← The Bobby Bones Show
The Bobby Bones Show
#515 - Montel Williams on Why He Joined the Military + Origin of His Talk Show + How He Started a Trend on His Talk Show Before TikTok + Bobby Gets Interviews About What He Wants His Legacy to Be
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- [00:00]
Bobby Bones
This is an iHeart podcast. Thank you to the presenting sponsor of today's episode, American Express. I'm always traveling for work, which means I'm constantly trying new restaurants in a bunch of different cities. Some good, some bad. And while I love most of the food I try, the rewards I am earning with my Amex Gold card while eating in these different cities is the best part. With Amex Gold you earn four times membership Rewards points on purchases at restaurants on up to $50,000 per year. And now you can leave the restaurant and get straight to the action with access to card member entrances at select venues. That's the powerful backing of American Express Card member entrance access not limited to AMEX Gold Card terms apply. Learn more@americanexpress.com withamex no matter where the new sound is coming from, T Mobile helps you tune in because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines of via virtual prepaid card last 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required card is no cash access and expires in six months.
- [01:15]
Amy Brown
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- [01:53]
Bobby Bones
At macy's.com welcome to Bobbycast episode 515. By the way, thank you guys for all your comments, all your reviews. We need them. And wherever you are, sometimes they do the little social media thing where you can leave comments down on whatever platform it is. Just say hi over there. We may message you and give you something free. Probably not, but we could. You never know right?
- [02:20]
Montel Williams
Yeah.
- [02:21]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, we need the help. So glad you guys are here. We're gonna go now to this interview with Montel Williams that I did and if you're around my age, you probably remember the Montel Williams Show. It says here for 17 years, man, that's a long time to have anything in the world of Entertainment run. But 17 years. The Montel Williams show was on and I watched a lot of it. I mean I remember, remember Sylvia Brown? She was like the psychic that would like predict crazy stuff. Do you remember that at all, Mike? Are you too young for it? I remember her, man. He would have on this psychic named Sylvia Brown and there would be times where she would go and talk to people like their kid had disappeared and she'd be like, they're buried somewhere near a rock. And then once they found one of the kids and what, they weren't buried near a rock. And you kind of realized that, you know, psychics, I don't know, kind of full of crap. But Montel wasn't full of crap. Like listen to this. He was the first black Marine Corps trained naval officer. Now this is pre the Montel Williams Show. He was the first black man to graduate from both the U.S. naval Academy and complete Marine Corps training. He served 22 years in the military. That show that I know him for ran for almost 20 years, all the way till 2008. He has an extremely high IQ. He was diagnosed with Ms. In 1999 and and has founded the foundation that has raised a ton of money for research and raise awareness. But. And we're going to talk about the book that he wrote. He wrote a book about the sailing of the Intrepid which I have very limited knowledge of, but I do have some because my stepdad used to talk to me about it all the time. But he also has a show called Military Makeover with Montel which is a Lifetime series. But the guy was on TV forever and a career that lasted forever. Let me do a couple other facts. He earned a degree in engineering. He did write fiction like he's a novelist, so that would be self help nonfiction. And he's written military themed fiction books. He was a Mustang in the United States Marine Corps. An enlisted service member who becomes an officer. He helped save a 16 year old from being burned following a car accident. Montel and his driver happened to be nearby as the teen's pickup truck spun out of control and hit a tree. He stopped and pulled the boy from the truck as it caught on fire, pulling the boy on his back to a safe distance. So man, he's done so much more than I thought. I just know him from the TV show. But he wrote this book and I'm excited to talk about it. And here he is, Montel Williams. Hey, Montel, thank you for the time today. Really appreciate it.
- [04:50]
Montel Williams
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
- [04:51]
Bobby Bones
Why did you join the military when you were young?
- [04:54]
Montel Williams
You know, I came in during Vietnam, at the very tail end of Vietnam. I had friends that had gone to battle that didn't come home, and had a friend or two that had gone in to this military that did come home. And when I saw them, you know, I saw the transformation in them. And, you know, when I graduated from high school, I had a plan, but my plan blew up in my face. And so, you know, my parents had already sent three other kids to college and were kind of out of money to do so for me. So I thought, I'll just join, get the GI Bill, get out, go to college and, you know, find another job. But had so much fun, and not just fun, but so much pride in my service at the time that I decided to stay in. So I started off in the Marine Corps, went to the Naval Academy prep school, went to the Naval Academy, got commissioned as a naval officer, as a special duty intelligence Naval officer, and then served in a career that spanned 22 years. Yes.
- [05:51]
Bobby Bones
Now, what was it about the military? And I just think, like, I grew up with really no discipline. I grew up very poor, so I really didn't have any discipline. And I think I searched for that once I left the house. I don't know what your childhood was like, but what do you think when you got in the military, kept you in it? What drew you to love it?
- [06:08]
Montel Williams
You know, I grew up in a family that, you know, we did. We were, you know, lower middle class or no, not lower middle class. We were lower, bottom class. And, you know, there wasn't much future in the community that I grew up in. And so when I joined the military and I started seeing that my future was opening up to me in front of me, you know, look, I'm a young kid. I joined the military, I got, I went to boot camp at Parris island, demonstrated very quickly that, you know, if I depend on myself and recognize that discipline is something that should be searched for rather than something that should be avoided, success comes with that. So I was meritoriously promoted out of boot camp, got into my first duty station, which was 29 palms, got meritoriously promoted again, which means I got promoted ahead of my time and schedule, got selected to go to the Naval Academy prep school, went ahead and got a four year degree and went to serve as a special duty intelligence officer. I served on Board the USS Kitty Hawk and Halsey in the Indian Ocean for from 1980 to like 1980, one and a half. Got selected to go to the Defense Language Institute. Got a degree in Russian. Had to serve back. I had to give some time back for that. So then I started serving on submarines. I was so into what I was doing that, you know, by the time I blinked, I've already been in for 14 years. And, you know, why not stay in for the rest? And so, you know, when I decided to get out, I got out at the. Came off active duty, but I was in what's called temac, temporary active duty for several years after I came up, where I went back forth on active duty, off active duty serving, and then served out the rest of my time in reserves. It just was really the successes that I had, the honors that were bestowed upon me. You know, I really wasn't thinking about a career until I blinked and realized I'd been in that long.
- [08:14]
Bobby Bones
So when I watch these videos on TikTok now of reunifications of, like, in a football game and it's homecoming and the player doesn't know that their mom or dad is back. And, like, I'll watch those every single time. But when I think back to where that first, in my mind started, started to happen, was your show, when you would actually do that before social media was even a thing. Were you the first to, like, do this as like a segment on television?
- [08:38]
Montel Williams
I believe I was. And, you know, I honored my service throughout my entire career of the Montauban show. We, you know, if you go back and look at any one of my shows, you'll see that my honor flag was positioned in the middle of my set. I was thinking I was the first television show to do that. I kept my flag there because of the pride that I had in my service. And I wanted to make sure that I supported our guys and men and women in service the entire time. So I did several shows from multiple ships. I was one of long before it was vogue of embedding. I literally was in the North Arabian Sea on board the Independence. I went over multiple times taking stories, and back then where we only had VHS tapes, I would take tapes out that a family would put together for their service member. I would take those tapes out and show that to the service member that was deployed, and then realized that, you know, if I could do more. Every Christmas, we had a soldier come on board the shot the show. It was so funny that we got away with because they never knew some of these guys had not watched the show or didn't know that I was going to surprise them with their family or with their service member that was deployed on board the show. But we did this almost every single Christmas that I did the show.
- [09:57]
Bobby Bones
How did military turn into the television show? Because the version I know of you is obviously the Montel Williams Show. For years and years and years, like, I'm sure there were little things that happened, and now we just go, wow, we only know him as that. But what were the transitions?
