April 9, 2025 • 40 mins
In this episode, Leslie sits down with former NonStop Local KHQ Anchor, Stephanie Vigil, and former NonStop Local KHQ President, Patricia McRae. She takes an in-depth look at what made both women so successful within the broadcast news world, and dives deep into everything they are now doing in their 'Second Act' of life.
Hear more from The Leslie's Lowdown on Life Podcast on KHQ here: https://www.khq.com/podcasts/lowedown/
#LeslieLowe #LesliesLowedown #Leslie #Lowe #NonStopLocalKHQ #StephanieVigil #PatriciaMcRae
Hear more from The Leslie's Lowdown on Life Podcast on KHQ here: https://www.khq.com/podcasts/lowedown/
#LeslieLowe #LesliesLowedown #Leslie #Lowe #NonStopLocalKHQ #StephanieVigil #PatriciaMcRae
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Welcome to Leslie's Lowdown
on Live. I have two my favorite people in the
whole world here today, and you're gonna know them too,
and you're gonna know them even more after we're done.
But we have the former president of h Q, Patricia McCrae,
is here, and then Stephanie Vigel for remain anchor of
Cage Q Nonstopical is here as well. You guys, thank
you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
You're like, yeah, I just think this is so fun
because you guys are part of the foundation. Like you're
the foundation of this mighty Q that was built.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
She's the foundation. Yeah how many years?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Well, thirty thirty years, thirty years.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I was just shy of twenty five.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So she's the rash, she's the raw. But you guys
were babies when you started, so like what twelve yeah,
like that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Thing like that.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
But I love this because again part of the foundation.
And I called the Golden Era because I mean I
watched and I always wanted to work here and I
always want to work with both of you, and so
for me, it was a dream come true. But I
really want to talk about like just how everything got started,
what your journey was, and then I want to talk
(01:20):
about these second chapters, the second act that you are
both in right now, because I love your lives. Yeah,
all right, So Patricia Wshoe, Yeah yeah, so homegrown girl yep.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Born and raised in Spokane. Grew up in the Gonzaga District.
My dad was an avid Gonzega fan, you know, watched
John Stockton play in the old Gym. Went to Saint
Ala Wishes and you know, always knew I wanted to
go to w SHU. So graduated from there. My first
(01:57):
job was in Bakersfield, California, So I went all over
the country. I went to Bakersfield, I was in Reno,
San Jose, San Francisco, Miami. Ended up back in Reno,
which is my husband lured me back where I got
married and kind of trying to figure out where I
(02:18):
wanted to go next. Took a kind of sabbatical after Miami.
I was in Reno and Lawn Lee, who was my predecessor,
called me out of the blue and said, hey, what
would you think about coming to Spokane to be the
news director here? And I was like nope, grew up there,
(02:39):
never coming home.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
No, that's the way it goes.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
And he was like, oh, you grew up there, up
top of the list, and he goes, well, just just
fly up here and you know check it out and
you know, come see your mom. And you know, I'm like, okay,
a free trip home to see mom. I'll do that.
And I did. And this place was a disaster. It
(03:03):
was a disaster. We were up the old station up
on on Regal Street and.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
You know, like the home of the Jetsons.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
It did. Actually, the control room was a disaster. The
producer didn't even face the monitors to look at the anchors.
The producer was facing a wall and I walked in
and I'm like, no, I can't work here, I know.
(03:32):
And he was like, oh no, no, no, We're going
to change everything. And he had all these plans that
he was showing me. And I was like, I wonder
if this guy really means, if he really means what
he says he is going to do. This is pretty great.
So I went back to Reno and thought about it
and took the job. And I couldn't believe it, but
(03:56):
I took the job. My mom was like, take the job.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Was e static?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, so I took the job and that was well,
now I've been retired for two years, so I was
thirty two years ago, and you know, I never looked back.
I mean, he kept every single promise and that's the
reason that I stayed. And Betsy the Coles, they kept
(04:23):
every promise to me that Lon had made, and so
you know that's kind of the story. And you know,
I just I worked hard and ye lots of lots
of changes in the news department and rallied the troops
and wow, it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Was it was a nobody worked hard.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
It was a hard job. It was a hard would
you say that you kind of stepped into like a
man's world like that? Was it predominantly like men who
were running stations or news directors at that time?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh yeah, I mean I always, no matter every job
I was in my first news director's job, I was
twenty five, and it's a baby. It was always, you know,
I always got the article in the newspaper, the first
woman news director in the market in Reno, in San Jose,
in Miami. I mean it was almost hilarious because every
(05:20):
newspaper wanted to do this story on me, and I
didn't care. It didn't matter to me. I was like,
it doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman.
You just go in and you just do the job.
And I never I just am not that way because
I'm not one of those women who is like I
am a woman, you know. I like my car doors opened,
(05:42):
I like flowers. I'm just I'm not an activist.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
You're a hard worker.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
I'm just a hard worker with a vision. Yeah, And
so I just I'm not one of those that just
screams feminist.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Do not look at me, look at me. You're just
getting the job done and.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Just here to get the job done. And I get
along with men, and I think I get men and
I can play the politics. And that's why I got
where I. I think that's where I got where I was.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Did you want to be in front of the camera ever?
Did you always want to be behind the scenes?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I try once in Bakersfield. I I had a really
bad experience in Bakersfield. I was a reporter and my
very first out of the gate, had a bad experience
with a guy who was broke into my apartment and
(06:50):
it was my Yeah, it was not good.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
That's the scary side.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And I mean, I know what you guys go through, absolutely,
And I was there six months as a reporter and
this guy was just stalking me, and I was like,
I'm not doing this. I don't want to be on
this side of the camera. Plus I didn't really enjoy it.
I wanted more control of the show and putting things together.
(07:17):
I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the writing of all of it.
But it was a scary time when he broke into
my apartment and I came home from work one day
and my door was open a little bit and it
was my mom and dad said, you're done. You're out
of this business. You're not. This is not And so
(07:38):
I came home back to Spokane and from there I
was a producer.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
But I mean, that's your empathy for people that work
for you. I mean, honestly, you've always been super empathetic
as to what.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Oh I tell you, it's it's real. What you guys,
what you guys go through is real. There are crazy
people who.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Well you know, I mean, yeah, double soccers myself, and
you went through that with me.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, so anyway.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So so no, so no, you wanted to be behind
the scenes, but you have like you're a visionary. So
talk about that, because this is where we're going to
pull in, Stephanie, because you I mean, but being on
the other side of it and watching how I call
it chess pieces, You're always good about pulling the right
chess pieces together, don't you think? Oh, I mean, you're
just so good at being able to look at a
(08:29):
big picture and go, this is gonna work, and this
is gonna work. We're gonna try this. You have great foresight, Yes,
you do. So when you were putting your teams together,
talk about how that looked for you.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I don't know. I mean, it's I had a lot
of good people around me to help me, and I
think it it's that effort of team around you that
helps form those teams. And it's not just one person.
