Kenzie Welch joins Smashing Plastic for a powerful conversation about pickleball community, pageant preparation, music, competition, and handling pressure before the big moment. Filmed at PickleRage in North Charleston, South Carolina, this episode blends pickleball culture with Kenzie’s journey as Miss Lowcountry Teen and her mission to reduce stress through music.
Coach Tommy sits down with Kenzie to talk about representing the Lowcountry, preparing for Miss South Carolina Teen, using music to manage stress, and why confidence and kindness can coexist in competition. Kenzie also shares how her “Healing Chord” initiative helps children use music as an outlet during difficult times, plus how athletes can use playlists, routines, and purpose to stay grounded before tournaments, games, or performances.
In the middle of the episode, Noah Winningham joins from PickleRage to talk about the new indoor pickleball facility in North Charleston, including 13 indoor courts, clinics, open play, round robins, socials, memberships, birthday parties, and opportunities for beginners through advanced players.
From pickleball training and tournament nerves to pageant prep, performance mindset, and Lowcountry pride, this episode is all about community, competition, and finding your rhythm on and off the court.
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IG: https://www.instagram.com/misslowcountrysteensc/
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[00:00:25] Good morning, good morning everybody. Coach Tommy here live from the beautiful Pickle Rage in North Charleston, South Carolina. We are blessed and privileged and honored enough to be able to come in here and get a podcast with the one and the only Miss Low Countries teen. She looks very similar because she is my beautiful daughter. Her name is Kenzie. Kenzie, tell all these people who you are. Hi, I'm Kenzie Welch. I'm 17 years old. I attend Northwood Academy and this is my dad.
[00:00:50] Okay, so when I tell everybody on this beloved podcast that you are Miss Low Country teen, what does that mean? What areas do you represent? So I represent the Low Country area of South Carolina and I'm going to be competing in Miss South Carolina's teen in about 10 days from here. So you got a big competition coming up. It's for the Miss South Carolina teen. Tell everybody where that's going to be. It'll be in Columbia, South Carolina. Okay, so first and foremost, what does that mean? Do you have talent? Do you have fitness?
[00:01:19] Like what all of the things that you got to do for this? So it's a week-long process and there's talent portion. There's a fitness portion. There's a beauty portion and my personal favorite. There's an interview portion. Ooh, interview. Yeah. I want to get to know you. So first and foremost, tell all these people what got you into pageantry. My little cousin Harper, she does pageants and I personally, my mom did pageants, but I was never really into it when I was growing up. But my little cousin did a pageant at a college and she won some money for it.
[00:01:49] So you were in? Yeah. Because you have not done this long. People think when they hear you speak and they see, you know, who you are and all that you've won, they think that you've done this thing your whole life, but you haven't. No, I've been singing my whole life, which is also one of the reasons why I got into pageants because it's a way for me to sing and get my voice more out there. But the whole reason why I actually did them is just because of my little cousin Harper. So you and now Harper, who's my niece, are competing. You're going to have the big one coming up here. She's at Little Miss South Carolina.
[00:02:16] She is Little Miss South Carolina as of right now, which is kind of cool. All right. Walk me through what your friends would describe you as best. As we head into getting to know, you know, Kenzie, four-star interview on questions. If I was to ask three of your friends, who are you? What would they tell me about you? I think I'm very outgoing. I'm very loud. I think that you would know that. I concur, but I am the same way. It's all right. It's part of what we do. But I think that I tend to be very driven, and I think that's one thing that my friends would say about me. I've been told that I'm very positive, which—
[00:02:46] I would agree. I definitely feel like you're an absolute rock star, but I am biased, but I 100% think that you're a rock star. What does representing the low country mean to you? Representing the low country is representing the community around us, and I think the best way to do that, honestly, is just by being the best you you can be. That's the best advice I have for anybody. And representing the low country, especially for me growing up here, means a lot to me because I get to represent the people who I've grown up with. Awesome.
[00:03:11] Awesome. So this is a pickleball podcast, and people are asking, like, why in the world do we have a title holder of Miss South Carolina team? Well, one, she's my daughter. Two, I wanted to get her some accolades and some flowers that she heads into her big pageant. But most importantly, you're a super athlete. So people don't know this about you a whole lot because you're so kind of into, you know, all these beloved music things and you sing phenomenally, but you like sports. I do like sports. You're very competitive. You're around it all your life, including the beloved world of pickleball.
[00:03:39] So give me and my following a little bit of fun stuff about pickleball, what you like about pickleball. I can't say that I'm good at pickleball because I'm not. But I do like the community on pickleball because even though I'm not good at it, it's still incredibly fun to play the game. And you don't have to be good to have fun. Especially in pickleball, right? Oh, especially in pickleball because it's such an easy game to learn. I play with my eight-year-old cousin. Right. And it brings everybody together.