- [10:11]
Montel Williams
I started a program on active duty before I got off active duty where I was speaking around the country in schools. And this was also something that nobody else had done. There was only one person that had done what I was doing, a guy by the name of Toma, who was an ex cop who was doing it in New York. Kind of a scarit grade program. I started speaking in schools all over the country. As a matter of fact, from 1988 to 1991, I spoke to about a million and a half young people in, you know, I don't know, I tell you, 800, 900 schools across the country, colleges, universities, middle schools, high schools, speaking to kids about staying away from negative youth trends. Some of that I did originally in my uniform. And then once I got out, I took my uniform off and continued to do so. And that literally became the genesis of the Montau show, because those presentations started being simulcast to schools around the country or around the community that I was in. I did a show in D.C. that won the Best of Gwinnett in Florida that won the Best Gannett Award for the year, where I did the presentation to high school students. And I did shows in Chicago And Detroit, Washington, D.C. did it all over the country. And that ended up turning into what became the Montau show, because a couple of producers ended up seeing some of the footage of me being in the schools and first approached me and said, you know, we have this thing called a talk show. And at the time there was only four talk shows, Sally, Oprah, Phil, and Geraldo. And they thought, well, maybe you should try to do a show for kids. And then we realized that that wasn't enough. Maybe we should just do a talk show that was youth centric. And then once I put it on the air, I made it a show that was not only youth centric, but military centric. And so it ended up lasting for 17 years. So the presentations that I was doing around the country were kind of the genesis of the Monteluxia.
- [12:06]
Bobby Bones
Was it season to season with you where you're Always wondering if you're getting renewed or was it different back then?
- [12:11]
Montel Williams
Oh, back, no, back then, honestly, that was really how television was. It was literally. I, the Montel Williams show, created something called the slow rollout that Hollywood ended up trying to, you know, continue after my show started. But yeah, I ended up. The first five years I was on air, my show was doled out in, you know, two year contracts and for the entire 17 year period of time, it was doled out into your contract. So I didn't really realize that I was gonna have longevity that I had. But we earned it. You know, I ended up being winning or getting the nomin, getting the Emmy for best talk shows. Then it was nominated multiple times for best show and that's really what kept us on the air.
- [12:55]
Bobby Bones
You mentioned earlier you have a degree in Russian. Do you still speak Russian?
- [12:59]
Montel Williams
You know, what's that old saying, if you don't use it, you lose it. I'm away from using it for 10 years now, so I have a little bit. I can carry on a conversation, but I'm not as fluent as I used to be.
- [13:10]
Bobby Bones
What about Mandarin?
- [13:12]
Montel Williams
Oh, man, I did that while I was at the Naval Academy. I studied Mandarin. I took courses in Mandarin at the Naval Academy and again was proficient. But then if you don't use it, you lose it. And of course, what did the military do? Navy did a graduate of the Naval Academy with, you know, a couple years of Chinese behind me, and they sent me off to learn Russian instead of, you know, continuing to study Chinese, which probably would have made me more had greater ability to speak it now. But now I've lost all of it.
- [13:42]
Bobby Bones
When you were writing this book, were you so in it that you were dreaming it when you were asleep?
- [13:48]
Montel Williams
Oh, absolutely. And I was so. And once it was, it was finished. And, you know, I mean, David and I would write, David would send me chapters and I look at them, review them. Dude, I'll tell you, you know, what we kept trying to do is tweak it so that it just didn't sound like a regular history book. It sounded like or it read to you as if you were in it. I recently did an interview with a reporter from the New York Post that picked us as the, you know, this week's. One of this week's top five selections were books to be read. And they kept saying, you know, when you read this, it reads like a cinematic novel rather than a history book. And that's exactly what we were trying to capture when we did it. So I'm So happy that that came through. And, yeah, I mean, I even now dream about some of it. You know, I've read this book now probably 50 times myself, but reading some of the parts of it after the torpedo struck, if I read it this afternoon, I'll dream about it tonight.
- [14:52]
Bobby Bones
So the book's called the Sailing of the Intrepid, the Incredible Wartime Voyage of the Navy's Iconic Aircraft Carrier. It just came out. I encourage everybody because, again, even just the stories that I know about it from being taught it as a kid, I knew about the resilience of the people of the ship. But this excites me to know that you've. Why this story, though? Because, again, you've spent so much time in the military, around the military, doing things for the military. Why this one specifically?
- [15:18]
Montel Williams
Well, there are so many stories in the military that I want to tell. This is one because I actually happened to be on the Intrepid, the actual. Go to the Intrepid. I visited Intrepid. I've been on at Marine Corps Balls on the Intrepid and other issues on the Intrepid, because it's now this museum that it is. And I had actually walked up into the folkshole and saw the spot where they actually hung the sail. And I remember that story. And so when David reached out and said, you know, I want to tell this really interesting story that I don't think a lot of people know about, he said. I said, the sale? He said, yeah, the sale of the truck. I said, yeah, we ought to tell it. So I think it's a story that not only tells the grit of the human beings and the crew, but it also kind of, in a way, humanizes this metal, this ship shows that this is a ship that wasn't going to give up and its crew wasn't going to let it give up. And, you know, I think different than some other stories, and there are so many military stories that need to be told. You know, we captured this one. David and I are right now thinking about looking into the future and thinking about telling some more stories.
- [16:28]
Bobby Bones
So my stepdad was a. I would say a connoisseur of the appreciation of our military, World War II. And so as a kid, I learned a lot about World War II, mostly because his dad fought in World War II. And so the book that you wrote, the Sailing of the Intrepid, I want to give you what I know about the Intrepid, because I did learn a little about it as a kid, because, again, he was fascinated with mostly the Resilience of the people on the boat, and from what I remember, the kamikaze planes that would crash into the boat, yet they still managed to save this carrier. And so that's my memory of being taught that. How much of that is your story of the book and how they managed to continue this ship working and fighting?
- [17:20]
Montel Williams
Well, the crazy thing about it is that, you know, the Intrepid is really, honestly like the unsinkable Molly Brown. The ship has such a history, and the reason why we call it iconic is because I'm only telling one little partial, one little portion of the ship's history. You know, when a ship went into battle in World War II, it successfully participated in two of the most successful campaigns at sea. One was at against Kwajalein, one of the Marshall Islands, and the other one was against the island of Truck. The aircraft carrier was part of one of the biggest armadas that we ever put together. Multiple aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers, and those kinds of things. But when we went into battle in both places, we inflicted some of the most devastating losses to the Japanese Navy that they had ever had at that point in time. And when the ship was leaving Truck, it was hit by and struck by a Japanese torpedo, which ended up jamming its rudder 15 degrees port. This made the ship basically careen out of control, made it almost unsteerable. The captain tried everything he could by using the engines, putting forward and backwards and trying its best to steer it, but really had no steerage. And so it was a sitting duck. And because of the ingenuity, the resourcefulness of the captain, the crew, the damage control officer, Commander Stress Reynolds, and several of the other crew members, they came up with this idea. What if we marry the most advanced? And we've got to remember this, the Intrepid was one of the most advanced ships of its time, close to 1,000ft long, and it didn't really have sails on it. So this ship married the technology of the day to the most ancient technology of maritime life, which is a sail. They decided, what if we put a sail on the front of this ship on the bow, that'll help counterbalance the wind and also the currents and help us steer this thing straight? They did that, and it worked. They were able to steer the ship almost 3,000 miles back to Hawaii, where it was temporarily fixed, went up to San Francisco, went into dry dock, where it was actually repaired, went back into battle, and then that's when it got hit by four different kamikazes. It was one of the first ships in the US Navy to Get struck by a kamikaze. And that completely blew their minds that these people were actually going to fly their planes right into a ship. It survived all four of those. It survived losses from its air crew, you know, in battles after that, but it ended up staying afloat, staying alive, because again, you know, the Japanese wanted to be able to sink this. You know, the Intrepid was, you know, the word intrepid, you know, sent fear into the spines of the Japanese, knowing that this thing was still floating out there. They were trying their best to go and sink it. And had they done so, they would have had a spoil of war that they could have, you know, bragged about. But they didn't get that because of the ingenuity, the resourcefulness of the crew and them sailing it back to Hawaii. And then again, like I said, went on after that to be struck by kamikazes that every two of them, it went back into dry dock, was repaired, came back in a battle, ended up serving in Vietnam, ended up then serving again as the space capsule recovery ship for NASA before it was retired. And then it was almost scrapped and retired, turned into scrap metal. But Zachary Fisher, one of the Fisher brothers in New York, one of the most prolific builders in the city, decided that he wanted to take it and reached out to Mayor Koch and said, look, what if we put this along the west side highway and turn it into an aeronautical space museum, which it is today. So it's a story of resilience, of survivability, contribution and of teamwork. I mean, the entire ship participated in collecting the canvas that they used. End up selling this 300 square foot sale. Because you have to remember that during World War II, not having sails, they only had one person on the ship that had the rating of sail maker. But his job was really to sew hash covers and body bags. So they had to collect all this to be able to make that sale, to be able to get the ship out of harm's way, get it back, get it refit to be back in service. And that's really where the story is. I mean, it's almost like the unsinkable.