(09:05):
It can't be just one person. So you know, I thought,
I always thought I had a good eye for journalists
and you know, who looked good on camera, but who
was strong? Who was a strong journalist? I mean, you
have to have both. You can't just have eye candy,
(09:27):
but that's important. You have to have people that look
good that the audience connects with, connects with and and
they like what they see. I mean that's part of
our job. It entertains. That's a visual, it's an entertainment.
But you have to have the other side too. They
(09:48):
have to speak well, and they have to be a
journalist and they have to know what they're talking about,
so you know, you have to have that and I
and I felt like I because I was I was
a strong journalist. I had that strong journalist some side.
So I felt like I had that balance. And that's
why I chose.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Thank you, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
But I did reject her once did so I did
not know that.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yes, I left.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
She didn't even pick me, and I regretted it every day,
and so.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I got a second chance. Yes, it was meant to be.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I remember Patricia Clem back then, it wasn't. I wasn't married,
and I drove up to Reno from Sacramento and I
was on the radio that's where I started, and so
I wanted to make the transition to television, and so
we had interviewed.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
She ended up picking Troy Troy Hayden.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Troy Hayden, who was Alan Frio's sass and he was
hard copy right, Yes, Alan.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Fred this is like so long, so long ago.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
But it was right because you know, even that no
led me down another path and then eventually right back
to where I belong, which was.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
With you for twenty five years. Yes, I retired.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Oh, I still remember our interview here in Spokane. We
went to Clinker Daggers for dinner.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We went to Luna for lunch.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeh. Her husband Kevin was with us, and I remember
after dinner we went home and keV looks at me
and he goes, you better hire her. Yeah, I mean
he was just like, you better hire her. She has
got the full package. She is a sweetheart, she's smart,
and I'm like, yeah, we're hiring her. You know.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
The greatest thing ever is that when I talk about
my mentors, and I didn't have a mentor prior, you're
my mentor. You've always been through thick and thin. We've
had the best days, we've had the best ratings, we've
had the best seasons. But we also raised two children
and that were the exact same age well, I mean
weeks apart, and so when we would talk about it,
(12:06):
because we both worked hard, we both had very difficult
shifts to raise children, and so that was the one
thing I was like, she is not just my and
It wasn't like, hey, will you be my mentor. It
was like we had so many things in common, plus
we were doing the same life and we were on
the same team that it just became like, hey, I've
(12:26):
got this situation that I need help with, Like Okay,
let's let's talk it through or come to my house
or call me on the phone or whatever it might
be to the point where I'm like, oh my gosh,
you know, my mentor became one of my best friends, yes,
and biggest supporters.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
And I think as a manager, the most important thing
as a manager is you have to get to know
your employees. And you're you know, you spend more time
with your staff, yeah, than with your family, It's true.
And you have to get to know them and you
have to have empathy for your the people that you
(13:03):
are with, and if you don't know them and care
about their families, then you're not going to have a
successful business. And I don't care what business you're in, right.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
It's true.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I mean you have to allow your employees to live
their life with their families and care about that. And
they're going to have issues with their families absolutely, and
they're you know, so you're going to go through their marriages,
their births, their divorces, their sicknesses. You're going to go
(13:38):
through it all with them, parents' deaths, yes, all of
all of it. And hopefully you're going to go through
all of it because they're going to want to stay
with you through it all. And I think the thing
that I that I'm most proud of is I had
so many employees that stayed for years, I mean years,
(14:02):
and you know, and I look at I look at
businesses now and I look at the you know, the
staffs and the turnovers and the turnovers, and I wonder
why you know it's and is it a generational thing
or I don't. I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
You've got to care because their family should come first.
But a lot of times businesses think that they come
first because that's where you're making your money. But the
truth of it is is that sometimes you lose them
because they don't want to be with you, you don't
respect them, and that therefore you don't care much about
their families.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
So why would you stay someplace with your.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
And it starts from the top, it does, and you know,
the Coole's family, they really do care about their people,
and you know, sometimes they get a bad rap in
this community. But I got to tell you, I I
wouldn't have stayed thirty years. I mean they they treated
(15:05):
me like family, and if there was ever an issue
with my family or anything that I was going through,
it came first. I mean, it just absolutely came first.
And there's not a lot of broadcast companies out there
that no treat you that way, especially when you're at
that level. I mean it's cutthroat. And so I mean
(15:29):
I owe Betsy and Stacy so much for my career
because they treated me like family.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
They do, I mean, it is a family owned business.
They treat you like very yeah, left right, And then
you kind of carried that down to the rest of us,
meaning that if we had something going on, if there
was a bad moment, if there was something we needed
to work through, and I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
We've been three months, yeah, you know, I mean I
hit a wall. Yeah, I was like, you're and you
never said, well, well, you said we don't give three
months sabbaticals, But then you're like, well maybe we do,
you know.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And I was hard on people too, I mean definitely,
I mean there's a there's certain people that probably don't.
I didn't like what I you know, the way I managed,
and and you know what, but that's okay too, because
I wasn't here to be everybody's friend. I was here
to do a job, and I was being paid to
do a job. And sometimes, you know, you have to
(16:36):
be hard nosed and be the bad guy. And I
wasn't afraid to do that. But kind of like a.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Mom, well, you can't be your kid's best friend. Sometimes
you have to be.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
And there were days and I would go home and
it was hard days. There were hard days, you know,
when you have to let somebody go because they weren't
working to the standard of what you needed. But you know, yeah,
I'm glad some of those days are gone.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Oh yeah, no, you don't haven't worry about that anymore.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Those days are passing, for sure. Let's talk about so Stephanie.
I meant, you're right there, and I almost don't want
to let I don't want to open that door because
then that means you guys walk out and leave me again.
So Patricia, you got that second chance with Patricia. You
came here. You moved from northern California right Sacramento to Spokane, Washington,
(17:32):
and I remember watching you when you were pregnant with Jonathan.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
It was twenty six yesterday.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It was twenty three yesterday.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Oh my gosh, Nick and Annie are thirty thirty.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
We have thirty year olds.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Yeah, and it's not crazy, and it goes.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
They have the same daycare together, green Gables we have
we have pictures of them green Gables together.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Oh my gosh. It was awesome.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
So coming here was my first opportunity to anchor, and
then with Dan, it was just instant chemistry, like we
just had something that you couldn't buy. And I think
that that was really the foundation of.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
What we grew and built together.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
So three and a half years, I think it was
on the morning show and then the evenings.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And I think the Morning show they made They were
the first team I think in Spokane that made the
morning show what it became. It was hilarious, right, They
just let their personalities go, and we let them let
their personalities go.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Never complained about anything. You and Dan throwing snowballs at
the green screen, right, the.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Crazy you know, I just kept saying, this is great.