[00:04:04] There's places like Pickle Rage and the Pickle Bar and big communities that you can actually play pickleball at. Yeah, and especially being in events that you do, pickleball is great because the events that we have in pickleball, right? So whether it's a pageant that we want to do a fundraiser for or whether we want to put like when we did a birthday party. There's so many different things that you can do with pickleball, including the beloved world of pageantry. I thought it would be awesome that we could bring you in here and kind of tell everybody a little bit about how you play pickleball at home. You and I play pickleball a little bit. They've seen videos of us doing that.
[00:04:33] You play a little bit with your friend who's a boy that you call your boyfriend. But I'm going to say he's a friend that's a boy. And then you play with your niece. Nice. So the thing that I love most about pickleball, as opposed to all the sports that I have played, that you have played, that we all play, is the community aspect of it. Oh, yeah. Right? So like you said, you can play with your niece. You can play with your mom. You can play with your dad. You can play with your boyfriend. You can play with a pastor. You can play with all these different aspects of people. Not many sports you can do that with. No, because a lot of sports I feel like you have to be more qualified for. Yeah, more specialized. Especially in golf. Yeah.
[00:05:02] I think that golf is a hard sport to learn. And unless you know how to hit the ball in the right direction, it's kind of a pain to play. It's very frustrating, right? Very. Very frustrating. Whereas pickleball, you can fail and fail and fail and fun and fun and fun. And at the end of the day, you wake up and you're still like, I'll do this again. Oh, yeah. It's one of the biggest reasons why I love pickleball so much is no matter what the skill level that you may be or what you think that you are, there are ways to have fun in pickleball. Yeah, 100%. Okay.
[00:05:27] So with that being said, one of the things that you do is that you have to have this beloved thing of a platform, right? So walk me through that because I'm going to utilize this to kind of intertweave and intertwine how much I want it to affect all of our pickleball audience because I think they're going to be pleasantly surprised. What platform do you have? And tell me a little about this thing called the Healing Chord. So my community service initiative is the Healing Chord. And what it is is it's reducing pediatric stress through music. And I'm doing this through a music cart.
[00:05:57] And what that is, it is what it is. It's a cart of a bunch of musical instruments that I bring into a hospital. And I go to people's houses. And I work with a lot of children who may be struggling with an illness or something. Because growing up, I was very accent prone. And I broke my arms while I had my lip fall off my face. Been through surgeries. Been through so many surgeries. And the easiest way for me to relieve my stress was through music.
[00:06:24] So I thought, why not give other children the opportunity to have the same outlet that I did? So to give you some flowers and to help kind of paint the picture of this, Kenzie actually goes to places such as like MUSC and some other places with an actual shopping cart that has all these different instruments on it. And she actually allows children to play with her on all these different instruments and allows them to kind of have a escapism. Yeah. Of where they're at, the scenario that they're in, and the beautiful world of music. That's what your initiative is. I also teach them how to play the instruments. And you actually physically teach them how to play the instruments, which is really kind of cool.
[00:06:53] I want you to explain to these people, though, a little bit about this thing of the Blackwell Research Project that you're doing. Because I'm going to tie that in with how much it can affect us as athletes. So walk them through briefly. I know this is a big deal to you. But I want you to briefly tell us about this Blackwell Research Project that you just did and what that's going to yield. So I'm doing research with the Blackwell Research Institution. And I currently was working on anesthesiology and how music relates to anesthesiology.
[00:07:20] Because music can reduce actually up to 50% of perceived stress, which is a huge, huge benefit whenever you're considering being under the pressure during a sports game or you're about to go on stage. And everybody has their workout song. Everybody has their lockup song. Their playlist. So the easiest way for everybody to remove stress in their lives on their day-to-day is through music. You listen to music in your car, whenever you wake up, everything. Right.
[00:07:45] To add on to this, Kinsey, out of all the people in the country, was selected for this project out of the top. I don't know how. There's a lot of people, right? But you're what? Select that up top. So it's 50 high school students across the nation. Across the nation. And your research has yielded the fact that you're actually going to be published. Yes. I was working with a Vanderbilt mentor who has her Ph.D. in molecular stuff, and she's working with diabetes. And she actually performs her own research. So that's super interesting.
[00:08:11] And I'm actually working towards getting my paper published in the life science. And there's a special edition of anesthesiology that Blackwell is working with. So what you're saying is what you're researching and what you have done research matters. Oh, 100%. And it's a really big deal. It's not easy for you to do it, yet alone do it well enough to where you're actually going to be published with other college and adult authors. Yeah, which is super good whenever you realize that I'm only 17 years old and I'll be published with people who have been doing it for 10 years. Wow.
[00:08:41] Which is so crazy. But also there's so many other kids like me who are not, but who can have their public paper actually be published. Yeah, it's a big deal. It's a really big deal. So kudos to you. Nice job, kiddo. Thanks, thanks. But what I want to do is I want to help our audience with kind of expounding upon this because, like you said, to reiterate this, we all have our playlists, right? Like we all have this playlist that we want to play. And when I'm playing pickleball, as you well know, and I'm playing golf or I'm working or whatever it is, I'm one of those that really like music on while I'm doing it, whatever that activity is.
