Haley Baylee: Becoming a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model and How Social Media Has Changed Her Life
January 1, 2025 • 26 mins
Kate sits down with Haley Kalil. Haley talks about her childhood and how she became such an inspirational content creator. She has such a unique background, going from a career in medicine to posting on social media 5 times a day. She discusses her time as a Sports Illustrated model and tells what it takes to live that lifestyle. Haley shares all about her personal life and reveals what she's currently working on.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Post Run High. I feel like I'm on
the podcast and I want to spill all the tea.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What did you think of our walk? I loved that
it wasn't to run. Yeah, that was my favorite part
of the walk. I like that.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Are you do you like to run?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
No, like to walk.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I don't like to work out, Okay, I need to
be better at yeah, because like I'm starting to get
older and your body starts to fall apart.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
It's like I should be working out. I just don't
want to.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
When you were a model, were you working out a lot?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yes, because I've had to or my agency would literally
drop scary. Yeah. So I was like, well, I either
keep my job and have to work out, or I'm
jobless and I don't have to work out. So I
decided I should probably keep my jobs that I can
afford life.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Let's start with the fact that I was just so
excited to meet you because I was so curious. I
was like, what is her personality like? And I feel
like I knew from your social media that you were
going to be amazing, But tell us by yourself, Like,
how would you describe yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, I am a huge nerd, like major nerd. I've
always been a nerd. I'm a weirdo. I love just
like making crazy things and like not caring what other
people think because I spent so many years caring what
other people think in modeling that It's like I eventually
kind of became myself when I was like, you know what,
New York is a playground and like everyone's just living.
(01:17):
We're all just people, So yeah, you can't take it
too seriously exactly, Like the one thing my mom taught
me in life is like it's just not that serious, right,
Like it's just not that serious, so you might as
well have some fun.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Speaking of your mom, yes, can you tell me a
little bit about your childhood? Where did you grow up?
What was it like?
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Minnesota?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, my parents are divorced now but wonderful, amazing human beings.
My dad is remarried to or teacher, so she's.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Very like free love.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And then my mom is like opposite ends of the spectrum.
My mom is like mother Teresa. Like I've seen my
mom do no r I've never seen or swear. I'm
not like she is the perfect specimen, and so I
have like her leading me like morally and like my
stepmom leading me like follow your passions and your dreams.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Wait, I'm obsessed with this. Yeah that makes so much sense.
Are you close with your stepmom?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Close with everyone in my family? Family is like huge
for me.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I feel like you see that through your content too,
Like you go home a decent bit you and make
content there and a lot of people that you work
with now in the city they're family or friends.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
To you, right, Yes, Like I keep my circle small
just because like smart, I love people, but I love
investing my time and people in the right way. So
it's like if I don't have the time, I feel
bad investing. And so yeah, I have like the same
three best friends I've had my best friends ince Kindergarten.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I love that. It's still my best friend today.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So yeah, I love my people.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
No, that makes so much sense. I'm honestly the same way.
Like my best friends are just people that I've been
friends with forever, or it's a new friend that I
go super deep with.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Are you a one on one person or a group person?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I like both?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Okay, I think both are. Like so devonn is one
of my best friends. He draws people on the subway
and Devon. I met him when he drew me on
the subway, and it's like, from that.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Moment, I just knew he was a real one.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I was like, okay, yeah, you don't care about numbers,
you don't care about any of that, Like you're just
a person. And we became really close friends. We hung
out a couple times by ourselves, and then I was like,
come meet all my friends. And now he's just like
a big part of my friend group.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So he's part of the crew. He's part of the crew.
He holds down the fort. Do you have any siblings.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I do.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, older sister, okay, younger brother, troubled middle child.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Makes sense that I'm in social media, but yeah, younger
brother he's uh, she's what twenty four now, Okay, he'll
always be like five to me in my brain. And
then my older sister, she's got two little girls married.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Oh my god, you're an aunt You're an auntie.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Oh wait, that is so cute, Auntie Hayley.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
So what is it like being in the part of
your life where your sister's having kids.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It's like, my sister used to kick my butt, like
all the time when I was growing up, she was
the aggressor. She called herself alpha. She's like, you want
to challenge the alpha? When challenged the alpha, and I
was like, I don't.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Because you're scary.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
And so now watching her like be so kind and
so mother leads to these two girls and I'm like,
but you kicked my ass.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yes, what is happening here?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
It's so funny, like how it changes as we get older.
And I also love how like relationships get. I mean,
I'm sure you've gotten so close with your sister as
you've gotten older, like I mean always close, but like
the relationship on just gets so good. It's like the
best friend. When you were in school. I know you
were an academic, but you like lived a little bit
of a double life. You're kind of like a little
Hannah Montana but science in math and beauty, right, yeah,
(04:20):
so talk to me about that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So growing up, I am the daughter of two engineers.
So my parents are mechanical engineers. They met in engineering school.
So academics were always like the number one factor for
me because my parents made sure they were the number
one factor for me. So I always knew i'd go
into something in science. I used to want to be
in meteorology, and then when I realized it's not just
tornadoes and cool stuff, it's like predicting if it's seventy
(04:44):
one or seventy two, I was like, I'm out. And
I did medicine, and so I went to school for
biomedical sciences, psych and a minor and com So.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You were pre med I was pre mad.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That is so impressive.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, my best friend's a doctor, so she was on
the same path as me.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
It's just she actually did it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
And I, obviously, you know, had my path interrupted by
other things in life. But graduated from there, worked in
an immunology lab, worked in the hospital, and then when
I got married to my ex husband, that's where like
my whole life kind of changed.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
During high school and in the beginning of college, you
were in pageants a little bit, right, So you were
kind of experimenting with like pageantry a little bit of
the modeling world, right.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well, so my mom would have never let me become
a model, and I was not cute enough. Like if
y'all have seen my middle school and high school photos,
I was not that cute.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I wanted to be a model.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
But at what point did you become because I know
at eighteen you wont Miss Minnesota was Miss teen Minnesota
without Minnesota, teen USA, Miss Minnesota teen uside okay yep.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So the one thing my mom would let me do
because there was a scholarship element to it, academics were
back to it was pageantry and so it was the
closest thing to modeling for me, where I was, yes,
I can like try something I really want to do,
but I also could win scholarship money so that I
could help pay for school. So my mom was like, okay,
as long as you enter it with like your own
money and you pay the entrance.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Fee, like, I'll let you do it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
And so I did it one year, actually got in
the top five, which I didn't know what I was doing.
