Ten Questions With Bleacher Report Host Taylor Rooks

Taylor Rooks has a new show, Take It There, debuting on Bleacher Report on April 3rd! We discussed a number of topics, including what it’s like for her to see commercials for her show during March Madness, who her guests will be, which people are her dream interviews, and the dynamics of sideline reporting and anchoring vs. hosting her own show.

Ryan Glasspiegel: It has to be absolutely surreal to be watching the NCAA Tournament and once every couple breaks see a commercial for your show, right?

Taylor Rooks: Oh my goodness, Ryan, I am not kidding you: I watch it, I rewind it, I watch again, I record it. It does not get old. My mom and dad are watching every game just to see if they hear it, and then they’ll call me every time it comes on — which can be a lot! — but I get that everyone’s excited. I’m insanely excited and I’m just thankful that everyone wants to advertise it, and get the word out about the show. But, it’s definitely really cool. I do not play it cool when I see the advertisements.

RG: With the show debuting next week, what is your elevator pitch when your friends, family, and other people in the industry ask you about what your show is going to be like?

TR: I always say the show is going to be a place where you are going to see athletes be real people and give answers that we never see them give anymore. Now we’re seeing athletes in these very controlled environments where they turn on the athlete hat and kind of take off the human hat.

This show is going to be a space where you can be a human, be authentic, be genuine, and just have real conversations. I think we’ve lost having conversations in an interview because we get so stuck on who we think an athlete is that we don’t allow the athletes to tell us who they are. And that’s what the show will provide.

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In no particular order, guests will include Jimmy Butler, Saquon Barkley, Damian Lillard, Elena Delle Donne. It’s going to be really exciting. I can’t wait. I got to Bleacher Report in September and my whole goal was to get the show right. I think we’re really there.

I’m just excited for everybody to see it and to hear everybody’s thoughts. We’re in a space right now where we can create content that really matters, that’s really important. We’re working every day to do that.

The staff on my show is all female except for my field producer — named Jonathan, he’s fantastic. My producers: Justine, Nicole, Karen. My booker, her name’s Paris. It’s all women which I think is great. I’m really, really proud of that. We have a lot of diverse opinions when we talk about shows and who we should have on. I think the passion that we all have for the show will reflect to those who are watching it. I can’t wait for April 3rd.

RG: I observe media pretty closely. You’ve mentioned a lot of the athletes can be buttoned up, but there are some people like Michael Wilbon or Stephen A. Smith who have just been stars for 20-plus years that I think some of the star athletes see them on their level. But you’re in your 20s, so how have you gotten these stars to connect with you in a way where they let their guard down?

TR: In some ways I kind of think being in my 20s has helped with that. I think because of my age some people almost see me as a peer. I also think that a lot of these guys — I was working at Big Ten Network before I moved to New York to work for SNY, and before Bleacher Report — I’ve been covering for awhile. I was covering them in college, or even their recruiting. So they’re kind of used to seeing me.

I also view myself as kind of like a players’ coach, except as a reporter. I’m always thinking okay, what can I say to connect to this person? Or what can I do to make them feel as though they’re never going to be attacked? Because I think that’s more so the problem the athletes have when they think about the media is that someone’s trying to get them caught up, to say something to make a headline.

But I’m very wary to never really do that because I think that headlines come in organic conversation, without it being some sort of trap. Through my podcast, which was my main advantage, players saw Okay, people are just coming on here and talking. I want to come on here and talk. 

So I would say that covering college was the main thing, but really the podcast and their thinking that they would have a really normal conversation with me was a conversation they’d have with a friend.

RG: Who are 2-3 people in the world of sports that you haven’t interviewed yet that you’d love to interview?

TR: Serena Williams. Like, how do you get her? And it makes me sad every single day. I am absolutely obsessed with Serena Williams, so it would be really nice to interview her. Also, she’s not an athlete, but I’d really like to interview Doris Burke. Her and Pam Oliver.

RG: You should be able to get them through ESPN and Fox PR, right?

TR: Yeah, I feel like I could definitely get them done. I’ve met Doris Burke, and it was amazing. I totally fan-girled and asked for a photo. But yeah, those three would be really nice to just sit down and have a conversation with.