- [21:57]
Bobby Bones
Molly Brown when you talk about truck, which is spelled T R U K. What I know about that is, or what I don't know about that is, wasn't that like their naval base? And I think about taking anything and going. It's almost, it almost feels like life or death on the line, but it's like an away football team going into the home team. So they're taking, they're On. They're on the Intrepid. They were going into this massive naval base of Japan. They're the away team, but we're talking life or death, right?
- [22:25]
Montel Williams
Absolutely. And, you know, when they. When they did so, the Japanese had put small, you know, they had fortified small islands all throughout the northern Pacific. And so that was part of what this job was for. You know, the Intrepid, the Essex, and several other aircraft carriers that were taking the battle to the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. And so you're right, they had to sail up. They were offshore, they launched its planes. But they actually devastated both Troc and Kwazulan, destroying several ships, several airplanes, aircraft. And, you know, the casualties on the Japanese side were probably 10 times the casualties on the US side. So it was a pure show of projection of power. And at a time when, you know, most navies in the world didn't believe the aircraft carrier was worth its grain of salt. However, once they saw what the Japanese were able to do in Honolulu, they realized that projection of power this way would be the future of naval fighting. And they were absolutely right.
- [23:31]
Bobby Bones
My final question, and I would assume you're in your 60s now, but are you still jacked? Like, every time I've seen a picture of you, you've been ripped up.
- [23:38]
Montel Williams
Well, you know, age does. It's, it's. It's part to keep us from being as jacked as we ever have been. But, you know, I work out at least five to six days a week, so I've been trying to maintain it. As a matter of fact, I. My wife were, you know, looking this morning, and I'm surprised that my six pack is coming back. I'm 68. And, you know, in the last couple weeks, last couple weeks, we've been working at. Our diet's a little bit better, and my six pack's coming back. So, yeah, I think I'm in fairly decent shape for my age.
- [24:07]
Bobby Bones
Hey, congratulations on the book and thank you for the time. And yeah, just thanks for maintaining your presence and what you continue to present. So I really appreciate that and I hope the book sells. Just tons and tons.
- [24:19]
Montel Williams
Montel, I thank you so much, sir. We're hoping that they turn this because I've been approached recently by a couple producers who wanted to either do this as a documentary or as a feature film. And like I said, I think it reads not like a history book. It reads more like a cinematic novel. And so hoping that this gets turned into a film that'll reach way more people, and then we're going to be hitting it again. And to all of your listeners and those who serve, thank you so much for your service.
- [24:46]
Bobby Bones
All right, Montel, have a great day, man. Thank you.
- [24:49]
Montel Williams
Yes, sir. You too. You take care of yourself. Hang tight.
- [24:51]
Bobby Bones
The Bobbycast will be right back. Thank you to the presenting sponsor of today's episode, American Express. I'm a big American Express guy. I travel for work a lot. I'm able to use this card in an amazing way for my business expenses. You know me, I'm on the road. I feel like sometimes too much. But all the points I get makes it so much better. With the Amex Business Platinum, you earn five times membership reward points on flights and prepaid hotels. Book through amextravel.com/ you can work while you're on the go with access to more than 1400 lounges globally through the American Express Global Lounge collection, including the Centurion Lounge. That's powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more@americanexpress.com AmExBusiness hi, Zoe Saldana. Welcome to T Mobile. Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us.
- [25:38]
Amy Brown
Thanks.
- [25:39]
Bobby Bones
And here's my old phone to trade in. You don't need to trade in. When you switch to T Mobile, we'll give you a new iPhone 16 Pro. Plus we'll help you pay off your old Phone up to 800 bucks and you still get to keep it.
- [25:49]
Amy Brown
There's always a trader.
- [25:50]
Bobby Bones
Not right now. @ T Mobile. I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma. That's okay.
- [25:55]
Amy Brown
I don't really have much in my purse.
- [25:57]
Julia
Oh, let's see.
- [25:58]
Amy Brown
Hand sanitizer.
- [25:59]
Bobby Bones
It's lavender. I'm good. Seriously. Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints. Really, I'm fine.
- [26:05]
Julia
Oh, I have raisins.
- [26:06]
Amy Brown
I'm a mom.
- [26:07]
Bobby Bones
Wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car. It's our best iPhone offer ever.
- [26:11]
Montel Williams
Switch to T Mobile. Get a new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence on us. No trade in needed.
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Bobby Bones
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- [26:32]
Amy Brown
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- [27:43]
Bobby Bones
And we're back on the Bobbycast. Also, what I want to do is I got an email and it was from a student at a college of California. And so she was doing a sports journalism final and her assignment was to interview me for 15 to 20 minutes. But I think it went like 45 minutes. Is that how long this is? Yeah, I think it was like 40 something minutes. So I just thought it would be interesting to play it. I have not heard it back. I didn't want to hear it back. So this is Julia and she was doing an assignment at Chapman University in California. And so she had to interview me. And this is that interview. Did you listen back to it? Yeah. Do I want to hear back? I think it's interesting you talk about like what you want to be remembered for. Oh, I don't remember what I said. All right. But here you go.
- [28:26]
Julia
How's your day been so far?
- [28:29]
Bobby Bones
It's been good. I wake up every morning pretty early. So we did the radio show this morning and then I came home and hopped into a. I do a podcast for the NFL. So I did, did the podcast until like 20 minutes ago and then had that set, set this up and then I'll go work out after I'm done. So days are always pretty packed. But it's been good so far. What about you?
- [28:53]
Julia
I had class this morning. I have an 8:30, so.
- [28:55]
Montel Williams
Oof.
- [28:56]
Julia
My class morning wall.
- [28:57]
Bobby Bones
That's tough.
- [28:59]
Julia
Yeah. And then Jeff's class is usually tonight and it's 7 to 9:50 on Tuesday nights.
- [29:04]
Bobby Bones
Wow. Three hours and going once a week, right? Yeah, there's a. Yeah, I took Media Law that way. It was a nightmare because it was great. It was only once a week. But oh my God, it feels like it's forever. Even if it's not a boring class, it feels like it's forever.
- [29:16]
Julia
And it's so late at night too. But he brings us snacks every week, so.
- [29:19]
Bobby Bones
Really?
- [29:19]
Julia
Yes.
- [29:20]
Bobby Bones
That's really cool.
- [29:21]
Julia
Whoever has the best like lead or whatever story you're writing that week, they get a pick snack of the week.
- [29:25]
Bobby Bones
So what do you guys do in class? Like what are you learning in this class?
- [29:29]
Julia
It kind of varies. It's Intro to Sports Journalism. So it's a lot of writing and like learning by doing. That's Jeff's big thing is like the best way to learn is by practicing. And he brings in guest speaker Seth Davis came last week.