All these girls were like trained from like the moment
they're born, and I was just like, hey, well.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
It makes sense because you have like beauty and brains
and a big part of pageantry is asking, like answering
their questions.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Right, what was the talent that you did on stage?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Girl?
Speaker 1 (06:16):
I was in the Miss USA one, I was in
the No Talent one. I was in the Donald Try
want to.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Do a performance?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
No? Okay? So what does it walk me through a pagens?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Okay, so pageants are so funny. I was just like,
this is like modeling, it's not like mine.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And at what point did you like come out of
your awkward stage because everybody has an awkward stage okay.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Called it my geeky goffy stage.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
It was it like seventeen, and then eighteen it was
like beautiful pagen.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Seventeen ish Okay, eighteen was like that transition year of
like still one foot in the geeky goky one foot
in the.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Like trying to be cool. Okay, so cute. It's like
you go.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
In, you do preliminaries, you like walk in a gown,
so you basically get to like dress up as a Barbie. Yeah,
that's what I loved. Then you interview, and then you
go to finals. You walk in like a gown. They
used to have sued I think they've changed everything around
now now I think it's athletic where obviously because feminism,
let's freaking go, like thank god, but yeah, it's really
(07:10):
it's cool. And then I got to pay for my
entire college with pageantry.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I mean that's insane.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
And were you doing pagans like, did you continue them
through college? No?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So I just did Miss minnesot Ten USA. Went to
Miss TENUSA, lost so terribly because I didn't know what
I was doing, but won scholarship money. Then wanted to
go back and do Miss USA because you went a
lot bigger of a chunk of scholarship money. So at
twenty one, my sophomore year of college, I did Miss USA.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
It became Miss Minnesota USA. That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
The crowd, it's so crazy And what was that like?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Like, what was it like? Winning wild?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It was like I never thought I would win, So
when I did, I treated it like a job.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It was cool.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It's like you get to volunteer a lot. The volunteer
ament's really cool, right, And you also get to meet
a lot of women.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
I think that's where it's funny.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
When I was younger, it's you're like scared of beautiful
women almost like when I was younger, I was like, oh,
they're cool and I'm not, and like gosh, And I
think pageants made me realize that, Like I love women
so much and I love having women as friends. And
I would have never, I think, done that had I
not been in pageants. I remember going there thinking like
these women are all competing for one thing, right, and
(08:22):
like they're all so pretty and they're all gonna beat me,
and like they're all and so then you meet them
and they're like thinking the exact same thing about you,
and you're like, oh wow, we are all just like
our own worst enemies, right, truly, Like if I didn't
do pageantry and then which then led me to modeling, yeah,
and all like the constructive criticism all that that's involved there,
(08:43):
I don't think I could have ever done social media
like it prepared me so well.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Right, It gave you a taste of what it's like
to have a lot of eyeballs on you. Yeah, in
like a very critical way. Sometimes was your first modeling
gig Sports Illustrated it was.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
That's not my first photo shoot ever.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Besides, like I would do it with my friends you
know that weren't photographers yet, but we're wanting to be
photograph or like obviously for the pageant we had official
photo shoot and we had like but it was still
very pageanty, you know, like a lot of up big hair,
the whole like hair you.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Wear like the teeth things. Oh god, no, yeah, isn't
that a big thing. We showed that used to there
used to be a show on TV that Oh my god, yes,
I was so cute.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I was like, I wanted to do that when I
was a little kid, Like I was the kid that
actually wanted to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
My mom was like, there's no way, no, yeah, I
get that. My mom wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Probably we were like sports like. My mom was like, right,
just like go outside, play with your friends, kind of
like childhood. My mom was like, do your homework right,
So how did you apply?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
So it's funny after after I did pageants in college,
then I graduated from college.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I then met my she did be a college graduate.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I do be a college graduate with that crem that
four point oh?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Are you kidding me? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
That was my one goal graduating.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I love this, to graduate with four point oh, to
prove to my parents that I can do it, and
to prove to my future kids.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
One day they didn't like, nobody gets a four point
oo in college, and I did.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I graduated college and then was planning on medical school.
But I met my ex husband, got married, and then
I entered We decided that I would take a gap
year because he was playing football and so he was
traveling around a lot, and he.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Was like a professional football player.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Professional football player. I didn't even know that at the
time of meeting.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Was so cool.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
My dad pulled up his Wikipedia page when he came
to picking up for a date for the first date,
and my dad's like, dude, you know who this is.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And I'm like no, and he's like, I'm like, how
did you guys meet?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
We met when I was on a date with one
of his friends, just like an it nerdy guy, one
of my fellow nerds. And the date was going awful
and I didn't want to ditch this man. And then
he was like, my best friend lives down the street.
I'm like, can bite him? So I have somebody else
to talk to?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
And how long were you guys?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Married?
Speaker 1 (10:51):
For seven years? That's a while.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah, he's still one of my closest friends. I love
him to death, one of the best men. He's married
now has a baby. Happy be for him.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Like, and you guys got married? How old were you twenty?
Like just turned twenty two?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (11:05):
And how long? Like what was the trae doctor of
your relationship? You guys? Maybe did you get married right away? Away?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So housed after three months.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Oh my gosh. So you were just like, this is my.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Person I'm such a personality person like, and he just
felt like home. I think we both felt like home
because we were both very similar. We're like very chill,
very like a goofy weird, like we just like understood
each other and so it was easy. And when we
got married, he asked, hey, like, I don't know what
the process of applying to med school is. Like I
was applying to out of state schools and I didn't
(11:37):
know where it would take me. But he was playing
for the Minnesota Vikings, so he was like, you can
we take a gap year?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Like is that okay?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Even though he very much wanted me to follow my dream,
it's a huge supporter of that. Yeah, And so I agreed.
I was like absolutely. And during that gap year is
when I submitted to Sports Illustrated swimsuit held an open
casting call on Instagram.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
It all comes back to meta, I swear to God,
thank you God.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I was the first of its kind.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Right, first of its kind. They'd never done one.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Sports Illustrated was always something I looked up to, obviously,
just like legendary women that like own their bodies and
love who they are, and so I submitted a video
of me like in pajamas, sitting on a bed, just
like this is why I want to be a part
of Sports Illustrated And I had like fifty Instagram followers
and they found the video and they invited me to
the casting That's amazing. And that started a journey of
(12:23):
like a year long of going to the runway shown Miami,
of shooting for them in Miami, like their swimmer line,
and then eventually making it to the top six and
shooting my spread in Belize and then winning.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
With Camille Costek.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
We were co winners of the first ever Sports Illustrated
swimsuit open casting call, and that changed my entire life.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
How does it work being a Sports Illustrated model? Like
were you doing other shoots too for other brands as
well or was it maybe you do Sports Illustrated.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well know how it all works.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
So it's funny because I didn't have an agency, like
I went into an agency. I remember going into an
agency when I was seventeen in Minnesota and brought in
like glamour shots from like Malla America that I took
when I was twelve, and they were like, oh, and
I specifically remember it's a few nine. I like it's
burnt into my memory because I left that place like crying,
just dream shattered.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
And this man takes a look.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
He's like, you know, the agent in Minnesota, and he's
taking a look and he's like, so, what else do
you want to do?
