ITS FINALLY HERE - THE TIKO TEN EPISODE 1
The Tiko Ten EPISODE 1 is now available, through Barstool Sports. and it got me thinking.. How the fuck did we get here? I came to Barstool late July 2021 for a radio interview on The Dave Portnoy Show, Eddie reached out to me on Twitter (follow @TIKOTEXAS @THETIKOTEN) and and set it up.. as I headed to HQ, I got a lump in my stomach. So much was going on in my life, as I was going through a hard breakup and then I had also just received bad news prior to arriving in NYC. I looked out the train window as I headed over to Barstool HQ, and I came to an EPIPHANY. HELLO?! Why don't I work at Barstool Sports? Why don't I have a podcast with Barstool? Im one of the worlds best shit talkers, that's even how I originally came to Barstool, by riling up KFC. I am friends with a super rich business man, with one of the biggest media/content companies in the world. Right there and then on the train, I decided I wanted to change my life. Right there and then I decided that I was not only going to pitch my podcast LIVE to Dave on his show, I decided I was going to use this huge opportunity to change my life. It wasn't easy. I didn't have a place to stay in NYC, and Barstool wasn't funding anything yet. I spent 4k of my own money on hotels since I needed to be in NYC to audition for Barstool, praying to God every night that it would all be worth it. Dave kinda wasn't convinced, and I spent a lot of time crying, stress-eating and doubting myself. Some days I couldn't even get out of bed. Some days I wouldn't wanna talk. We went through 2 months of negotiations and I was stressed almost every single day of it. I told my friends that I failed, and my traditional Nigerian mom had started again with "Where's your career? What you doing with your life? You're going into your late 20s and you have no kids, no husband, and no plan." I couldn't listen to her, although I knew she was right. I just couldn't give up. I had put my whole soul into making this work. Even though my messages with Dave were less frequent, I just couldn't let go of the idea that my life was changing.. forever. I just knew that God had a plan for me. I ignored her message with links to Amazon job applications, instead I decided to text Dave 4 simple words.. "Are we still on?". He didn't write back for two hours. During those two hours, I questioned everything about my life. I though about how I've had so many close shots at success, yet I don't land on target.. every fucking time. Finally I got an alert, "Text from El Presidente". my heart STOPPED. It took me 5 minutes to get the guts to even open it. "October 1st, you start." I looked at the date it was Sept 28th, but I didn't give a damn. I booked the ticket so quick my gotdamn nail almost broke. I came in, I signed the talent contract, but it still didn't seem real. I wasn't sure how things would progress. And finding a costar was a stressful process. Whenever I got Dave's advice, he said "It doesn't have to be someone from Barstool".. that got me thinking. Why don't I add my twin brother Patric to this? He taught me everything I know about Sports, we have great chemistry, and honestly all we do is debate each other all damn day. (Two stubborn Tauruses). I flew him out (twice) & we shot the tests episode, figuring out what works, what doesn't. Im so grateful to Jen & Brian for helping me with the process, Lord knows I was overwhelmed by it all. One month later, with the first episode of The Tiko Ten now right out.. it finally feels real. It feels like I birthed a baby. All the stress I went through was the labor process, but when you finally see your newborn baby come to life, it's all worth it. Every $, Every tear. We being honest? Between me and you, im scared shitless. I STILL don't know what the hell Im doing. But with the stoolies, Dave, Erika by my side, I feel so damn empowered. Y'all really believe in me & push me to be a better version of myself. As I grow, y'all grow, I laugh, we laugh, I cry, we cry, I hurt, we hurt, together. This feels like the beginning of everything.. This is the beginning of my dreams come true. So turn up the music, grab your popcorn, take a seat, tuck the kids away, & strap on your seatbelt, this is going to be a crazy fucking ride.
Check Out The Tiko Ten's first episode below. and Check new episodes out every week.