By Chris Avena
It has been a few months since we conducted this interview with Eva Shockey and one thing is for certain: Eva Shockey is always on the move, evolving, changing and expanding as a hunter, an outdoorswoman, businesswoman and a mom. When we originally spoke with Eva, she had a new show on Facebook Watch called “Eva Shockey’s Outdoor 101†and was introducing her toddler daughter, Leni Bow, to the outdoors.
Since then, quite a bit has changed for Eva and company. Eva and Tim have a new addition to the family. Eva gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Boone earlier this year and she launched a new TV show on Outdoor Channel called “My Outdoor Family.†Her new show takes us behind the scenes of her busy life. The cameras follow her and her husband, former pro-hockey player Tim Brent as they navigate demanding professions and family life as parents – all while planting roots in a new home and carving out time to embrace the outdoors. Eva and her family make it their mission to not only embrace the outdoor lifestyle, but also embody it.
Chris: We are here with Eva Shockey today. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule. I understand you have quite a few things working for you right now. You launched a Facebook Watch digital series called “Eva Shockey’s Outdoor 101†a few months back. And now you just launched a new Outdoor Channel TV series, dubbed “My Outdoor Family.†What the underlying theme for the two?
Eva: For “Eva Shockey’s Outdoor 101,†the emphasis is on the “outdoor†part. We want to inform people how to get outdoors, so we invite audiences along for the ride as we share our favorite local locations – in this case, North Carolina, where we live – and outdoor hacks to better the open-air experience. We want people to see the beauty in the outdoors and experience its benefits. My husband, Tim, has never had any aspirations to be in front of the camera, although he was a professional hockey player for 12 years. He never thought he would be in a role where he would be hosting a series, but he kind of got dragged into that. We go on these adventures together as a family with our daughter, Leni Bow. The goal is to really build a dialogue with my peers and motivate them to enjoy all that Mother Nature has to offer. People can easily replicate most of our adventures in their home state and we try to showcase ways to make outdoor adventures easy. These are hacks that I have learned through my hard-core hunting life that I can now translate into my family life. That’s the message behind “Eva Shockey's Outdoor 101.†Similarly, my Outdoor Channel series, called "My Outdoor Family," touches on how we make the outdoors a priority – despite the chaos in our lives. Audiences can watch our digital series on Facebook or our TV series on Outdoor Channel and the MyOutdoorTV app.
Chris: So, basically the message you are trying to convey in both “Eva Shockey's Outdoor 101†and in "My Outdoor Family" is get outdoors. It does not matter if it is in your own backyard. There is plenty of outdoor activities that each state has to offer each and every one of us.
Eva: Yes, absolutely! Be sure to bring your entire family along and encourage them to get outdoors. Step outside of your comfort zone a little bit. It may seem intimidating, but while you are out there, you will wonder why you don’t do this all the time.
Chris: How has Leni Bow taken to the outdoors?
Eva: She absolutely loves it. We are actually in the midst of building our forever home right now. It’s located in the country and surrounded by woods. When we head to the build site, she runs straight for the mud pit. She loves getting dirty. It’s getting harder to get her back indoors. That’s exactly what I was like as a child and what my husband was like as well. We have dreamed of being able to raise our family like this. Access to some green space and being able to go on little adventures is important to us. It might be easy to sit your child in front of a screen all day, playing video games and watching videos. I know I am guilty of using an iPad on an airplanes with Leni, but I try my very best to try to get her outdoors as much as I possibly can.
Chris: Any expectations about getting her hunting at a certain age?
Eva: She already likes to fish. She has a little plastic bow and she loves shooting it. I cannot say that she is very accurate, but she is only two years old and she tries. I will say that she absolutely adores my dad. He – Jim Shockey – is an internationally renowned hunter and outdoors man, and he has introduced her to the outdoors. They will go outside to find lizards and frogs, and look at trees. These are all the early elements of appreciating the outdoors and being a hunter. I have no doubt that she will get to the point where she wants to give it a try for herself.
Chris: How was it for you as you started in the outdoor industry—especially starting out in the shadow of such a giant in the industry?
Eva: It was incredible, but I don’t ever think about it as “in the shadow†of my dad. He wants other people enjoy the things that he loves and that is what he has tried to share his whole life. My mom is not a hunter and never was. I didn’t hunt until I was about 20 years old. There was no social media back then and I did not have access to hunting shows with women hunters. I just figured that if I was aiming to be a feminine girl, I can’t be a hunter. That was obviously a misconception. My dad always invited me to hunt. He always tried to encourage it and, although I liked the outdoors and activities like camping, hiking, fishing, etc., I just never hunted. It took me a long time to realize that it doesn’t matter if you are female or male or young or old – hunting is for everyone. I cannot imagine a better teacher in the entire universe. Just recently, we were hunting together in the mountains, and I realized I have the same mindset as him in that hunting is a 365 day a year lifestyle. We should try to incorporate the outdoors into our lives and aim to live a healthy life all the time so we’re all the more ready to hit the mountains during hunting season. That mindset ensures that you’re prepared when you’re on your dream hunt and your dream animal is within distance on top of the mountainside. To be completely honest, I had no intention of entering the industry and making it a career. I just wanted to hunt. Oddly enough, I happen to be part of a family that films hunts for TV viewing. So, being 20 years old and having my first hunt on the air – that was my only choice. The career aspect fell into place because people needed a young female voice. I was the millennial voice for hunting being fun, for hunting as a form of conservation, for hunting as a means to fill your freezer with free-range, hormone-free, antibiotic-free, GMO-free, organic wild game, and for spending time outside, unplugging and being with your family. I think a lot of people appreciated the fact that I was new to hunting – aka not a professional, learning along the way. Maybe they were intimidated to get out there, but outdoors enthusiasts, especially hunters, are so very welcoming.