Speaker 1 (13:17):
And I'm like, oh, I.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Really want to be a doctor, Like I really want
to do medicine. And he goes, he closes the book
and he's like, you should probably stick with that, and
I was.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Like, okay, oh my god, scary.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Never went back into a modeling agency until after I
did my Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot. Yeah, and they actually,
like modeling agencies reach out to Sports Illustrated because they
knew I didn't have an agency, I love to sign
me and so Wilhelmina was my first modeling agency.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
As Sports Illustrates when it was my first modeling shoot, is.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It like nerve wracking being yes, yeah, like oh, terrifying
around you.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
You're like just in your fifty people.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I'm so glad that I did it though, because like
a lot of people don't even realize there are like
fifty people on that set, Like there's a person holding
a fan. There's a person just to like spray you
with water, like just like sprinkle her here, sprinkle her here,
and like it feels so intimate, but there's like fifty
people just like standing there like, oh the light is weird,
let's move. And you're like, you have to be like sexy.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Do they like direct you with your poses?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, they're great, Like I'm the first year I shot
with you say, he's an amazing photographer and he's very vocal,
which is awesome because I did not know what I
was doing.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Also, also, opening your eyes.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Is impossible, impossible, it's so and they have It's like
you're in the water. You're wearing some shiny bathing suits,
so that's already reflecting. Then they put a reflector in
your face and you're like and then you're trying to
look sexy and then the waves are hitting you. Yeah,
I'm very glad I did it because now I feel
like I can do anything.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I mean actually, like I feel like it gives you
so much confidence to be like I can literally I
can light up.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Any room, I can do my thing. I'm good. Yeah,
you're good. Influence or event, no problem.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, I was half naked on a beach with like
a scrim in my face and fifty people watching. Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Okay, so your modeling crew starts taking off. You're still married? Yes?
And then what ended up happening? You're just your careers
are kind of going in different directions. Yes.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
So normally he was playing for the Minnesota Vikings and
then he got to a gap year where he was
a free agent in Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Vikings wanted him, but Carolina Panthers wanted him.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
His brother was also a football player playing on the
Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Well, and who am I?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
It's giving the Kelsey brothers. It is giving Kelsey brothers.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
They played offensive line one position away from each other.
He was a center and my ex husband was a
left tackle. So who was I toever. I never wanted
to move out of Minnesota, but I'm really glad that
Matt was the catalyst for it, because I never would
have left it if it wasn't for him. We moved
to Charlotte, and so I did the back and forth thing.
But then my ex husband really wanted kids. That was
(15:41):
a really important thing to him. He's a little old,
only a few years older than me, but wanted kids. Young,
and so there was always that kind of pull of
like I always wanted to be a doctor, but then
I had this new career and I wanted to explore
it and not yet to have kids because I wanted
to give, Like when I have kids, I want to
make sure that I'm there for them the way that
my mom was for like yeah, us growing up.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
So I wasn't ready yet, but he was.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And so eventually we got to the point where it
was like we have so much love and respect for
each other that we know we weren't the right fit
for like what we wanted. But man, if he needed
me tomorrow to drive out to help him his wife
with anything, I'm there, like the best man in the world.
So we shared a lawyer. When we got divorced, separated
like completely, like.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
The easiest, your worst in the world.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
I mean, it makes sense, Like you're so young, and
I feel like people just changed so much in their twenties,
Like I don't know, like I am not the same
person I was at twenty, you know, not the same
person at twenty one, twenty two. As soon as you
hit twenty five, like things just change thirty and it
all gets better than there really different.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
It's like you've got a whole new brains.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So it's really cool though to see him live the
life he always wanted. And I think it's cool on
the flip side for him to see me kind of
live the life I wanted.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
And we both like nod with respect to each other,
like us see you. Yeah, you're both popping off. I
love it.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Yeah, And Okay, so what are your thoughts on marriage now?
Having been married at such a young age.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I'm really grateful for the experience and I'm so open
to being married one day again.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Obviously.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I mean, I see my ex husband and he's so
happily married and him and his wife are beautiful and
they have a baby coming, and like.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I want that one day. Right now, I want my career.
I'm married to my career.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
But one day, it's all about divine timing when it's
time for you.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
You'll be ready to when I meet the person. Yeah it,
you know, we'll see, we'll see. But I'm very open
to it.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Yeah, it's good advice for women out there, because I
feel like in your twenties, everybody at least like I'm
at the age now where it feels like a lot
of my friends feel the pressure to get married and
we'll find your person and settle down. You know who
I love online Bethany Frankel. Yeah, because she keeps it
so real about divorce and like finding your person.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
So and it's funny because there's just when you get married,
they're going to pressure you to have kids. And then
when you get to have your first kid, guess what
the next question is when you having your second, And
it's almost like you feel like your life is rushed
along by different people and it's like, no, I want
it to be on like me and my part eirst
timing and ye.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
You'd become a huge comedy creator. Talk to me about
how you made the transition and what it's been like.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Man.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
So it's so crazy because I don't talk a lot
about it because I like to keep my page very light.
But I'm trying to talk more about it because I
feel like a lot of people maybe haven't gotten the
chance to get to know me or like my journey
or whatever you want to call it. But when I
was getting divorced from my ex, it was a tough time,
Like it was really hard. So we in like two thousand, Man,
(18:35):
it's I don't even know dates. Like a few years ago,
right before I started in comedy, we had already planned
on getting divorced, but then we kind of made one
last ditch effort to see if he could make it work.
And so he was like, I'm going to move. He quit,
he was done playing. He was like, I'm going to
move to New York. I'm gonna come be with you.
He rented the apartment that I currently have that I
could have never afforded on my modeling salary. And he
(18:59):
was like, let's see if we can start a life
in New York. And I was like, I'm down, Like
I love you, let's see. And so we had three dogs,
and on the way to New York, one of my
dogs died unexpectedly, which is like so awful, and so
that kind of like threw both of us into just
a really bad place in life because she was my
(19:19):
first dog. She's my only dog, yeah, that I grew
up with, like in college.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Like her name was pooh Bear. Shout out poo bear.
