A fifteen-year-old stock show competitor opens up about life in FFA, why she chose pigs over sports, and how caring for animals builds real discipline. She shares the feed plans, show prep, and family support that keep her moving toward a future in nursing.

• moving from 4‑H to FFA and finding a better fit
• what FFA teaches about livestock, routine, and responsibility
• choosing pigs, training methods, and daily handling
• feeding strategies, target weights, and show prep for OYE
• weekly care, pen cleaning, grooming, and teamwork with her sister
• honest talk about butchering, costs, and hard choices
• future goals in healthcare inspired by her grandmother.

Shoutout to :

Jaxi Long

The Long Family

FFA

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A metal kid grows up on thrash and stadium riffs, then finds himself writing country songs on a beat-up acoustic. That’s where our conversation with Jared Graham begins—somewhere between distortion and dust, showmanship and bare-boned truth—and it doesn’t let up until the last chord rings.

We trade stories about the albums that rewired our ears—early Metallica, the maligned but meaningful Saint Anger, and the Red Dirt records that sneak up on you with brutal honesty. Jared opens up about bombing out of a formal music track, switching majors, and refusing to quit the guitar. The pandemic pause gave him space to write; the return to stages—from winery barns to Montana saloons—taught him how to read a room, shift gears mid-set, and end with a song that matters to his family. If you’ve ever fought for a booking by sheer persistence, or felt that jolt when a crowd locks in and the set starts feeding on itself, you’ll recognize his path.

We tour the Northwest circuit—Long Branch’s songwriter rounds, Ellensburg’s WinterHop, Tri-Cities breweries that turn taps into stages—and swap notes on live presence from Slayer’s velocity to Demon Hunter’s surprise catharsis to Sturgill Simpson’s relentless focus. Along the way, we dig into why rock-to-country isn’t a sellout move but a search for a fuller language: metal names the rage, country names the ache, and together they feel like real life.

If you love genre-bending artists, gritty lyrics, and the DIY hustle behind every “yes,” this one’s for you. Hit play, then tell us the show that changed you—and where Jared should play next. Subscribe, share with a friend who lives for live music, and leave a review so more listeners can find the pod.

Instagram:

@jared.q.graham

https://www.instagram.com/jared.q.graham?igsh=Y3VmZW9lZjg0OGVk

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AtbGwnQsK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Shoutout to :

Jared Graham

The Graham Family

Music that shaped us.

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Raising Awareness:

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What does it take to aim your life at 89 mph and keep your head still while the world blurs? We sit with Andy Whittier, a Team USA skeleton hopeful on the cusp of Cortina 2026 and pull back the curtain on a sport that pairs sprint speed with steel nerves and brutal precision. From a small Idaho town and Division I football to a niche winter discipline, he explains why size and weight caps push some athletes toward skeleton, how a 70-pound sled changes sprint mechanics, and why no two 50-second runs on the same track ever feel the same.

The journey isn’t glamorous. He left a secure marketing career, lived on sponsors and side gigs before a stipend finally kicked in, and accepted that holidays would happen without him. Training is a study in extremes: two to three runs a day, 4–6 G’s testing neck strength, and hours of film, sanding runners, mobility, and “mind runs” to map every curve. We trace the selection process from Park City to Europe—how circuits are assigned, how points stack from November to late January, and why only two men and two women will ultimately earn their Olympic start numbers.

What stands out is the mindset. He talks about crashing early and getting back on the sled 15 minutes later, about reducing life to the work in front of him, and about the electric weight of the anthem after a win. The culture is both cutthroat and generous—teammates push each other hard and celebrate each other’s breakthroughs—because the flag deserves the best-prepared athlete on race day. If you’ve ever wondered how visualization, relentless discipline, and community support can carry someone from a local track to the world stage, this conversation delivers an unfiltered look at the process and the price.

Subscribe, share with a friend who loves winter sports, and leave a review with your favorite moment. Then set a reminder to watch the Utah Olympic Park selection races on YouTube and tell us: would you go headfirst even once?

Instagram:

@andy_whittier_

https://www.instagram.com/andy_whittier_?igsh=MWt1cnM0NHpiZ2U2OQ==

Website:

https://linktr.ee/awhittier

Shoutout to :

Andy Whittier

The Whittier Family

US Skeleton Team

US Winter Olympic Team

Ag-Gear Store

https://www.aggearstore.com/

Use Code: Milesmountains

For 15% Off

Raising Awareness:

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)

Mental Health

Send us a text