[00:09:10] Yeah, because then it's just awkward if you don't have any. So can you navigate for folks that are listening to what, like some of the stress that you talked about or some of the anxiety? Like you have to deal with that stuff right now. Like you're literally ramping up to go to the Miss South Carolina pageant. So you, like anybody that's human, are going to have any stress and you're going to have an anxiety. You're going to have like, oh, am I going to do well? And one of the things that you have found and you have done research on is if you have music, it's going to assist you through that. Oh, yeah. Will that help me then you think if I'm a tournament pickleball player?
[00:09:39] Well, it works the same way. Everybody, that doesn't mean just stress music wise. I think stress in general. If you're about to have a pickleball tournament or a baseball tournament, everybody has the ability to reduce that type of stress through your lockup songs, through your workout songs, through the music being played while you are playing. And me, for example, I get nervous before I go on stage. So it's very funny. I always have my phone with me and I'll just play like my piano music in my ear, which is super cool.
[00:10:09] But I think that whenever I get pregame jitters, the easiest way for me to relieve that is through music. And I think that goes for anything. I think that goes for sports, academics, music. So that's why I thought that would be awesome to have you on because I don't think you understand how much that will help people, especially those folks that are whether they're competing at the Bubba's Baiting Barbecue Tournament or if we're going to go to the APP. Or the PPA or some big, crazy national tournament. I don't think people understand.
[00:10:38] And most athletes, I think, at this point have come to the realization because when you watch on social media, you watch any of these games and you watch the football team come off the bus. What do you notice about every football player when they come off the bus? They're about to play in a game. Oh, they're so hype. And they are so hype up and they have their music going. And they have their headphones on, right? Oh, yeah. Every single one of these athletes have kind of leaned into what you're doing now. They don't have a Blackwell research done on it, but they know and they have experience like, hey,
[00:11:02] there are certain things that I can do pregame that will allow this, we'll call it pregame jitters, like you said, to not be controlled. But you can start steering that energy in the direction that you want, which is performing high. Oh, 100%. And that's why we have adrenaline. Have you found that if there are certain songs or certain music that you should do or should not do, is that like a personal thing? It's all based on personal preference. So it's not a research thing that there's like, I have to be listening to Michael Bublé. You have to listen to, no. No, no.
[00:11:27] It's whatever makes you feel most comfortable in that moment, whether that be NBA Youngboy or whether that be Mozart. It doesn't matter. Whatever you feel most comfortable with because, I mean, we as humans naturally go with what we are more comfortable with. Okay. And if you listen to NBA Youngboy all the time, obviously you're going to want to listen to NBA Youngboy before your game. And hey, he might help you calm down. Walk me through then some of this stuff about like if it creates like a balance of mental, right, like a mental and emotional balance.
[00:11:55] For me and for you, what do you think are some of those tips that you can give folks that are listening in California right now to if they are going into a pageant or if they're going into a pickleball match or they're going into a baseball game? Is there a certain period of time they need to listen? Is there a certain before? Is there any data research on like how soon they need to be listening to stuff before they go into this? Is it like right before you go on stage? So I only know the medical like right before.
[00:12:20] So if you're about to go into a surgery preoperatively, it's more beneficial for you to listen to music before you're about to go into that surgery maybe 10 minutes prior. Yeah. That's the stuff I want to know. Yeah, for sure. I would have to probably say the same thing goes for sports. Maybe listen to your playlist maybe 30 minutes before your game, 10 minutes before your game because that's really whenever your adrenaline starts kicking in because that's when the realization sets in that, oh, you're really about to do this. Wow. All right. So you're also a performer. What kind of songs do you like to perform? I want to tell everybody like what kind of songs you actually perform.
[00:12:50] I love to perform many different genres. I would never say that I have a typical favorite. Okay. But I love jazz. I always have loved jazz. Like you said, Michael LeBlanc is great, but I also love country. George Strait's great. Shout out to George Strait. Shout out to George Strait. Wow. Wow. I think she's really good. What I like to sing, I love to sing jazz. Really?
[00:13:19] Nina Simone. Is that a reasoning? Like do you like? Because I think my voice just goes better with it. Your voice is good with that. Did you ever select songs on how you want to make the audience feel? Oh, yeah. So the song that I'm singing from South Carolina, it's kind of a dedication to my— Can't say it though, right? No, I can't say it. Can't say that song. But it's a dedication to my grandma, and I want people to feel like I'm making them feel more connected to the song as well, like the meaning of the song. Wow.
[00:13:46] And I want people to feel kind of encouraged after I sing it or empowered. I definitely think that those are possibilities. But also knowing the reasoning for singing that song, I want people to know that as well. And it probably helps you perform better when you have a reasoning for it, right? 100%, because the same way if you have a purpose to win a game, it's going to make you perform better. If you want to win the championship, that's your purpose. Gotcha. Hey, this just in. Kenzie, you're going to have to pause for a second. I want to bring in a good friend of mine named Noah. You guys know him. You guys love him. We're at the Rage.