What kind of dog? She's a Miniazzie, little redheaded Miniazzie.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
And so when she died unexpectedly, it was kind of
like we just knew. We were like, okay, this is
almost life telling us like we need to go different ways.
And so after that happened, he was like, you can
keep the apartment for the remainder of the lease.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
We'll finish out our divorce.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
All live in California, and so then during that time,
I was still modeling but planning a move home to Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I was like budgeting to like rent an apartment.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Near my parents and like, you know, leave this whole
life behind and start new and go back to medicine.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And then a month before the lease ended.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Caleb Simpson asked if he could do an apartment to her,
and did an apartment to her and it went massively viral,
and I remember sitting there going, oh, my god, I
have always wanted, like my dream was SNL outside of
being a doctor.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
My god, I can't wait to see you on sl
like hopefully one day I would love. That would be
like the coolest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So I was like, I've always wanted to post comedy content.
I know like a lot of people looking at my
page right now, I'm going to just start posting it.
And so I started posting the Billionaire Boyfriend. So I
started posting thank you. I started posting like William Different,
my Dearest William other different, like comedy shorts, and they
did really well.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And I remember when my lease came up.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I thankfully had some money saved from when I was
a model because my ex husband, God bless him, was like,
I got you.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I'm not going to put it away. Great guy, well
an amazing man.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I love your ex husband it truly, I see his
prey and so I was.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I remember being on the phone with my mom, like crying,
freaking out, being like do I do it? Do I
release this apartment and risk basically my financial security as
a newly independent woman. And I was like I feel like,
I feel like maybe I can do this. I had
like a gut feeling, and I signed the lease and
Matt thankfully was willing to stay on as like the
sub whatever.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Amazing. He was like, I'm not bailing you out, but
like right, I gotta do this.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
And then I started posting every single day, five times
a day on every platform.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
And five times a day is so impressive because your
content is so creative, Like how are you coming up
with all of these bits?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Usually in the uh in the comments section there really
a lot of ideas.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Okay, oh smart, Yes, if you see a funny video,
go to the comments because they're gonna be even funnier
than the video. Like, all of my videos are nowhere
near as funny as the comments.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
And what's an example of like what a comment will say?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
People Like there could be a comedy video about like
you know, spilling sister lore or something late at night
with your older sister, and then you go to the
comments and it's like, this reminds me of the time
that blah blah blah blah blah. Eight more videos. Wait's
people will give you like your followers, Yeah, got your back.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
They really did the best ideas.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
They really do. Okay, five times today, so impressive. That's
really good advice for anybody that wants to be a
content creator, right, Like, is that what you would tell
people to do every single day?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Post multiple times?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Well yeah, or just do what feels right. Like for me,
I was used to working normal jobs, like when I
was married to Matt, before I was a model.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
When we were taking that gap.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Year, I worked a wedding shop as a wedding consultant
in Minnesota, so I like helped girls find their wedding dresses.
So I was used to working like normal jobs, like
normal hours. And so when I started to do this
and I quit modeling, and I was like, I'm done
with modeling. I committed eight hours a day a day
to this because it is a job that I wanted
it to be my job. So yeah, I would say,
(22:45):
just like, don't overthink it. Overthinking kills.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Was comedy always a part of your life?
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yes, Because I was a huge nerd, and so the
only way people would like me or talk to me
was a most funny okay, So that was like my
one thing that I was like, oh, people might want
to be my friend if I'm funny, because I was
kind of like not the coolest kid in the world.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Okay, let's kind of start wrapping it up. I want
to finish by talking about what you're excited about, what
you're working on, what's to come.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Tell me, well, I love what I do.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Like so many people, I think you, social media is
like a jumping off point into getting into other things
than theater and film and starting businesses. I love social media.
I love it so much. I love everything about it.
It's like mental gymnastics too.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's truly I could do this for the rest of
my life and love it so much. So really, I
just want to keep getting better learning, like figuring out
what my audience wants for me, like what they want
to see, who they want to see, and like I
just want to.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Be a really freaking good content creator.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
You are okay, and you're like the best content You're
one of the best content creators.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
So I love that social media. It's so fun. Thank
you anything for the nerd Herd.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yes, So I am starting a So the nerd Herd
is going to be my lounge rear line or my
merch line, I guess, but it's going to be and
we're setting it up as a nonprofit. So I want
all the money going to girls in STEM. So there's
a lot of programs that help inner city schools get
access to STEM equipment and people who know how to
code and engineers and they come in and they teach
(24:22):
school programs after school for girls.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
So I love that.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
I was curious what it was going to be, Like yeah,
I was, Yeah, I didn't know what it was.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
It was like my pandemic baby, and then unfortunately, during
the pandemic, like a lot of businesses closed and manufacturing
got a little wonky, and so we took a pause,
and then of course every you know, of course everything happened,
and so now we're finally coming back to it. And
it's great because now I have an audience of women,
and so I just want to make it whatever they
(24:51):
want it to be, you know, like I work for them,
so whatever they want, like hopefully though, Like.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
I mean, that's the best when your audience can give
you suggestions on what to because I know exactly what
they want perfect.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
It's like, no, it's not a guessing game. Yes, Okay,
well Hailey, So that's coming out soon, so it's hopefully.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
And then I have a skincare thing coming out soon
that I'm really excited about.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Okay Nerd Herd Lounge rear Line Skincare. You also just
launched a bikini swimsuit panted.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yes, it was with Peaky's Swims.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
So they're a really great company that sources their fabrics
from like really great places they use like sustainable.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
It's all I background check that thing.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Like I love that. Also, it must have been so
cool to do a swimsuit show because it's.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Kind of like it was sick and Okay, I'm a
one piece girl because my mom is like very cool.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
One pieces are so sexy. I love them.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
So I wanted to design some like strong one pieces
because it's really hard for me to find them. And
so I started that line by designing the one pieces
and then of course they were like, Haley, we need
bikinis too, and I was like, okay, fine, and then
I made the bikinis. But it was fun to test
my hand at design. I don't know if I'm good
at you guys tell me.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
I think she's good at it so bad. I love
one piece.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
We are doing what do you want to be a
part of it? Can you please? We are doing part
of anything you asked me to be a part of you.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Love you.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yes, we're doing a photo shoot, no makeup, no retouching.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
I kind of love that.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Whatever your favorite suit is, and it's going to be
all women, women from different walks of life, different ages,
different like my best friend who's a pediatrician is going
to be in it, and then when my friends from Minnesota,
and then we have some content creators.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
We have like all walks of life.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
So I'd love if you could tell me are story
of like body journey and.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Everything I would I would love that. Thank you so much,
Oh my God. Caribbean on post run high with me,
post walk high b.
