Ep. 24: Tyler Kijac – Winner, Ultimate Cowboy Showdown

Tyler: So there was a little motel, like just kind of a ratty little motel across the street where a lot of the scenes were filmed too. It's where like the storm chasers were staying and part of the agreement that Universal made with the motel was they would put in an underground pool and build a bigger lobby if they'd let them drop a horse trailer from a crane up in the sky down into this pool. And I was thinking to myself, I thought like, you know 2023 or whenever it was when we filmed that, wouldn't you guys do this with a, you know, animation? No, no, everybody likes blowing stuff up and dropping real stuff. So I mean, they really dropped real equipment, you know, way up in the air with a crane.

Tarek: Welcome to Yall Street. Today I speak with Tyler Keyjack, PRCA contractor and winner of Ultimate Cowboy All Stars. Tyler, what's going on, man?

Tyler: You want a cup of coffee? Always, always want a cup of coffee. I got you this special coffee mug made me think of you. I love tornadoes. Twisters edition.

Tarek: That's it. That's what we're going to start the pod with is your Twisters experience.

Tyler: Even made it taste better.

Tarek: So you're the hired stock contractor for the movie Twisters with Glenn Powell. How did that come about? And what exactly was your role in the film?

Tyler: I think that it came about just through mutual friends in Los Angeles, you know, when Twisters decided that they were going to, you know, add a rodeo scene, you know.

Tarek: So this is the production company that put on Twisters?

Tyler: Which was Universal Studios.

Tarek: So you had contacts there?

Tyler: I think some of the people that worked on set of the Ultimate Cowboy had, you know, some friends or knew some people. And when they went searching for rodeo companies, they were like, well, here's a guy we've already used, you know, use him. He's from Oklahoma.

Tarek: So was there an interview process? Did they come on out and see your work? Or how did that all come about?

Tyler: Yeah, they they come to one of our rodeos and they met us and it was really cool. It was their first rodeo. I really dropped the ball. I should have gotten the t-shirts. This is my first rodeo. But what did they think of it?

Tarek: What were their comments?

Tyler: They were blown away. They were a lot of them, you know, just had no idea what to expect. They'd never seen an animal that big besides at the zoo, you know. And so then they seen, you know, and I, of course, I give them the grand tour. I let them come behind the chutes and meet the guys. And it was in Stillwell, Oklahoma, packed, packed rodeo. And it's in the middle of nowhere, you know. And I remember they got there before the rodeo started. There's these huge grandstands and it's just Timbuktu, Oklahoma, you know. And I remember they were just like, they're going to make people show up at this thing. And there was hardly anywhere for them to sit, you know.

Tarek: Yeah. How many people showed up to that one?

Tyler: Maybe 6,000.

Tarek: That's a lot for a small little town in Oklahoma.

Tyler: Yeah, it's a big rodeo.

Tarek: That's great.

Tyler: And so they went to the rodeo.

Tarek: They kind of, I guess, met with you afterwards. But what was the next step in the process? I think people listening are always kind of interested in how they put these movies together.

Tyler: Well, so I think they didn't quite understand what they wanted either. They just wanted it to be authentic. And that was a deal breaker for me right off the bat. That was one of the things I said was a hard, you know, I didn't want to be a part of something that was going to shine like a negative light on rodeo. I didn't want guys wearing their cowboy hats backwards and so the director was really, really for it. And he was like, look, I want this scene to be patriotic. I want it to be authentic and genuine. And I was like, man, you're talking to the right guy, you know.

Tarek: And he was actually that scene of the lady on the horseback with the American flag rolling by and it's pretty, pretty iconic.

Tyler: You know, but they wanted it to be that way. And it was hard to, it was hard, I feel like, for them, since they weren't in the space to understand how to film these scenes and capture these shots safely and uniquely and to know what they were shooting and where to shoot from. And so it was really fun to get to help them solve some of them problems, you know, of how we can get cameras in the locations that they want to capture the scenes that they want.

Tarek: Give me an example of...

Tyler: Well, for instance, me and my brother-in-law, we did the rope and scenes ourselves.

Tarek: No, you were in the movie.

Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. So I got, you know, we got all the boys in the movie, you know, all my buddies that rode the bulls and the horses. My wife did the barrel race and and then her little brother, my brother-in-law, we did the rope and scenes. But so they bring this great big crane like camera that is like what they'd use like for a football game, I guess, you know, where they follow the plays and they set it up like right in front of the arena, like inside the arena, like right in front of the shoe.

Tarek: Yeah.

Tyler: I was like, this, this is going to be, you know, this isn't going to work like this, you know, and I'm like, well, there's no other way we can do it. We have to do it like this. And I was just like, well, what if we just move this right here and we put some panels up like that? And I never thought of that. I didn't know we could do that. You know, it was just our brains work differently, you know? And then so they were they were shocked that I come up with some of that. And then the stuff that they did, I couldn't believe how much went into to what they did. I mean, there were 600 plus people on set when we shot the rodeo scene, not including the the crowd, you know, which were all paid extras, but just the stuff that goes into it, you know, and a lot of it wasn't CGI, you know, I mean, they they had wind machines and all kinds of debris.

Tarek: And how do they control that? So they're they're blowing massive amounts of wind and into a stadium with the Iraq. I mean, there's just like loose debris around. So some of it is sort of like a controlled chaos or what?

Tyler: Well, keep in mind, I'm glad you said stadium that we were in the hood of Spencer, Oklahoma, and like to abandon parking lots. And we built that rodeo arena from the ground up. I mean, we made it look like it was a permanent structure.

Tarek: But why did it happen to do with the way the sky lined up and the Tulsa?

Tyler: That's just where we had to be. And so, you know, I told them that I could build an arena anywhere, and they held my feet to the fire and said, OK, do it. So but so there was a little motel, like just kind of a ratty little motel across the street where a lot of the scenes were filmed to it's where like the storm chasers were staying. And part of the agreement that Universal made with the motel was they would put in an underground pool and build a bigger lobby if they'd let them drop a horse trailer from a crane up in the sky down into this pool. And I was saying to myself, I thought like, you know, 2023 or whenever it was when we filmed that, wouldn't you guys do this with a, you know, animation? No, no, everybody likes blowing stuff up and dropping real stuff. So I mean, they really dropped real equipment, you know, way up in the air with a crane. So you had to bring everything in, including the dirt.

Tarek: So yeah, obviously, I mean, this is like a big production for you. How long did it take for you to get everything together?

Tyler: Start to finish. I mean, it was about just under 30 days for me.

Tarek: And everything was on schedule or were there delays in the process? How did you manage all of that?

Tyler: There was there was no delays. They were the greatest crew that I've ever worked with the greatest problem solvers. I like to think that I'm a really good problem solver. I think that's like one of my best traits is like, no excuses, just figure it out type of attitude. And they backed that up. I mean, 100% in bold font, you know, we filmed all at night. So when it would get dark out, we would film up until it would start getting daylight. That's how we were shooting, which is incredible to think about the rodeo scene maybe was a minute and 30 seconds or something. And we filmed that long for it. But I remember one night it come a tarantula downpour rain and the footing was completely ruined. I mean, it was like, I mean, even me like I was like, holy cow, like, what are we going to do? Because we had to do all these pickup shots the next day. I remember the director was just like, let's just scrape all of the dirt that's in here completely out, bring in dry everything and it'll be pristine for the next day. And they did they replaced everything over, you know, like during the day when we were all sleeping, we come back that next night. It was that golden brown dirt again. I was just like, man, if rodeo committees that we had tried that hard to have good ground, we would have great ground everywhere.

