Southwest Flavor Ep. 162 - Dr. Joe Utash & Arona Stader

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
The views and opinions expressed on this program belong solely to the hosts and guests, not the opinions of Live The Dream Media. The content provided on this show is for entertainment and informational purposes only.

**Ron Arenas** (0:14)
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Southwest Flavor. Happy Thursday to all of you. We have a great show for you today. And we have our co-host, Dr. Joe.

**Dr. Joe Utash** (0:23)
Good morning, everybody.

**Ron Arenas** (0:24)
How you doing, doctor?

**Dr. Joe Utash** (0:26)
I'm feeling strong. I took that warm walk this morning.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:30)
It was warm this morning.

**Ron Arenas** (0:31)
I did 10 miles on the mountain bike this morning.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:34)
Wow.

**Dr. Joe Utash** (0:35)
You're beating me. I did two miles with the wife and the dog, but it's great just to kind of clear the head, get the body moving, kind of prepare for the day.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:41)
It is.

**Ron Arenas** (0:42)
It is. I love doing that, getting ready for the day.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:44)
That's right.

**Ron Arenas** (0:45)
Getting your blood circulating.

**Dr. Joe Utash** (0:47)
Kind of like a warrior.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:48)
Yeah.

**Dr. Joe Utash** (0:49)
Kind of like a ninja warrior.

**Ron Arenas** (0:51)
Not quite like a ninja warrior. No, I wouldn't put it in that realm. That's pretty intense.

**Dr. Joe Utash** (0:56)
Very intense.

**Ron Arenas** (0:57)
But let's welcome our guest today, Arona Spader.

**Arona Spader** (1:00)
Hello.

**Ron Arenas** (1:01)
Good morning. Bring your mic up just a little bit.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:03)
Just, yeah, there you go.

**Arona Spader** (1:04)
Perfect, perfect.

**Ron Arenas** (1:06)
So you have competed in American Ninja Warrior, both last season and this season.

**Arona Spader** (1:11)
Yep.

**Ron Arenas** (1:11)
And just tell us a little bit about it.

**Arona Spader** (1:15)
So my friends that I trained with, they have been on the show. And so they're like, you know what, you should try it out. And it was only been my first year of competing. So some of them had, cause you had to submit an audition. And so they had said many years doing it. And I was like my first time trying and I got in. Oh wow.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:32)
Congratulations. Fantastic.

**Arona Spader** (1:34)
But it was, my first year was very, I don't know, overwhelming because I didn't know what to expect. And I didn't think to like ask people. So I went in very blind, being like, all right, let's see how it goes. And it was a huge eye opener, but I met some amazing people. And then the next year was way better because I was very prepared and I made sure anybody new coming in had kind of had an idea what was going on so they wouldn't have the experience that I had.

**Ron Arenas** (1:59)
So they don't do any kind of like orientation or anything and say, here's what to expect and here's how it goes?

**Arona Spader** (2:05)
Kind of.
They have like a Zoom meeting that you come in before you fly out and they tell you what you can and can't do with some videos and stuff like that. And that's pretty much it. So when you get there, you have like a lot of interviews, you have your B-roll. And so you're just kind of going to different places. And I didn't know where anything was, and I was constantly lost, and I was by myself. So I still had a lot of fun. And I met some amazing, amazing people that kind of helped me out, but they didn't tell me all the things that would be going on. So the next year, I was like, all right, I'm prepared.

**Dr. Joe Utash** (2:41)
So with that interview video that you did, is that what they play kind of during, or kind of before you get up on stage, before you take the course? Is that what they play for everyone to see? Like, hey, this is my family, this is my...

**Ron Arenas** (2:55)
Kind of your story to bring you there?

**Arona Spader** (2:57)
That's actually filmed after everything.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:59)
Oh, okay.

**Arona Spader** (3:01)
So you'll do your run, and they have an idea. So when you send in your audition, you kind of tell them about your story, whatever you want them to know. And then they kind of nitpick, and I had too much stuff, so they had to break it down.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:13)
Oh, okay.

**Arona Spader** (3:14)
So I had a lot of different things. So one year was one thing, and the other year was this one. And then when you go to run your course, I can't hear anything. Like, they all have the judges talking and stuff up at the top. I can't hear them.