Welcome to Post Run High. I feel like I'm on
the podcast and I want to spill all the tea.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What did you think of our walk? I loved that
it wasn't to run. Yeah, that was my favorite part
of the walk. I like that.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Are you do you like to run?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
No, like to walk.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I don't like to work out, Okay, I need to
be better at yeah, because like I'm starting to get
older and your body starts to fall apart.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
It's like I should be working out. I just don't
want to.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
When you were a model, were you working out a lot?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yes, because I've had to or my agency would literally
drop scary. Yeah. So I was like, well, I either
keep my job and have to work out, or I'm
jobless and I don't have to work out. So I
decided I should probably keep my jobs that I can
afford life.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Let's start with the fact that I was just so
excited to meet you because I was so curious. I
was like, what is her personality like? And I feel
like I knew from your social media that you were
going to be amazing, But tell us by yourself, Like,
how would you describe yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, I am a huge nerd, like major nerd. I've
always been a nerd. I'm a weirdo. I love just
like making crazy things and like not caring what other
people think because I spent so many years caring what
other people think in modeling that It's like I eventually
kind of became myself when I was like, you know what,
New York is a playground and like everyone's just living.
(01:17):
We're all just people, So yeah, you can't take it
too seriously exactly, Like the one thing my mom taught
me in life is like it's just not that serious, right,
Like it's just not that serious, so you might as
well have some fun.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Speaking of your mom, yes, can you tell me a
little bit about your childhood? Where did you grow up?
What was it like?
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Minnesota?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, my parents are divorced now but wonderful, amazing human beings.
My dad is remarried to or teacher, so she's.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Very like free love.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And then my mom is like opposite ends of the spectrum.
My mom is like mother Teresa. Like I've seen my
mom do no r I've never seen or swear. I'm
not like she is the perfect specimen, and so I
have like her leading me like morally and like my
stepmom leading me like follow your passions and your dreams.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Wait, I'm obsessed with this. Yeah that makes so much sense.
Are you close with your stepmom?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Close with everyone in my family? Family is like huge
for me.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I feel like you see that through your content too,
Like you go home a decent bit you and make
content there and a lot of people that you work
with now in the city they're family or friends.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
To you, right, Yes, Like I keep my circle small
just because like smart, I love people, but I love
investing my time and people in the right way. So
it's like if I don't have the time, I feel
bad investing. And so yeah, I have like the same
three best friends I've had my best friends ince Kindergarten.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I love that. It's still my best friend today.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So yeah, I love my people.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
No, that makes so much sense. I'm honestly the same way.
Like my best friends are just people that I've been
friends with forever, or it's a new friend that I
go super deep with.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Are you a one on one person or a group person?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I like both?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Okay, I think both are. Like so devonn is one
of my best friends. He draws people on the subway
and Devon. I met him when he drew me on
the subway, and it's like, from that.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Moment, I just knew he was a real one.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I was like, okay, yeah, you don't care about numbers,
you don't care about any of that, Like you're just
a person. And we became really close friends. We hung
out a couple times by ourselves, and then I was like,
come meet all my friends. And now he's just like
a big part of my friend group.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So he's part of the crew. He's part of the crew.
He holds down the fort. Do you have any siblings.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I do.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, older sister, okay, younger brother, troubled middle child.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Makes sense that I'm in social media, but yeah, younger
brother he's uh, she's what twenty four now, Okay, he'll
always be like five to me in my brain. And
then my older sister, she's got two little girls married.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Oh my god, you're an aunt You're an auntie.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Oh wait, that is so cute, Auntie Hayley.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
So what is it like being in the part of
your life where your sister's having kids.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It's like, my sister used to kick my butt, like
all the time when I was growing up, she was
the aggressor. She called herself alpha. She's like, you want
to challenge the alpha? When challenged the alpha, and I
was like, I don't.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Because you're scary.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
And so now watching her like be so kind and
so mother leads to these two girls and I'm like,
but you kicked my ass.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yes, what is happening here?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
It's so funny, like how it changes as we get older.
And I also love how like relationships get. I mean,
I'm sure you've gotten so close with your sister as
you've gotten older, like I mean always close, but like
the relationship on just gets so good. It's like the
best friend. When you were in school. I know you
were an academic, but you like lived a little bit
of a double life. You're kind of like a little
Hannah Montana but science in math and beauty, right, yeah,
(04:20):
so talk to me about that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So growing up, I am the daughter of two engineers.
So my parents are mechanical engineers. They met in engineering school.
So academics were always like the number one factor for
me because my parents made sure they were the number
one factor for me. So I always knew i'd go
into something in science. I used to want to be
in meteorology, and then when I realized it's not just
tornadoes and cool stuff, it's like predicting if it's seventy
(04:44):
one or seventy two, I was like, I'm out. And
I did medicine, and so I went to school for
biomedical sciences, psych and a minor and com So.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You were pre med I was pre mad.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That is so impressive.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, my best friend's a doctor, so she was on
the same path as me.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
It's just she actually did it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
And I, obviously, you know, had my path interrupted by
other things in life. But graduated from there, worked in
an immunology lab, worked in the hospital, and then when
I got married to my ex husband, that's where like
my whole life kind of changed.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
During high school and in the beginning of college, you
were in pageants a little bit, right, So you were
kind of experimenting with like pageantry a little bit of
the modeling world, right.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well, so my mom would have never let me become
a model, and I was not cute enough. Like if
y'all have seen my middle school and high school photos,
I was not that cute.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I wanted to be a model.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
But at what point did you become because I know
at eighteen you wont Miss Minnesota was Miss teen Minnesota
without Minnesota, teen USA, Miss Minnesota teen uside okay yep.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So the one thing my mom would let me do
because there was a scholarship element to it, academics were
back to it was pageantry and so it was the
closest thing to modeling for me, where I was, yes,
I can like try something I really want to do,
but I also could win scholarship money so that I
could help pay for school. So my mom was like, okay,
as long as you enter it with like your own
money and you pay the entrance.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Fee, like, I'll let you do it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
And so I did it one year, actually got in
the top five, which I didn't know what I was doing.
All these girls were like trained from like the moment
they're born, and I was just like, hey, well.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
It makes sense because you have like beauty and brains
and a big part of pageantry is asking, like answering
their questions.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Right, what was the talent that you did on stage?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Girl?
