Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Occasionally I get to have one of my friends visit
me here in the studio, which is the case today
one of my TV wives, she's number six, I think
is Shaye McAllister. Hello, sweet thing.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hello Terri. I'm so happy to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
You're another phenomenal person who's come into my life because
of my media job. And you've just been delightful the
whole time i've known. It's already been a decade.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Isn't that crazy? It went fast?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And then I saw your announcement that you're leaving Whas
eleven and starting your own like journalism platform.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'm calling it an independent journalism platform, and I launched
it today.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Congratulations, Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be
here talking about it with you.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I became a subscriber this morning. I went right to it.
It's called Shaye Informed. Her first name is spelled Shay,
So it's shaanform dot com named.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
By my bestie, Sarah Collier, a form Whas eleven alum herself,
who's a mind of creativity. But the idea being, you know,
stay informed, but only with the news you need to know.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So we're calling it.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Shay and how is it different? Than what you've been
offering on television over the last decade.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Sure, So, I think right now there's a lot of
noise when it comes to media, and particularly in TV news.
You've got two and a half hours you have to
fill it, so you have to find two and a
half hours worth of news. I think because of that,
a lot of people are tuning out. It's too much,
it's overwhelming. It can feel like a lot of work
(01:38):
to be informed. But being informed is so important. You know,
it makes you a good neighbor, good parent, a good
citizen to know what's happening around you. So I want
to pair it down, simplify it, tell people just the
news they need to know why it's important for them
to know it and how it impacts them, and just
keep it simple, and not only local news, but national
(02:00):
news and specifically national news that's impacting us here in Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I went through your website this morning. I think it's
brilliantly laid out. It does cover those areas, just like
you're talking about certain things that have hit nationally that
affect our news or part of our local news here,
but a lot of local things that you key into.
You're obviously well connected through your decade here. So I'm
(02:26):
just trying to picture you in or do you have
a news hub somewhere where you're online all the time,
or this or that you must be connected to somebody
at all times.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Let me paint a picture for you, Terry, a home
office with a great big desk that my sweet husband
built me and a computer and my cat on my
lap and my baby crying in the other room and
we're just doing the best we can over there.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Your baby's beautiful, by the way, you and Jimmy make
beautiful babies.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Thank you, you know. And she's a motivation behind this too.
You know better than any anyone how demanding news is.
It is twenty four to seven. It is every single
day of the week. There's something to be talking about.
There's something people need to know, and it takes a
toll on you. It asks a lot from you. And
even in her short little ten month life, I've realized
(03:16):
I want to be there for her, you know, just
as much as I am my career, and I think
trying something new like this is going to give me
that balance so I can be a great mom, a
present mom, but keep doing what I love, which is journalism.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
You really strike a chord with people too though. I
see your engagement online and it's phenomenal how people respond
to you. You've been very good. You're a very honest person.
I can attest to that knowing you this decade. But
you've made connections with people through each of the stories
you've had to tell over the years. And I say
had to tell because you're working for a TV station.
Who assigned you? Now that's gone, Shay assigns herself to
(03:54):
what you find important. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And I'm going to keep focusing on a lot of
the investigative work that people know me for work on
the Crystal Rogers case, community issues that when people feel
like no one's listening, I'm listening. I'm reading those emails,
I'm making those phone calls. That's still going to be
a big part of my work here because I think
it's important. I think that investigative journalism is everything in
(04:18):
a community.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
But I also want.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
To focus on the good because I think something that
turns people off to the news is when there's too
much bad, too much negative, too much scary, and people
just tune it out because they don't want to hear
that so with me and my new platform, you're going
to find both. You're going to find reasons to celebrate
and you're going to find the hard news that you
really need to know just to be informed. One of
(04:43):
my first stories I'm so excited about it is the
owner of Big Nita's Cheesecakes.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Her name is Nicole Burke.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
She's just a phenomenal, inspirational woman who has the most
successful dessert shop in Louisville right now. And if you
just follow her on social media, you might think, okay,
so what just tasty cheesecakes and overnight success, But that's
not it. She has clawed her way to this position
through so many trials and tribulations, and I sat down
(05:10):
with her, we walked through all of it. She's the
perfect example of a neighbor. I think people need to
know about and not just know of her because of
her cheesecakes, but what she's done to become a success
and what she's invested in the community.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
She's special.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
And what people learn is you do get knocked down
over and over again, and someone reading that or listening
to it can say, you know what, I've taken some
punches and I'm trying to work this business and it's
just not going. But if I follow, you know, her determination,
maybe I can get there exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
And she's so honest about the challenges, you know, even
telling me as recently as earlier this year she didn't
know if they were going to make it, and she
wants other business owners to hear that and then see
where she is today, which is, by the way, selling
out within hours every single day that she's open.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I know, people line up, line up, they line up,
and they're worried that it's going to run out before
I get there.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
And it might. You know, she's she's selling out every day.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
But it's an example what you're gonna find on shaeanform
dot com. It's good and bad and lots of reasons
to celebrate.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
You do have a lot of news friends, but so
far this is you. Also, this is twenty four to seven.