RG: You’ve talked on social media before about how Cari Champion was a mentor for you coming up in the industry; what are some examples of how she was helpful, and are there other people who have also been helpful for you along your path?

TR: Yeah, Cari Champion is so amazing. She’s probably my biggest mentor. One thing I’ve realized is there’s so many things that we go through or happen to us that really the only other people that can understand other women sports journalists. It’s a very small pool of women that can relate to certain things that come up.

Cari is so proactive in trying to help with anything — she’ll call me and give her thoughts on an interview, or she’ll call me and give me her thoughts on something that I posted. When she saw all the advertisements she called me and told me how proud she is. And if I have a problem or I need her advice on something — like even if I’m thinking about different jobs I’m going to take, one of the first people I call is Cari.

When I was deciding if I was going to leave Big Ten Network to go to SNY, I called her and asked about advantages and disadvantages, and told me that I have to bet on myself. You have to grow. When I was thinking about leaving SNY to go to Bleacher Report, which was really a no-brainer, Cari solidified that This is it — you’ve been working to solidify yourself and have your own show and be in this place. You’re going to go there and you’re gonna kill it. You’re betting on yourself. 

So, the best thing that Cari does as being a mentor is just continue to instill this confidence in me that I already have. She’s also a uniter. She just understands that we all have to stick together. I don’t know if every single woman believes that, so to have someone who genuinely believes that is great.

Since I’m kind of the youngest, I view a lot of people as my mentors. Maria Taylor is one of my best friends but I also hit her up for advice all the time. Just two weeks ago, I said Hey Maria, I’ve been traveling a lot for the show. I know you travel a lot: What do you do to not get sick? She gave me a list of vitamins, said I need to drink all this water … we’re just always trying to help each other make sure that we can excel and be the best we can at our jobs.

Bomani Jones is also a mentor of mine that I talk to a lot. I especially like to talk about how he balances speaking on social issues as well as speaking on sports, and that’s something that I do as well. I’m really fortunate to have a lot of people behind me in the industry. Same thing with Jemele Hill. I feel like I could go on and on, but everyone’s really great.

RG: Going back through your journey of BTN, SNY, etc — in your first several years in the industry you were a sideline reporter. This is an interesting role because the games have the biggest audience to see your work, but on the other side of the coin the viewers are there to watch the games. How do you decide on the calculus of wanting your own show — a lot of people are going to watch it, but it’s also not the same as would watch a big game?

TR: To me, the absolute most important thing that I have and that anyone has is their voice, right? It actually took me awhile to understand that and also accept that.

So at the Big Ten Network, I was in studio every single day and then on the weekends I would either report on games or sideline report on games. And I loved BTN. I loved everyone there. I enjoyed covering college. But, I reached a point where I said This isn’t the thing that I’m supposed to be doing. I don’t think that I should be on the camera for a minute, saying whatever, and then moving on. I felt that this is what was happening both in the studio and on the sidelines.

So I said Okay I need to make a choice. I want to have a bigger role. I want to be able to give my thoughts. I want to talk about things that I feel matter. And that’s actually nothing against sideline reporters. They are some of the best journalists out there. You learn so many valuable lessons from reporting that you bring into interviewing and hosting. It’s not that I don’t like sideline reporting — I just knew that it was not for me. I did not want to be a sideline reporter. I wanted to be an interviewer.

When I got to SNY, I was still behind the desk. I was still doing a show where I clued in everyone on what happened that day. It was still fun — I loved everyone there. But I even went and had talks with [VP of Studio Programming] Brad Como and [SVP of production] Curt Gowdy and I said This isn’t my purpose. My purpose isn’t to be on the desk and say what happened at Giants practice. My purpose is the podcast. 

I did not feel fulfilled or that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing until I started that podcast. There’s so much realness and joy and emotion in conversation, and I realized that the people that I was interviewing hadn’t really experienced that yet either. Like, it reached a point after about the third interview that I had agents reaching out saying Hey, I want my person to come on your podcast. They watched it and they liked it.