Speaker 1 (06:16):
I was in the Miss USA one, I was in
the No Talent one. I was in the Donald Try
want to.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Do a performance?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
No? Okay? So what does it walk me through a pagens?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Okay, so pageants are so funny. I was just like,
this is like modeling, it's not like mine.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And at what point did you like come out of
your awkward stage because everybody has an awkward stage okay.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Called it my geeky goffy stage.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
It was it like seventeen, and then eighteen it was
like beautiful pagen.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Seventeen ish Okay, eighteen was like that transition year of
like still one foot in the geeky goky one foot
in the.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Like trying to be cool. Okay, so cute. It's like
you go.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
In, you do preliminaries, you like walk in a gown,
so you basically get to like dress up as a Barbie. Yeah,
that's what I loved. Then you interview, and then you
go to finals. You walk in like a gown. They
used to have sued I think they've changed everything around
now now I think it's athletic where obviously because feminism,
let's freaking go, like thank god, but yeah, it's really
(07:10):
it's cool. And then I got to pay for my
entire college with pageantry.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I mean that's insane.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
And were you doing pagans like, did you continue them
through college? No?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So I just did Miss minnesot Ten USA. Went to
Miss TENUSA, lost so terribly because I didn't know what
I was doing, but won scholarship money. Then wanted to
go back and do Miss USA because you went a
lot bigger of a chunk of scholarship money. So at
twenty one, my sophomore year of college, I did Miss USA.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
It became Miss Minnesota USA. That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
The crowd, it's so crazy And what was that like?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Like, what was it like? Winning wild?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It was like I never thought I would win, So
when I did, I treated it like a job.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It was cool.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It's like you get to volunteer a lot. The volunteer
ament's really cool, right, And you also get to meet
a lot of women.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
I think that's where it's funny.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
When I was younger, it's you're like scared of beautiful
women almost like when I was younger, I was like, oh,
they're cool and I'm not, and like gosh, And I
think pageants made me realize that, Like I love women
so much and I love having women as friends. And
I would have never, I think, done that had I
not been in pageants. I remember going there thinking like
these women are all competing for one thing, right, and
(08:22):
like they're all so pretty and they're all gonna beat me,
and like they're all and so then you meet them
and they're like thinking the exact same thing about you,
and you're like, oh wow, we are all just like
our own worst enemies, right, truly, Like if I didn't
do pageantry and then which then led me to modeling, yeah,
and all like the constructive criticism all that that's involved there,
(08:43):
I don't think I could have ever done social media
like it prepared me so well.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Right, It gave you a taste of what it's like
to have a lot of eyeballs on you. Yeah, in
like a very critical way. Sometimes was your first modeling
gig Sports Illustrated it was.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
That's not my first photo shoot ever.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Besides, like I would do it with my friends you
know that weren't photographers yet, but we're wanting to be
photograph or like obviously for the pageant we had official
photo shoot and we had like but it was still
very pageanty, you know, like a lot of up big hair,
the whole like hair you.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Wear like the teeth things. Oh god, no, yeah, isn't
that a big thing. We showed that used to there
used to be a show on TV that Oh my god, yes,
I was so cute.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I was like, I wanted to do that when I
was a little kid, Like I was the kid that
actually wanted to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
My mom was like, there's no way, no, yeah, I
get that. My mom wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Probably we were like sports like. My mom was like, right,
just like go outside, play with your friends, kind of
like childhood. My mom was like, do your homework right,
So how did you apply?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
So it's funny after after I did pageants in college,
then I graduated from college.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I then met my she did be a college graduate.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I do be a college graduate with that crem that
four point oh?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Are you kidding me? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
That was my one goal graduating.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I love this, to graduate with four point oh, to
prove to my parents that I can do it, and
to prove to my future kids.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
One day they didn't like, nobody gets a four point
oo in college, and I did.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I graduated college and then was planning on medical school.
But I met my ex husband, got married, and then
I entered We decided that I would take a gap
year because he was playing football and so he was
traveling around a lot, and he.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Was like a professional football player.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Professional football player. I didn't even know that at the
time of meeting.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Was so cool.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
My dad pulled up his Wikipedia page when he came
to picking up for a date for the first date,
and my dad's like, dude, you know who this is.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And I'm like no, and he's like, I'm like, how
did you guys meet?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
We met when I was on a date with one
of his friends, just like an it nerdy guy, one
of my fellow nerds. And the date was going awful
and I didn't want to ditch this man. And then
he was like, my best friend lives down the street.
I'm like, can bite him? So I have somebody else
to talk to?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
And how long were you guys?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Married?
Speaker 1 (10:51):
For seven years? That's a while.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah, he's still one of my closest friends. I love
him to death, one of the best men. He's married
now has a baby. Happy be for him.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Like, and you guys got married? How old were you twenty?
Like just turned twenty two?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (11:05):
And how long? Like what was the trae doctor of
your relationship? You guys? Maybe did you get married right away? Away?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So housed after three months.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Oh my gosh. So you were just like, this is my.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Person I'm such a personality person like, and he just
felt like home. I think we both felt like home
because we were both very similar. We're like very chill,
very like a goofy weird, like we just like understood
each other and so it was easy. And when we
got married, he asked, hey, like, I don't know what
the process of applying to med school is. Like I
was applying to out of state schools and I didn't
(11:37):
know where it would take me. But he was playing
for the Minnesota Vikings, so he was like, you can
we take a gap year?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Like is that okay?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Even though he very much wanted me to follow my dream,
it's a huge supporter of that. Yeah, And so I agreed.
I was like absolutely. And during that gap year is
when I submitted to Sports Illustrated swimsuit held an open
casting call on Instagram.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
It all comes back to meta, I swear to God,
thank you God.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I was the first of its kind.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Right, first of its kind. They'd never done one.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Sports Illustrated was always something I looked up to, obviously,
just like legendary women that like own their bodies and
love who they are, and so I submitted a video
of me like in pajamas, sitting on a bed, just
like this is why I want to be a part
of Sports Illustrated And I had like fifty Instagram followers
and they found the video and they invited me to
the casting That's amazing. And that started a journey of
(12:23):
like a year long of going to the runway shown Miami,
of shooting for them in Miami, like their swimmer line,
and then eventually making it to the top six and
shooting my spread in Belize and then winning.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
With Camille Costek.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
We were co winners of the first ever Sports Illustrated
swimsuit open casting call, and that changed my entire life.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
How does it work being a Sports Illustrated model? Like
were you doing other shoots too for other brands as
well or was it maybe you do Sports Illustrated.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well know how it all works.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
So it's funny because I didn't have an agency, like
I went into an agency. I remember going into an
agency when I was seventeen in Minnesota and brought in
like glamour shots from like Malla America that I took
when I was twelve, and they were like, oh, and
I specifically remember it's a few nine. I like it's
burnt into my memory because I left that place like crying,
just dream shattered.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
And this man takes a look.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
He's like, you know, the agent in Minnesota, and he's
taking a look and he's like, so, what else do
you want to do?
