is no limit. You're gonna
get the entire story. What I love about yours is
a lot of times it's you'll report a crime of
some sort that occurred on Unfiltered with Karen, and then
you'll do a podcast with the victims of that crime
(35:42):
or the families of the victim if it was someone
you know. Sadly, some of these people have been murdered,
and it might be the families of that victim, but
you get the actual story from the actual people involved,
and it's you know, it's the entire story. It's thirty
(36:03):
forty fifty minutes of an interview, and you are such
a good interviewer. It just flows. It goes that quick.
But it's a podcast that just opens up a whole
another avenue for your media company. Would you agree?
Speaker 3 (36:22):
I agree? And you know this better than anybody. I
was not for starting a podcast.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
No, she did.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
She wanted one more thing on her plate.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
I did not. Like we were and a half years
in and they they ganged up on me. They said,
we have to do a zoom meeting real quick. The
staff did, and Farren and Daniel came up and said,
let's do this. All you got to do is show
up at the studio and record one day, one hour
a week. The rest we're going to do it. Yeah,
(36:52):
And how do I say no to that?
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:54):
So finally I'm like, okay, I guess. And we launched
in this year and then you came in there and
you probably regret that now.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Nope, sure, but.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
I'm not gonna lie, Jim. They're with as busy as
we are with unfiltered and just day to day news.
It's hard. I mean, my phones are both literally sitting
here are ninety five percent of the time whenever we
do these podcasts because I'm out of the mix. Sure
for that one hour, hour and a half whatever, I'm
out of the mix. So if breaking news is happening,
I'm missing it. But my point is, these interviews are
(37:30):
set up, and on the drive here, I'm thinking, why
why am I doing this? I don't have the time.
Do we really have the time. But then when I
sit here and I start talking to these people, and
when it finishes, it's this complete opposite feeling of wow,
(37:51):
yeah that And I know that many a times you're
right here. Many at times it's their first time ever
speaking up. Sometimes it's been seven years, eight years, nine years,
ten years, only year, but they feel relieved. For me
to sit on that side and be doing the interview
and see that relief, it's just this whole.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
And at that very moment, I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Like, I love this. Yes, yeah, And look she is
exactly describing it accurately as it as it happens. But
it is. It is something that not everybody's made for podcasting.
I knew Kieran was, and you know a lot of newspeople.
(38:38):
It's a natural progression for most of them. But what
separates you, what makes you different is the trust that
these people have in you and some of them that
We've had people that Kieran has sat down in here
that have never talked to anybody Nope, and they will
only talk to Kieran. And I can tell you it's
(39:00):
an amazing podcast. And number one, I would encourage everyone
to go checking out. I know there's a little bit
of confusion with what we can't find it, you know
under Unfiltered with care Well, it's separate. It's Louisiana Unfiltered.
So I want to make that clear. But I also
want to make something else clear. There's a series right
(39:21):
now playing on there that is absolutely fire.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
I'm so proud of.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
That one amazing series. Tell people about it.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Our staff has killed that series. They've done such a
good job on it. But that was another one where
people spoke of for the very first time. We did
almost I think it's going to end up being a
four part series into the ACCU serial killer Ryan Sharp.
He was operating in East Flea Shanna Parish and East
Mountain Roach Parish back in twenty seventeen. This manreaked havoc
(39:56):
for that area. But I remember it so well, I
can't remember things now and for some reason, I remember
every single trip to East Fleciana Parish seven years ago.
Long story short, four people, four men were shot, three
of them died, and he was eventually caught, and he
said that he was told by the federal government that
(40:17):
he was he had hunting tags and he had to
fulfill those tags, so that's why he was killing the men. Well,
his trial just wrapped up, but our staff did an
amazing job interviewing all the victims. The victim, including the
person who survived buck Hornsby survived. Those families haven't spoken
(40:38):
to anybody else. We had the sheriff, we had the
chief deputy, we had the Eastboundery Sheriff's office walking us
through how they got him, how they had a clear
line of fire in case it was needed as they
took down this guy, things like that that I'm sitting
on your side, and as I'm hearing this, I'm thinking,
oh my god, I can't believe they just said that.