- [29:42]
Bobby Bones
Oh, that's cool. He just like really awesome. Like I don't, you know, I don't know if you know how like legit he is. I'm sure you can look it up and. But like he's like one of my favorites of all time. So he's really, really, really one of the best. Like you guys get super fortunate that he's, you know, spending time teaching over there.
- [29:59]
Julia
Yeah, it's like the only time he teaches this year, so that's cool. There's only 14 of us too, so. Okay, well, that was one of my questions was what does a typical day in the life look like? And what did you do today specifically? But you kind of already answered that, so.
- [30:11]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, I think the days are always a little bit different because we travel a bit too. I. We travel if I'm touring, if I'm like doing standup or like I'll leave Thursday of this week because we have a festival. And then next week I leave on Tuesday and I'll work from Dallas because I'm part of the ACMs the, the Amazon broadcast. So I'll go and be part of that. That show. So all the weeks are different. The thing that's the same is I'd probably jam too many things in each day.
- [30:42]
Julia
What time do you typically wake up? I saw your show starts at 5 and like my 8:30 is already too much for me.
- [30:46]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, I wake up on purpose. If I can wake up at four, that's pretty good. But I usually wake up in the 3 o' clock hour. I have crazy anxiety about oversleeping. I've never overslept once. I have never been late because I'm so scared of being late. So I wake up in the 3 o' clock hour almost every single day. It's miserable. I hate it. There's never been a morning I've like got out of bed and been like, man, this feels great. So I've just gotten better at feeling really terrible for a couple hours until I snap out of it because I am not a morning person, really.
- [31:20]
Julia
What time do you go to bed then?
- [31:22]
Bobby Bones
It's very dependent on where I am. But I try to go to bed around 9:30 or so if I'm home. It's tough though, just because there's just a, you know, we, we are our priorities. And I tend to prioritize like six things at once and 9:30 is the goal. But when, if, especially if I tour on weekends, I won't even get to bed on weekends until like 11 or 12. And that's okay because I don't have to do anything that next morning. But it kind of wrecks my schedule for the first part of the next week because I kind of get off track. But mornings suck. I hate mornings. They suck. And I've been doing the morning show, like a national morning show for 20 years, which is crazy because I was in my early 20s when I started and it has sucked the whole time and not gotten easier.
- [32:13]
Julia
Yeah, I can imagine.
- [32:14]
Bobby Bones
The show doesn't suck. It's. It's awesome to do because I have all my friends, I hired all my friends, but just the waking up part is brutal.
- [32:19]
Julia
I was gonna ask that was one of my questions is like, since you've been doing this for so long, how do you, like, keep it interesting? And like, do you ever get like, kind of bored of it or is it always something new?
- [32:27]
Bobby Bones
I think you could get bored of it pretty quickly if you were doing the same thing over and over. I think one of the things that's the best for me and also at times the worst for my health is that I have like four or five things going at once. So I've written a couple books, I guess three if you count a kid's book. But that took me like 20 minutes. And mostly it was like picking the, you know, the person that draws the pictures. But if it's books or if I'm writing comedy at a comedy special on CMT a couple of months ago, or, you know, I have a few podcasts that I do now, aside from the radio show, I travel around, do a sports show where I go to different, you know, Major League baseball teams, NFL teams, NBA teams, college programs. So because I do a lot of different stuff, it does keep me from getting bored, but it also keeps me tired, especially with the early morning hours. I don't think it would be so bad if I didn't have to wake up early. But the radio show is still the most fun. The radio show and podcast, it's the same, but that's still the most fun because that's what I've really built into something that's by far the biggest thing that I've ever done. But the fact that I'm able to add in other elements to keep it feeling. I won't say fresh, but to keep me feeling motivated to, like, create. Because that's where I feel my best is, like, when I'm making something and sometimes it ends up not being very good. I was at my therapist's office yesterday, and we were talking about that. It's like, I'm never happy with the finished product, ever. I'll give you an example where we have a. Have a special that's about the ACM Awards going on Amazon. When's it go up? Read Friday. It goes up Friday. We produce the whole thing ourself with that. Amazon didn't tell us to make it. We just made it. And it's me and Reed and just a couple guys in my crew, and we shot this special, and they are like, we love it. We'll take it. But it really sucked making it. And now that they've taken it, I'm like, okay. But the idea of creating something that no one even knows is coming, nor would they even want it if you pitched it, but they still like it. Like, that is what's kind of fulfilling for me. No, it's just. Which is why I'm in therapy so much. Because it doesn't make sense.
- [34:41]
Julia
No, I'm the same way. I need to constantly be doing if I'm not doing. That was one of the things I was going to ask is, what's your favorite part about hosting a radio show? And is there any moments from over the years that, like, kind of stood out to you as, like, one of your favorites or something that kind of, like, made it all worth it almost?
- [34:54]
Bobby Bones
My favorite part is that it's long form. You know, I've never been in radio to play music, so we don't play a lot of music. And I was fortunate that when I first started doing the radio show, I really focused on podcasting before podcasting was mainstream. So whenever podcasting became as big as it is now because it's basically all I listen to. We were already doing it to a level where we had an audience on our streams already. So it's kind of like we're doing two shows at once. We're doing the radio show and the radio show is a podcast, but then we podcast on the back end of the radio show. So it's been fun to kind of be on the front end of that. While other people were just doing radio, we were focused on the digital side of it too. That that has been kind of fun in the creation of our show. I think another thing was I hired all my friends way early because we had no money, there was no budget and I didn't really know what I was doing. I have no background in any sort of broadcast or radio, nor do I have a good voice, nor do I really have any of the classic tools that one would think they needed to make. But that's in the end what worked for me the best. Because we did it so differently and we had no budget. We were on one station in Texas and I, since I had no budget, I just got my friends to come sit in the studio with me in the morning. And then that turned into being able to pay them part time. We had some success then we had a whole lot of success. And I hired, I just hired all my friends over the years. So that's probably the best part about it is that I've been able to give my friends like really cool good jobs and then moments, you know, some of the cool stuff, it just, they fit into different buckets. Like we've been able to, on the philanthropic side of things, you know, do basically $30 million for St. Jude, which is a children's hospital where people don't have to pay the bills if their kid gets put in for cancer. And I was in the hospital a lot as a kid, so that is why that place is so important to me. So on that in that bucket, that's super cool. Like people coming in, a guy. I enjoy doing long form interviews and there have been a couple that have really stood out. John Mayer would come in and there's you know, like a half hour John Mayer interview that's on YouTube that I didn't know he was coming to the studio. And he came by and we just kind of talked about creating and kind of what you see inside while creating. And I was asking him about colors. We're talking about jokes and, and talking about how it's usually not the thing that you're most proud of or that you work the hardest or pushed yourself the most on that people resonate with. It's usually the thing that's kind of down the middle, because I was asking him, like, what songs do you get bored playing? And he's like, well, I get bored playing this song, but people love it the most. And I kind of compared that to some of the stuff that I do. So stuff like that's cool. Where you don't really expect it to be great, which makes it great. So, like, those were two pretty cool moments. If you're just like. Like, what are some cool moments also, you know, just being able to do stuff that spins off the radio show. Like, everything has spun off the radio show. But, like, I did a reality show. I did Dancing with the Stars, which I never. I don't know how to dance. And I was already on American Idol because I did four years over there. But I won that show while being a terrible dancer. I worked really hard, but it was my audience that, you know, ran with me the whole time. And so if it wasn't for the radio show and the really great audience that I have that were like, hey, this is our guy, like, that wouldn't have happened. So I think just building that community has been probably the coolest part about it.
- [38:14]
Julia
Yeah. Dancing with the Stars is how I first heard about you, because me and my sister are big fans of the show. We went to the tour last la.