[00:14:16] Why not bring him in? He's got something he wants to share with everybody. Please introduce yourself to these people, Noah. Hey, guys. It's so nice to see y'all again. My name is Noah Winnicam. I've been playing pickleball now for about three years, and I'm transferring from basically playing or trying to go pro to now basically be the director over at Pickle Rage. So far, I've been loving it. So Noah, as you have heard, has now transferred from the beloved playing days. He still plays, still 5-0 player, great player, but he's now coaching.
[00:14:44] He's now directing at the beloved and new Pickle Rage in North Charleston. So one year ago when we had you on, you were chasing the dream, trying to do what you got to do with your partner, Wesley, to freaking compete your face off on the PPA and APP and all these things. And now you are kind of, in all honesty, now going to help people do that. Tell people about Pickle Rage because I know a lot of people listening don't know exactly what we have here and how beautiful this place is. We're going to get Sean with some B-roll to kind of get some clips
[00:15:12] and some really cool pictures of this place. What is the overall schematic of the place that we're in right now? Right. So we're located in North Charleston off of Ashley Phosphate. We have 13 courts, all Cushion X. Every court you're able to record your games, get highlight reels so you can post on Instagram, post on Facebook, whatever you like. We've been here since the middle of December. We would love for y'all to join us anytime y'all have a chat, Stu. Yeah, and I'll highlight as a patron of this place,
[00:15:42] place that basically means a person who is paid to play here. I have brought teams here. As you know, I've brought Fort Dorchester, high school baseball team, shout out to them. I've brought some smash stuff here. We've actually had a lot of fun on these courts. One of the key things that you did not say is this place is air conditioning. So we are hot already, right? Like we're freaking hot. Yesterday I played outside. It was like a rainforest. Legitimately straight up the humidity is here. This place has 13? 13.
[00:16:10] 13 indoor Cushion X courts. As a court builder, I will tell you what's great about Cushion X is it is much, much better on the old lower body. You agree? A hundred percent. If you play all day, especially as a teacher or trainer or a court, or heck, even if you play three hours, it does matter. This place has the best courts that I personally have played on anywhere as far as indoor courts are concerned. So shout out to Pickle Rage for going the extra mile and doing that because I know that's an investment. Lighting is great. The aesthetics are great.
[00:16:37] They've done a lot to make this place the place to be in Charleston to play indoor. You owe it to yourself to at least come check it out. With that being said, tell these people, Noah, what your title at Pickle Rage is. So I was the head pro and then I got promoted up to program director. Basically, my job is to advocate for y'all, to put programs for y'all termed as social events. I am basically an advocate for y'all. So whatever y'all want, I want to be able to implement. So everybody here feels welcome. It heard. That is my goal.
[00:17:06] I love it. And as a person of the pickleball world, one of the biggest things that makes or breaks facilities, hear me when I tell you this, is who is running the place. And now you have a dude who I love and adore. I know, I trust, and so do you if you know Noah, who is literally the guy behind the scenes that's helping direct programs here to make you not just a better pickleball player, but to have a better experience. Right? That's the secret. The secret of any facility that I have seen is going to be the experience that we have when we're there.
[00:17:35] Do I want to leave or do I want to find some way to excuse myself of going to work and remaining here to play pickleball? And this place has that. It's beautiful. It's indoors. It's got Noah. It has a lot going for it. And most importantly, it is practically, folks, brand new. Like this place is untouched as far as the atmosphere. It's a really, really, really cool place. Now, program directing, it comes with a lot of things because you've got to figure out like the temperature of what your membership is. You've got to drive membership.
[00:18:04] What are some of the things that you see on the pipeline going into the summer that we have at Pickle Rage that you want folks to know about? So we're going to be having a ton of clinics, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or a Vets player. So there's always a spot for you. Also, even if you don't want to compete, we have social events. We have mixers. We have Friday at the Rage where there's just a ton of people coming together. It's basically everybody from the pickleball community just coming together, just meeting new people. So whether you're a seasoned pro or just brand new to pickleball, there's always a spot for you here. Yeah.
[00:18:32] And with you guys having so many courts, it gives so many different options. So you can have a Friday night social and you can literally have 3-0 courts, 4-0 courts, 5-0 courts, open courts. Like you have so many options that you can do. So no matter where you feel that you are, because I know how everybody is in pickle, right? Like there's a chance and you know how this works. Like we can feel intimidated or not worthy or not good enough or vice versa. Like, hey, I don't want to play with that person because I'm the greatest 3.67 there ever is. Right. Like we know how this thing works. Right.
[00:18:59] So there's so many courts here that it gives you the ability as a director to walk around and navigate what you're going to do so that everybody has the best experience they can here. Exactly. Yeah. It's really cool. One of the things that I do want to talk about is the membership. So the membership right now, you guys are going to be doing some exclusive like promos coming up, which are really, really exciting. One of the things that I've heard about that I'm going to kind of basically read is the platinum founder membership. Supposedly, this is going to only be available now for 79 bucks a month.
[00:19:27] We're limiting that to 200 members at that rate is what I'm hearing, which is insane. So 200 folks are going to have the benefit of getting a $79 platinum founder membership. Folks, this is going to include free open play, discounted court reservations, monthly free clinics, round robins, exclusive founder perks, and much more. And it is a price that's not going to last forever. Right. So after 200 members, the price will go up to $99, which is still, I think, a steal for a lot of people out there.