Tarek: Were you at any point just sort of pinching yourself that here you are in a $200 million film set being asked to participate in the production of this movie that's going to be a global phenomenon with, you know, A-list actors. Did you just pause and look around and say, how did I get here?

Tyler: All the time.

Tarek: Talk about that. How did you get here? Like, where are you from? And, you know, what is your journey? What was your journey like? Let's start at the beginning.

Tyler: You know, I grew up in Michigan. So I've been in Oklahoma like 12 years now or something like that. But Michigan isn't known for producing, you know, cowboys. You know, it's just it's all dairy farms. There's not big wide open country. There's not a real demand for a true cowboy that saddles a horse and rides five, 600 acres horseback. You know what I mean? It's just there's just no cowboys. There's a lot of rodeos there. There's not a lot of cowboys, you know? And so I always had the dream. I feel like that everybody has at some point in their life. They want to be a cowboy. I always wanted to go west.

Tarek: Why?

Tyler: I think just, I mean, it sounds cliche to say, but, you know, the movies, you know, what you what you read in magazines. I mean, I'm an I was born in 94. So, you know, I grew up watching the old westerns and reading the western horseman magazines.

Tarek: And you grew up on some property.

Tyler: Yeah. So we had a family farm in Union City, Michigan. My dad, he he had a commercial small square hay business, which is extremely labor intense. It's very hands on business. You have to buck every bale. That's also where I learned to talk and communicate with people was my dad. He worked at the railroad. And so we had a sign out by the road. We lived on a main road. And 60 said, hey, for sale. And so people would stop and I'd have to negotiate the price with them, load the hay for them. And my dad would let me keep everything over four bucks. He wanted four bucks of bail. Everything you can make over that you can keep.

Tarek: So let's pause there. What what did you learn about negotiating?

Tyler: You have a commodity hay that you're negotiating with a whole bunch of guys that are rolling through there wanting to buy hay.

Tarek: What did you learn?

Tyler: I felt like I learned that every customer was different and that you had to read every situation different wasn't a black and white sales aren't black and white. Every every situation, every scenario is different. And even something as simple as, you know, selling hay can be like that, you know, my first real business as a kid was selling splitting and selling firewood. I had a little firewood business. And then my neighbor was dunks dairy farm. And they took a liken to me as a kid. And they said for every bull calf that they have born, there was really no they weren't worth anything that worth like 50 to $100 at the sale barn. The bull calves born on this dairy farm and this old dairy farmer, he liked me and knew that I took an interest in cattle. I was probably 14, 15 at the time. He said, if you'll come and get the calves two days after the born, I'll give you all of the bull calves that we have all year long. You got to take them all, though. And the deal is I was going to bottle feed them and raise them up and sell them. And so I come up with a business plan on how I was going to do it. I had to buy the milk replacer for them. I had to feed them, take care of them and raise them and get them big. And I think when it was all said and done, we had like 60 of them. But for every one that we would get for for every four, we'd get for free. I'd sell one and I'd take that money and buy a bag of milk replacer, which would feed the remaining three. We had a little system for it. But I mean, we raised a bunch of them calves and it made a good chunk of money for a kid. You know, I think I made, I don't know, 25, 30,000. I have to look back at some receipts, but that was a big deal for me.

Tarek: That's huge. And you were doing this on your dad's property.

Tyler: Yeah. Yep. On my dad's property. And my dad, he worked like, say he worked the railroad from the time he was 19 up until, you know, his resignation there. But he, he was an only child. And both of his parents died right out of high school. And so he had to grow up fast too. And so he had a big payment paying for the family farm. He didn't inherit it. You know what I mean? It wasn't paid for when they died. In fact, at the funeral, his, his uncle, while they were like at the casket of his dad, walked up and was like, Hey, don't be doing anything around the farm or anything. They were from Chicago. They were from far away, but they were like, don't be doing anything around here. We don't know if we're selling it or what. And so that's like the place he grew up his whole life.

Tarek: Wow.

Tyler: He's mourning his dad's death. And then Uncle Mick, who he sees once a year or something, says, don't be doing anything around here. You know, we don't know if we're selling it or what we're doing yet. You can live there for now, but don't, don't be building any fans or don't be doing anything with the farm.

Tarek: So what happened to the farm?

Tyler: So he, he had two options, which was just to let them do whatever, or he could try to buy it. And there was only two jobs at the time that he was able to get that would pay enough. And that was the railroad or Kellogg cereal out of Battle Creek. And he wound up getting a job at the railroad and buying the farm. And then he kept it all the way up until I was a freshman in college, I had a full ride scholarship, and I went out to college in Wyoming. And I got a call from some people in my hometown that were just like, Hey, man, what's going on with the farm? Like, what do you mean? And they're like, it says in the paper, it's foreclosed on, like, your dad lost the farm. And he was just, you know, he was struggling. He was a single parent, you know, trying to make these payments and do everything. And I went off and left school. And so I had nowhere to go. I mean, we were more or less homeless, you know. And so I was at college and I was thinking to myself, like, what do you do?

Tarek: Was your plan then to go back to the family farm after college? Was that kind of your vision was?

Tyler: Well, yeah, because the way I see, I mean, put yourself in my shoes, I didn't think I'd ever have a poor day. I'm an only child. I'm, you know, I mean, selfish say, but I'm going to inherit the family farm one day. So I'm going to go out and I'm going to chase my selfish dreams of being a rodeo cowboy. And, you know, if it pans out, it does. If it doesn't, I'll just fall back on the family farm. And I clearly can make a living doing stuff there. I'll hustle around and take over the pay business or whatever and just gone.

Tarek: So when you went off to college, was that an athletic scholarship for rodeo or was it academic scholarship?

Tyler: It was not an academic scholarship. I actually set the record in high school for the most days missed because there was no, like, if you were passing, you didn't have to be at school. There wasn't like anything that said that you had to be there. So I would just, what I called personal days. The ladies in the office were really cool, though. They're, they're pretty understanding my personal days. But anyway, no, it was a full ride rodeo scholarship to the University of Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming.

Tarek: Okay.

Tyler: So I went out there and I competed. I was doing very well out there on the team and it was right.

Tarek: And what events?

Tyler: The team roping, calf roping and bull riding. So I was an all around cowboy.

Tarek: Okay.

Tyler: That was, I think that was, I'd won the all around championships for the high school and the state titles in Michigan. And that's what had got their attention out there. Because if they spend the scholarship money, it's pretty good if you can get a kid to do multiple events, you're spending one big chunk, but you're getting somebody that can compete in all of the events.

Tarek: And how did you learn how to do all of that?

Tyler: My dad, he roped.

Tarek: Okay.

Tyler: And he taught himself, like his dad didn't rodeo or rope, but I grew up going to rodeos with my dad. And so, I mean, that's just all I ever wanted to do is be a rodeo cowboy. I wanted to be a real cowboy, per se, but we didn't have any of that to do. You know what I mean? There was no saddle and a horse before dark in the morning and trotting around 500 yearlings somewhere. It just didn't exist where I lived. So all I could do is be a rodeo cowboy.

