Wonder Woman Wednesday, Crooklyn
Crooklyn you have been a featured host of TapouT radio before it was even called TapouT radio! Can you tell us how you first got involved in MMA and how that developed into a radio show?
First involvement? I’ve been a fan for about 10 years now. I’ve been good friends with a few fighters (Baroni and Serra) forever, so it was kinda hard not to follow closely. My first stint on radio was early 2006, on a tiny little show called MMA Discussions. A few months later, I decided I wanted a show of my own, so I started CageSide Live. Proelite (1st incarnation) liked the product and decided to sponsor the show. They did so up until the beginning of their demise in early 2008. In mid 2008, TapouT became our main sponsor, and we’ve been truckin along ever since.
There are a ton of MMA radio shows out there, but yours was awesome enough to be labeled and sponsored by TapouT, what are some of the major changes and benefits of being tied to TapouT?
The only major change we went through was the re-branding of the show. Outside that, nothing changed. I still own the show, and have complete creative control. We’re basically just licensees of the name. The benefits have been numerous, in that being associated with TapouT puts a lot of eyes and ears on our content. We had already established a good listener base, but TapouT helped propel us even further, and get us a little bit more “mainstream” recognition.
Your real name is Stephie Daniels, where did the nickname Crooklyn come from?
I originally hail from Brooklyn, and sorta got the name from some people back home. It’s definitely an ode to the film of the same name.
Lots of internet radio shows are done right from people’s home offices. For example The Joe Rogan Experience is done out of his house and is the #1 podcast on itunes. Where does TapouT radio call home base and what do you think of the change from terrestrial radio to internet radio, where it seems like we can all have an unedited voice?
TapouT Radio is done from Southern California, as that’s where all of us live, with the exception of our producer, Rick. He lives in Boston. The 3 of us do the show from our homes, and Rick plugs us into our streaming servers, so that we air live content, without having to use an external service like Blog Talk.
Internet Radio has really boomed over the last few years. When we first started, more than 5 years ago, there weren’t too many other shows. There was MMA Weekly and Sherdog’s shows, and Eddie Goldman’s show. Outside that, nobody else really drew much notice. Eddie really paved the way for MMA media in general. He is the Godfather of MMA media. I believe he’s been around since the very beginning. The days of old, when Art Davie and Bob Meyrowitz used to be the head honchos of the UFC.
Your cohosts are also some of my favorite people in the MMA world, Evan Shoman and Ryan Loco—can you give us an inside story on each?
Ha! Back off suckas! They belong to me! Seriously, we had been friends for a long time, so when CageSide Live started having some growing pains, just a few weeks in, I brought them on board, and we’ve been a tight knit little family ever since. They are the very pulse of the show. We would never be where we are today, if not for the amazing wit, humor, and lately…hold your breath…professionalism that they bring to the table. We also have an amazing, overseas correspondent, Redneck, who hails from Australia. He provides the accent that all the little girlies love, and he also brings kangaroos and wallabies to our little MMA hive. They are my superstars, and are indispensable.
You are clearly an inspiration, as a successful woman who is following her passion. What advice would you offer other ladies?
Be persistent. This sport is very young, and it’s incredibly hard to catch a break. Persistence and a never quit attitude is the key. If you’re a gal that expects immediate results, or gives up easily, this business (or any business, for that matter) ain’t for you.
What do you do outside of the MMA world?
I’m a registered nurse. My specialty is pediatrics, and I work with chronically and terminally ill children and infants in the private duty sector.
You have a new venture with Crooklyn’s Corner, please tell us what your goals are for that and how it came about?
Crooklyn’s Corner is my baby. My labor of love. For years, we have always used an outside source for our onsite news feed. I decided that it was time to put all our amazing content to good use and start writing articles that were derived form our interviews. We feature the best guests in the business, but we were slacking as far as readable content. I finally got my ass in gear, and put my goal into action. I just unveiled it last week, but it’s already doing well, and I have a constant supply of material to feature on the site. Over the next few weeks, it will be integrated onto the TapouT Radio site, and from there, I hope it will be one of the first places people go to get quality MMA interviews and articles.
What does Fight Chix mean to you, and do you have a favorite item?
Fight Chix is an awesome expression of the female influence in MMA. Beth is a kickass broad, and what she’s been able to do with that company in just a few years, is nothing short of amazing. The clothing industry in MMA is literally a vast ocean of a lot of guppies, with a few big sharks swimming circles around them. Beth managed to make hers a standout, and that’s something I’ve always admired about her. She sponsors fighters, does charity events, after parties, fashion shows. This little chiquita has her fingers in a lot of pies, and I take my hat off to her. As far as my favorite item…they’re ALL my favorite
Anything else you would like to mention or plug—fire away!
I’d just like to thank the fine people at Fight Chix for even considering me for their featured, weekly gal. You can catch
TapouT Radio on Mondays and Thursdays at 6 pm PST/9 pm EST, as well as get other breaking news interviews as they happen. For readable content, please visit Crooklyn’s Corner. Subsribe to the RSS feed and check out our polls and videos.
Posted on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 at 3:42 am. Filed under: featured, wonder woman Tags: crooklyn, tapout radio RSS 2.0 feed.
Thank you so much! It’s an honor to be one of your wonder gals!
I love Crooklyn