Tell us about the very beginning of Spirit of Nevada. How did the show get its start? Rick: Spirit of Nevada came from an idea Samantha and I had. We wanted to do a community outreach series where we would feature places, people and show our love for Nevada. We pitched this idea to the local TV news stations here in Las Vegas. We wanted it to run on Sunday nights and feature something unique every week. One by one, each station rejected us and said, “We already have something like that,” even though they didn’t. Sam: So, Rick and I felt dejected and ended up at Cheesecake Factory to discuss what to do now. Rick: As we’re sitting there having lunch, I said, “You know what? We’re going to produce our own show and we’re going to do it on social media.” And I had Sam practice her close on my iPhone. I still have the video where she says, “I’m Samantha with Spirit of Nevada,” for the first time. That was the beginning. From there, the show launched, and it’s been over two years now with over two million views on social media. We’ve done over 70 individual shows and it’s become a great success. Were there any challenges or obstacles you had to overcome to create the series? Rick: Some challenges initially with Spirit of Nevada were, number one, we didn’t have our own production company, we had no equipment or any crew to do this ourselves. So, we hired a good friend with a local agency and he agreed to help us launch this weekly. And initially, Samantha had no broadcast training. Sam: Zero. I had no idea what I was doing or even what to expect when filming for Spirit of Nevada. I hadn’t gone to school for this, it was just an idea we came up with on the fly and Rick said, “Don’t worry. We may not have an end game on how we think it might look, but we’re just going to make it happen.” Howdoyouchoosethepeopleandplacesyoufeature? Sam: The whole idea for Spirit of Nevada is to feature Rick’s love for Nevada and finding locations and special people in his life he cherishes. So, we wrote out a list of his favorite places and things he loves most about Nevada. Rick: And from there, besides my favorite places over the last 50 years living in Nevada, we get submissions on our website. We get people who contact us directly at the law firm or via social media where they say, “Hey, why don’t you do a show about this place or that place or on so and so?” It’s a constant influx of new ideas and we decide who we’re going to feature next. What was the initial response to the series? Rick: Well, I think from the beginning, Spirit of Nevada was a hit, at least in our minds, because we were getting out into the community. We were featuring the hidden gems, the people who embody what it means to be battle born. We featured great organizations and those hideaway places some locals know about, but others don’t, and we’re able to bring those to light for the rest of the community. Sam: And it’s grown from there. People want a calendar, they want a magazine, they want Spirit of Nevada swag and the engagement has grown as people want to express their love for Nevada. AlotofthevideoshavefeaturedlocationsinSouthern Nevada, any plans to head North? Rick: Definitely. The farthest north we’ve gotten so far is Tonopah and Area 51. It’s in the works for 2019, we’re going to go to Northern Nevada. I’ve lived in Northern Nevada. I spent a summer in Carson City and we have an office in Reno. So, we’re very excited about featuring the other side of Nevada. Sam: There’s lots of history up there I’d like to feature and teach our followers about.