Tarek: So you ended up leaving school then to go back home.

Tyler: Yeah. Cause, you know, I don't know how relatable it is for some people, but like that piece of property was sentimental to me. It's where I was born, raised, drank my first beer, you know, buried my, my dog, buried the horse that taught me how to rope and ride, thought I'd be there my whole life. It was, it's a sentimental piece of ground, you know, to this day, you know, when we go up there, do rodeos, you know, I'd stop in and I'd drive by that place and look around, you know, my name's carved in the, you know, in the barn, my initials are in the concrete out front of the feedlot, you know, I mean, it's a sentimental place. So yeah, it was right before Christmas break. And how the college rodeo season works is half of the events are in the fall when you first get there. And then the other half are in the spring. So I'd completed half of my obligation to the college and I was doing very well for the college. And I told the coach I wanted to go home. And I was getting homesick, you know, I didn't have a vehicle out there, everybody like for Thanksgiving, everybody left for the holidays, I was stuck in a dorm room by myself. This is the first time I've been broke, you know, I didn't have a really a way to, to create income either, you know what I mean? When I was home, I could hustle, you know, I always had money, I always had an out, I always had a way to, to figure stuff out when I was there, I had nothing, I was supposed to be able to enter rodeos to, you know, on the side, those open rodeos and hustle up money there. But when I got out there, the coaches didn't want me. If it wasn't a collegiate event, they didn't want to take a chance of hurting me, you know, so they wouldn't let me get on. And that was hard for me too. It was the first time somebody told me no. So I thought to myself, well, I'm going to go home for Christmas and spend Christmas in my family farm one more time, you know, and say goodbye to the place and then I'll figure it out. And I remember my coach, I'll never forget this. It was coach Dell knows, but his wife was Becky knows and she was kind of the assistant coach. Dell is an NFR cowboy, Becky was an NFR cowboy's wife. She, she didn't want me to go. She thought it was a bad idea, which kind of upset me because I was trying to, you know, I was kind of mourning the loss of this place. I was trying to wrap my mind around it, you know, and she got real serious and she looked me in the eyes and she said, if you leave here, I know you won't ever come back. And if you don't come back, you won't amount to exactly what she said. She said, if you leave here, be the biggest, the worst decision you ever make.

Tarek: You want them out. Did you take that as a personal challenge?

Tyler: I didn't think so at the time. It wasn't until years later that it, you know what I mean? When I remember, you know, I was like, well, I remember, you know, what you said.

Tarek: Have you spoken to her about it since then?

Tyler: No. Why do you think she said that? The mature thing to say is I think that she was looking out for my wellbeing and she thought without a college education that life would have been tough. But I think selfishly she didn't, you know, they spent all that money, scholarship money to get me there and she didn't think I'd come back after Christmas. She thought I'd go home. She's probably right. But that's, that's kind of harsh. You know what I mean?

Tarek: So you were, I mean, you're young, you're 18.

Tyler: I think I was 19. Just turned 19. You were homesick. Homesick.

Tarek: You go home, you're staring at the prospect of losing this piece of ground that is deeply meaningful to you. And it seems like you're at a crossroads there. What'd you do?

Tyler: Well, I, when I got home to spend Christmas in my house, there was no power in the house. It was, you know, December in Michigan, so it was cold. And I remember, man, the place was just in shambles. It just, he had really let it go. I don't know how long the power had been out, but I remember I was sleeping in my room and I had one of them little propane heaters going up there in my room. Probably kind of give you carbon monoxide. But I got up in that next morning, early Christmas morning, and I walked downstairs and we kept our dogs in the kitchen downstairs, you know. It was an old farmhouse, a big farmhouse. It was a nice farmhouse. And it was so cold in the kitchen that the dog bowl water was froze. Yeah, there was no firewood cut and stacked up. You know, there's two foot of snow on the ground. And it was right about this time that I had some agents that were calling me, that were wanting me to drop out of college and go and compete in the PBR. And they were like, hey, you're good enough. Piss on going to college. You need money. If you want to try to, you know, like the cliche, save the family farm. There was no way I was going to save it. It was already gone. But they were like, if you want real money, the PBR is where it's at in here.

Tarek: So I didn't realize that they actually have agents. So these athletes all have agents. Those agents are out there recruiting new prospects to go to PBR or PRCA or anything.

Tyler: What this guy did was he didn't work for the PBR. He just, he knew that he like, I'm sure he had some people that had some money that wanted to spend in the industry and he needed some athletes and he was looking for the next big thing coming up. Well, from what I understand, he probably was just looking at the results or the newspaper clippings or, you know, standings that showed that I was, you know, one of the hot collegiate guys going. And I'm sure he heard the story. We've never had this conversation, but I'm sure that he heard that I was thinking about dropping out. So it was just good timing. And he called and was just like, just filled me full of all this stuff. You know, it was just was like, you need to go now. Now's the time. I've got an, I've got a guy that'll pay you to go. Like we'll get you this endorsement money right off the bat. You're going to be a star in the PBR. Of course I want to be in the PBR, you know, and now I have the opportunity. But I had this whole plan where I was going to go and I was going to college rodeo and then I was going to go to some amateur rodeos and build up my, you know, my confidence and my talent and my maturity. And then pro rodeo and then go to the PBR, you know, but here he's telling me you're ready. Let's go. Let's roll.

Tarek: So help me understand how you get into bull riding as a, you know, teenager, or did you start earlier than that? Were you like, cause I've seen like mutton busting and all that, you know, young kids kind of going up the ranks and so forth. You know, there are a lot of people listening that are just like fascinated about bull riding and nobody just jumps on a bull and thinks that they can ride it. So how did, walk me through, like the steps in the process that made you a bull rider.

Tyler: Just like you said, I started out riding sheep and then my dad had a couple dairy type calves around. I rode all the hair off of them things and then he put me on some steers and, you know, we just kind of graduated my way up until we were getting on full size, you know, What was it like the first time you got on a bull? I think my feet almost touched the rafters in the barn that I got on him. He threw me so high in the air. Yeah, I will never forget that. His number was a 642. Still remember that. Yeah. Yeah, I was. I was, I was ready. I felt like I thought that I was ready, but I wasn't ready. You know, but what makes you ready to get on a bull like that?

Tarek: And what, I guess, in the first time that you got on the bull, what surprised you the most about that experience? Was there something there that you weren't expecting?

Tyler: Yeah, the power, because I'd been riding the steers and just spanking them. I mean, like it was nothing. I mean, I chew bubblegum, pop bubbles, wink at girls on the way by, get off on my feet. I could talk to people while I was riding them, throw the deuces. I was a pretty confident kid. And then that next level is the hardest level for any kid to make the transition from steers to young little bulls. It's just a muscle mass. It's just so much different. It's hard to, it's hard to, hard to explain. And I don't, I don't know that there's a right way to prepare somebody for it. It's when you get on, you tie your hand on one of them and you're just, I was just like a 12 year old, you know, immature made kid. You know, it wasn't real stout.

Tarek: You were 12 the first time you got on a bull.

Tyler: Yeah, I was 12 the first time I got on a bull.

Tarek: And you said little bulls.

Tyler: So like 1200 pounds, probably.

Tarek: And at PBR, how big are the bulls?

Tyler: Oh, I mean, they're anywhere from 1300 pounds to 2000 pounds.