Do the news. Let the news be what it is,
be serious journalism, and then have fun because people in
the morning want to have fun and so we let
that breathe and I it just they created that format, right.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
It was awesome, It was and I loved it.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
And it was actually hard to transition to evenings because
evenings were so quick and you had to tell the
hard news. There really was no time to let anything
breathe because it was thirty minutes instead of a two
hour segment. So it was hard to almost transition and
then all of a sudden become so buttoned up and
serious when you were used to having a great time
(19:27):
in the mornings.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
But it is a different format. It really is a
different format to swing from mornings to night's having done
them both. Point if I talk about some of the
different people that have come in and out, because we
do see a lot of people who have come in
out of the characters.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I should have brought all the rosters of thirty years
of employees and put them all along.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Oh yeah, Dan and I used to say we should
have a drinking game and you just start naming off
people and as soon as someone pauses, like.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
There were yeah, but there are those that stand out,
Like I mean, I feel like Cage Q has just
put out some incredible talent. Yes, yes, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
I think we have fun, you know.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
I mean it's not it's a place where everyone likes
each other.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yea, so it makes it super easy. I haven't. There
hasn't been the competition that.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
It could be in some other stations, and the backbiting
or anything like that. That was never a part of
what we wanted. We just simply had a good time.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
It was like like minded people, and I think people
come here to grow, Yes, you know young.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
I mean, oh boy, I look in the newsroom now,
I don't recognize a single soul.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
No, they're just babies.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
They're babies.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
They're babies.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
They're so we were, yes, I know. And it goes
so fast, boy, it goes so fast. I remember when
you put Stephanie and I on the air together on evenings.
It was me, Stephanie and Dan, like, are we going
to get a call from Patricia like when we were
doing the ten and eleven because we would have way
(21:12):
too much fun.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
She probably fell asleep.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Us watching I watched, so I don't watch as many
newscasts anymore.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah. That's good for you though, And that's what I
love because you guys, you guys did this job to
the fullest right. You made this the best place it
could be, and you made everybody feel welcome. You taught people,
you grew people, You help them move along. You help
the people who are still here, me being one of them,
(21:47):
you know, want to continue to grow. And now you
were retired at the same time.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Basically yeah, which I'm shocked that. I know, when I did,
I know, Wow, I still that's still it was bold.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
It was bold, I mean especially because I was so
set up before I left. I mean, she you had
set me up. You're like, Okay, how many years do
you want? You know?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I mean, this is where.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
But when I went on my sabbatical and realized it
was time, you also gave me that opportunity to go
live another life, which I am and I absolutely love it.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
And I made the.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Decision a little bit more a knee jerk and sporadic. Yeah,
whereas yours was tigned out.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
We knew about it ahead of time.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I remember calling you after Annie Shawer and saying I
need to talk to you. And so it was, I
would say, for lack of a better word, and awakening,
I do.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Want to talk about that. So because now you guys
have both you've both left and you've got your second chapters,
but they're so different, but they're so fulfilling. And I
love watching you guys, so talk about that because now
you are an auctioneer.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
How did that happen?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Did that happen?
Speaker 4 (23:03):
You know?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
It's so funny.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
It happened because remember I was very much into pickleball,
and I was telling me apparel and I thought I
would love that, and creating the whole line was awesome.
But going down to San Diego and realizing that I
am not thirty twenty and I can't go do pop
ups like a young person anymore, and I'm a one
man band and I don't know how to make Instagram reels,
(23:28):
none of it. I was like, I hit a wall,
and hit a wall to the point where I was
like what now. It wasn't that I wanted to go back.
It was that I didn't know what to do going forward.
And so I had come to a point where I was,
I don't know, sad, depressed, shaky.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You know.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
My son Jonathan called me and I just melted and
I was like, I.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Don't know what I'm going to do.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
And then Nick must have felt it because he called
right after his brother and I was like, I need
to sit and think, you know, And so I just
spent some time really thinking about what am I good at?
What can I do? And I remember one of the
things that cage Q gave me was the ability to
give back to the community. So we had done so
(24:22):
many things for people in the community, and I always
felt so good about that afterward, and I'm like, Okay,
think about the nonprofits that you've helped over the years
and how that made you feel. You're not afraid to
be on the microphone. You can speak to people. And
so then I remember talking to Rose Banks, one of
the auctioneers in town. I was m seeing an event
(24:44):
with her and I looked over at her and I said,
when I grow up.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
I want to be like you.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
And I was like, I think I'm gonna go to
auctioneering school. So I went to college in Bozeman and
got certified to be an auctioneer. And literally that path
has led to so much many open doors windows, I
jump through them all, but have met so many people
and I'm so happy to say that, you know, I'm
making rent now. So how many events do you do,
(25:13):
like I'm I'm doing one up here this weekend. No
I had so last year. It's so funny. I mean,
going from being the main anchor at HQ to going, oh,
I'm making what I made when I was in my
twenties my.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Very first job last year.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
But happy to say that this year I've tripled my business.
A lot of it's on referrals, a lot of it
is retain business from last season, and so I have
a full schedule for next season where I'm almost completely
booked up.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
So every single season I see oh okay.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
So in the auctioneering world, it's mainly especially if you
do benefits and galas, it's three months on, three months off,
so it's spring and then fall. So now I'm doing
March April, May, then I have June, July, August off
I'm traveling, and then I do September, October, November, and
then I go back out to travel December, January, February.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
That's pretty sweet.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I kind of like that.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
I mean, get contract, I don't have to be here
for five, six, ten or eleven. It's a weekend gig,
but I like doing anything things like during the week
anyway without a big crowd, so if I'm going to
go do something, I'll just do it on a Wednesday
or a Thursday.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And you're good. You're a great auctioneer. You're like, it's
almost like, yeah, we did. We did an event together.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
You know why?
Speaker 1 (26:38):
You know why you could? You could get a drowning
man to drink ten gallons of water?
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Do you head? Talk fast?
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I try to.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
She does. She does, and she's just for some reason,
she's like, oh come on.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
I kind of drive them, kind of like I worked
a contract out with you.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I twisted your arm.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
You're gonna get me five years. Well, yeah, I get
five years.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
It's gonna give me five super fun I love making
money for good causes. Yeah, it's you know that that
whole adrenaline rush again almost like I got with breaking news.
I get that again with the whole thing, and I
don't know, it just gives me great pleasure, Like I
could do this until I'm seventy five years old.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Oh that's awesome. I know.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
It's a great second half.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
It's a great second half. And then you moved on
from like you were everywhere you traveled all over the
I don't you were. Sometimes I was like, do you
know what timeson your because you were so all over
the place and managing so many different things. And now
you're just grammy, right, I.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Am just scrammy. I have a boring life.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
And I love my life. Yes, yep, I have a
two year old granddaughter. Yeah, my life went from one
hundred and eighty miles an hour to you know zero,
But I am loving life. I sometimes I wish I
would have retired sooner. It's you know, every day is different,
(28:18):
you know, we are we are now just getting into
doing some traveling. Spent this path, spent a month in
Hawaii and uh Mexico just recently on a whim. We
went down and watched the Zags at the w c C.