Speaker 1 (13:17):
And I'm like, oh, I.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Really want to be a doctor, Like I really want
to do medicine. And he goes, he closes the book
and he's like, you should probably stick with that, and
I was.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Like, okay, oh my god, scary.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Never went back into a modeling agency until after I
did my Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot. Yeah, and they actually,
like modeling agencies reach out to Sports Illustrated because they
knew I didn't have an agency, I love to sign
me and so Wilhelmina was my first modeling agency.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
As Sports Illustrates when it was my first modeling shoot, is.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It like nerve wracking being yes, yeah, like oh, terrifying
around you.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
You're like just in your fifty people.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I'm so glad that I did it though, because like
a lot of people don't even realize there are like
fifty people on that set, Like there's a person holding
a fan. There's a person just to like spray you
with water, like just like sprinkle her here, sprinkle her here,
and like it feels so intimate, but there's like fifty
people just like standing there like, oh the light is weird,
let's move. And you're like, you have to be like sexy.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Do they like direct you with your poses?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, they're great, Like I'm the first year I shot
with you say, he's an amazing photographer and he's very vocal,
which is awesome because I did not know what I
was doing.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Also, also, opening your eyes.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Is impossible, impossible, it's so and they have It's like
you're in the water. You're wearing some shiny bathing suits,
so that's already reflecting. Then they put a reflector in
your face and you're like and then you're trying to
look sexy and then the waves are hitting you. Yeah,
I'm very glad I did it because now I feel
like I can do anything.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I mean actually, like I feel like it gives you
so much confidence to be like I can literally I
can light up.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Any room, I can do my thing. I'm good. Yeah,
you're good. Influence or event, no problem.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, I was half naked on a beach with like
a scrim in my face and fifty people watching. Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Okay, so your modeling crew starts taking off. You're still married? Yes?
And then what ended up happening? You're just your careers
are kind of going in different directions. Yes.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
So normally he was playing for the Minnesota Vikings and
then he got to a gap year where he was
a free agent in Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Vikings wanted him, but Carolina Panthers wanted him.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
His brother was also a football player playing on the
Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Well, and who am I?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
It's giving the Kelsey brothers. It is giving Kelsey brothers.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
They played offensive line one position away from each other.
He was a center and my ex husband was a
left tackle. So who was I toever. I never wanted
to move out of Minnesota, but I'm really glad that
Matt was the catalyst for it, because I never would
have left it if it wasn't for him. We moved
to Charlotte, and so I did the back and forth thing.
But then my ex husband really wanted kids. That was
(15:41):
a really important thing to him. He's a little old,
only a few years older than me, but wanted kids. Young,
and so there was always that kind of pull of
like I always wanted to be a doctor, but then
I had this new career and I wanted to explore
it and not yet to have kids because I wanted
to give, Like when I have kids, I want to
make sure that I'm there for them the way that
my mom was for like yeah, us growing up.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
So I wasn't ready yet, but he was.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And so eventually we got to the point where it
was like we have so much love and respect for
each other that we know we weren't the right fit
for like what we wanted. But man, if he needed
me tomorrow to drive out to help him his wife
with anything, I'm there, like the best man in the world.
So we shared a lawyer. When we got divorced, separated
like completely, like.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
The easiest, your worst in the world.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
I mean, it makes sense, Like you're so young, and
I feel like people just changed so much in their twenties,
Like I don't know, like I am not the same
person I was at twenty, you know, not the same
person at twenty one, twenty two. As soon as you
hit twenty five, like things just change thirty and it
all gets better than there really different.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
It's like you've got a whole new brains.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So it's really cool though to see him live the
life he always wanted. And I think it's cool on
the flip side for him to see me kind of
live the life I wanted.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
And we both like nod with respect to each other,
like us see you. Yeah, you're both popping off. I
love it.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Yeah, And Okay, so what are your thoughts on marriage now?
Having been married at such a young age.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I'm really grateful for the experience and I'm so open
to being married one day again.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Obviously.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I mean, I see my ex husband and he's so
happily married and him and his wife are beautiful and
they have a baby coming, and like.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I want that one day. Right now, I want my career.
I'm married to my career.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
But one day, it's all about divine timing when it's
time for you.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
You'll be ready to when I meet the person. Yeah it,
you know, we'll see, we'll see. But I'm very open
to it.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Yeah, it's good advice for women out there, because I
feel like in your twenties, everybody at least like I'm
at the age now where it feels like a lot
of my friends feel the pressure to get married and
we'll find your person and settle down. You know who
I love online Bethany Frankel. Yeah, because she keeps it
so real about divorce and like finding your person.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
So and it's funny because there's just when you get married,
they're going to pressure you to have kids. And then
when you get to have your first kid, guess what
the next question is when you having your second, And
it's almost like you feel like your life is rushed
along by different people and it's like, no, I want
it to be on like me and my part eirst
timing and ye.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
You'd become a huge comedy creator. Talk to me about
how you made the transition and what it's been like.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Man.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
So it's so crazy because I don't talk a lot
about it because I like to keep my page very light.
But I'm trying to talk more about it because I
feel like a lot of people maybe haven't gotten the
chance to get to know me or like my journey
or whatever you want to call it. But when I
was getting divorced from my ex, it was a tough time,
Like it was really hard. So we in like two thousand, Man,
(18:35):
it's I don't even know dates. Like a few years ago,
right before I started in comedy, we had already planned
on getting divorced, but then we kind of made one
last ditch effort to see if he could make it work.
And so he was like, I'm going to move. He quit,
he was done playing. He was like, I'm going to
move to New York. I'm gonna come be with you.
He rented the apartment that I currently have that I
could have never afforded on my modeling salary. And he
(18:59):
was like, let's see if we can start a life
in New York. And I was like, I'm down, Like
I love you, let's see. And so we had three dogs,
and on the way to New York, one of my
dogs died unexpectedly, which is like so awful, and so
that kind of like threw both of us into just
a really bad place in life because she was my
(19:19):
first dog. She's my only dog, yeah, that I grew
up with, like in college.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Like her name was pooh Bear. Shout out poo bear.
What kind of dog? She's a Miniazzie, little redheaded Miniazzie.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
And so when she died unexpectedly, it was kind of
like we just knew. We were like, okay, this is
almost life telling us like we need to go different ways.