- [38:20]
Bobby Bones
That's awesome. Yeah, it's. I never knew how amazing those athletes are until I was with them. And I'm still semi athletic. Like, I. I can still play a little bit. The Major League baseball celebrity softball tournament was a few months ago, and I went and played, and I was. I was the mvp, so I can still play a little bit. Right. And so. And I play, like, pickleball and golf and I work out and run, but it's nothing. It's nothing. Those. Those dancers are professional athletes. It is. Why? And I had no idea until I started to work with one every single day. And they're just like NBA players or NFL players. Like, they are as athletic as anything I've ever seen.
- [39:03]
Julia
Yeah. Do you have, like, a favorite moment or, like, the biggest lesson you took away from your time on Dancing with the Stars? Like, doing something that was so outside your comfort zone.
- [39:09]
Bobby Bones
Oh, yeah. And. Hey, Reid, would you hand me that? The. Yeah. And that show again, I never had the intention of going on the show because I never danced, so I don't have any background in dance. This Is the, that's the friggin mirror ball. Yeah. And I love it. And people, you know, people will make fun of me, whatever, for like going on, going on a dance show. But for me, the coolest thing about doing that show was I had no idea what I was doing. I had complete faith that I could figure it out as I went. And I knew we'd have a chance to win, even though we had no chance to win. Because I have an irrational confidence in myself that I can figure, I can survive long enough to figure it out. I knew I would never be great at it, but I knew I could survive long enough to have a shot at the end. And that's exactly what happened, is that I was never in the bottom three and. But I was also not good. But people could tell I was trying really hard because I took it very seriously because that's those dancers art. And yeah, it's a TV show and yeah, it's goofy, whatever. But to me, I wanted to respect the hard work the dancers were doing and I wanted to win. And I wanted the audience to know that I was serious about it. Even though at times it seemed like I wasn't serious at all. But I didn't know the rules. And so since I didn't know the rules, like the real rules of like watching the show, it helped me so much because I didn't play by the rules. Which is a weird thing because if you grow up and you know, you're in some industry and you learn everything you should or shouldn't do, or you grow up around a certain industry, sometimes that boxes you in by knowing what the rules are and you're not really able to think outside of the old cliche, out of the box, but you're not able to think differently because you are conditioned to think this is what you can and can't do. I had no conditioning. Like I went into the show, I was like, I'm going to work hard. But I, I also, when it was, I felt like reacting, I reacted. When I felt like doing something different, I did. And it caused a lot of controversy. They changed the rules on that show after I left because I, I was so different on the show. So for me it was, if anything it was. It's kind of not where you start, it's where you end up. And you can thrive to whatever level that you need to if you just set your sights on surviving. And so that's what I did. I survived and learned. And I think that's kind of what I've did Throughout all of my career and all these different things that I've done.
- [41:43]
Julia
Yeah, that was one thing. When I was, like, doing my research, I saw that you were from Arkansas. And, like, I don't know if I'm from California, so I don't know if I've ever met anyone from Arkansas.
- [41:50]
Bobby Bones
So I'm the only one. I'm the only one that's ever left.
- [41:53]
Montel Williams
Yeah.
- [41:53]
Julia
Like, so I'm like, how do you feel, like, in, like, the era of Nepo babies, where it feels like everyone's in LA and New York? Like, how do you think growing up in Arkansas and in such a small town, like, influenced your career and, like, led you to where you are today? Like, do you think it helped you in any way, or.
- [42:06]
Bobby Bones
I think I was really resentful about where I come from for a long time. And, yeah, Nepo babies, or I would always be. I was always irritated at people who even that were born, like, extremely wealthy, but I grew up very poor, so I saw anybody with an advantage as somebody having an advantage that I didn't have and wouldn't have. I don't feel that way now, but only because I don't think I would have acquired or developed the skills that I have had. I not had to go through the difficulties of learning everything. Like, I'm a Swiss army now, where I'm not that great at anything. But I'm pretty good at a lot of stuff now because I never really written anything. I have two freaking New York Times bestsellers. Like, I shouldn't. But again, I know the rules. There was nobody around me to tell me how to do stuff, so I would just try it and take feedback and. And then try to make it better. But I think me not having any sort of help was very hard at first, but now it makes. I won't say it makes everything easier, but it makes the losses feel a little more normal and regular and I can bounce back up quicker. And that's really the key to any success in this industry. It's not how good you are, it's, do you have tenacity? Like, can you keep getting up whenever it's no. Because this business is all nosy. It's all nos. And if I'd have grown up where it was, a lot of yeses in my life in general, I don't know that I could have made it through this. When it's all nos and it's the person that can get told no over and over and over again and still feel passionate about it and keep going like, that's when the yeses start coming.
- [43:45]
Julia
We were talking about this with Seth Davis last week, how, like, he's like, I'm not great at any one thing, but I'm just good at a lot of things. And that's what's gotten me so far.
- [43:52]
Bobby Bones
Which, yeah, I think being able to have people trust that you can handle yourself, right? Same same with Seth, because Seth's great. I see Seth, and I'm like, dude, Seth's great, but he's probably similar where he's had to develop all these little skills in order to get to a place. And it's also like, you have to be. This is so generic and fundamental, but it's the truest thing ever. You've got to be trustworthy and on time, and you have to be where you're going to be when you say you're going to be there. And you got to have a good attitude, and you got to have a good work ethic, because you can control those things because nothing else you can control. And you will get a shot if you get in and show up, do the work, and have a good attitude. You may not get the shot first. You may not get the shot for a long time, but if you can just prove that you're trustworthy and consistent, man, that is. That is such a big part of the job at American Idol. So I was supposed to go in for one episode, and they were like, hey, come in. This is the first year they went to abc. So if they've been on Fox for a long time, and I watch it on Fox for the first part of it, but I kind of stopped watching it. I knew it. I remember the old days, but I kind of stopped watching it. And so I had a talk show on ABC that got to pilot. It was actually me and Deion Sanders, and it got to pilot, and then it got canceled or it got. It didn't get picked up, but we spent months working on it. So I'd made a couple relationships there, and they were like, hey, we think it'd be great if you came and did an episode of American Idol, because you can work with the contestants on how to be interviewed, on how to have decent camera presence. And by the way, I've only done TV by begging people to be on tv. I don't have any experience like learning television. So I say, okay, great. So I go for one episode, and not only was I pretty good at that, like, I understood where a lot of the contestants were coming from because I had never been to Los Angeles or New York or any big city until work took me there. So like them, I was just wide eyed and so I could relate to them in that way. And so they're like, hey, why don't you do another episode? And so I ended up on that show for four years and it was only because I had a good attitude, a good work ethic and I was on time and then I was good at my job. So because the first things happened, it, it allowed the other things to happen. Because if you're not there on time, I mean, unless you're Katy Perry, she was always late. But other than that, all good.
- [46:17]
Julia
Yeah, I feel like when I was like doing my research on like all the things you've done, you've literally done everything from like ballroom dancing to writing books, TV shows. Is there anything that you haven't had the opportunity to do yet in your career that you want to at some point?
- [46:29]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, I, my goal has been to host one of these big award shows. And so there are two massive award shows in country music specifically. And I haven't always worked in country music. I worked in pop and hip hop and I had a quick record deal as a rapper at one point in my life. So I've kind of again, like I said, not really great at anything, but I've done it all. But I grew up in Arkansas, so love country music, so that's why I came to Nashville. But I want to host one of the shows and I've only able to be second string. Like the ACMs happen next week on Amazon and Reba's hosting, but I'm there as well. Like I'm in the crowd the whole time, talking on camera, talking with our. So it's like as close as you could possibly without being it. But I haven't been it yet. And so like that's the one thing, I haven't been famous enough to actually be the host yet, which, which is the truth because it's always like a massive celebrity like country star or like Peyton Manning. And I've gotten pretty close, but I have not, I've not actually hosted an awards show. Right. So that's the thing I haven't done. Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor. Thank you to the presenting sponsor of today's episode, American Express. Between my shows, 25 whistles, lots to say, too much access. It's a lot of traveling for work and I get to attend a bunch of different sporting events. And while the travel can take a toll on me, Sometimes all the points I get makes it so much better. With the Amex Platinum, you earn five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through amextravel.com on up to $500,000 in flight purchases per year. Plus you get access to the Centurion Lounge, making travel that much more enjoyable. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. For more information, visit www.americanexpress.com travel. Hi, Zoe Saldana. Welcome to T Mobile. Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us.