We took we drove, took a road RV. No, we
(28:39):
actually we sold the RV. But we have a toy
hauler so my husband can take his motorcycles. But we
didn't take that. We just took the truck and we
just did a road trip because we could.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I know, I'll get you there next year because we have.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
The time, and just you know, took our time, drove
down there. You know, it was a very very fun,
how man. It was fun because they won. Yeah, but
you know those kinds of things that I could never
do before that, you know, when you know, we went
to Mexico and we said, should we just stay another week? Okay?
I know, you know, things like that that you just
(29:15):
can't do. Somebody once asked me, what's the best part
about being retired, and it's Sundays. Sunday nights is the
best part because you don't have to think about getting
up on Monday morning. Sunday nights was always the you know,
(29:36):
get ready, and especially if I was traveling on a Monday,
It's like just this stress free on a Sunday night.
You know. I look at my husband, who's retired as
well now, and we say, let's stay up till midnight.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Stay up till midnight, you know, cookies and stay up
till midnight and binge watching something because we can till
nine in the morning if we want, right.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Yeah, it's it took me a long time, a year
after I retired, to just let go and be able
to not feel guilty about doing.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
You're so structured, right, and I know exactly what you're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
It's like I almost feel guilty for not working when
I'm like wait me too.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
I don't have to. I can, I know, enjoy and
do like you said, whatever, Like coffee doesn't have to
be the same place every time on the couch. I
could have coffee in bed and talk for well, you
know what I mean, just whatever you want, whenever you want.
And that's never been a real thing.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, it's you know, I'm really close to my daughter,
and so it's been very fun. You know, we live
ten minutes apart. I see her every day and it's
just been so fun to be around her and my
son in law I call him my son because he's
(31:03):
become my son, and just raising helping raise the two
year old. And I watch her and she's you know,
how did you do this? I'm like, you only have one?
How did you do this? I'm like, yeah, I did
(31:23):
it without any help. You've got your parents here, You've
got his parents here, right, I mean, I'm like, oh,
good gracious.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
She only knows what she's right.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
True, you know, I really I really realized how important
family is and being around around her, being able to
be you know, with her and a part of her
life has been one of the greatest joys of retirement.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
And so earned in well deserves.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
What advice for would you guys give to people. I'm
going to say, first getting into the business, this business now,
because you're on the other side of it and you're
able to now look at it as supposed to be
in the middle of it. What would you tell people
that are wanting to do this job.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Well, at dinner last night, I said to you run,
but I didn't really need that, I know. I would
say that journalism matters, Yes, it matters, and TV might
(32:45):
not be around, you know, ten years from now. I
don't know. I don't know where we're going. I don't
know where it's headed, whether it's like this ultimately podcasting, streaming,
but journalism matters, and so I just hope the colleges
(33:06):
are teaching the students balance, non biased journalism. Stop listening
to the cable channels. They're not journalism. They're hosting political views.
They are not what you should be learning. And so
(33:30):
stop listening to the networks because they're not doing real journalism.
There's stories, yes in there, that's wonderful stories, So look
at some of those, but balance writing journalism, that's what
we need.
Speaker 4 (33:48):
And I would say it's not about you it is.
If you're wanting to be famous, this is not where
you need to be.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
You need to go into.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Hollywood if you want to be a good journalist. It's
not about you, it's about your community. It's about finding
the truth. It's about being having integrity, and it is
truly about representing what really really matters the most your community.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
And really let out who you work for, because there
are a lot of companies that want you to report
a certain way and don't work for them unless you
want to become that way. I was taught that you
never share your political view ever. Nobody should know whether
(34:39):
you're independent, Republican or Democrat. Nobody should know that in
a newsroom. It's sad today that everybody knows everybody's political.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
View and so many pointing thinkers.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
You know, Yeah, you can't do your job if somebody
knows that you are a Democrat or somebody knows that
you're a Republican, because you instantly have a bias.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
I always say, don't break bread with those that you
might have to interview.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
You know, the ones, the leaders in town. You don't
want to be their friends.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
You have to remain unbiased and you have to truly
be committed to this job because journalism is more and
I would say, don't ask so many questions, open your ears.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
Listen, and you know what, I don't know. I don't
I don't know if we can get back to that. Ever, Sadly,
I really don't. So I don't know what's going to
happen to journalism. There's so much fake news. There's you know,
with AI. You know, I don't believe anything that I
(35:57):
read on social media, on the internet. I don't know
what's true what is not true. So myself, as a
trained journalist, if I can't decipher what's true and what's
not the general masses, how do they decipher what's true
(36:18):
and what's not. So how do we get back to
real journalism? Sadly, I don't know. I don't have the answer,
and I don't know.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
That was my thesis at Gonzaga for my masters. You know,
where will we be in the next ten years? And
that's the hardest part is that you don't know because
there's so much noise out there that you have to
shut it off and realize that if we continue to
make this noise and everyone's got an opinion and algorithms
(36:48):
will always pull you in a direction that you know
is going to essentially you're going to be fighting a
cause and you don't even know what that causes about.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Don't you guys feel like social media? Because for for
me looking at it, I would imagine you guys too.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
I will to.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Speak for you, but social media was a game changer.
That's where the noise really just picked up. And well
that's where we're getting so much of that fake news.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
It makes me sad.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
I mean there's good things about social media, of course,
you know, it's the technology. There's great things about technology.
It's it's moving our world forward and I love that.
But it's destroying the industry of journalism. And it makes
(37:39):
me sad because I don't know. How do you get
that back? I just I don't know. And and for
my granddaughter's generation, what is going to be the truth?
How are they going to decipher the truth? I don't know.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
And the hardest part is that the ones that are
doing it right still gets so much blame. They're not believed,
you know, And so yeah, you don't know anymore. You
just simply don't know. It makes it hard.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Local is so important and what we do here. You know,
it's so important, and you know it's it's stations like
this that you know carry the flag. They have to
carry the flag and remain constant. And I believe that
there's still the right people in place here that can
(38:31):
teach these young kids coming in the right way. And
here's what I love cover the community.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
We still don't put anything out on the air unless
it's vetted. I love that, Like, nothing goes on the
air until it's one hundred percent vetted as it should.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
And well, I always said it's better to be second
than it is first, because it's better to be second
and right, yes, than it is to be first. Exactly,
it's better to be last and right than it is, yeah,
to be first.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
You don't want to have to backtrack and go back
and say we didn't have that information.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Right now, we've done that. That's happened more times than it.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Happens to the best it happens. What advice would you
guys give? You guys be could give people because you
have made that leap. You made the leap into the
second chapters of your lives, which are again different, but
so amazing, And I think it's scary. I mean I
say that for myself looking at okay, retirement and making
(39:32):
that next jump into what I might want to do.
But whether it be this business or any other business,
what advice would you give?
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Lean into it, you know, I mean, on the other
side of fear is like a whole new future, you know.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
I mean, if you don't take a chance.
Speaker 4 (39:48):
I always my my whole, my my end line is
do not put shitta wood a coulda on my grave
because I don't want that to be my story.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Mine was always well they did it, why can't I
do it?
Speaker 3 (40:03):
So go big or go home?
