(upbeat rock music) - Talk about our farm.

Today's guest is Emily Sharkey.

Mrs.

Shark Farmer, as known to some.

- (laughs) Thanks for having me on.

- Yeah, so we've had people want to know more about you, because if you know much about "Shark Farmer," you know that you are the driving force behind it, the producer, and I'm just the pretty face.

- (laughs) I have to keep things rolling, so to speak.

Yes, absolutely.

- So I thought it would be fun to have you on here and maybe give it a little bit of background and exactly what you do.

- Nice.

- So, you're usually in charge.

- I am.

- You're in my world now.

- Yeah, I am on your world now.

This is kind of awkward being interviewed.

(laughs) I'm usually all behind the scenes.

- Uh-huh, all right, well first of all, you, you call yourself a skip-generation farmer.

- Yeah, so both my grandparents on both sides, my mom's side and my dad's side farmed, so I'm kind of a skip-generation in that my parents both did not come back to the farm.

And I think that's mostly because, you know, my grandparents farmed through really hard times.

And I think on both sides, you know, my dad's side, they didn't really encourage the three boys to come back, because I think for a lot of farmers, you know, when you go through hard times, you don't want that for your kids, like you want things to be easier.

And so, my dad became a soil scientist, and his brothers got off-farm jobs as well.

On my mom's side, you know, years ago, it was never even considered that a girl, a woman would come back to the farm.

And she had an older brother, so she got a job at the hospital.

And so, I actually grew up in town, and so I grew up in Princeton, Illinois and was really involved in 4-H, and I had a horse, and we kept him at the fairgrounds.

So I showed my horse and grew up riding my bike to the fairgrounds every day to take care of my horse and taking my dog on my bike with me.

The dog would go up and down on the bike as I pedaled, and people got used to seeing me ride from my neighborhood to the fairgrounds to ride my horse.

So, I did grow up in town but always loved the farming life, because both my grandparents farmed.

- Where did you meet your amazing husband?

- (laughing) Well, like I said, you know, being really involved in 4-H, I owe a lot to 4-H.

- Yeah?

- Because that's where- - It's for you.

- Yeah, for youth, for America.

- 4-H.

- 4-H.

We met at a 4-H dance.

So, I kind of saw you the day before, and I thought you were awfully cute.

- Oh!

- Yeah, I saw you in passing.

- You saw me the day before the dance?

- Yeah, you were setting up your 4-H booth, 'cause you were in a different club.

- Yeah, my little ribbon winners.

- Yeah, and I was Elm Tree.

- Okay.

- So yeah, so I did see you, but we did, we met at the dance, and I honestly thought you were gonna maybe go for the pizza behind me, but you didn't, you asked me to dance, so.

- Lady in red, yeah.

- Lady in red, yeah.

Been together ever since.

- Got married.

Well we went down to Southern Illinois University, then came back to the farm, got married, raised four kids.

And your ties here in Peoria have always been pretty strong.

I remember you started out when we first got married, you went to CBS in Kewanee for a year or two, but then- - I did a bible study in Kewanee, yes.

- But then you quickly migrated to Peoria.

- Yeah, yeah, I think, you know, when we decided to homeschool the kids, I found a huge homeschooling community in Peoria, and I got involved with community Bible study and started out as part of that and then became a core leader in that for a number of years.

And it was great, because with homeschooling the kids, it was fun to be able to go to bible study on Thursdays, and they had their own kids.

Each one of them was in a class there, and then, yeah, I was part of a core and then a core leader for a few years, so- - You were pretty set on homeschooling.

I thought, no, 'cause the kids are gonna be weird, but you were pretty set on it.

- (laughing) Oh, that's so funny.

You know, home schooling's come a long way.

Now, I think it's pretty socially acceptable.

You know, in the years that we decided to homeschool, I mean, I thought everybody... We really kind of got a lot of slack for it, but now it's, it was wonderful.

So yeah, I came to Peoria a lot, bible study, homeschool groups.