- [48:27]
Amy Brown
Thanks.
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Bobby Bones
And here's my old phone to trade in. You don't need a trade in. When you switch to T Mobile, we'll give you a new iPhone 16 Pro. Plus we'll help you pay off your old Phone up to 800 bucks and you still get to keep it.
- [48:39]
Amy Brown
There's always a trade in.
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Bobby Bones
Not right now. @ T Mobile. I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma. That's okay.
- [48:44]
Amy Brown
I don't really have much in my purse.
- [48:46]
Julia
Oh, let's see.
- [48:47]
Bobby Bones
Hands, Hands.
- [48:48]
Amy Brown
Sanitizer.
- [48:48]
Bobby Bones
It's lavender. I'm good. Seriously. Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints. Really, I'm fine.
- [48:54]
Julia
Oh, I have raisins.
- [48:55]
Amy Brown
I'm a mom.
- [48:56]
Bobby Bones
Wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car. It's our best iPhone offer ever.
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Montel Williams
Switch to T Mobile. Get a new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple intelligence on us.
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Bobby Bones
No trade in needed. We'll even pay off your phone up to 800 bucks with 24 monthly bill credits. New line, 100 plus a month on.
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Montel Williams
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Bobby Bones
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Amy Brown
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- [50:32]
Bobby Bones
Welcome back to the Bobbycast.
- [50:35]
Julia
Going off of that like you've done a lot of interviewing. Do you have a favorite person you've ever interviewed who was like maybe the most interesting, unexpected, just like a fun story?
- [50:42]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, there's a few of those. I think the most difficult people to interview are my friends, even if they're famous because I know too much. And when you know too much, you don't ask certain things in protection mode when if I didn't know anything, I would just ask the question and I would get good answers even if they didn't want to share what they didn't want to share. So the difficult part about living here and like some of my really good friends are, you know, famous country singers. And you would think interviewing friends would be the best, it's the worst because of that. But the first time that Garth Brooks ever came in was really cool because I'd never met him. He's the highest selling American artist of all time. He's the second highest artist of all time behind the Beatles. And so. And I grew up listening to a lot of Garth Brooks and he was super generous with the stories. He brought a guitar, he played songs and then he gave me his guitar. I'm left handed, I can't play it. I didn't say that. I wasn't like, no, I can't take it, I'm left handed. But he gave me his guitar and he wrote a little note on it. So it was cool. And there are people like Dolly, Dolly Parton, who, when you meet them, and Dolly was on my comedy special with me. She did some stuff at the beginning of it, in the middle of it. And I've got a relationship with her now, which is crazy to think, but Dolly's done it all. Dolly's. Dolly was famous in the 70s and 80s and in every form from doing massive movies mainstream to being as country as you could be, to doing it doesn't matter, she's done it all. And when you meet her and you kind of realize, oh, that's why people are famous. Like, there's something that you can't even really explain. Obviously, she's super talented as a singer and a songwriter, but there is a. There's an element, like an indescribable element that when you finally run into it, you go, oh, yeah, I can't define that, but I want to be around that all the time. And I get why that. That's become so popular. So being around people like that that are so magnetic has been super cool. So when it comes to people like, Dolly was great. Garth is great. One of the other really cool things that just happened, we. I do a concert here at the Ryman every year, which is a. It's like the most famous country music. And other bands come through town and play as well. But it's a. It's an auditorium and it's a venue in town. And I'd been making this joke that I was in a boy band since, like, I was 12 and the band's o town, but I never was really in a boy band. But I was able to bring them all in. And they had hits back in, like, the early 2000s. But I brought all those guys in at this big charity show, and they came and we just got to end the bit. And we performed together for the first time. Finger quotes. In, like, 20 years. And so we did all or nothing that I Want it all. Nothing at all, that song. And it was just. That was super fun for me because I had been, like, joking around that I was in a boy band.
- [53:30]
Julia
And.
- [53:30]
Bobby Bones
And then they came in and paid off the bit. So stuff like that is still fun to me. But when it comes to, like, interviews and doing stuff, those are probably what comes to mind. Now, the John Mayer thing was super cool. Or a guy like Chris Stapleton, who we had in. Before he ever got famous and before he ever had even Tennessee whiskey before that was a thing. He was a songwriter that I really admired. Like, that was cool. Yeah. And a lot of times it's the early stuff before they get really famous.
- [53:55]
Julia
Kind of going over that of, like, kind of the earlier and interviewing. How do you think your show and like, interviewing. And just like the industry as a whole has changed, like, over the last, like, maybe decade or so. Especially, like, as social media has increased. Like, I'm majoring in, like, public relations and advertising. So, like, everything is social media nowadays. So how has that been for you? Like, kind of watching that evolve similar.
- [54:14]
Bobby Bones
Everything is social media, like, every. I won't even say social media. Everything needs to be on Nine platforms. And I don't say that in a bad way like that. That's the life we live now. And me as a content creator, if it's a radio show, podcast, if it's a YouTube stream, if, like, everything goes everywhere. And so I have to think of the ways that the content I'm creating is going to be used differently in all the different places. So if I'm doing an interview, the long form audio version of it, I'm really good at that because I'm not really intimidated and I'll listen. I think a lot of people, when they interview, especially at first, they want to have their next question loaded up because they don't want to seem like they're not paying attention or they don't want to be a bad interviewer. They want to show they've done their research. That's all great. And you should, everybody should. But I think at this point, I'll go in prepared, but I will listen. And I'm not afraid of silence because silence will also encourage the other person to keep talking. So the long form stuff, I'm really good at, it's also, while I'm doing it, identifying what the short form strong parts are. If it's. And I have a producer with me, Mike D, who's been with me forever. He was an intern for me 15 years ago, who's like my main guy now and head writer on the show. And most of my shows been with me for over 10, 15 years, some 20. And we now have that relationship where he knows when we're doing long form. We're also digging out short form the whole time. So we're like, we're producing clips in our head, long form audio, video. You know, I'm sitting in a studio now with lights on me, and this is just you and I talking. So we're ready for kind of everything. We've had to learn how to do everything all at once. And not because that's special, but because that's what you need to do to survive.
- [56:02]
Julia
No, my thing just like Reloaded. Oh, the wi. We've had a lot of WI fi issues here recently.
- [56:06]
Bobby Bones
I thought you were giving me silence, like you were showing me. You were like, I'll show him. I'll give him some silence. Yeah.
- [56:11]
Julia
Gave us like a whole boot camp last week on, like, how to ask what. She's like, do not waste their time. Anything that they can Google, like, do not ask them. He was like, don't embarrass me.
- [56:18]
Bobby Bones
Basically, no, no, I. By the way, I Again. I'll say it again. He's. He's the best. Like, I don't know him as far as. Like, I never met him in person. That's what's weird.
- [56:28]
Julia
He was in Nashville, like, two weeks ago.
- [56:30]
Bobby Bones
I know. And I messaged him and he was like, oh, I forgot you lived in Nashville. He thought I lived in la. But it's weird because social. You talk about social media. I have these relationships with people that I feel like I know that I really have never met. I. I would text Jeff, text me the other day about something random that he saw my social media. Like, I have that relationship. And I think he is, like, one of the greatest sports writers of my lifetime. So I think he's super cool and he's done a lot and I like to interview him about. And he comes on, but I've never. It's crazy. I didn't think about that. I've never actually seen him in person. I don't even know if he's real.