Speaker 1 (40:04):
There we go. Oh you guys, thank you so much.
This was incredible. Loved having you here, love seeing your faces.
Miss you more than you know, and thank you the
man I know. And now I don't want to let
you go. But you know what, honestly, thank you for
building what you built because it makes it easy to
move forward, even though I miss you more than I
(40:27):
can even tell you. Yeah, all right, gang, go make
the rest of your days the best of your days.
We'll see next time.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Welcome to Leslie's Lowdown
on Live. I have two my favorite people in the
whole world here today, and you're gonna know them too,
and you're gonna know them even more after we're done.
But we have the former president of h Q, Patricia McCrae,
is here, and then Stephanie Vigel for remain anchor of
Cage Q Nonstopical is here as well. You guys, thank
you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
You're like, yeah, I just think this is so fun
because you guys are part of the foundation. Like you're
the foundation of this mighty Q that was built.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
She's the foundation. Yeah how many years?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Well, thirty thirty years, thirty years.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I was just shy of twenty five.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So she's the rash, she's the raw. But you guys
were babies when you started, so like what twelve yeah,
like that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Thing like that.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
But I love this because again part of the foundation.
And I called the Golden Era because I mean I
watched and I always wanted to work here and I
always want to work with both of you, and so
for me, it was a dream come true. But I
really want to talk about like just how everything got started,
what your journey was, and then I want to talk
(01:20):
about these second chapters, the second act that you are
both in right now, because I love your lives. Yeah,
all right, So Patricia Wshoe, Yeah yeah, so homegrown girl yep.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Born and raised in Spokane. Grew up in the Gonzaga District.
My dad was an avid Gonzega fan, you know, watched
John Stockton play in the old Gym. Went to Saint
Ala Wishes and you know, always knew I wanted to
go to w SHU. So graduated from there. My first
(01:57):
job was in Bakersfield, California, So I went all over
the country. I went to Bakersfield, I was in Reno,
San Jose, San Francisco, Miami. Ended up back in Reno,
which is my husband lured me back where I got
married and kind of trying to figure out where I
(02:18):
wanted to go next. Took a kind of sabbatical after Miami.
I was in Reno and Lawn Lee, who was my predecessor,
called me out of the blue and said, hey, what
would you think about coming to Spokane to be the
news director here? And I was like nope, grew up there,
(02:39):
never coming home.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
No, that's the way it goes.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
And he was like, oh, you grew up there, up
top of the list, and he goes, well, just just
fly up here and you know check it out and
you know, come see your mom. And you know, I'm like, okay,
a free trip home to see mom. I'll do that.
And I did. And this place was a disaster. It
(03:03):
was a disaster. We were up the old station up
on on Regal Street and.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
You know, like the home of the Jetsons.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
It did. Actually, the control room was a disaster. The
producer didn't even face the monitors to look at the anchors.
The producer was facing a wall and I walked in
and I'm like, no, I can't work here, I know.
(03:32):
And he was like, oh no, no, no, We're going
to change everything. And he had all these plans that
he was showing me. And I was like, I wonder
if this guy really means, if he really means what
he says he is going to do. This is pretty great.
So I went back to Reno and thought about it
and took the job. And I couldn't believe it, but
(03:56):
I took the job. My mom was like, take the job.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Was e static?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, so I took the job and that was well,
now I've been retired for two years, so I was
thirty two years ago, and you know, I never looked back.
I mean, he kept every single promise and that's the
reason that I stayed. And Betsy the Coles, they kept
(04:23):
every promise to me that Lon had made, and so
you know that's kind of the story. And you know,
I just I worked hard and ye lots of lots
of changes in the news department and rallied the troops
and wow, it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Was it was a nobody worked hard.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
It was a hard job. It was a hard would
you say that you kind of stepped into like a
man's world like that? Was it predominantly like men who
were running stations or news directors at that time?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh yeah, I mean I always, no matter every job
I was in my first news director's job, I was
twenty five, and it's a baby. It was always, you know,
I always got the article in the newspaper, the first
woman news director in the market in Reno, in San Jose,
in Miami. I mean it was almost hilarious because every
(05:20):
newspaper wanted to do this story on me, and I
didn't care. It didn't matter to me. I was like,
it doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman.
You just go in and you just do the job.
And I never I just am not that way because
I'm not one of those women who is like I
am a woman, you know. I like my car doors opened,
(05:42):
I like flowers. I'm just I'm not an activist.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
You're a hard worker.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
I'm just a hard worker with a vision. Yeah, And
so I just I'm not one of those that just
screams feminist.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Do not look at me, look at me. You're just
getting the job done and.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Just here to get the job done. And I get
along with men, and I think I get men and
I can play the politics. And that's why I got
where I. I think that's where I got where I was.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Did you want to be in front of the camera ever?
Did you always want to be behind the scenes?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I try once in Bakersfield. I I had a really
bad experience in Bakersfield. I was a reporter and my
very first out of the gate, had a bad experience
with a guy who was broke into my apartment and
(06:50):
it was my Yeah, it was not good.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
That's the scary side.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And I mean, I know what you guys go through, absolutely,
And I was there six months as a reporter and
this guy was just stalking me, and I was like,
I'm not doing this. I don't want to be on
this side of the camera. Plus I didn't really enjoy it.
I wanted more control of the show and putting things together.
(07:17):
I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the writing of all of it.
But it was a scary time when he broke into
my apartment and I came home from work one day
and my door was open a little bit and it
was my mom and dad said, you're done. You're out
of this business. You're not. This is not And so
(07:38):
I came home back to Spokane and from there I
was a producer.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
But I mean, that's your empathy for people that work
for you. I mean, honestly, you've always been super empathetic
as to what.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Oh I tell you, it's it's real. What you guys,
what you guys go through is real. There are crazy
people who.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Well you know, I mean, yeah, double soccers myself, and
you went through that with me.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, so anyway.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So so no, so no, you wanted to be behind
the scenes, but you have like you're a visionary. So
talk about that, because this is where we're going to
pull in, Stephanie, because you I mean, but being on
the other side of it and watching how I call
it chess pieces, You're always good about pulling the right
chess pieces together, don't you think? Oh, I mean, you're
just so good at being able to look at a
(08:29):
big picture and go, this is gonna work, and this
is gonna work. We're gonna try this. You have great foresight, Yes,
you do. So when you were putting your teams together,
talk about how that looked for you.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I don't know. I mean, it's I had a lot
of good people around me to help me, and I
think it it's that effort of team around you that
helps form those teams. And it's not just one person.
(09:05):
It can't be just one person. So you know, I thought,
I always thought I had a good eye for journalists
and you know, who looked good on camera, but who
was strong? Who was a strong journalist? I mean, you
have to have both. You can't just have eye candy,
(09:27):
but that's important. You have to have people that look
good that the audience connects with, connects with and and
they like what they see. I mean that's part of
our job. It entertains. That's a visual, it's an entertainment.