You have a husband and a baby, and so life
is going on. But also if something happens at midnight,
Shay's on it.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I'm going to do my best.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
You know, I've been telling people, Terry, I'm flying this
plane and building it at the same time. We're figuring
it out day by day. Today's day one. But truly
this is a one woman operation for now. My dream,
of course, to bring in more journalists who have the
same values as me, the same ethics as me, and
see purpose in this vision. It's a dream, but we
(06:51):
start somewhere. So I'm starting with me, Shay, running this
as best I can.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You told me about it, pieces of it, Let's story
as we finished the Crusade for children this year. You
and I have been partners on the crusade for many
years too, and I could just tell by there was
sort of a relief in your face when you were
telling me the story about it. We stood by our
cars after the crusade was over and then talked about it,
(07:17):
and I was like, my initial reaction is the same
one I have today. I'm so proud of you, so
happy for you, because this is something you feel all
the way to your bone marrow.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
It is, and I appreciate that I've got to tell you.
Without the support and encouragement from you and the likes
Doug Prophet, Rachel Platt, Renee Murphy, all of my news parents,
mentors and dear dear friends, I don't think i'd have
the confidence.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
So I thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Back to that engagement thing. Though you really do connect
with people. You'll post something online and I'll see seven
thousand people like it. I mean, what's happening there not.
You don't know all those seven thousand people, but they
seem to know something about you.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I've made it a priority over the years to share
pieces of myself for a few reasons. One of them
is I'm asking people really personal questions about their lives
every single day, and I felt like early on it
was only fair if I was sharing the same type
of things about my lives. And so I've let people
in on the good, the bad, and the ugly of
(08:21):
Shane McAllister. And I'm very honest and I don't know,
but I think maybe that has something to do with
it that people who follow me online, even though you
don't know me in person, you really do know me.
I'm giving you, you know, pieces of my life and
I'm being honest.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You know you feel like you know me, but you
really do.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
All of us in the public eye have a certain
amount of time we spend with people. When we walk
into a store, tell me about your grocery trip.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
I love when people say something to me because It's
almost always really really nice. And it might be something,
oh I love watching you or you know whatever. But
more than anything, I love when someone remembers a story.
You know, that is just confirmation that the work matters.
Right When they bring up that one story, that one interview,
(09:12):
that means everything to me, and it makes me love
this job even more because people are paying attention, people
are caring.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Did you consider moving at some point leaving Louisville.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Yes, of course, over the years. You know, I when
I moved here ten years ago, I didn't know a soul.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
This was just the.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Best offer I got out of college, and at twenty
two years old, I moved to Kentucky to Louisville. I
didn't know anyone here, and I thought, I'll be here
for two years.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Why did you pick Louisville.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Well, Kentucky Derby seemed like fun. I wanted to go
to that. On my interview, I went to a great restaurant,
and I'm trying to remember which one it was. People
talked about the food scene, and I said, well, I
love food, so that sounds good. And I just thought
the community it felt welcoming. So that's why I decided
to come here. I didn't plan to stay, but ten
(10:02):
years later, I'm married to a lifelong Louisville boy.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
We have a little Louisville baby. Yeah, that's right, we're here.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
But people are very kind to us in general. I
mean in heaping amounts. You know, people are nice to
me when I walk through a grocery store and they'll say, oh,
I remember this, or then they'll ask him about Addie
who's on w ol Okay, Well I saw your daughter
on TV. And I'll say, well, that's my niece. But
thank you. Sometimes I'll just go thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
It depends on how much a hurry you're in, right,
But people.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Are very kind. I mean they you know, people like
Don g and Doug Prophet and Vicky Dortch and j
car Dooci and people have been on for a long time.
Kevin Harned had been on for decades, and people are
We all talk sometimes at various things and we're like this,
we are appreciated in this. We call it a market,
(10:48):
but the city and other people will move from other
markets and say, God, people are better to you here.
There's just a nicer sort of feel to this.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
People are actually paying attention, which is nice and they're
rooting for you, and they tell you that they like
you and they appreciate you. They also tell you if
they don't like something you did, that's right. I've gotten
plenty of that and I appreciate that too. You know,
I can take it. I can take that honesty and
I appreciate it. But you're so right. The people of Louisville,
Southern Indiana, this whole community, Bardstown, they're so good to me.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Well, congratulations on your launch, Shay, thank
you so much. Our website is Shae informed dot com.
I noticed there today. I became a subscriber and so
there's an occasional podcast too.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Yes, it's in the works right, it's not live yet,
but as a subscriber, that's something you'll have access to.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Yeah, that's cool. But I mean, you're you know, you're
covering a lot of different things on there, and I
just think it's the layout's fantastic. So I'm happy for
you and I know it's going to be excellent because
you are.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Thank you, Terry, thank you for everything for all of
your support, your ideas.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
You're amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
That doesn't change more than a friend, a mentor, You're
just really good person.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Oh sweet of you. You know how I feel about
you as well. So go get them. It's shay Informed
dot COM's the website.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I'll be watching Thank you, Terry Minors
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Back in a minute on news radio Waight forty wha
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