[00:19:55] 20 bucks a week is what this equates to. So literally two coffees, two and a half coffees, depending on how much pumps of latte peppermint action you're getting, can take care of a monthly membership to a place like this. Exactly. Which is absolutely insane, especially going into the heat that we're into right now. I know that they are in our Charleston area. There's other places that you can play and I love them all. I know them all. They're all great. But for the area that you're in, if people don't know, North Charleston is the center hub of our low country.
[00:20:21] Like it literally is whether you're in Somerville, Mount Pleasant, Monks Corner, Keele, wherever it may be. It's kind of a center point, 20, 25 minutes max, mostly from wherever you're at to come to a 13 court indoor facility at Pickle Rage, which is awesome. Noah, navigate me on some of the events that we have coming up there. Like I know that you guys got some tournaments. I think you guys just did one or something. What do we have coming on the pipeline? Anything that's big that we're promoting? Right. So two are the biggest things. Our leagues are going to be started up in a couple of weeks. So please join that. We have levels for everything.
[00:20:50] So again, if you're just social, we have a spot for you. If you want to be competitive, we have a spot for you also. Also, we have a tournament coming up in a month. It's Pickletini. So please sign up for that too. It's more of a fun social event. We're going to have four round robin cords, a pickleball, like ping pong cord. Okay. And then just the rest of it will be open play just for fellowship for people to come in and just have fun together. That's awesome. How about birthdays, that kind of stuff? Are we able to, can we use this place for that kind of stuff?
[00:21:20] Yeah. So perfect. Yeah. If you want to rent out for birthdays, we have a event space back in the back. Basically is a cubicle for y'all, a big area. So y'all can celebrate, break it food, break it drinks, all that fun and jazz. Yeah. As you know, with Smashing Plastic, one of the things that we've done is that's a big event that we do. And I got to tell you, like, I am biased because I do them. But out of all the events that we do, like the birthday parties are the funnest with Pickleball because everybody's involved in it. I know. You know what I mean?
[00:21:46] Like everybody can come, everybody can play, whether it's grandma or whether it's Aunt Karen or whether it's, you know, 10 or 15 of the kiddos that want to play. Everybody's involved in doing something other than just waiting for us to blow out the cake and do presents, right? Exactly. If you haven't done a birthday party for a Pickleball and you have a kiddo coming up, heck, even an adult coming up, if you want a fun event, you got to do a Pickleball birthday party. It is a blast. They're completely different. Last but not least, because we are only so limited time, one of the things that I do want
[00:22:13] to reiterate is you are adamant about this being the place that whatever level that you want to become, this is the place to go to to get that. And I feel like that's what's going to differentiate Pickleball rage from other places is the ability to have training, like true legitimate skills and drills training to become, whether it's a 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, or heaven forbid, if you want to get above that, this is the place to be. This is 100% the place to be. We are going to be hiring on a few other coaches.
[00:22:41] I'm looking forward to having them at all levels. So whether you're 3-0, we have a coach for you. Whether you're 4-0, we have a coach for you. So there's always a place for you to get better. It's a big, big deal, especially at the cost that you're talking about that you can have to where you really can start almost investing in your skill set with folks that can assist you instead of trying to figure it out. Right? Like you've done this. I've done this. Like figuring out Pickleball as opposed to being coached in Pickleball. Right. It's a supercharger. Right? Like it's a supercharger to get to the next level. So I hope and pray that you guys are listening.
[00:23:10] We'll take advantage of the unique, unique opportunities that are coming to Pickle Rage because they won't last long. This magic number of 200 members at this. People are going to wish they would have hopped on this. I know. I would. Personally. I mean, for 20 bucks a week, it's hard to beat. Noah, anything else that we want to leave these folks with? Anything that you want to reiterate before we depart? I just want to reiterate, like there's always a place for you here, whether you're a beginner, whether you're a 5-0 plus player. Like there's a spot for you here.
[00:23:40] And we look forward to having y'all here. Charleston beat the heat this summer at Pickle Rage, offering a premium indoor pickleball experience at competitive rates. Whether you're a beginner, a grinder, or just looking for a fun night out, Pickle Rage has a membership built for you. Ships start at just $59 a month with discounted court rates, pro shop savings, guest passes, priority bookings, clinics, leagues, and community events. Want the ultimate experience? Our Platinum Founder membership is available now for just $79 a month.
[00:24:10] That includes free open play, discounted court reservations, monthly free clinics, round robins, exclusive founder perks, and much more. Founder pricing will not last forever. No rain delays, no summer heat, just the best indoor pickleball experience in Charleston. Visit Pickle Rage today and secure your founder rate before it's gone. All right, well now we're going to navigate some of this other stuff, which is going to be really kind of cool and beneficial to folks that are especially like into tournament mode.