Chris: I think he has taught you a lot more than the outdoors. Your dad is quite the philanthropist and entrepreneur with a lot of interest areas, including hunting, conservation, antiques and cultural conservation – like with his new museum. You have created your own brand. What’s new with your brand? I know you have been working on something with MTN OPS, right?
Eva: Over the years, I’ve really tried to build a brand that people can respect and trust. I don’t put my name on products that I don’t believe in or support. I have always bounced ideas off my dad and have a manager that I’ve worked with for years. They are among the “team members†I’ve surrounded myself with to serve as sounding boards. In business as in life, it’s more important to say no than it is to say yes to opportunities. You want to save the yeses for the truly perfect opportunities and they should align with the core message that you’re trying to send.
MTN OPS is an outdoor performance supplement company. They started out zeroing in on the outdoor industry, but have since expanded. Taking a step back, my husband, who was a professional athlete, would take protein powder and supplements because of his intense fitness regimen. And I have always been involved in fitness as well. We were familiar with the supplements that were out there on the market, but when we started taking MTN OPS we realized just how much better for your body these were. They were conscious of the ingredients they used. At some point, I started taking their supplements and eventually created a partnership with MTN OPS. It just made sense since we have similar brand values – encourage people to live health-conscious lifestyle. We started working on the Eva Shockey Signature series because there weren’t any performance supplements targeting women by women in the industry. After two years of working behind the scenes, we unveiled three products: Egg White Protein, Super Greens and Collagen Peptides. I take them every day and I can’t even explain how much better I feel, how healthy I feel, and how much energy I have.
Chris: It’s good to see that the outdoor industry in general is really evolving to a unisex industry. You are seeing more women outdoors, more women hunting, more women products available, such as clothing and now supplements. It’s a huge growth area.
Eva: Yes. It’s important to note that women have been hunters since the beginning of time, but it just may not have been widely talked about or promoted. I believe that the more you talk about it, the more you give women a voice. It’s also encouraging to see the variety of women’s apparel and gear that are now available on the market. For instance, I created the Eva Shockey Signature Series with Bowtech Archery about five years ago now. Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops are brimming with women’s camo clothing and hiking boots. These offerings weren’t widely available 20 years ago when I was coming up in the industry.
The industry is embracing women like never before – from hunting and hiking to climbing, backpacking and beyond. We’re leading bold, unapologetic, dynamic lives as women and that’s exactly what the Eva Shockey Signature series with MTN OPS is all about. The supplement line was created for the everyday woman who wants to “Conquer More.†Together, we were able to devise a nutritious product line that increases performance levels and kicks your healthy lifestyle up a notch. The partnership is reflective of the healthy outdoor lifestyle brand I’m developing for my fellow active females.
Chris: You recently hunted in Hawaii.
Eva: Yes, I did
Chris: What did you hunt there?
Eva: That hunt has been in the works for about a year now due to scheduling. It took a while to sync calendars so both my dad and I could head to Hawaii at the same time. We were hunting Axis Deer. It was really fun. At this stage in my life and my career, I have a two-year-old daughter and am pregnant with our second child, so I don’t have the freedom and flexibility that I used to have in my early twenties. I’m not saying that I want to travel 200-plus days a year by myself like I used to, but I made an effort to bring my family along on the hunt. It was a true family adventure; my dad, my mom, and my daughter were all there. I would hunt in the morning and in the afternoon, spend a few hours playing with my daughter, and then head back to the mountains in the evenings with my dad.
I don’t believe I’ve had the opportunity to try Axis Deer before, but it’s one of the best wild game meat that there is. The whole Axis Deer is in my freezer. Actually, I plan on having some tonight for dinner. It’s a pretty well-rounded lifestyle that we lead, isn’t it? It’s nice to have experienced such an amazing adventure with my family. We can sit down at the dinner table and appreciate all the hard work that went into our meal. It’s pretty incredible.
Chris: I agree with you. It’s always good to have a full freezer and Axis is outstanding. What kinds of hunts do you have coming up?
Eva: Well, I just had baby number two during the first week of hunting season. My fall is going to be pretty quiet, but I’m hoping that by the end of the year or early 2020 I will be able to hunt locally. Normally, I would head to Saskatchewan for whitetail or go to bear camp on Vancouver Island. Having a newborn may slow me down a little, but that’s just temporary.
Chris: In closing, you live the outdoor lifestyle; you have the show with your dad, “Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventuresâ€; you have your Facebook Watch series; and your new show, "My Outdoor Family," just debuted. What lesson do you try to convey in your lifestyle?
Eva: I think the biggest message that I have to share is to chase whatever it is that you are passionate about. Try to turn that passion into your lifestyle and live it all year long – no matter what obstacles stand in your way. For me, it is the outdoor lifestyle. And what the outdoor lifestyle looks like has slightly changed as I’ve experienced different stages in my life. My outdoor lifestyle as a mom and a wife looks a little different than when I was in my twenties. But it is still what I am most passionate about – spending time outdoors, being healthy and self-sufficient, taking care of my family, and encouraging others to unplug and responsibly explore green spaces near and far.
Chris: Thank you so much, Eva. I really appreciate your time.