And so after that happened, he was like, you can
keep the apartment for the remainder of the lease.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
We'll finish out our divorce.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
All live in California, and so then during that time,
I was still modeling but planning a move home to Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I was like budgeting to like rent an apartment.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Near my parents and like, you know, leave this whole
life behind and start new and go back to medicine.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And then a month before the lease ended.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Caleb Simpson asked if he could do an apartment to her,
and did an apartment to her and it went massively viral,
and I remember sitting there going, oh, my god, I
have always wanted, like my dream was SNL outside of
being a doctor.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
My god, I can't wait to see you on sl
like hopefully one day I would love. That would be
like the coolest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So I was like, I've always wanted to post comedy content.
I know like a lot of people looking at my
page right now, I'm going to just start posting it.
And so I started posting the Billionaire Boyfriend. So I
started posting thank you. I started posting like William Different,
my Dearest William other different, like comedy shorts, and they
did really well.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And I remember when my lease came up.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I thankfully had some money saved from when I was
a model because my ex husband, God bless him, was like,
I got you.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I'm not going to put it away. Great guy, well
an amazing man.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I love your ex husband it truly, I see his
prey and so I was.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I remember being on the phone with my mom, like crying,
freaking out, being like do I do it? Do I
release this apartment and risk basically my financial security as
a newly independent woman. And I was like I feel like,
I feel like maybe I can do this. I had
like a gut feeling, and I signed the lease and
Matt thankfully was willing to stay on as like the
sub whatever.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Amazing. He was like, I'm not bailing you out, but
like right, I gotta do this.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
And then I started posting every single day, five times
a day on every platform.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
And five times a day is so impressive because your
content is so creative, Like how are you coming up
with all of these bits?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Usually in the uh in the comments section there really
a lot of ideas.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Okay, oh smart, Yes, if you see a funny video,
go to the comments because they're gonna be even funnier
than the video. Like, all of my videos are nowhere
near as funny as the comments.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
And what's an example of like what a comment will say?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
People Like there could be a comedy video about like
you know, spilling sister lore or something late at night
with your older sister, and then you go to the
comments and it's like, this reminds me of the time
that blah blah blah blah blah. Eight more videos. Wait's
people will give you like your followers, Yeah, got your back.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
They really did the best ideas.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
They really do. Okay, five times today, so impressive. That's
really good advice for anybody that wants to be a
content creator, right, Like, is that what you would tell
people to do every single day?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Post multiple times?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Well yeah, or just do what feels right. Like for me,
I was used to working normal jobs, like when I
was married to Matt, before I was a model.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
When we were taking that gap.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Year, I worked a wedding shop as a wedding consultant
in Minnesota, so I like helped girls find their wedding dresses.
So I was used to working like normal jobs, like
normal hours. And so when I started to do this
and I quit modeling, and I was like, I'm done
with modeling. I committed eight hours a day a day
to this because it is a job that I wanted
it to be my job. So yeah, I would say,
(22:45):
just like, don't overthink it. Overthinking kills.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Was comedy always a part of your life?
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yes, Because I was a huge nerd, and so the
only way people would like me or talk to me
was a most funny okay, So that was like my
one thing that I was like, oh, people might want
to be my friend if I'm funny, because I was
kind of like not the coolest kid in the world.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Okay, let's kind of start wrapping it up. I want
to finish by talking about what you're excited about, what
you're working on, what's to come.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Tell me, well, I love what I do.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Like so many people, I think you, social media is
like a jumping off point into getting into other things
than theater and film and starting businesses. I love social media.
I love it so much. I love everything about it.
It's like mental gymnastics too.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's truly I could do this for the rest of
my life and love it so much. So really, I
just want to keep getting better learning, like figuring out
what my audience wants for me, like what they want
to see, who they want to see, and like I
just want to.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Be a really freaking good content creator.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
You are okay, and you're like the best content You're
one of the best content creators.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
So I love that social media. It's so fun. Thank
you anything for the nerd Herd.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yes, So I am starting a So the nerd Herd
is going to be my lounge rear line or my
merch line, I guess, but it's going to be and
we're setting it up as a nonprofit. So I want
all the money going to girls in STEM. So there's
a lot of programs that help inner city schools get
access to STEM equipment and people who know how to
code and engineers and they come in and they teach
(24:22):
school programs after school for girls.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
So I love that.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
I was curious what it was going to be, Like yeah,
I was, Yeah, I didn't know what it was.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
It was like my pandemic baby, and then unfortunately, during
the pandemic, like a lot of businesses closed and manufacturing
got a little wonky, and so we took a pause,
and then of course every you know, of course everything happened,
and so now we're finally coming back to it. And
it's great because now I have an audience of women,
and so I just want to make it whatever they
(24:51):
want it to be, you know, like I work for them,
so whatever they want, like hopefully though, Like.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
I mean, that's the best when your audience can give
you suggestions on what to because I know exactly what
they want perfect.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
It's like, no, it's not a guessing game. Yes, Okay,
well Hailey, So that's coming out soon, so it's hopefully.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
And then I have a skincare thing coming out soon
that I'm really excited about.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Okay Nerd Herd Lounge rear Line Skincare. You also just
launched a bikini swimsuit panted.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yes, it was with Peaky's Swims.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
So they're a really great company that sources their fabrics
from like really great places they use like sustainable.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
It's all I background check that thing.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Like I love that. Also, it must have been so
cool to do a swimsuit show because it's.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Kind of like it was sick and Okay, I'm a
one piece girl because my mom is like very cool.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
One pieces are so sexy. I love them.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
So I wanted to design some like strong one pieces
because it's really hard for me to find them. And
so I started that line by designing the one pieces
and then of course they were like, Haley, we need
bikinis too, and I was like, okay, fine, and then
I made the bikinis. But it was fun to test
my hand at design. I don't know if I'm good
at you guys tell me.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
I think she's good at it so bad. I love
one piece.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
We are doing what do you want to be a
part of it? Can you please? We are doing part
of anything you asked me to be a part of you.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Love you.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yes, we're doing a photo shoot, no makeup, no retouching.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
I kind of love that.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Whatever your favorite suit is, and it's going to be
all women, women from different walks of life, different ages,
different like my best friend who's a pediatrician is going
to be in it, and then when my friends from Minnesota,
and then we have some content creators.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
We have like all walks of life.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
So I'd love if you could tell me are story
of like body journey and.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Everything I would I would love that. Thank you so much,
Oh my God. Caribbean on post run high with me,
post walk high b.
Host
Kate Mackz
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