We were in homeschool choir, Christian Center sports, the kids, all of them were in Christian center sports, so.

- Yeah, we spent a lot of time on those ball fields, right?

- A lot of time, yes.

- So with that, I mean, there's a lot of roles of the farming spouse, but in our situation, you, at that time, were mainly taking care of the kids, which was more than a full-time job.

- Yeah, when we were first married, I trained polo horses and then came home, and when you took over the buying co-op, which was neat, we had about 70 area farms that bought seed and chemicals, and you ran that.

When you brought that to me that day and said, "Hey, we have this opportunity to run this co-op, "will you help me?"

I ended up kind of being the one doing all the bookwork for that.

- Yeah, I like the way that worked.

I came up with the idea, and you did all the work.

- (laughing) Yeah, yeah, but that was interesting, because it was a lot of late nights, you know, taking care of the kids during the day and then doing invoices at night, but it helped me really learn about day-to-day on the farm as well, so I enjoyed that.

It was something we could do together and raise kids at the same time, so.

- So, as things evolve, and the kids were getting older, I had started a podcast, right, and it was stupid and just kind of almost a hobby, but it took off.

And then you decided that you wanted to change everything, and you came in and you crushed my dreams.

(Emily laughing) That's the way I remember it.

- I don't remember it quite that way.

- Yeah.

- No.

- We've been married for almost 30 years.

- Yep.

- I can think of three times that we've gotten in a fight-fight.

- Yeah, we don't really fight.

I was gonna say, we could count 'em on one hand.

- And probably the biggest one was over this podcast.

- Oh my gosh, well, yeah, when you started your podcast, when you said, "Oh, I'm doing this podcast," I thought, you know, we had young kids, and I thought, oh, it's just gonna be this hobby.

And you got your little blue microphone, and you started interviewing people, and I didn't think much of it.

And then, oh my goodness, it just exploded.

You started interviewing farmers, and it was fantastic.

And so, then you asked me to help you with editing.

- Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You're skipping a few steps.

- Oh-oh, uh-huh.

- See, the podcast was authentic.

It was farmer talk, it was locker room talk, right?

And Emily did not think that was the way it should be.

- Well, I do remember a conversation we had.

So, our daughter Anita was dancing, she was a ballerina, and I remember we had to take her to Cincinnati.

She was gonna dance there for the summer.

And on the way home, we got in a traffic jam.

- [Rob] Yeah, and this is when she decides to start a fight.

- In retrospect, it might not have been the greatest- - In retrospect.

- idea to have an argument in stopped traffic.

But yeah, well, I mean, your podcast was taking off, and I wanted everybody to listen to it, but I couldn't picture myself telling the people that I go to church with or some of my good friends to listen if you were just gonna say whatever.

- It was a little naughty, some naughty talk, yeah.

- It was a little bit, I mean, you know, you can't cuss like you were.

- We could.

- It was the days of Twitter and social media when everybody just said everything, right?

- Yeah.

- And I didn't want it to be that way, and you did not want me to censor you.

- Yeah, so after you emasculated me, what happened next?

- (laughing) Well, I mean, I saw a way for us to make it, you know, monetize on it, like have sponsorship and have people advertise on the podcast and really kind of make it big.

And because you were given a voice to people in agriculture that people didn't get to hear from.

It was just the average farmer, rancher person who works in ag, and I loved it, but we also could have advertisers on it, and it could also have sponsors.

And so yeah, I really had a vision for that, but I kind of had to tame the beast, so to speak, 'cause- - Tame the beast, yeah.

(Emily laughs) Well at that point, it had grown to, I couldn't handle it on my own, and you came in and you started editing and started producing it, which you, I mean, you were a homeschooling mom, and you had no idea how to do that stuff.

- No, no, when you said, "Edit," I mean, oh, even that was sort of overwhelming, finding the time to do that and learning how to do that, but then I enjoyed it.

Like it was fun to hear all the stories, and it was kind of addicting as podcasts are, you know, to hear people's life, you know, why they went left when they could have gone right, and oh, you know, some of the struggles that people go through, and people are so real about it.