Tarek: Huge difference.

Tyler: Yeah. But just the athleticism on that next level, you know, going back to the, the college deal, that next level from being a stud in high school and being a stud in college and thinking you're going to roll right onto the PBR takes a different duck, dude. So you talk to these agents. Uh, you, do you, you decided to accept your opportunity? I signed with one. Um, and I'll, I'll, you know, keep in mind, I wasn't new to bull riding at this point. I'd, I'd win 25 state championships. I was the, I was, I was him where I was from, you know what I mean? I thought I'm going to come up here to this next level. No problem. And, uh, my first event was Reno, Nevada. And, uh, I don't even really remember the bull that I got on, but I remember looking at stats and he buttoned JB Mooney off like two weeks before I got on him. And I remember I went in that locker room and I sat my bag down and I just looked around at all the people in there and they were all like my heroes and people that I watched on TV and read about and you know what I mean? And I just felt kind of out of place a little bit. You know, I felt like, man, you don't belong here. And I hadn't even got on my bull yet. You know what I mean? Like I just, I remember looking around and it was just like, these are all men too. They weren't young. They were all, you know, experienced 25 to 30 year old, like, it was just different than anywhere I'd been. Nobody was talking to me, you know, everywhere I'd been, I was him, you know, come here. I'm just another guy.

Tarek: And JB Mooney is considered one of the greatest of all time or the greatest of all time.

Tyler: Yeah. And the bull that I'm fixing to get on piled him up. So I'm fixing to get on him. I rode him about 10 times in my mind on the flight there. And I thought I had it kind of figured out on what, what was going to happen and boy, was I wrong, you know, it felt like I started all the way over, you know, it just felt like it was a whole new learning curve. It felt like I was going from steers to bulls again, shatter your confidence. Yeah. Yeah, it did. Cause it's just not what I was anticipating. You know what I mean? It's like, uh, everybody has a plan to get punched in the mouth.

Tarek: You know, was there a sense of embarrassment?

Tyler: I think so. Yeah. I think there was, I think, uh, I think that I just assumed that I was going to make the transition so fast and so easy. And I didn't, you know, I wasn't, uh, wasn't strong enough. Uh, I didn't have the experience on that caliber of bull week in and week out. I'd been on them caliber of bulls, not every single week, every single time. And that makes a difference. You know, when you go from, let's say I get on 10 bulls in Michigan and seven of them are my, you know, what I can dominate and three of them buck me off while I'm riding 70%. Well, now I go over here and 10 out of 10 are piling me up. I mean, it's every, every week.

Tarek: How many bulls did you ride in PBR before you were able to get to eight seconds?

Tyler: I think, I think I went seven or eight events, full events. And I remember thinking, I don't know if I'm ever going to hear the whistle. They're going to kick me off to her, you know, and that common though.

Tarek: I mean, I would imagine for most first timers, that's gotta be pretty common.

Tyler: Yeah.

Tarek: As you're coming up.

Tyler: Yeah. But I just thought I was different. I feel like everybody does, you know, that's, that's the reality of it. But I guess just to even be there, you know, and everybody on the outside is telling you good job, you know, you go back to your hometown, it's like you're almost embarrassed because they know you're going to the PBR events. They're watching on TV and stuff, you know, and they're telling you good job, good job for what? Getting my ass handed to me out here.

Tarek: You know, what was it like in the locker room? When, when did some of these guys start talking to you?

Tyler: Were they encouraging you or do they, because you're a competitor, were they Yeah, it started, they started coming around a couple of weeks and it felt like, and that, I think that's honestly kind of when I come out of my shell when they were just like, dude, you've got the talent. We can see it. We know, we've, we know that you've done it. Just do it. Quit thinking about it. And then that's just when it kind of started clicking. But even when it was, when I say it was clicking, it wasn't the level of success that I was planning on having, you know.

Tarek: So how long were you in PBR?

Tyler: I went kind of a full year there and I got to go to the PBR finals in Vegas as an alternate, the velocity finals.

Tarek: And so why were you selected? If that was in your first year, you got selected to go to the finals?

Tyler: Yeah. So it's the velocity finals. So it's like the next 35 guys down from the built Ford tough. Oh, gotcha. Okay. So I don't, I don't want it to get released and then be like, you saying that's not a big achievement. You know, there's guys that that's what they hang their hat on, which is, it's, it's a great accomplishment. I'm not saying it's not. It's just not what I had planned for myself, you know. And then keep in mind all a while, I'm a really good roper. I'm probably a way better roper than I ever was a bull rider.

Tarek: Right.

Tyler: And I, and I liked to rope a little bit. And at the PBR events, there's no roping. So that was kind of always in the back of my mind. It's like, man, I kind of want to go rodeo, you know, I want to go and rodeo and, and, you know, do that. And maybe, you know, maybe it was a cop out of trying to get away as an excuse to get away from the PBR for a bit.

Tarek: Were you making any money?

Tyler: No.

Tarek: How much did you make? I'm just curious. Like one full year on, on tour PBR as a, as an up and comer. What are you, what are you making?

Tyler: Endorsements and all, uh, less than 60.

Tarek: Gosh.

Tyler: And that was before expenses. I mean, I'm flying to these big cities, staying in fancy hotels, eating. I was forced to, you know what I mean? You have no.

Tarek: And that's all out of pocket.

Tyler: Yeah.

Tarek: So your take home is next to nothing.

Tyler: Yeah. I didn't make anything, you know, I didn't make anything. And, uh, the PBR did start using me for whatever reason, uh, as, um, a poster child on some stuff on the velocity tour. Like I did a lot of PR form. I did a lot of radio interviews, TV interviews. I threw the first pitch at some major league baseball games. They had this, uh, deal going. It was like when a date with a cowboy, I did that at a couple of deals where they would have girls, uh, call into radio show trying to win tickets and I'd have to go on a date with them.

Tarek: What was that like? Give me, give me, give me an example of one of those dates. Uh, rough.

Tyler: Oh, not really. Cause I feel like I can talk to anybody, but you know what I mean? It's just a little awkward and there was a little bit of money we made doing that stuff for the PBR, you know, like that kind of cover expense. I think they would pay for my, uh, my hotel and stuff. Like looking back, I mean, I, I mean, I don't really want to get released, but they kind of just trashed me, you know, they used this out of me and then, you know, and I wasn't, it didn't make a lot of sense to me cause I wasn't a top tier guy.

Tarek: Yeah. And so you left the PBR after a year and you're back home.

Tyler: Left PBR and I started rodeoing.

Tarek: Okay.

Tyler: And right off the bat, started having success. You know, the bull power was toned down a smidge. Um, everybody knew me, Adam, my confidence was super high. I felt like, I felt like I was back, uh, riding steers again, almost, you know, what was that transition like then?

Tarek: Um, cause you have to get your PRCA card in order to move over to rodeo. Correct.

Tyler: So I was IPRA rodeoing. So where I grew up in Michigan, there were no PRCA rodeos at that time. They were all IPRA rodeos. All of my heroes growing up were IPRA cowboys. You know, guys like Eric Wolford and Sean Miner and, uh, you know, Jack Taylor bump posts. I mean, just to name a few, I mean, they weren't PRCA guys. I was just not who I seen at the big rodeos. The biggest rodeos in Michigan were IPRA rodeos, you know? So I didn't necessarily dream of riding bulls and Cheyenne and stuff like that. We weren't exposed to it, you know?