[00:24:38] Now we're heading into summer, so there's a lot of tournaments and stuff going on. What in the world do you do daily to prepare yourself for a Miss South Carolina? It's a lot. So different days, there's a weekly span. Monday we have interview, which is about an hour and 30 minutes most of the time. So you're literally training for interview? Oh yeah, you train for everything. And then every Tuesday and Thursday I have workouts for about an hour. Shout out to Trainer Brian. Shout out to Brian. Trainer Brian, shout out.
[00:25:07] My brother's going to get put on with him. Keeping you ripped. Keeping you ripped. Oh yeah. And then we have talent, which is like every day. So how does that work with a voice, right? So just like we do in pickleball, like we're training with skills and drills and everything every day to try to keep the same thing. It's the same thing. You scales, workouts with your voice. You do sirens, different things. I'm currently on vocal rest because I've been very loud recently. Vocal rest. Wow. Okay. Yeah.
[00:25:33] So I haven't been singing for a hot minute, but I'm going to start singing again tomorrow because I have to go to Columbia tomorrow for fitness and beauty training, which is fun. And then my least favorite part is probably trying on all the dresses. Very time consuming. Oh, a hundred percent. It's just kind of, it's like if you try on a dress and you don't like it and they do, it's their call anyway. It kind of sucks. So you really kind of feel kind of strapped. I get it. All right. So lots of prep every day as you're heading to that.
[00:26:03] Before we get, because I'll forget, I want to make sure if, how do I find you? Like if we've got folks that are in Idaho that want to know how to follow your progress, where are you at? What's your handle? That kind of stuff. I'm on Instagram and it's Miss Low Country's Teen 2026. We'll make sure that producer Sean has a link so people can follow you along. Yeah. Which would be great. Do you have a YouTube channel? Are you performing anywhere? Do you have any of that stuff going on right now? I perform at certain pageants and at certain events. Like I'm at the ballets in Columbia. Okay.
[00:26:29] We go to the valleys in Columbia and then just pageants here and there. It kind of varies. Recently, since we're getting so close to state, it's more so just focus, focus, focus. I'm not really performing anywhere. So you're basically in training mode right now. Oh, 100%. I'm only 10 days out. Oh, and I do sing the National Anthem. Walk us through that. So one of the things I do know that you've done, which is really kind of great with sports related, is you have sung the National and been asked to sing the National Anthem. So tell some folks where you have that coming up.
[00:26:56] So I'm singing the National Anthem for the Riverdogs and for the Fireflies. Okay. And I've sang for Fort Dorchester High School, which is my brother's high school, which was super fun to do because I got to sing and he got to see me sing, which was like really meaningful to me. Is it nervy? No. No. You did? No. No. Knocked out? Knocked it out. I mean, I was nervous at first just because these are people who I've known since I was like three years old.
[00:27:23] And I find it more nervous actually to sing in front of people who I've known for the longest time. Than unknown? Than I would rather sing in front of 5,000 random people, I think. Okay. I'm sure a lot of performers probably feel that way. I believe so also because it's like people see every day. All right. Well, we're going to walk you through something. Now, you're a teen, so I want to get some teens because we have a lot of teens that are going to fall in. So I want to, me and you've talked a little bit about this and these are going to be some tough questions that I had sent in. So get ready. All right. Walk in here. All right. Interview time number one. Rapid fire. Number one question. You ready for this one?
[00:27:52] I'm so pumped. Why confidence and kindness can coexist in competition? I think the biggest advice after that or the biggest opinion I have of that is honestly, just be the best you you can be. And if you can be the best you you can be, confidence and kindness can relate a lot to each other because I feel like confidence and cockiness a lot of the times can get mixed up, unfortunately. But being in pageants and being in sports related, I'm sure that you can relate to this.
[00:28:22] There's some people who you're going to meet who unfortunately just don't have the best attitude about everything. But you shouldn't let that bring you down and you shouldn't let that affect your own personal way that you act as well. You shouldn't be driven to act that way and normalize it, I would say. One of the things that as a coach is the hardest thing for me to see, and I see it on all levels, whether we're dealing with an 8U team all the way up to high school baseball, which I think honestly probably has some of the most toxic environment there is. Yeah.
[00:28:50] But I also am starting to see it now in pickleball too. Like when I watch tournaments or if I'm participating with a player that's in tournaments, getting the ability to separate the fact that you don't have to be a tool in order to be a competitor. 100%. Because at the end of the day, I want us to shake hands or I want us to touch paddles at the end of the match. And I still want you to not just like me, but I want us to be friends, even though I may have lost or won the match. In high school baseball, especially that I see a lot of these players have played together with each other since they were nine years old.
[00:29:19] I mean, these guys have literally played with and or against each other since they were little boys. And then all of a sudden you get a high school uniform on and you start saying things and doing things that in all honesty will make them either defriend you, which is what we don't want, or two, completely tear down everything that you have always been known for with one statement or one attitude or one crazy, you know, I don't know, comment while you're on second base because you hit a double.