And then also, like the triumphs, like just to hear how people overcame things, and so, yeah, it was addicting, but yeah, it was a lot of work.

- So you grew the podcast to a point where we were beating our competition, and I'm not talking about other podcasts.

We were out-rating traditional ag media.

- Yeah, some of the big companies.

- And they knew it, and they offered to collaborate, hire us.

- Yeah.

- So we would go to these giant buildings and talk to them.

And we actually, we had one, basically they said, you know, "We're gonna take all the work," right, and that was pretty attractive to us.

And we actually decided that, yeah, maybe this is what we wanna do.

- I remember getting out the whiteboards, I mean, in a true Sharkey fashion, when you have a big decision to make, you get a whiteboard out.

- Yeah.

- So I do remember, we got out our whiteboards, and we put pros and cons of what that would be like to partner with a company.

And, ultimately, I remember one phone call making a difference.

- Yeah, what happened on it?

Because we'd all but said yes, and tell me about the end of that phone call.

- Well, I remember at the end of the phone call, the guy that we were talking to said, "Yeah, we wanna work with you guys, "but I'm gonna need to have control of Rob's schedule."

And I said, "Oh, well yeah, I can share his schedule, "'cause it's gonna take a lot of planning."

And then I remember him saying, "Well, we're gonna need to control the schedule."

And at that point, I realized they wanted me out, like they wanted to have you.

- They said, "We would find having you involved "would complicate things."

- "Would complicate things."

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So that was it.

- That was it.

- We went from literally a life-changing event, where we were gonna say yes, to one comment to we're no.

- Yeah, we wanted to do it together.

I mean, we may not have known what we were doing in the beginning, but we wanted to do it together.

- Yeah, so long story short, you got us on XM radio.

We're on there every day, and then we've got a weekend show too, which that led to pitching ourselves for a television show.

Tell about that.

- Well, it did, but I tell you, you know, you have to back up just a little bit, 'cause that XM show that we did- - I thought it was my show, but apparently not.

- (laughing) That XM show that we did when you did the studio, I wasn't gonna be on with you.

- Yeah, yeah, we set up the studio and I said, "We need to get a mic on her side," the control side, and she's like, "No, I'll never talk."

- No, I was gonna be behind the scenes, like, you know, where I usually am, and yeah, it's ended up being something we did every day, so that was fun.

- So we're at a farm show.

The person that owned XM Radio, Patrick Gottsch, was sitting at a table by himself.

We were gonna pitch a television show, I did to him, and I stood there and I chickened out.

- Well, I mean, you dreamed about it a long time.

I mean, for years you said, "It would be fun to do like a funny videos of farming "and interview people," and you dreamed about it for a long time.

But yeah, Patrick was sitting there in his golf cart, (laughs) and you're like, "I'm gonna go over there."

And I'm like, "Yeah, you should."

And you're like, "I don't wanna ask for things."

You really didn't wanna ask for anything.

- Just such a dude, such a dude.

- You are.

Farmers don't ask for things.

So I did, I got out a ballpoint pen and stabbed you in the ribs.

- Stabbed me.

You drew blood.

- (laughing) I did.

I didn't want you to give up the opportunity.

So yeah, I stabbed you with a ballpoint pen.

- So that way you got us "Shark Farmer TV" on RFD, and then it just kind of kept snowballing after that.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- And again, we got that show, and Patrick was great, "Yeah, you can have it, do it."

We had no TV experience, and all of a sudden, you got thrown into producing a television show, which you had no idea how to do.

- No idea, no, I was a homeschooling mom, and I was editing podcasts and just starting to work with companies.

I had no idea, you know, as a mom, that I would have to learn all these things.

So yeah, when we were given that TV show, that opportunity, we ran with it, but we very quickly learned, no, we didn't know anything about TV, and so we had to learn a lot.

And I became in charge of getting all the guests for that, like we did with the XM show, just finding guests, which really, it was huge networking.

I've really learned to network with people and find the guests, but yeah, TV's a different beast.