Tarek: So you go back to Michigan, you start having some success. Now you're, now you're pocketing a little bit of money and you're traveling around.

Tyler: Actually getting ahead. Yeah. That's good.

Tarek: And how long were you on tour with them?

Tyler: Uh, I went to the international finals rodeo, uh, four times. Uh, went my rookie year, sophomore year, junior year, uh, broke my neck a year, come back. Uh, went another year.

Tarek: How'd you break your neck?

Tyler: Oh, I got jerked down on a big yellow bull at Kevin Hampton's, uh, at the IFR, um, knocked me out and, uh, I think it broke my, I don't know, one of the vertebrae's in the top of my neck.

Tarek: So you're out cold. So you hit the ground, you're out cold at the rodeo and you wake up and where did you wake up actually in the arena or was it, did they get you out of there?

Tyler: I woke up, uh, I was trying to come to and the bull was, he was pretty mean and I couldn't move really. And, uh, he was hooking everything around me. The bull fighters did a great job of keeping him off me. And I kind of just remember like it being foggy and people were just yelling and screaming. And I just was like, just felt like in a daze, you know, and I kind of landed right in front of the gates that the bull had to leave out of. So I couldn't really move. And, uh, Chad Dowdy was there, uh, cracking latches, opening the gates and he come and he stabilized my neck while them guys were fighting that bull.

Tarek: So you're laying on the ground and they got to get the bull out of the arena, but it's got to go past you in order to get out.

Tyler: It's gotta go past me.

Tarek: So how did they manage that?

Tyler: Well, they were trying, they were going to try to rope him and hold him down there, but it looked like he was wanting to leave, I guess. So they opened the gate and he, he went around me and bull fighters kept him looking their way and kind of baited him out.

Tarek: Jeez. And so how long did it take for them to get you out of the arena?

Tyler: I mean, your neck is broken, so they don't want to move you. Yeah. Um, well, they thought that I, they thought that I was paralyzed. And I remember, uh, they took me back to the sports medicine room. There's people coming back there that were like crying and telling me it's going to be okay. And, uh, I was just still so out of it at the time, you know, that I didn't really know what exactly was happening, but we wind up going and I didn't even need surgery on it. You know, I left there in a, in a neck brace. We went to the hospital and got x-rays. Um, it wasn't really that bad.

Tarek: Was that the worst accent you'd ever have on bull?

Tyler: I don't think so. I think, um, I think the time that I collapsed my lungs was probably one of the scarier ones. So what was that?

Tarek: When did that happen?

Tyler: Uh, I believe I was winning the average. It was the last bull I was getting on. And me and my, she was my fiance at the time, Jenny, uh, had a bull that I'd been on before, rode him. It was pretty confident I was going to ride him again. No big deal. Just a simple Sunday afternoon. We were in Ohio and he pulled me down underneath him and I was kind of belly up and he stepped both back feet right on my, right on my guts kind of, and it felt like a hot water balloon with boiling hot water exploded inside of me. And that bull was really mean too. And I remember, uh, I knew I was hurt and I just remember rolling over and kind of crawling to the buck and shoots. All my buddies were yelling, you know, come on, come on, crawl. And so I crawled as fast as I could and got, crunched down the buck and shoots and, uh, they all jumped down there and they all knew I was hurt because I, you know, I broke my leg before and got up and walked out with a broke leg. So they, they knew that something was wrong. And I just kind of stood up and keeled over and I went out and sat down in a chair and the EMTs were checking me out. And my, my fiancee, it's time wife now, she passes out. She thinks I'm going to die, you know, and, uh, they check me out there and they clear me. The lady clears me and says, uh, yeah, everything seems, seems pretty good. Um, you know, I would just take it easy. I was like, I'm not trying to be like this, but I know something is wrong with me. I do this for a living every weekend. Something's wrong. And she was like, no, I don't think so. I was like, okay. So then I thought I was being a sissy, you know, so I'm like, all right, you know, I'm packing my stuff up. People are trying to help me. I'm like, no, she said, I'm fine. I'm fine. And I got in a living quarters trailer and I rode on my back all the way to Oklahoma bouncing on this trailer and this trailer. And I couldn't sleep. I mean, I was in a lot of pain and I got home and my wife's like, you got to go in those doctors, those EMTs, you know, you got to go in, you know, not going in. And I couldn't sleep that whole next night. I was up all night long. Couldn't fall asleep. Pain was too much. And I have a really high pain tolerance. So, um, I'm like fine. We'll go in. Cause at least they'll dope me up probably. And I'll be able to fall asleep. And, uh, we go in and they rushed me right back. I'm drowning in my own blood, collapsed lung, broken ribs, uh, all kinds of internal bruising and contusions, minor internal bleeding.

Tarek: This is a close call.

Tyler: I mean, this could have been, and they released me up there, you know? So, um, now keep in mind, this is also right about the time that I was starting the rodeo company. Like I was dabbling in the rodeo company. It wasn't making any money yet, but I was doing a couple events.

Tarek: So what made you want to start a rodeo company? And how do you even go about the process of starting that? Uh, and did you have much money at the time?

Tyler: Had no money. Had the opposite of money. No money. Um, I didn't have, I had a truck that wouldn't start without using starting fluid. And I had a trailer that, uh, it's the kind of trailer that when people pull up, you point at it and you say, look at this rig pulling up.

Tarek: That was your ambulance, right?

Tyler: Yeah. No, it was, uh, it was, uh, just a rickety old pipe trailer that, that we hauled the bulls around in that we had. And, uh, we just started out out of, I guess, kind of necessity. We had an opportunity. We were doing some ropins at this barn and that place was like, Hey, we wanted to have a rodeo. Do you think you could facilitate a rodeo for us? And, uh, really had no idea what I was doing. I thought I did. I thought the first one went pretty good. Uh, looking back, it didn't, you know, I just didn't know what I know now, I guess, but, um, we sourced everything out. I didn't own anything. You know what I mean? I owned a couple of bulls. They were my practice bulls that I was just tuning up on and stuff. And I remember I was so embarrassed of my truck and trailer that I found out when the committee was going to be there and when they weren't going to be there. And I showed up when they weren't going to be there, unloaded my stock and parked my rig way out back where they wouldn't tie it to me.

Tarek: So was this your plan to make money? Like you were at a point in your life where you're thinking, you know, I'm, I'm doing rodeo, but I'm not making a lot. I need something that is going to allow me to, to build a nest egg for my future family. You'd mentioned that you'd had a fiance at the time. Um, clearly, you know, bull riding is a dangerous sport. You'd broken your leg, broken your neck, broken everything in your body, basically your lungs, everything. And so this was going to be your way out.

Tyler: Well, make no mistake. I mean, I always wanted to put on rodeos and produce rodeos. That was always my interest. It just seemed so hard to wrap my mind around in the early stages of like to put on a rodeo, you got to own the horses, the bulls, the trucks, the semis, the trailers, the staff, like, how do you start, you know, you just, you do, you just start. It's how you do it. But it was hard for me to wrap my mind around that, especially when my goals, my like current goals was like, make it riding bulls, but 50, 60,000 a year isn't going to cut it. You know, so when I had this first opportunity, uh, to make a couple thousand dollars putting on this rodeo, you know, I took it and at the end of it, you know, I put a couple thousand dollars in my pocket and I didn't break my neck. I was like, this was great. You know, I didn't have to risk my life to make a little bit of money because I'd never had a real job. I never planned on having a real job, but you got to figure out what's going to eventually make some money. Right.