[00:29:49] So I would encourage, just like you just said, to where you've got to find the happy medium of where you can be the best competitor that you can be. But at the same exact time, you have to be a representation of who you are. And that's both your last name that's on the back of your jersey and the name that's on the front of your jersey for the shirt that you're representing. You carry a banner that says, hey, I'm Miss Lowcountry Teen. I'm going to be competing for Miss South Carolina. There's a lot of people that want that title. Oh, 100%. But you can't get to that point. I'm also representing a lot of people.
[00:30:17] And like you said, I can't get to that point where I start to think that I may be better than someone or I have a negative attitude about something. Because then it becomes a complete lack of your integrity and who you are. Right. And at the end of the day, and I know where you stand, but whose you are is the biggest formula of all this. Who do you belong to? Who are you representing more so than you and your faith system and who you come from is way more important than even the crown on your head. Right. As a pickleball player and as a competitor and as a coach and as a player, that's one of
[00:30:46] the things that I will be the first to tell you. And you will attest to this. I hate losing more than anything on the planet. Oh, yeah. I'm the worst loser. It's awful. I'm terrible. I'm the worst loser there is on the face of the planet. We were playing Chase the Ace last night. Yeah. Yeah. I don't like losing. I'm not. I don't like losing. But at the same exact time, I 100% want to do it to where I compete and play. Do it in a respectful manner. That you want to do it again. Yeah. Like if I act like a total lunatic on this pickleball court and beat you, you're not going to want to play again with me. Does that make sense? Yeah.
[00:31:15] But it also goes with being surrounded by people who are better than you in the same sense. I think that honestly, it's kind of a lost art. I think that being around people who are better than you, maybe in your sport or your talent or your academics, I think that's actually a benefit because if you're around people who are better than you, you're bound to get better. Rising tides raise all ships, right? Isn't that something like that? Yeah. That's a really good job. All right. So don't be a tool. All right. I want you to compete your face off. I want you to win this South Carolina, but I also want the girls to actually legitimately
[00:31:44] like you when you get done. That's the same thing for all you pickleball players that are listening to Coach Tommy and all you baseball players. I know who you'd be. Please don't be a tool. The world has enough tools. We don't need any more tools. We need really talented folks that are really kind people that can compete their face off. That's what we want. 100%. All right. Next, importance for finding healthy outlets such as music and sports for the folks that are out there. So all the teenagers and high schoolers, how important is it for them to have something other than school or other than church or other than like you've got to have other things, right? Oh, yeah.
[00:32:14] So you are one of multifacets. Do you think that helps with your balance of being able to stay very productive in all that you do because you have so many things to do? 100%. I'm always going. I feel like I'm always doing something. And I think that does help with my productivity. A hundred and ten percent. What's your grade point average? I have a 4.8 GPA. That's a bragging point because I just want to say that she's also extremely good at grades. Well, that's on a five scale. So on a six scale.
[00:32:41] I think the reason that you do that, though, is because you ready for this? How you do anything is how you do everything. That's so true. There's no way that you can be really good at sports. And then just not be really good at. Crappy grades. Yeah. Yeah. Or really good grades be crappy at singing. Like, right? Like, how you do anything is how you do everything. So kudos to you for keeping your balance and your sanity. You've done it. It's so. I don't know who your parents are, but they're doing a fantastic job.
[00:33:07] Advice for any teens out there that are facing, we'll call it pressure or stress because that's a real thing. I think honestly, besides music, one of the best things that you can do is talk to someone. Like, I have my parents and I have my aunt and I've always found that if I ever need to talk about anything, I love to talk. If you couldn't know that. Well, it makes for a good podcast. Yeah. But I think the best way that I also relieve stress and things that I might be dealing with is just talking to someone.
[00:33:35] Sometimes just a simple act of kindness is the easiest way to. Oh, I like it. It really is. But again, music is a great way also to relieve stress and also sports. If you are struggling with pressure of academics, I think one of the easiest ways to relieve that could be through music or through sports, through other hobbies that you enjoy. Okay. Well, now we're going to stir it back and we'll wrap this thing up because you've been amazing, but a couple of little pickleball things for you that, you know, I want to talk about. You like singles or you like doubles? I like doubles because I get to play with more people.
[00:34:05] Okay. Singles or doubles, you go with doubles. Also, I can like have you carry me. That's true. Carry it will be. Are you a fan of the team aspect of pickleball like MLP or do you like just the same old PPA? You got Annalie and Ben Johns together every week together. Do you like having teams like the MLP or do you like the same people that compete every week? Well, if it were me, I like consistency. So I would have to say the same person. I would love to work with the same person. Like if I were in their position, you'd want to stay with, I want to stay with the same person.
[00:34:34] I think it's great getting to know different people, but if I could like add pickleball with my best friend every day, you'd want, I'd 100% want that. All right. But what's your favorite hype song before competing right now? I don't know. That's a good one. What's yours? You're not going to know it, but I'm going to go with right now, this stupid Puerto Rico song that's going on all over vinyl right now. You know what I'm talking about? I know you're talking about. The Puerto Rico tourist song? Like what the heck? I can't get this song out of my brain. I don't even know the name of the song, but the Puerto Rico song right now is what I would That's your hype song?