That was our first dive into TV, and I didn't even know what they were talking about, half of the language that they were using, cold openings for shows and teasers and- - B-roll and all that stuff.

- B-roll.

I didn't even know what B-roll was.

- Well, and if anybody ever is curious about how to get a television show, simple, it's, you get the sponsors and that's up to us.

It's not like we're, okay, you got a television show, and we will give you all these sponsors, it's money.

No, you have to go out and get them ourselves.

And I say you, you had to go out and get 'em.

- Yeah, for that national show, I definitely, yeah.

I had to start working with companies and learning how to pitch to 'em and sort of learning how to like sell yourself in a way, which, at the time, when your podcast came out, you know, going back to the podcast, that was brand new.

I mean, when you're pitching a podcast and trying to get sponsors, kind of the same way with a TV show.

I mean, there was no handbook somebody gave me.

Like, I couldn't ask people, you know, podcasts were brand new.

And so with the TV show, at least I had some people I could ask and how to do things, but it was a learning curve.

It was just kind of one of those moments where there were several times I wanted to chicken out and be like, "I'm not qualified."

I mean, I got a degree in zoology from SIU.

I didn't get a degree in communications.

- Well, run down for me all the things that you do.

- Um, day to day, so, I find the sponsors and all your guests for the XM show every day.

So we do a daily XM show, "Shark Farmer XM" on SiriusXM.

And then we do a weekend edition, and so we find the guests for that, and the podcast, selling advertisements on your podcast.

And gosh, then we, "Shark Farmer TV" on RFD TV and finding the guests for that.

(bell rings) And then PBS, brings us to PBS, and I find your guests for PBS.

- And "The Root of It," - And "The Root of It" as a streaming.

- Which is Acres TV.

- On Acres TV, yeah.

- You produce all those.

- I produce all those.

- And you sell advertising on all those.

- And I sell advertising on all those.

- And you are the one that takes care of the travel, which is ridiculous time suck.

- Yeah, yeah, I guess when we started doing all this, what we didn't count on was you speaking, and that has really turned into a neat opportunity to share our story with people all over the country.

And so I love that, but with that comes a lot of work again, just working with companies who wanna hire you to come and speak.

And so, that's a huge part of what I do is writing contracts and speaking agreements and then doing all the travel.

For a while, I thought, gosh, I better get a travel agent, but- - You're too cheap.

- But I'm too cheap.

- She's remarkably cheap.

- I am, yeah.

- Yes.

Yeah.

In case you ever wonder all the flying that we do, I've never, business class, first class, no.

She would have none of that, yeah.

- No, no, we don't fly first class.

- If we could fly in the back with a group of chickens, you would have us do that.

- (laughs) I probably would.

I probably would, yeah.

Yeah, so that is, that's a huge part of what I do too, is plan our travel, so we go all over the country.

- Homeschooling mom, now you are a producer, you're advertising for the media side, editing, and what else am I missing?

- Well, I'm a mom, so there's- - Oh yeah, there's that, yeah.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - One kid's still home, Steven.

- Yes, yes.

Our youngest is still in high school, so that's, yeah.

Yeah, it takes a lot of coordination, but I love it, and I think that has been a huge part.

You know, all the things that we've done, we've brought the kids along a lot, and I think that's been good for them to see, you know, just be a part of.

I think if we couldn't do it as a family, especially in the early years, I don't think we would've been able to do it.

We always have somebody come along with, or, you know, they had to learn how to edit.

Of course, our oldest has taken over the editing for the podcast, so that's glorious.

But the kids have always been a part, and I think it's neat to share networking, just teaching them how to communicate with people and want to hear other people's stories right along with us.

But also, just getting out in the world and just meeting people from all over the country, I think it's been awesome for them too, so.

- So, I don't even know how long we've been doing a PBS show.

- About four and a half years.

- Four and a half years, "Shark Farmer TV" is on season 12.

- Season 12.

- "The Root of It's" on season six.

Yeah, the XM show since 2018.

What's next?