Tarek: So you obviously had some experience having traveled around and participated in all of these different rodeos. So I'm sure you were meeting some stock contractors and, and learning just through observation. And obviously there's a lot of downtime as you're waiting to ride bulls and so forth. But did you have any other experience at all that kind of helped shape your desire or your, your knowledge base and putting on an event? I mean, it was just like the first time you'd ever put on any event.

Tyler: Well, the first organized events that we did were, um, goat ropings, goat roping, goat roping and, uh, goat roping one on one is, um, two guys roping goats on feet. You don't ride a horse. You're just on foot with a rope. One guy ropes the head, one guy ropes feet, just like team roping, but on foot.

Tarek: This, this is a thing in Michigan?

Tyler: Uh, this was in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma. Okay. And it really wasn't a thing at the time. Um, I, I'd heard of it. I'd seen it done, um, at the little britches finals. And, uh, I had some horses that I was trying to sell at the time to make some money. Again, I was trying to sell some horses and I thought that I'd sell them fast, but I realized nobody really wanted to buy two rope horses from a kid in Michigan, from Michigan. This is when I was in Oklahoma and, uh, I was getting to be pretty broke. It was coming down to the wire and I needed to figure out how to sell these horses. I couldn't get nobody to even come look at them. I thought if somebody will just come look at them, I'll get them to sell. So I was coming up with schemes in my head of how I could get people to come and look at them. And I thought, what if I have a goat roping in my barn and I just inadvertently have these two horses that I'm trying to sell cleaned up and looking good and tied to the fence with a four sale sign on them. So I was like, well, gosh, I guess I got to find some goats and some panels and figure this out.

Tarek: And I literally put a four sale sign on the horse.

Tyler: Uh, I put a four sale sign on the fence next to him.

Tarek: Yeah. Okay.

Tyler: Yeah. Um, but I, I found a pasture full of goats down the road, knocked on the door and old lady answered, said, Hey, these ain't my goats. This is a guy that owns them. You can call that number. I called the number. Uh, the guy was really cool on the phone and was just like, so you want to use my goats for a goat roping? What the heck is a goat roping? I kind of tried to explain it to me. He's like, what is making you want to do this? I was like, honestly, I'm just trying to sell these two horses. And he's like, so you're going to have a goat roping to sell. And he's like, and I don't know you from Adam, you want me to let you to take five, six, seven, $8,000 worth of goats, complete stranger and rope them. And I'm like, well, here's where I'll do. I'll split what they, what the goat roping makes, if it makes any money.

Tarek: Yeah.

Tyler: I just want to try it. You know, why I'd never heard anything like this in my life. All right. Anything you can catch in this pen or whatever you can take and rope. And then the next morning you bring them all back. So not a problem. So I get it all set up and I got this arena built in my barn. It's like 50 wide, 70 long little arena. And I spend the last money I had on flyers promoting this goat rope. And I don't know if anybody's going to show up or not. And sure enough, we had 600 teams show up. So it's probably a hundred people showed up and just entered and entered and entered.

Tarek: No way.

Tyler: We sold both of them horses for exactly what I wanted to sell them for. But the goat rope and made more money than selling the two horses did.

Tarek: So was there an entry fee?

Tyler: That's right. There was an entry fee. It was $20 a man. And then we drug money off of it. So there was a drag for every entry.

Tarek: Got it. So I mean, and then the winners would have some prize money.

Tyler: Yeah, correct. Yeah. And I think it was like at the time it was like 80% payback or something like that. So I was making 20% of the total pot. And then I split that with Pecos, which is who sent me the goats. So boy, I don't know if I was more excited about selling the two horses, making the money on the goat rope and, or that I was going to get to call this guy that thinks I'm a nutcase the next morning. So I remember some cash boy. I remember calling him and I lived in a town called slick, which was right next to where he led Bristow. Of course, there's a town called slick. And so he called me big slick. And so anyway, I call him crackadon. I'm excited to tell him, you know, he's like, what's going on? Big slick. How is the goat rope? And I'm like, man, you ain't going to believe it. I got a couple thousand dollars to give you. I sold both of them horses and we got to do it next week. And it was just like a long pause. And he was like, you made that much money on roping my goats. And you sold them horses. And so he's like, well, now what are you going to do for horses? And he's like, are you going to do this every week? I said, I think I'd be a fool not to, you know. And so he said, what do you do? What are you, who are you working for? Like, he just was intrigued. I had no idea who he was. He said, what are you doing tomorrow? He said, you want to, you want to come and help me doctor some calves. I got some calves over by where you live in slick on a lease place. You want to come over there and help me doctor some calves. I'm sure whatever he said, Hey, meet me at the gravel pile. There was a big gravel pile where the two roads come together at daylight. He said, hop in with me. I'll give you a horse ride. You come we'll, we'll go and doctor some calves. Well, I met him there. He took me to this place and we get there and there's 1500 head of calves. This is like one of the biggest cattle operators in this whole part of the country. Everybody wants to work for this guy. Everybody wants this job. I had no idea who I was talking to. He buys and sells horses. He's in with the, the sale barn. He's the auctioneer at the horse sale every week.

Tarek: No way.

Tyler: And so that guy was very instrumental in my progress the next few years. You know, he took me under his wing and he taught you a lot.

Tarek: He taught you a lot.

Tyler: He taught me a lot. He, remember how I told you earlier, I wanted to be a cowboy. There's just no way he taught me how to be a cowboy.

Tarek: Fascinating. And you already had that entrepreneurial bug from the time that you were little, you know, selling hay to chopping firewood to, you know, goat roping. And, and it was just all part of the learning process.

Tyler: Yeah.

Tarek: So who needed, who needed college?

Tyler: So fat. So the goat rope and Tyler tied to the rodeos was we started putting on team ropings then. So I was like, I'm doing these goat ropings and it's very successful. I'm, I'm making a minimum, even on a bad week of a thousand a week right here, free and clear cash. And so I was like, well, let me rent some steers and I'll start having team ropings at this barn. So I go and negotiate a deal with the barn. I negotiate leasing some cattle, start promoting it. And then things start generating and going, so now I have a Wednesday goat roping and I have a Saturday team roping. Well, then the guy that owned the barn was like, Hey, what about doing a rodeo? I was like, I've never done one, but this is my chance. You know, I'll just sub it all out. This one, I started thinking about subbing. I don't have to own the stock. I can sub it.

Tarek: Yeah.

Tyler: And that's what we did that first one. And, you know, we did one in Sepulpa and then there was this other building and I know that guy was like, Hey, would you want to come and do one here? And so I did four at that guy. So I had five that first year and it didn't make a lot of money. I had no idea what I was doing. I learned a lot all of it the hard way, but, um, and at this point, you don't really have your own company.

Tarek: You're just sort of freelancing it.

Tyler: I'm completely freestyling at this point. And, and my thing was never say no.

Tarek: Right.

Tyler: So they say, can you do this? Of course, figure it out later. And I did so many things that way.

Tarek: And how long were you doing that before ultimate cowboy?

Tyler: I think, uh, we, we started those rodeos in 2017 and I was on the ultimate cowboy the first time and during COVID. Okay.