(41:00):
Where the families are talking and opening up for the
very first time, the wives, the father in laws, the kids. Yeah,
and Daniel and Farren took all of that and just
pieced it into this beautifully written story that is in
multiple parts. In fact, when I was in East Fleecy
and a parish covering the trial, I had people telling me,
(41:21):
oh my god, you leave me hanging every time. Why
can't you just drop all of them at the same time.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
You're always going to get those and look, I get
them on my side too. It's it's some people just
hate to wait, yeah, and all of that. Unfortunately, you know,
sometimes you just can't. You can't tell the whole story
in one hour. So one of the things interesting about
this series, and incidentally, y'all, it's called Hunting Games genius name,
(41:47):
but one of the things interesting about it is that
it is highly produced. It's got the theatrical background music
with it, and none of that stuffs the easy. Shout
out to Dan Brown who did a great job of
intertwining that music into that series. And look, y'all, this
(42:08):
lady sitting across from me right now. You cannot impress
her no matter what you try to do. And it
is actually on fire. The numbers look really, really good,
and I'm not surprised to bet it's a phenomenal series.
Definitely go check it out and you can find that.
(42:28):
You can get the website at um Filtered with Karen.
You can find it there. You can check out the
Facebook page, and of course everybody study promoting that great
series and you should be very proud.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
Of I am. The staff did an awesome job on
this one. And we've the fourth part that is being
written right now. I kind of don't you want to
reveal it, but we've got our hands on something that
you're going to hear from the suspected killer himself. And
I'm still calling him suspected though.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yeah he's convicted.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
He's victed in one case. You still got three more
to go, so I guess convicted a que serial killer.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Yeah, there you go. That sounds good to me. A
couple more questions. First, I might ask you some fun facts.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would
you get?
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Where would you Colorado?
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Colorado?
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Anywhere in the world, anywhere in the world.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
You going to Colorado? Well, Colorado's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
Yellow Stone it's so peaceful there. Technically that's not Colorado.
I guess we flew into Denver, so that's why I
have Colorado. But yes, so I meant to say Yellowstone.
It's just so peaceful.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
My wife a Yellowstone.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
Well, Wendy, I'm going to give you the list for
Jim to take you to second I see, I told me, yep,
call me Wendy. No, but Yellowstone is gorgeous. We love
to travel, yeah, but the peace you get just seeing nature,
it was. It was so pretty anywhere in the world though,
(44:04):
I don't know. I mean my nationality is Indian. Yeah,
I love going back to India and seeing that side
of my culture, my life. I love to travel.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yeah, so I'm not.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
I can't sit here until you have a favorite spot.
If I had to right now, it's Yellowstone, Colorado, the mountains,
It's just Estes Park. It's so pretty.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
Well I got to check those out, and personally for me,
Iceland or New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
Iceland is where we were actually planning to go in October,
and then we ended up calling it off because I
was like, I think it needs a little more planning.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a big one.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
If you can have any superpower in the world, what would.
Speaker 3 (44:50):
You pick more time in the day.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Wow? And you answered that really fast. Yes, so if
you could add an extra.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Hour more, yeah, each day, I have like thirty six hours. Yes,
I agree.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
I can relate there. I get that one hundred percent.
Kieren Challill, thank you for coming on and spending a
little time with us. I know your time is valuable. Folks.
We're going to link every single thing you can possibly
think of in the description as podcast or website. Will
link her Facebook, her TikTok. Y'all go check out her TikTok.
(45:25):
It's great if your people, if you have a type
of person into that short form content, you can't beat it.
So go check that out. And I think you too much.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Thank you. And the YouTube nowadays, well everybody to us
start TVs, pull up our channel on your TV. I mean,
we've got documentaries up there, award winning documentaries. So our
TV channel is our YouTube on Filtered with Karen. Very good, Jim,
I'm going to take over this podcast for a quick second.
That thank you. Thank you for what you do. You
(45:58):
also chase your dream. And the reason that you and
I get along so well is the other day the
interview I did, he even said, it's the people who
you surround yourself with and that's who you become. I
am blessed to call you my friend. We met for work,
but immediately something clicked and we became friends. But you
(46:19):
just are a generally good human being with a great heart,
and you, if you're rising, you're not going by yourself.
You're taking your friends with you. So thank you for
having me on and thank you for being very punch.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
You're gonna make me blessed.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
You did that to me earlier.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
So there. If if you'd like to check out more
from local leaders of the podcast, please do so. We
are obviously in audio form, but our big, big platform
is YouTube, so go to YouTube give us a follow
if you haven't done so. Thank you to our sponsor again,
Leveled Dumpsters, and until next time, I'm Jim Chapman. You
(47:00):
love your community, support local business, and keep leading. Thank
you very much,
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