- [57:02]
Julia
He's in New York this week, so we don't even get to see him. But, yeah, I know. He followed me on TikTok the other day, so that's like, my now claim.
- [57:08]
Bobby Bones
To fame is that. He followed you.
- [57:11]
Julia
Yeah, because he posted about. Did he tell you how, like, the final project works?
- [57:15]
Bobby Bones
Yeah. So he asked me, goes, hey, would you do something with one of my students? I don't know who it's going to be, but they're doing projects on people. All I had to say is, would you? And I would have said, yes. Like, I respect him that much. And I said, yeah, sure. And he goes, well, this is going to sound pitiful. He goes, well, they're going to draft people, like, notable people, and you're going to be on the list. And I was like, oh, no, I was picked last for everything. And, like, it was like trauma coming out of my pores again, going, no one's going to pick me. I'm going to be the last one picked. Just lie to me, don't tell. Just whatever happens, don't tell me where I was picked. So I was a little nervous about that, but that's what I knew.
- [57:52]
Julia
You'll be honored to know. I had the first pick.
- [57:56]
Bobby Bones
Oh, wow. I am very. He probably told everybody to say that. So you know what? I thank you. But he probably did.
- [58:03]
Julia
I'm not even kidding.
- [58:04]
Bobby Bones
Well, thank you very much.
- [58:05]
Julia
Watch his video.
- [58:06]
Bobby Bones
Oh, I saw the video of him talking about it, but I figured he just targeted me with that. Did like a paid AD so only I would see it and think I was first.
- [58:15]
Julia
No, he fully had us, like, picking, like, numbers out of a hat them all down. And then everyone thought I cheated. They were like, well, you wrote the numbers on. I was like, I did.
- [58:22]
Bobby Bones
Nah, it sounds. Yeah, it sounds like cheating to me, but I'll take it. I'll take it.
- [58:25]
Julia
My best friend in the class got 14. I was like, sorry, girl.
- [58:28]
Bobby Bones
Who did she end up getting, like, the assistant to?
- [58:33]
Julia
It was a bunch of people. Like, we have, like, former NFL players.
- [58:35]
Montel Williams
Former.
- [58:36]
Bobby Bones
Oh, there were other cool people.
- [58:37]
Julia
College basketball people.
- [58:39]
Bobby Bones
Oh, you're gassing me up now.
- [58:41]
Julia
Like, yeah, no, one of my friends is doing. He was a former NFL player turned scuba diver. He's a scuba diving instructor now.
- [58:49]
Bobby Bones
I thought it would be like Toby Maguire's third cousin's assistant, like, people like that. But hey, I'm into it.
- [58:55]
Julia
No. Yeah, it was really so. It was really cool because we have, like a super wide variety. And then. Oh, and then also, depending on how high your pick was, the longer your paper has to be.
- [59:04]
Bobby Bones
So yours have to be the longest.
- [59:05]
Julia
Yeah.
- [59:06]
Bobby Bones
Oh, you better ask some more questions. They haven't given you crap yet. We interrupt this interview to bring you a message from our sponsor. Thank you. To the presenting sponsor of today's episode, American Express. I'm a big American Express guy. I travel for work a lot. I'm able to use this card in an amazing way for my business expenses. You know me, I'm on the road. I feel like sometimes too much, but all the points I get makes it so much better. With the Amex business platinum, you earn five times membership reward points on flights and prepaid hotels. Book through amextravel.com/ you can work while you're on the go with access to more than 1400 lounges globally through the American Express global Lounge collection, including the Centurion Lounge. That's powerful. Backing of American Express terms apply. Learn more@americanexpress.com AmExBusiness hi, Zoe Saldana. Welcome to T Mobile. Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us. Thanks. And here's my old phone to trade in. You don't need a trade in when you switch to T Mobile. We'll give you a new iPhone 16 Pro. Plus we'll help you pay off your old Phone up to 800 bucks and you still get to keep it.
- [60:08]
Amy Brown
There's always a trade in.
- [60:09]
Bobby Bones
Not right now. @ T Mobile. I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma. That's okay.
- [60:14]
Amy Brown
I don't really have much in my purse.
- [60:16]
Julia
Oh, let's see.
- [60:17]
Amy Brown
Hand sanitizer.
- [60:18]
Bobby Bones
It's lavender. I'm good. Seriously.
- [60:20]
Montel Williams
Hmm.
- [60:20]
Bobby Bones
Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints. Really, I'm fine.
- [60:24]
Julia
Oh, I have raisins.
- [60:25]
Amy Brown
I'm a mom.
- [60:26]
Bobby Bones
Wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car. It's our best iPhone offer ever.
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Montel Williams
Switch to T mobile. Get a new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple intelligence on us.
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Bobby Bones
No trade in needed. We'll even pay off your phone up to 800 bucks with 24 monthly bill credits. New line 100 plus a month on experience beyond finance agreement 999.99 and qualifying corded for well qualified plus tax and 10 connection charge payout via virtual prepaid.
- [60:49]
Montel Williams
Card below 15 days credits and imbalances.
- [60:51]
Bobby Bones
Do if you pay off early or.
- [60:51]
Amy Brown
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- [62:02]
Bobby Bones
This is the Bobbycast.
- [62:04]
Julia
Okay, wait, back to my list. I like made like a semi list of questions, but he's like, just bounce around.
- [62:08]
Bobby Bones
Okay.
- [62:09]
Julia
Oh, one thing that like, reminded me of, like you were talking about Dolly Parton and how she's been working in the industry for since like the 70s. Like, what do you want your legacy to be? Like, say like 30, 40 years from now? Like, what do you want people to remember about you?
- [62:21]
Bobby Bones
So I have two answers to this. I'm going to give you the answer that I feel 60% of the time, which is better than the answer I feel 40% of the time. My answer 60% of the time is I just want my legacy to be that even if the odds are kind of stacked against you, that doesn't mean they're going to go that way. Because I went. I. I didn't know my dad. My mom was a drug addict who had me at 16 years old. She got pregnant at 15. I grew up on food stamps and a trailer park, and things aren't. Weren't supposed to go this way. And I think a lot of people need to have representation. And I think that's with minorities. I think that's with women. I think that's in. In a lot of ways, it's weird to be like, I think people need representation. I'm like a white man, honestly, because there's a lot of white men representing. But it's not even about the white or the man part. It's about coming from where I come from. There aren't a lot of resources, and you're so focused on survival that it's hard to really even feel like there's a chance to thrive. That's not part of life. You just figure out how to pay the bills. And so I would hope that part of my legacy is that other people that come from situations like mine or worse or even better, they don't think they're out of the running just because they're born out of the running, that it may take them a little longer to get there and they may have to go away. That is a little crooked. And success is never a straight line. There is no such thing as success, really, because you never actually feel it, but you absolutely can do it if you commit to work hard and strategize. And I think that's probably my legacy. The other one is, which I don't think as much is like, I don't care. I. I mean, I don't. I don't. I'm going to be dirt in the ground. And hopefully people have a better life because of me because I've been able to do some stuff, to raise some money for some people and. And I've been able to be there at times. Like I. People were there for me. Like, if I do that while I'm here, I feel like I'm pretty good. So 60 of the time, though, I want to be that person who reminds people they can do it. But 40, I'm like, I'm just. I'm going to be organic matter that's not even existing anymore. Worms are going to eat me. And while I was here, I hope I made a difference. That's it.
- [64:35]
Julia
So you said like, you know, like, how do you even really define success? But do you think you have kind of that, like, especially like, coming from, like, where you came from, do you think you have like, that kind of like, I made it moment where, like, you realize, like, maybe these. I reg I really can do this.
