Ep. 50 - Blazing Trails with Devan Reilly

When Devan Reilly realized that his college of choice in Casper, Wyoming, didn’t have his sports of football or wrestling, the former standout high school athlete decided to try the sport of rodeo. A native of Sheridan, Devan didn’t have the funds necessary to buy a saddle for saddle bronc and didn’t have a desire to be chased by bulls. He did have a love for legendary cowboy and country music singer Chris LeDoux and, just like LeDoux, Devan became a bareback bronc rider. 

He would be more like his idol than he originally thought however as, in 2017, he started using his voice to share his love of the western lifestyle, rodeo, guided hunting, and war heroes through his Blazing Trails podcast. Today, Devan is a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bareback bronc rider, guided hunter, and hobby rodeo podcaster. 

What industries do you focus on and why are they important to you? 

I like to stick with what I am passionate about. I love rodeo and the roughstock events - the risk, the adrenaline, and the unpredictability - as well as other aspects of rodeo such as my girlfriend’s event of barrel racing. 

Hunting: The mountains can make or break someone. You may think you’re mentally tough at a gym or rodeo, but you get hundreds to thousands of miles up, all on your back, no service, and you’re at the bare essentials - I thrive off of that! 

Reading: I’m a huge reder, that started in college, and I enjoy self-improvement, different ways of thinking or doing something, or religious books to make me better. Reading has helped change my perspective for the better. 

Why did you start the podcast?

I was interested in talking with people whose stories I loved to hear. I see how my life is going and I like to equate my life to a book and how each segment is a chapter (i.e. high school, college, etc.). Everyone has these chapters in their life and mold them, like clay, to who they are. In talking to these people I would find myself saying, “I wish I would have recorded that!” 

I spend 90% of my driving so a podcast seemed like a great way to consume information so I searched for rodeo podcasts and didn’t find anything. I thought, “Well shoot, it would be a fun little hobby! Drive down the road and interview these guys and see how they tick and maybe someone else can learn from it!” 

Goals for the future?

As I get more and more messages about the podcast, I want to keep having these conversations and changing lives. I want to post one podcast every week and continue to get rodeo athletes, hunters, artists, politicians, etc. with the goal of getting someone from every aspect of life on the show. I believe that if I limit myself to one group, I am going to miss out on a whole group of listeners. 

Listen to the Blazing Trails podcast on Spotify, iTunes, and everywhere podcasts are played. You can help Devan share the message by following him on social media at @DevanReilly or @BlazingTrailsPodcast - every like, comment, and share helps him spread his message further!

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