Tarek: So you were on ultimate cowboy twice. We were in season two and then you got invited back to be on ultimate cowboy, all stars, which you actually won.

Tyler: I should have been on the first season, but when these Hollywood people called to cast me for season one, I thought it was a span. I thought it was a scam. I thought, you know, these people saying, I have a TV show judged by trace Adkins and we're going to get away, blah, blah, blah. And we want you to be it.

Tarek: And I thought, yeah, right.

Tyler: And then they did it without me. Why did they call you and how did they get your number? I had a social media following a little bit already. Okay.

Tarek: Uh, from IPRA or?

Tyler: Yeah, from the IPRA. You know, I was already, uh, and I was a multi event cowboy and so cash Myers and them, I'm sure had heard about me and helped in the casting process in the beginning. And, um, which the first season, all of like the better Cowboys, I guess, told them no, because they didn't have like a real talented first season cast. And I watched on TV and I thought, Oh my God, they give $50,000 to one of those guys like signed me up for season two.

Tarek: So when you saw it on television the first time, were you kind of beside yourself?

Tyler: Like what? I know it's happened. Yeah. Cause I was like, I could have been, I could have like, that would have been.

Tarek: So did you call them?

Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. I called them, uh, for season two, because I still had the producer's number, right? I put them in my phone as, you know, TV producer or whatever. And I was like, are you guys having a season two? And they're like, yup. And, uh, they were, uh, her name was Natalie. I'm still friends with her today. And, uh, they had already cast for season two. Like they had already had their cast and she told me that. And I told her, how can you have your cast already? If you're talking to the winner. And so she, she laughed at it. I got her laugh. She was trying to put me off. She's like, just apply for season three, go through the process. It was like a whole application process. And I was like, no, I was like, you can't film it without the winner. You're talking to the winner. I was like, I know I can win the show. I can give you what you guys want to see. And, uh, she's like, well, we've already blah, blah, blah. Well, then a day later or something, she calls back. She's like, Hey, the producers, they want to meet you. They want to do a zoom. And then it was just history from that.

Tarek: She was like, I just spoke with the cockiest cowboy. That's exactly what she said in the United States of America.

Tyler: So my, one of my friends was on season one and he said, if you're just yourself, they're not going to take you. You're going to have to take your personality and just amplify it. Just amplify it. And they're going to love you.

Tarek: And that's what happened in season two. You were, you're kind of the villain in season two.

Tyler: I literally let them make, make me say or do whatever, whatever they, whatever they needed. I just said, yeah.

Tarek: So in season two, you were in the finals. You came in third. You had a lot of FaceTime. You were a very polarizing character.

Tyler: Pretty polarizing.

Tarek: I know a thing or two about that from, from being on the apprentice, being a, being a fellow reality guy, reality star star star. That's right. All reality contestants are reality stars. Um, but, uh, what was it like watching yourself on television being edited? Um, and you know, with, with reality TV, they create these narratives, they create these plots in every single episode. And, and now you're seeing a version of yourself that has been curated.

Tyler: Hated it. I hated it. I hated every minute of it. I hated, I hated watching it.

Tarek: Your friends and family are all watching every single week.

Tyler: And they're seeing this. Dude, cause the, I mean, I'm, I've got a good sense of humor, you know, I'm pretty sarcastic and funny. They would take all of the stuff that I said, sarcastic and funny and just take out the, I'm just kidding. You know what I mean? They would take me being like, I'm better than you. And you know it, you know what I mean? Cut.

Tarek: I know exactly what you mean.

Tyler: Or they would take, uh, I remember one of the, the edits was, uh, I was talking about my horse and how sorry it was. Like I was talking about my horse sucking and they placed it. Like I said it about somebody else's horse sucking in the deal, you know, like just little clips of moving stuff around. It's like, yeah, I said it way out of context, way out of context.

Tarek: Well, that was, I mean, that was my experience as well. I mean, I did, I knew what each task was like or what each episode was. And, and to, to see how it was curated for drama and to have it make sense, I think for the audience based on how that particular episode ended, you know, it was really tough because you have a camera on you 24 seven. You had your, your mic ducked all the time and anybody can take that footage at any time and splice it together to turn you into somebody who looks like they're fantastic or it looks like a jerk.

Tyler: A hundred percent. One of the biggest things that I, I wanted to clarify is, you know, on the all-star season, you know, everybody, which I try to stay off of social media during the show. I mean, I try not to look at any of it because it'll make you go home, cut your wrists if you're not, you know, thick skinned. But, um, everybody said, Oh my gosh, he's changed so much. What a, what a good young man. I'm like, I'm the same. I didn't change at all. You know what I mean? I just, that's the narrative that they wanted.

Tarek: What's interesting is that like you have almost like a character arc that spans these two seasons where the first season you're the villain and the second in the all-star season you're a hero. And I felt like I experienced that within one season.

Tyler: Did you go through a villain stage?

Tarek: Oh, the first five weeks. I was like public enemy number one. No way. I was almost fired three out of the first five weeks.

Tyler: Yeah. And how did you handle it?

Tarek: It was rough. I'll be honest, because what part though, the part that was the hardest is I felt like I was performing very well. You know, and I've relayed the story on this pod before, but like in the first episode, we, we had to have these, uh, memberships for Sam's club and we lost 43 to 40. I mean, it was very tight. It was sort of, um, kind of a crap shoot a little bit, but I thought, I thought I performed really well. And you can't have an entertaining show where two teams do a good job and there's no drama. And so to see how that was recreated or reimagined in such a way as to create that drama, it was the very first episode of the season. They were trying to draw in viewers. It was really hard because everybody that ever met in my life is now tuning in. It was a monster show at the time. And they're seeing this like version of me that I felt like was very different. And I felt like that my, my, my personality or my character was being taken from me and repurposed. And that's different than being an actor, right? We've talked about twisters and we, you know, we know a lot of actors, but you know, when, when people know that you're playing a part, it's a lot different than when they think that that's actually, that's the perception. And so, you know, I saw all four seasons of, um, ultimate cowboy. And I, I witnessed that with you. And I, I remember telling my children like he is going through exactly what I went through on the apprentice, you know, too, though.

Tyler: And maybe this is a bit of, this is a character flaw of mine. I feel like as I'm a bit of a people pleaser at times. And when we first started there, you know, it's survival, right? You're trying to, how do I stay here? You know, and I'm, I'm thinking further like, okay, if I really want to win, how do I get another day here? I watched them send people home that were talented. I watched them send people home that I didn't think made a huge mistake. What do these people have in common? You know, what's, what's really happened here? And I realized I started getting praised by them producers when I kind of had the attitude of like, yeah, it's whatever we got to do, whatever I got to say. And I'm a little disappointed in myself. I guess at times when I think back on that, because I would, there was a, there was a challenge that I did not throw the challenge. It was the falling off of my horse scene and season two. And they thought that I fell off my horse on purpose. And what aired was me falling off my horse. And then them asking me in an interview, did you fall off your horse on purpose? And I said, no, I did. And I went and tried to explain it just in the same monologue that I am right now. And they smiled and they laughed and they said, Tyler, you don't like Jen. You bought, you know, how, how did that happen? You know, and I just, it was my personality shining through. I just laughed and I said, I ain't gonna say I fell off my horse on purpose. But if I did fall off of my horse and it caused her, us losing the challenge and she goes home. So be it. Right. Oh my gosh. What a monster I was over that. You know what I mean? And it went from a playful thing to like, what a terrible person you are. It's like, that's the only day we're on a reality TV show. You know what I mean? And I got to live with that.