When I realized the power of just talking to a person, and being able to literally create news just through conversation I realized this is what I wanted to do. I understand that there’s not going to be as many people that watch it as games, but to me that isn’t what I do it for. I do it because I want people to watch an interview that I do and make a decision about the person. Whether they decide they like or dislike that person, they made a decision based off what that person shows them.

I also think that we’re creating such a good product that a lot of people will watch. That we’re talking to so many athletes that people care about, and maybe haven’t heard from, that people will watch. That’s really my goal with it. I just know that I need to be talking to people, and I like to refer to myself as an interviewer rather than an anchor or a host or a reporter or whatever it may be because that’s the thing that genuinely makes me happy. I find so much joy out of that and I think that will show when you watch the show.

RG: That makes sense. If we reconvene and talk again a year from now, what do you hope to have accomplished with your show?

TR: I want the show to be necessary consumption. If you didn’t watch my interview that week, I want you to feel as though you missed out. But I always think about how there’s certain things that I have to watch. Like, I love watching Ellen. When you watch it it makes you feel good and when you don’t you’re wondering Dang, who was on Ellen yesterday? I see it as necessary viewing.

I just want it to be that way — like you’re getting so much from the show that you will feel that you missed out if you didn’t watch it.

RG: With Bleacher Report being on so many platforms, where do you think most people will watch it? On their phones?

TR: Yeah, I would say probably on their phones — via the app, or Instagram, or Twitter. One thing I’ve learned working in digital for so long now is the thing has to hit the moment you put it out there. I had this moment with Michael Beasley, where he was talking about the brain. From my podcast, it was far and away the most viral thing that happened.

But it was also the most listened-to. Because when people saw one clip on Twitter or Instagram, they said Okay I gotta go listen to the whole thing. So we’re going to be putting out these great parts on Twitter and Instagram and all these different platforms, and the idea is for people to sample it and watch the whole episode.

The art is really in picking out those clips that we put out on those platforms, to create a fan base that has to see everything else. That’s kind of the art of the internet — the thing that’s viral encourages you to keep looking.

RG: You mentioned Twitter and Instagram. You’ve got big followings on both of those platforms which means you’ve got a lot of in-flow coming in of people responding to you or messaging you. I’m sure an overwhelming majority of it is positive and you want to engage with those people, but for me if I get 99 positive things and 1 negative thing the negative thing is what I fixate on. You’re experiencing this on a much bigger scale. How do you use these platforms as a mechanism to converse your fans, but also not let some of the negative feedback ruin your day?

TR: For starters, nothing can ruin my day. I truly refuse to let any negative comment drown out all the positives. So there’s always going to be someone that has something bad or negative to say, but you can just never let the bad be louder than the good. Like, it’s going to be there, but it just depends on how much volume you give it. When it comes to social media, it’s so important that if you’re just focusing on those good things and you’re responding to that, that’s all that matters.

Some people on social media want to troll, but somebody feeling like they have to be mean has nothing to do with me. And, I’m never going to let it have anything to do with me. I have a friend at Bleacher Report — his name is BG — one time we were talking about social media, and these people who are mean online. You know, it’s only a story if the moon barks back at the dog. 

I thought that was really cute. I always say that now. These people want you to bark back. That’s why they do it. I don’t believe in giving energy to negativity because I think if we all gave energy to positivity the world would be a better place.

In the beginning, though, it was different. In the beginning I definitely cared what people said, for sure, but then you just grow out of it. There’s so many people that reach out and say nice things and want advice. I’m very big into if someone messages me and wants to talk — especially women, if they want to talk about journalism and what they should do next — that’s another thing that is a big passion of mine that I love.

I focus on those things, and I don’t want to let anything other than that drain me. That’s the thing I do differently: On Twitter, I’ll engage with people a lot, because that’s really about conversation and people having questions. We’re talking about trending topics and what’s going on that day.

Instagram I think gives you less range to have in-depth conversations, so if I’m posting my work and I post a clip I’ll pose a question so that people can react, but I think Twitter is where the best discourse happens. And I don’t say best meaning the most positive, but mean it as the most in-depth.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.