- Boy, I don't know, your next creative idea, I think.

(Emily laughs) - She knows what's up.

- What else are you gonna throw at me?

- She's not saying.

No, she's not saying.

Okay, but something has to go, right?

If something's added in at this point, something has to go.

- I always think that.

I always think that.

But yeah, I think by now, you, or we, have interviewed well over 5,000 people in ag.

- [Rob] Easily, yeah.

- And I remember early on people saying like, "Oh, how many," you know, "how long can this last, "a couple years?

"You're gonna run out of people to interview."

And I thought, I don't know, do you run out of farmers and ranchers and people who work in ag?

I don't think we could possibly get to all of them.

So, I think that's the neat part of what we do.

I think you just don't run outta great stories.

Everybody's got one.

- [Rob] And now you've started speaking.

- Yes, a little bit.

Yeah, I speak with you, and I've spoke to some women's retreats, and people are just kind of curious as to being a mom and being a producer and what it is that I do, and I love that, that people are interested and just, I try to just tell people like, "Just say yes.

"When your husband has a crazy idea, just say yes, and-" - That's the best advice I've ever heard.

- Say yes, because you might miss out if you don't, so yeah.

- I hope you're listening, ladies.

(Emily laughing) It's great advice from Mrs.

Shark Farmer.

(laughing) If people want to find out more about you, where would they go?

- Well, I would say more about us, SharkFarmer.com has everything, the XM shows and the podcast and the TV shows and, you know, speaking.

So you can find both of us there.

But every day on the XM show, I'm your co-host, so that's fun.

- Yeah.

You were saying on the way here that you really don't like doing the PBS show, so that's what's gonna go first?

- Oh no, you're not gonna throw me under the bus in front of everybody.

- Out of all the people that work here at PBS, which one do you like the least?

- And I'm not answering that.

I'm not stepping into that.

- Does it rhyme with FICA?

- (laughing) No, no it doesn't.

- Huh.

Does it rhyme with Ton?

(both laughing) - Oh... - You enjoy this one.

- I do.

I do.

- I mean, it's a lot of work, a lot of work getting set up.

Hi, Don, how you doing, buddy?

(Emily laughing) A lot of work getting set up, but you do enjoy this.

- I do, yeah.

Yeah, again, it's just hearing people's story and having people light up when they tell it.

I love to be a part of that.

I love the networking part, so it never gets old, just finding new people every week.

- Well, and I get to see the other side of it, and I tell you people, whenever I get to talk to people, they're like, "Oh, Emily's so great.

"She's got me all set up."

They don't have any questions when they reach me, and you've got everything all set up, and I just sit here and I interview, and I get the fun part and all that.

But you are the one that are literally, doing all the work behind the scenes, and I hope I let you know how much I appreciate that.

- You do.

You do.

That's why I do it.

If you didn't appreciate it, it wouldn't be any fun, then I wouldn't do it anymore, (laughing) so.

- Apparently, the money doesn't matter.

(laughs) - (laughing) No, no, I love working with ya.

I mean, we're blessed to do what we do, so I love it that we can work together.

I think not all couples could.

- The best is when like you're miffed at me, and then we have to start like the XM show, and you gotta act like you like me.

(Emily laughing) That's the best.

I really enjoy that, 'cause I can tell- - You throwing me under the bus?

- No, you're being all happy and that, but her face is mm.

- Yeah, that's probably true.

- All right, Emily.

(laughing) - You're like herding cats.

(laughing) (bright music) - Okay, then.

All right, well today's guest, Emily Sharkey, Producer of this show, "A SHOT OF AG."

Thank you for all that you do, pumpkin, yeah.

- Thanks for having me on.

- And I'm sleeping with her.

(Emily laughs) Emily, thank you very much.

Everybody else, catch you next time.

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) (upbeat rock music continues) - If you enjoy today's episode, be sure to explore more of our local content.

You can connect with us on our social media platforms, visit our website, or download and watch with the free PBS app.

We can't wait to see you next time on "A SHOT OF AG."