Deadly Passion

Winchester Deadly Passion was truly a dream come true. After graduating from college with a double major, I began my career as an unpaid intern. I applied at over 70 locations trying to get a job in the hunting industry and received all no’s. Not wanting to give up, I decided to call the number one place on my list and offered to work for free. They asked me what I could do? I replied, “I can film, edit, clean floors, log tape, whatever is needed." The follow up question was when can you start? I said tomorrow. This allowed me to get my foot in the door and learn from some of the best hunters and producers. They were incredibly helpful and taught me how to become the best editor and shooter possible.

My position did not include being on camera, but of course that was my ultimate goal. Driving 150-miles a day to work for free wasn’t exactly my dream job but I was confident the knowledge and experience would be worth it. After 4-months of the unpaid internship I was hired on for the original job I had applied for. The next 4-years were spent working non-stop. I filmed various hunters all over the country and world, shooting and editing their shows. My job was setup like this. If I worked 30-days straight I received comp time and I used those days off to do hunts of my own. I’d film and edit these and just wait for the opportunity where more content was needed and offer these fully shot and edited hunts up for free. This wasn’t easy and I had zero extra money, but I bartered and traded for hunts, opportunities and it finally paid off. Sponsors started noticing and asking about see more of that Melissa girl who was both a cameraman and hunter.

Eventually I broke away and started my own production company. I had enough episodes to kick off one season but money was tight. The only way to sell sponsorships was to have the air time slot, and the only way to get that was to pay. I believed in myself and signed on the dotted line saying if I didn’t sell enough sponsorships my home was on the line as collateral. They say a hungry dog hunts hardest, and this is true. I worked night and day to make everything work. I cashed in my 401k to pay a cameraman for that first fall. I did as much as humanly possible on my own in the beginning because I didn’t have the funds to pay others, but this taught me so much. The best way to get good at something is to put in the time, and that’s literally all I was doing. I also continued to do production work on the side to help pay for the show and the expenses that came up. Several years went by and constantly running in the red I wondered if I had made the wrong decision. Originally I wanted to either get into hunting TV or be an anesthesiologist. Working 100-hour weeks and ending the year in the red wasn’t what I hoped for but it made me tough and drilled the passion and desire to succeed even deeper.

To this day, now in season 13 I sell all my own sponsorships, book all my own hunts and appearances, own the show and put together every single episode. I couldn’t be more proud of my accomplishments but it was definitely a long road. It wasn’t easy, there were many times I second guessed my decisions but in the end I learned how to be extremely smart with both my time and money. The one thing I learned is companies and people value hard work, authenticity, and loyalty. These are things I will forever pride myself on and truly am thankful every single day for the opportunities I’ve been given and the people who have helped me along the way.