But you have to have the other side too. They
(09:48):
have to speak well, and they have to be a
journalist and they have to know what they're talking about,
so you know, you have to have that and I
and I felt like I because I was I was
a strong journalist. I had that strong journalist some side.
So I felt like I had that balance. And that's
why I chose.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Thank you, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
But I did reject her once did so I did
not know that.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yes, I left.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
She didn't even pick me, and I regretted it every day,
and so.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I got a second chance. Yes, it was meant to be.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I remember Patricia Clem back then, it wasn't. I wasn't married,
and I drove up to Reno from Sacramento and I
was on the radio that's where I started, and so
I wanted to make the transition to television, and so
we had interviewed.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
She ended up picking Troy Troy Hayden.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Troy Hayden, who was Alan Frio's sass and he was
hard copy right, Yes, Alan.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Fred this is like so long, so long ago.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
But it was right because you know, even that no
led me down another path and then eventually right back
to where I belong, which was.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
With you for twenty five years. Yes, I retired.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Oh, I still remember our interview here in Spokane. We
went to Clinker Daggers for dinner.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We went to Luna for lunch.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeh. Her husband Kevin was with us, and I remember
after dinner we went home and keV looks at me
and he goes, you better hire her. Yeah, I mean
he was just like, you better hire her. She has
got the full package. She is a sweetheart, she's smart,
and I'm like, yeah, we're hiring her. You know.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
The greatest thing ever is that when I talk about
my mentors, and I didn't have a mentor prior, you're
my mentor. You've always been through thick and thin. We've
had the best days, we've had the best ratings, we've
had the best seasons. But we also raised two children
and that were the exact same age well, I mean
weeks apart, and so when we would talk about it,
(12:06):
because we both worked hard, we both had very difficult
shifts to raise children, and so that was the one
thing I was like, she is not just my and
It wasn't like, hey, will you be my mentor. It
was like we had so many things in common, plus
we were doing the same life and we were on
the same team that it just became like, hey, I've
(12:26):
got this situation that I need help with, Like Okay,
let's let's talk it through or come to my house
or call me on the phone or whatever it might
be to the point where I'm like, oh my gosh,
you know, my mentor became one of my best friends, yes,
and biggest supporters.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
And I think as a manager, the most important thing
as a manager is you have to get to know
your employees. And you're you know, you spend more time
with your staff, yeah, than with your family, It's true.
And you have to get to know them and you
have to have empathy for your the people that you
(13:03):
are with, and if you don't know them and care
about their families, then you're not going to have a
successful business. And I don't care what business you're in, right.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
It's true.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I mean you have to allow your employees to live
their life with their families and care about that. And
they're going to have issues with their families absolutely, and
they're you know, so you're going to go through their marriages,
their births, their divorces, their sicknesses. You're going to go
(13:38):
through it all with them, parents' deaths, yes, all of
all of it. And hopefully you're going to go through
all of it because they're going to want to stay
with you through it all. And I think the thing
that I that I'm most proud of is I had
so many employees that stayed for years, I mean years,
(14:02):
and you know, and I look at I look at
businesses now and I look at the you know, the
staffs and the turnovers and the turnovers, and I wonder
why you know it's and is it a generational thing
or I don't. I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
You've got to care because their family should come first.
But a lot of times businesses think that they come
first because that's where you're making your money. But the
truth of it is is that sometimes you lose them
because they don't want to be with you, you don't
respect them, and that therefore you don't care much about
their families.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
So why would you stay someplace with your.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
And it starts from the top, it does, and you know,
the Coole's family, they really do care about their people,
and you know, sometimes they get a bad rap in
this community. But I got to tell you, I I
wouldn't have stayed thirty years. I mean they they treated
(15:05):
me like family, and if there was ever an issue
with my family or anything that I was going through,
it came first. I mean, it just absolutely came first.
And there's not a lot of broadcast companies out there
that no treat you that way, especially when you're at
that level. I mean it's cutthroat. And so I mean
(15:29):
I owe Betsy and Stacy so much for my career
because they treated me like family.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
They do, I mean, it is a family owned business.
They treat you like very yeah, left right, And then
you kind of carried that down to the rest of us,
meaning that if we had something going on, if there
was a bad moment, if there was something we needed
to work through, and I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
We've been three months, yeah, you know, I mean I
hit a wall. Yeah, I was like, you're and you
never said, well, well, you said we don't give three
months sabbaticals, But then you're like, well maybe we do,
you know.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And I was hard on people too, I mean definitely,
I mean there's a there's certain people that probably don't.
I didn't like what I you know, the way I managed,
and and you know what, but that's okay too, because
I wasn't here to be everybody's friend. I was here
to do a job, and I was being paid to
do a job. And sometimes, you know, you have to
(16:36):
be hard nosed and be the bad guy. And I
wasn't afraid to do that. But kind of like a.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Mom, well, you can't be your kid's best friend. Sometimes
you have to be.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
And there were days and I would go home and
it was hard days. There were hard days, you know,
when you have to let somebody go because they weren't
working to the standard of what you needed. But you know, yeah,
I'm glad some of those days are gone.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Oh yeah, no, you don't haven't worry about that anymore.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Those days are passing, for sure. Let's talk about so Stephanie.
I meant, you're right there, and I almost don't want
to let I don't want to open that door because
then that means you guys walk out and leave me again.
So Patricia, you got that second chance with Patricia. You
came here. You moved from northern California right Sacramento to Spokane, Washington,
(17:32):
and I remember watching you when you were pregnant with Jonathan.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
It was twenty six yesterday.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It was twenty three yesterday.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Oh my gosh, Nick and Annie are thirty thirty.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
We have thirty year olds.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Yeah, and it's not crazy, and it goes.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
They have the same daycare together, green Gables we have
we have pictures of them green Gables together.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Oh my gosh. It was awesome.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
So coming here was my first opportunity to anchor, and
then with Dan, it was just instant chemistry, like we
just had something that you couldn't buy. And I think
that that was really the foundation of.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
What we grew and built together.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
So three and a half years, I think it was
on the morning show and then the evenings.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And I think the Morning show they made They were
the first team I think in Spokane that made the
morning show what it became. It was hilarious, right, They
just let their personalities go, and we let them let
their personalities go.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Never complained about anything. You and Dan throwing snowballs at
the green screen, right, the.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Crazy you know, I just kept saying, this is great.