[00:35:04] I think any Whitney Houston song is probably my hype song. Wow. Okay. Totally different. Totally different. Right. What's your dream artist collaboration? Right now, Sean, our producer who is famous and amazing can connect you with anybody to do a collab with. Who would it be? If he could connect me with anybody? Dead or alive. Just like. It has to be alive. So like Cody Johnson. Oh, Cody Johnson's great. Who are we talking? You have anybody that you can collab with on a song? Either George Strait or Cody Johnson. One of those two. Oh, yeah.
[00:35:34] A hundred percent. Artist of the year. Or Miranda Lambert. She's great too. Okay. All right. Yeah. Do you have that? I'm going to change my hype song actually. I'm going to go with Bob Marley. Ooh. That's a good one. Yeah, I always go with Bob Marley. That's a good one. I'm a big fan of the Bob Marley too. We didn't talk a whole lot about nutrition, but I do want to ask, because my trainer is your trainer. I know. He always gets mad at me because I don't eat breakfast. He tells me that you're the worst eater that he has out of everybody that he's got. Oh my gosh. With that being said, what is your favorite post-game snack? Oh, sushi.
[00:36:04] Post-competition snack is going to be sushi. Oh, a hundred percent. And he will know that. Every day I come in, he's like, wait, let me guess. Sushi. It's every day. So gross. So gross. It's not gross. Have you seen like the sushi burritos on TikTok or like the sushi tacos? I haven't. You're missing out. You're missing out. All right. Last but not least. All right. You get to play pickleball with any celebrity. Any celebrity. Because you know it's a big thing. Yeah. Pickleball celebrities is a big thing. It could be any celebrity.
[00:36:34] Give me Shohei Otani. Dude, I bet he is a fan. Dude, I bet he's a dog. I bet he's a freaking beast. I bet he's a dog. Or Clayton Kershaw because they're both super tall and they're both pitchers. Go Dodgers. God, you're raised right. All right. Anything that you feel like we've left out? You've been amazing. Obviously, this is Miss Kenzie. You know, well, she's going to be the Miss Lowcountry team. She's going to be competing for Miss South Carolina in about 10 days. So you're going to have to make sure that you tune in and follow up. See how she does. Are you projecting? Are we going to call a win on this thing? What are we feeling on this? I'm not going to call a win on this thing because I think, you know.
[00:37:03] But you're prepped. Oh, I'm prepped. You're fully prepared for this thing. 100%. I'm not going to be, you know, cocky enough to be like, oh, I'm going to win this thing. Because I'm not a tool. We're not tools. That's right. That's right. But I will say that I'm definitely prepped for, I guess, Miss America's team. So I think that I'm ready personally. Okay. We always end with one thing. You're going to turn your hat around and become Coach Kinsey. Oh, great. Spin that thing around and become Coach Kinsey. Kenzie, you are, what's your favorite, you've never been, but what's your favorite state ever?
[00:37:33] Oh, California. Okay. I know. So, but she's never been to California. Never been to California. Which is why it's her favorite state, people. This is why it's her favorite state. Well, he's from Long Beach. So we're going to say, we're going to say Laura from Long Beach. All right. Because we're going to shout out to the LBC where Coach she's from. All right. All right. Laura needs one tip of the day from Coach Kinsey. So you're now officially a coach. All right. Great. We're going to say that she is a beginner. All right. So she's in Pickleball. Okay. Me too. So you guys are on the same level.
[00:38:00] What is one tip that you've heard maybe I say or that it could be any tip whatsoever. It doesn't have to be super technical, but I need to give her one coach's tip, Laura in Long Beach. Hold both of your hands with the pattern. That's the worst tip ever. So let's go this way. Give her something that you have found from your research that will help her calm down. All right. Let's go that way. Okay. Okay.
[00:38:27] Well, if you listen to music before you go to bed, you have a better chance of having better sleep and you also have a chance of having more vivid dreams. Really? Yes. Music before sleep. Also, that's why people listen to rain before they go to bed because you get better sleep. Wow. Okay. So better sleep. You need something that you put in your ears before you go to bed. I know so many people who go to bed listening to music. Really? I go to bed listening to music. Okay. I like put my AirPods in. I've lost them sometimes. Okay.
[00:38:55] So your tip of the day is going to be make sure you listen to something before you go to Make sure you listen to something before you go to bed, whether that be rain or in B.O. It'll help you with better sleep and better dreams. It'll help you with better sleep and more vivid dreams. All right, girl. Love you. You did great. Great job. And we will look forward to getting a follow-up, hopefully with a title. Oh, yeah. If you win, we got to bring you back on so you can tell all these people about Miss South Carolina. Yeah. And shout out to Pickle Rage for letting us use this area. Big shout out to Pickle Rage for there. All right. See you later. All right. See you. Bye. Hey, everyone. Coach Tommy here.
[00:39:24] Thanks for tuning in to Smashing Plastic Podcast. Big shout out to Sean Monahan for the music, production, and editing. Don't forget to hit the like and subscribe for more awesome content. And be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Those links are in the description. Now let's get out there and smash some plastic.