- [64:49]
Bobby Bones
No, no. You know when I felt rich with. And what's crazy is I'm really rich, but it doesn't feel that way. I. I don't. I can look at numbers and go like, yeah, I'm rich. It's crazy. I can't believe it. But I don't feel that in my heart and my guts. And I always feel like I'm one day away from not being this way because it's how I'm conditioned. That's how. But when I first started to feel that I was making it is when I had extra batteries. Clean, like new batteries. I'm not even kidding. I was. I had a TV remote that was out, it was like three years ago. And I was like, oh man, I'm have. Because what we'd have to do is take batteries out of other things and put them in the things that work. So you'd go and you find the thing that you use the least, you take the batteries out of it and you put the batteries in the thing that you needed to use then. And so I was about to do that because naturally that's where my mind goes. And I was like, oh, I have batteries in a pack that have never been used. I swear to you. That was when I. That was real success for me. And part of that feels like a joke because it kind of is, but it's not. Because I remember thinking, I have batteries in an unopened pack. They're just sitting there waiting to be used. I have made it so success on a level of like, wow, look at all this. Never. But success in little ways. Like, I have batteries that have never been used in a pack. Yeah, those little things, those do matter and they feel trivial, but that for me is a success. Or it's like I have a. I have a friend that went through some crap and you know, what's the best is just hand em a stack of cash and going like, hey, take care of this and don't, you know, we don't ever have to talk about this ever again. Like, I can do that. So that is success. But mostly the batteries.
- [66:19]
Julia
I was trying to go in chronological order, but I get sidetracked easily.
- [66:22]
Bobby Bones
I do, too. And my stories go all over the place, so.
- [66:25]
Julia
Yeah, yeah, no, we did do a profile on, like, one of our, like, friends in our class. And so me and my friend interviewed each other, and it did not go well. Like you said, like, interviewing people, you know, is so much more difficult.
- [66:35]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, it is. It's difficult. I. I enjoy interviewing even if I'm having, like, a bad day, because sometimes I'll have brain fog, and it's the worst. Cause I wake up early, and if I don't get enough sleep, I have crazy brain fog. Um, I now am so secure in my interviews. They can talk for a long time, and I can just hit them with a. And so I don't know. How does that affect you today? How does that make you feel? I can just hit that, like, three times in a row. 30 minutes. Done.
- [67:03]
Julia
Oh, my.
- [67:03]
Bobby Bones
That's. That's a whole interview. Yeah. I feel like. Yeah. I don't know if there's anything else to cover. I feel like we got my legacy. We got my mirror ball. We got batteries.
- [67:14]
Julia
Oh, my friend Avery is going to be so jealous.
- [67:16]
Bobby Bones
We got, like.
- [67:17]
Julia
We met this year, and so we started. We became friends. We would watch Dancing with Stars together because, like, I used to always watch with my younger sister, but she's, like, still back at home. She's in high school. And so me and my friend Avery, who were. Who's in this class with me, would, like, watch it every Tuesday night together. And that's, like, how we became friends.
- [67:32]
Bobby Bones
So. Yeah, it's a different animal now. When I watch it, it gives me a little PTSD because it was. It was so hard.
- [67:39]
Julia
You watch it, like, the new season.
- [67:41]
Bobby Bones
If it's ever on. No clip, I'll see clips, but I have friends that will do it now occasionally. Like, Lauren Atlanta did it the season after I did. And so she's a singer. And so I went up to the premiere and the finale and just to support her. And, yeah, it makes my gut feel weird because it was so hard. It was the hardest and greatest thing. At the same time, it was physically the. The hard. Because I would train. I would cheat. I'm gonna give you. Okay. I'm gonna give you big news here. This is exclusive. I would cheat on that show. Now here's how I would cheat. They tell you you can only work out four hours a day by training. I was so. I was so far behind that that I Would train with my partner, and then I would go rent a studio secretly and. And take. We take video from the class. And I would train by myself for another three or four hours, get a couple hours sleep and go to the radio show the next day. And then I would do the show and then go back to training. But how I cheated was I trained way more than I should. I had no experience. But again, it shows you you may have to work harder than other people, but you don't have to have what they have in order to get what they don't have yet. And I. And I did that. So, yeah, my cheating was I worked way harder than them against the rules, but it wasn't like I rigged anything.
- [68:56]
Julia
Yeah. Did you still do your show the entire time you were on?
- [68:58]
Bobby Bones
The whole time? I was the only one that had a job the whole time. Like, they didn't have jobs. Nobody had jobs except for me. I had to work. When? After we won the show. I'll tell you this story in conclusion. So the night that the finale happens, I think there are four of us on the finale. And I'd only got sevens and eights the whole season, the occasional six. I just wasn't. Wasn't very good. But I worked hard, I tried hard, and I was getting a little better, as one would if they continued to work and also have no flexibility. So I was like, stretching. Yeah, it was. It was helping a lot. I tore my shoulder. I fell down, episode one at the end of my dance and tore my shoulder. So I was getting injections every other week to not feel pain. Yeah, you thought I was playing in the NFL, but I was in a leotard. But. So the first finale happens, then they're like, the winner is Bobby and Sharna. And place goes crazy. And they have a party afterward. It's a quick one, and then everybody gets on a private jet and flies from LA to New York to do Good Morning America. Yeah, that's Good Morning America. Is that. Is that network? So in the hour and a half that they had a party, I didn't get to go because I had to go to work. So I got. As soon as I got my trophy, I jumped in a car, drove to the radio station, and we recorded the next morning show. And I finished the show, got in the car and drove back to the plane. And everybody was at the plane waiting on me, a little irritated because I held the plane up and I was like, guys, I have a job. Like, I have to literally pay the bills. So. But that job is what Won me the show. Like, it was my work ethic, my effort, but it was also what I had built, the community that I had built from people that listen. Um, and I think, you know, touching people one person at a time, that sounds weird, but being able to, to create a bond one person at a time, before you know it, it's much larger than that. And you're able to do things much larger than the actual number of people because they're in it with you. And I feel like my people are in it with me. So, yeah, it's been super cool. I've done a lot of. Done a lot of cool, crazy things. I have a lot. A few TV shows, I've had some books, I've had a number one comedy album of all this stuff. But it's all kind of based on the relationship that I've made through audio, through podcast and radio. And, yeah, it's been pretty great. Yeah.
- [71:19]
Julia
Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.
- [71:21]
Bobby Bones
Yeah. I hope your paper goes well. If there's anything that I didn't cover or if you have, just email me, whatever the question is, I'll write you back. Like, if there's a gap in your paper, just email me and I'll give you whatever you need.
- [71:33]
Julia
Yeah, the only other thing is we have to. We're supposed to reach out to, like somewhere between one and three, like, other sources, basically, like someone in your life that you think maybe knows you really well, that, like, would be willing to talk to me for like 15 minutes, that I could ask a couple questions. Do you have any ideas?
- [71:46]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, that'd be easy. Let me just email you one.
- [71:49]
Julia
Yes.
- [71:50]
Bobby Bones
Okay. How about Leo DiCaprio? That'd be cool. I don't know him, but that'd be cool. That'd be real cool. Um, yes, I will. If you'll email me right now and just say, hey, send me a name. I'll reply back and send you somebody.
- [72:03]
Julia
Okay, perfect. Thank you so much.
- [72:04]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, I hope this goes great again. If there's anything else you need, just email me. I'm happy to help you do whatever and yeah, hope you have a great rest of the day. Thanks for listening to a Bobbycast production.
- [72:21]
Amy Brown
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- [72:56]
Bobby Bones
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and safeway now through June 24th. Score hot summer savings and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags on items like Sargento cheese slices, Best Foods, mayonnaise, lay's, Party sized chips and snacks and Triscuits. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online. For easy drive up and go pick up or delivery subject to availability restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.
- [73:27]
Amy Brown
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- [73:48]
Bobby Bones
You deserve relief from your dry eye skin symptoms and your eyes deserve extra.
- [73:52]
Amy Brown
Find Refresh online or in the Eye Drop section at all major retailers.
- [73:56]
Bobby Bones
FSA and HSA eligible. This is an I Heart podcast.