Do the news. Let the news be what it is,
be serious journalism, and then have fun because people in
the morning want to have fun and so we let
that breathe and I it just they created that format, right.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
It was awesome, It was and I loved it.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
And it was actually hard to transition to evenings because
evenings were so quick and you had to tell the
hard news. There really was no time to let anything
breathe because it was thirty minutes instead of a two
hour segment. So it was hard to almost transition and
then all of a sudden become so buttoned up and
serious when you were used to having a great time
(19:27):
in the mornings.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
But it is a different format. It really is a
different format to swing from mornings to night's having done
them both. Point if I talk about some of the
different people that have come in and out, because we
do see a lot of people who have come in
out of the characters.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I should have brought all the rosters of thirty years
of employees and put them all along.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Oh yeah, Dan and I used to say we should
have a drinking game and you just start naming off
people and as soon as someone pauses, like.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
There were yeah, but there are those that stand out,
Like I mean, I feel like Cage Q has just
put out some incredible talent. Yes, yes, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
I think we have fun, you know.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
I mean it's not it's a place where everyone likes
each other.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yea, so it makes it super easy. I haven't. There
hasn't been the competition that.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
It could be in some other stations, and the backbiting
or anything like that. That was never a part of
what we wanted. We just simply had a good time.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
It was like like minded people, and I think people
come here to grow, Yes, you know young.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
I mean, oh boy, I look in the newsroom now,
I don't recognize a single soul.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
No, they're just babies.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
They're babies.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
They're babies.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
They're so we were, yes, I know. And it goes
so fast, boy, it goes so fast. I remember when
you put Stephanie and I on the air together on evenings.
It was me, Stephanie and Dan, like, are we going
to get a call from Patricia like when we were
doing the ten and eleven because we would have way
(21:12):
too much fun.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
She probably fell asleep.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Us watching I watched, so I don't watch as many
newscasts anymore.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah. That's good for you though, And that's what I
love because you guys, you guys did this job to
the fullest right. You made this the best place it
could be, and you made everybody feel welcome. You taught people,
you grew people, You help them move along. You help
the people who are still here, me being one of them,
(21:47):
you know, want to continue to grow. And now you
were retired at the same time.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Basically yeah, which I'm shocked that. I know, when I did,
I know, Wow, I still that's still it was bold.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
It was bold, I mean especially because I was so
set up before I left. I mean, she you had
set me up. You're like, Okay, how many years do
you want? You know?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I mean, this is where.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
But when I went on my sabbatical and realized it
was time, you also gave me that opportunity to go
live another life, which I am and I absolutely love it.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
And I made the.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Decision a little bit more a knee jerk and sporadic. Yeah,
whereas yours was tigned out.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
We knew about it ahead of time.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I remember calling you after Annie Shawer and saying I
need to talk to you. And so it was, I
would say, for lack of a better word, and awakening,
I do.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Want to talk about that. So because now you guys
have both you've both left and you've got your second chapters,
but they're so different, but they're so fulfilling. And I
love watching you guys, so talk about that because now
you are an auctioneer.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
How did that happen?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Did that happen?
Speaker 4 (23:03):
You know?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
It's so funny.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
It happened because remember I was very much into pickleball,
and I was telling me apparel and I thought I
would love that, and creating the whole line was awesome.
But going down to San Diego and realizing that I
am not thirty twenty and I can't go do pop
ups like a young person anymore, and I'm a one
man band and I don't know how to make Instagram reels,
(23:28):
none of it. I was like, I hit a wall,
and hit a wall to the point where I was
like what now. It wasn't that I wanted to go back.
It was that I didn't know what to do going forward.
And so I had come to a point where I was,
I don't know, sad, depressed, shaky.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You know.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
My son Jonathan called me and I just melted and
I was like, I.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Don't know what I'm going to do.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
And then Nick must have felt it because he called
right after his brother and I was like, I need
to sit and think, you know, And so I just
spent some time really thinking about what am I good at?
What can I do? And I remember one of the
things that cage Q gave me was the ability to
give back to the community. So we had done so
(24:22):
many things for people in the community, and I always
felt so good about that afterward, and I'm like, Okay,
think about the nonprofits that you've helped over the years
and how that made you feel. You're not afraid to
be on the microphone. You can speak to people. And
so then I remember talking to Rose Banks, one of
the auctioneers in town. I was m seeing an event
(24:44):
with her and I looked over at her and I said,
when I grow up.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
I want to be like you.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
And I was like, I think I'm gonna go to
auctioneering school. So I went to college in Bozeman and
got certified to be an auctioneer. And literally that path
has led to so much many open doors windows, I
jump through them all, but have met so many people
and I'm so happy to say that, you know, I'm
making rent now. So how many events do you do,
(25:13):
like I'm I'm doing one up here this weekend. No
I had so last year. It's so funny. I mean,
going from being the main anchor at HQ to going, oh,
I'm making what I made when I was in my
twenties my.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Very first job last year.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
But happy to say that this year I've tripled my business.
A lot of it's on referrals, a lot of it
is retain business from last season, and so I have
a full schedule for next season where I'm almost completely
booked up.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
So every single season I see oh okay.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
So in the auctioneering world, it's mainly especially if you
do benefits and galas, it's three months on, three months off,
so it's spring and then fall. So now I'm doing
March April, May, then I have June, July, August off
I'm traveling, and then I do September, October, November, and
then I go back out to travel December, January, February.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
That's pretty sweet.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I kind of like that.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
I mean, get contract, I don't have to be here
for five, six, ten or eleven. It's a weekend gig,
but I like doing anything things like during the week
anyway without a big crowd, so if I'm going to
go do something, I'll just do it on a Wednesday
or a Thursday.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And you're good. You're a great auctioneer. You're like, it's
almost like, yeah, we did. We did an event together.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
You know why?
Speaker 1 (26:38):
You know why you could? You could get a drowning
man to drink ten gallons of water?
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Do you head? Talk fast?
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I try to.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
She does. She does, and she's just for some reason,
she's like, oh come on.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
I kind of drive them, kind of like I worked
a contract out with you.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I twisted your arm.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
You're gonna get me five years. Well, yeah, I get
five years.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
It's gonna give me five super fun I love making
money for good causes. Yeah, it's you know that that
whole adrenaline rush again almost like I got with breaking news.
I get that again with the whole thing, and I
don't know, it just gives me great pleasure, Like I
could do this until I'm seventy five years old.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Oh that's awesome. I know.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
It's a great second half.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
It's a great second half. And then you moved on
from like you were everywhere you traveled all over the
I don't you were. Sometimes I was like, do you
know what timeson your because you were so all over
the place and managing so many different things. And now
you're just grammy, right, I.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Am just scrammy. I have a boring life.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
And I love my life. Yes, yep, I have a
two year old granddaughter. Yeah, my life went from one
hundred and eighty miles an hour to you know zero,
But I am loving life. I sometimes I wish I
would have retired sooner. It's you know, every day is different,
(28:18):
you know, we are we are now just getting into
doing some traveling. Spent this path, spent a month in
Hawaii and uh Mexico just recently on a whim. We
went down and watched the Zags at the w c C.
We took we drove, took a road RV. No, we
(28:39):
actually we sold the RV. But we have a toy
hauler so my husband can take his motorcycles. But we
didn't take that. We just took the truck and we
just did a road trip because we could.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I know, I'll get you there next year because we have.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
The time, and just you know, took our time, drove
down there. You know, it was a very very fun,
how man. It was fun because they won. Yeah, but
you know those kinds of things that I could never
do before that, you know, when you know, we went
to Mexico and we said, should we just stay another week? Okay?