Tarek: And it's, it's always going to be out there. And I think the disadvantage that you had that I'm so grateful I did not have to live through was my experience was pre-social media. And so I did not have to live through all of the commentary and the real time interactions with fans and people. I mean, I had some emails that I was getting and things of that nature. And there were bloggers, but it was not to the, the level of sort of pervasive commentary that you have today. And, uh, that must've been tough getting that, that real time feedback. And I'm just curious, like what, what was going on in your mind is, is that is happening? Did you go into like a little bit of a depression or was it, you know, did you just brush it off?

Tyler: I felt like I had to right off the bat, like decide, okay, this TV show isn't who defines me whatsoever. Like I'm confident in who I am, confident in my character and personality. And I'm not, I'm not gonna get on there and look at comments and I'm not gonna let people that come up to you, you know, and what was difficult for me compared to everybody else and all four seasons, the only difference. I'm the only person that's in the spotlight that's in, in front of five or 6,000 of the same demographic of people that watch the show every week.

Tarek: Right.

Tyler: That's tough.

Tarek: Right.

Tyler: You know what I'm saying?

Tarek: But I saw that by the way, last year at national finals rodeo, because it's the first time that we got a chance to visit and we're walking around and everybody is still recognizing you and asking for autographs. And, you know, that, that whole piece of being on television is also kind of a, a big learning curve for a lot of people. Now you had already had a following being successful in rodeo. So you probably are experiencing some of that already before the show, but after the show, I mean, the show was very, very popular.

Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. The show did well. I guess I'm just super thankful that I made the decision to go back for season four, you know, I was a producer on season three. I helped design challenges. I helped with logistics of like, okay, how are we going to capture this safely for the camera crew and build these scenes out? And when the idea come around for the all-star season, they asked me if I wanted to come back and I told them I didn't because of what I went through in season two. And I joke with them, but I said, you guys, you guys kind of did me dirty. I'm not interested in that. And they're like, we didn't do you dirty, blah, blah, blah. So anyway, they just, they kept on like, look, we, we got to have you back. You were a finalist. You were polarizing. Who cares what people think? Did it do something for your business? And the truth is it did. It did a lot for my business. The biggest jumps that we had seen year to date, because, you know, it was there were, it was increases every year. But the jump from like 2020 to 2021 was insane. You know what I mean? I mean, it was almost double in one year. You could say some of that could have been COVID. Or you could say that it was the TV show.

Tarek: And some of that was probably the echo effect of Yellowstone too.

Tyler: Absolutely. It's all happening at the same time. And then we go through like a compound year after year of like almost doubling. Right. And it was insane. The rate that we were doubling year to year, right?

Tarek: So you come off of the show and you start TK pro rodeo.

Tyler: Yeah. So and so we were actually TK rodeo. I don't know if you knew that. Did you know that? We were TK rodeo. We were TK pro rodeo after the show. And my thought process on that, and I caught a lot of flack over that. They said, well, you're not a PRCA rodeo coming. Why would you say pro? And I said, we are professional at what we're doing. Like the way that we do things is professional. The production is professional. The sanctioning can be regarded. It can be irrelevant, right? You can go to a professional ran basketball game. It doesn't have to be an NBA, but if it starts on time, it clicks off to entertain its professional.

Tarek: Well, it's like the old saying, you know, you dress like the job that you want, not the job that you have.

Tyler: Right.

Tarek: And it was a foreshadowing because now you are part of the PRCA. Now you do have your PRCA card. Now you are part of pro rodeo. And so that's a huge leap from doing your little goat shows to now putting on big events and big arenas for big purses. So, you know, what is today look like for you?

Tyler: What is your business?

Tarek: You know, tell us a little bit about, I guess, the structure of your business, your employees, how many events do you do every year? And what is the ultimate goal?

Tyler: So this year, year to date, we did 60 performances and they were all over. I don't think I looked at an Atlas when we booked these things. Again, I was just saying, yes, yes, everywhere from Michigan to Texas.

Tarek: So multiple performances per week.

Tyler: We had one week in July, we had four rodeos in four states going out at the same time.

Tarek: So multiple crews.

Tyler: Yeah, multiple crews, a lot of logistics with trucking livestock, again, subbing stuff out. I mean, we've got almost 400 head of livestock and we still had to sub all kinds of stuff out because we want the quality to be there, right? But moving forward, you know, it was a record year this year and every year I say this and I just think, how are we going to top it? And I'm always worried that our graph, you know what I mean, is going to see a plateau because it's just like, how do you come off of a year like that? And we did it again. Like 2026 is going to be insane. We cracked into this, what I'm calling like this baseball stadium tour. And I don't want to do 60 events next year. I want to do like 35, but I want to go into big cities. I want to go and take rodeo places that it's never been. You know what I mean? We're going to probably tone back on the county fairs and the stagnant rodeo grounds and we're going to turn up the volume and the pressure on places, you know, that haven't had a rodeo.

Tarek: And, you know, as part of your business, you're trying to build up stock both in the bulls and in the horses to make them bigger, stronger, faster, better athletes. You're developing this whole crew of performers, but these are animal performers that are designed and groomed to be the most entertaining animals in the space. So how do you do that? I mean, you're basically, you're running these performances, but you're simultaneously also running a herd. So how does that, how do you manage all of that?

Tyler: That's a great question. And this is the most I've ever spent on my horsepower. That's the biggest difference in our herd from the amateur rodeos to the next level is the horsepower, right? Our bull power fits in fine. Everybody has pretty good bulls, but the horsepower is different. And I think right now I've spent almost $200,000 just this year on upgrading our horse herd, whether it's stallions, mares, trying to invest in a long-term breeding program.

Tarek: And you're getting recognized for that now because you have a horse at National Finals Rodeo in your first year.

Tyler: First year.

Tarek: PRCA. That's unbelievable. That's almost unheard of, right?

Tyler: Yeah, like say, it's taken me back just because all of my heroes and people that have been grooming me for this moment have all said, hey, take a deep breath, kid. It's going to take four or five years. Don't get your hopes up to be let down. And so when the list come out that we had a horse on there, I mean, it was overwhelming for us. But aside from that, moving forward, the best thing that I can say that we have going is we're going to be the most entertaining rodeo company out there. We're going to be working on our horse herd and our athlete roster as we go. But the spills, chills, and thrills of professional rodeo will be bar none at TK Pro Rodeo.

Tarek: Well, we're proud sponsors. It's been a great run to see you grow and develop. We know that there are bigger things ahead. Where can people find you if they want to follow you?

Tyler: Social media. We're ramping up on there. Our YouTube channel is going to be really cool if you want to see non-edited, what it really takes. Everything from the flat tires to the bulls jumping the fences at the house to the bright lights. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, anywhere would be fine.

Tarek: You'll be at National Finals Rodeo again this year. I think you might be swinging by the booth.

Tyler: Swinging by that Texas Precious Metals booth, huh?

Tarek: Very cool. Tyler Keyjack, Ultimate Cowboy.

Tyler: Thanks. You bet.

Tarek: Enjoyed the conversation.