I know, you know, things like that that you just
(29:15):
can't do. Somebody once asked me, what's the best part
about being retired, and it's Sundays. Sunday nights is the
best part because you don't have to think about getting
up on Monday morning. Sunday nights was always the you know,
(29:36):
get ready, and especially if I was traveling on a Monday,
It's like just this stress free on a Sunday night.
You know. I look at my husband, who's retired as
well now, and we say, let's stay up till midnight.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Stay up till midnight, you know, cookies and stay up
till midnight and binge watching something because we can till
nine in the morning if we want, right.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Yeah, it's it took me a long time, a year
after I retired, to just let go and be able
to not feel guilty about doing.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
You're so structured, right, and I know exactly what you're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
It's like I almost feel guilty for not working when
I'm like wait me too.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
I don't have to. I can, I know, enjoy and
do like you said, whatever, Like coffee doesn't have to
be the same place every time on the couch. I
could have coffee in bed and talk for well, you
know what I mean, just whatever you want, whenever you want.
And that's never been a real thing.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, it's you know, I'm really close to my daughter,
and so it's been very fun. You know, we live
ten minutes apart. I see her every day and it's
just been so fun to be around her and my
son in law I call him my son because he's
(31:03):
become my son, and just raising helping raise the two
year old. And I watch her and she's you know,
how did you do this? I'm like, you only have one?
How did you do this? I'm like, yeah, I did
(31:23):
it without any help. You've got your parents here, You've
got his parents here, right, I mean, I'm like, oh,
good gracious.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
She only knows what she's right.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
True, you know, I really I really realized how important
family is and being around around her, being able to
be you know, with her and a part of her
life has been one of the greatest joys of retirement.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
And so earned in well deserves.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
What advice for would you guys give to people. I'm
going to say, first getting into the business, this business now,
because you're on the other side of it and you're
able to now look at it as supposed to be
in the middle of it. What would you tell people
that are wanting to do this job.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Well, at dinner last night, I said to you run,
but I didn't really need that, I know. I would
say that journalism matters, Yes, it matters, and TV might
(32:45):
not be around, you know, ten years from now. I
don't know. I don't know where we're going. I don't
know where it's headed, whether it's like this ultimately podcasting, streaming,
but journalism matters, and so I just hope the colleges
(33:06):
are teaching the students balance, non biased journalism. Stop listening
to the cable channels. They're not journalism. They're hosting political views.
They are not what you should be learning. And so
(33:30):
stop listening to the networks because they're not doing real journalism.
There's stories, yes in there, that's wonderful stories, So look
at some of those, but balance writing journalism, that's what
we need.
Speaker 4 (33:48):
And I would say it's not about you it is.
If you're wanting to be famous, this is not where
you need to be.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
You need to go into.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Hollywood if you want to be a good journalist. It's
not about you, it's about your community. It's about finding
the truth. It's about being having integrity, and it is
truly about representing what really really matters the most your community.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
And really let out who you work for, because there
are a lot of companies that want you to report
a certain way and don't work for them unless you
want to become that way. I was taught that you
never share your political view ever. Nobody should know whether
(34:39):
you're independent, Republican or Democrat. Nobody should know that in
a newsroom. It's sad today that everybody knows everybody's political.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
View and so many pointing thinkers.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
You know, Yeah, you can't do your job if somebody
knows that you are a Democrat or somebody knows that
you're a Republican, because you instantly have a bias.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
I always say, don't break bread with those that you
might have to interview.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
You know, the ones, the leaders in town. You don't
want to be their friends.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
You have to remain unbiased and you have to truly
be committed to this job because journalism is more and
I would say, don't ask so many questions, open your ears.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
Listen, and you know what, I don't know. I don't
I don't know if we can get back to that. Ever, Sadly,
I really don't. So I don't know what's going to
happen to journalism. There's so much fake news. There's you know,
with AI. You know, I don't believe anything that I
(35:57):
read on social media, on the internet. I don't know
what's true what is not true. So myself, as a
trained journalist, if I can't decipher what's true and what's
not the general masses, how do they decipher what's true
(36:18):
and what's not. So how do we get back to
real journalism? Sadly, I don't know. I don't have the answer,
and I don't know.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
That was my thesis at Gonzaga for my masters. You know,
where will we be in the next ten years? And
that's the hardest part is that you don't know because
there's so much noise out there that you have to
shut it off and realize that if we continue to
make this noise and everyone's got an opinion and algorithms
(36:48):
will always pull you in a direction that you know
is going to essentially you're going to be fighting a
cause and you don't even know what that causes about.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Don't you guys feel like social media? Because for for
me looking at it, I would imagine you guys too.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
I will to.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Speak for you, but social media was a game changer.
That's where the noise really just picked up. And well
that's where we're getting so much of that fake news.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
It makes me sad.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
I mean there's good things about social media, of course,
you know, it's the technology. There's great things about technology.
It's it's moving our world forward and I love that.
But it's destroying the industry of journalism. And it makes
(37:39):
me sad because I don't know. How do you get
that back? I just I don't know. And and for
my granddaughter's generation, what is going to be the truth?
How are they going to decipher the truth? I don't know.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
And the hardest part is that the ones that are
doing it right still gets so much blame. They're not believed,
you know, And so yeah, you don't know anymore. You
just simply don't know. It makes it hard.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Local is so important and what we do here. You know,
it's so important, and you know it's it's stations like
this that you know carry the flag. They have to
carry the flag and remain constant. And I believe that
there's still the right people in place here that can
(38:31):
teach these young kids coming in the right way. And
here's what I love cover the community.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
We still don't put anything out on the air unless
it's vetted. I love that, Like, nothing goes on the
air until it's one hundred percent vetted as it should.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
And well, I always said it's better to be second
than it is first, because it's better to be second
and right, yes, than it is to be first. Exactly,
it's better to be last and right than it is, yeah,
to be first.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
You don't want to have to backtrack and go back
and say we didn't have that information.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Right now, we've done that. That's happened more times than it.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Happens to the best it happens. What advice would you
guys give? You guys be could give people because you
have made that leap. You made the leap into the
second chapters of your lives, which are again different, but
so amazing, And I think it's scary. I mean I
say that for myself looking at okay, retirement and making
(39:32):
that next jump into what I might want to do.
But whether it be this business or any other business,
what advice would you give?
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Lean into it, you know, I mean, on the other
side of fear is like a whole new future, you know.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
I mean, if you don't take a chance.
Speaker 4 (39:48):
I always my my whole, my my end line is
do not put shitta wood a coulda on my grave
because I don't want that to be my story.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Mine was always well they did it, why can't I
do it?
Speaker 3 (40:03):
So go big or go home?
Speaker 1 (40:04):
There we go. Oh you guys, thank you so much.
This was incredible. Loved having you here, love seeing your faces.
Miss you more than you know, and thank you the
man I know. And now I don't want to let
you go. But you know what, honestly, thank you for
building what you built because it makes it easy to
move forward, even though I miss you more than I
(40:27):
can even tell you. Yeah, all right, gang, go make
the rest of your days the best of your days.
We'll see next time.
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