When Allie Met Andy

Most viewers see Andy, Purple FTW!'s host, recording videos from his undisclosed basement bunker and think, quite rightly, that our show is a small, casual operation. However, since Andy's face is the only one they see, they, understandably, make the mistake of thinking that Purple FTW! is Andy and Andy alone.

This is why some people don't know I exist. I remember a couple of people commenting on one of our Facebook posts actually thought the unseen Producer Allie was simply Andy's alter ego--an imaginary co-worker to make it look like the Purple FTW! staff was twice as big as it actually was. This is hilarious to me, Andy inventing a fictional staff member was somehow more believable to them than the idea that he had real staff.

This is hilarious to me, Andy inventing a fictional staff member was somehow more believable to them than the idea that he had real staff.

And, when I interact with the people who write to us and they accept that I'm not Andy, the suggestion is usually that I'm Andy's wife. Because, again, the idea that a guy in his basement making videos could have a co-worker is impossible to believe.

But, believe it. I work for Andy and have been on this odd Purple FTW! adventure with him since 2017 when he hired me away from a Vikings' blog with his odd mixture of charm and hard work.

We met the year before at Minnesota Vikings' training camp in Mankato. At that time the Vikings were still courting grassroots, independent, and fan-driven media. The team had just come through the fight to get a new stadium and they were now eyeing a new practice facility so it was still beneficial to them to schmooze us. It didn't last, but, like a lot of relationships, it was fun for awhile. And in those heady days when the team gave indie-media a couple days at training camp with the regular media, it was like a niche networking event.

We'd be sweating in the summer humidity and glaring sunshine along the practice fields, making connections and surreptitiously trying to find out what everyone earned. We fell into different tribes, the local beat writers, the national people, the radio people, the television people, the team people, and the independent media/bloggers. You could watch the legacy media and the indie-media/blogosphere people in this bizarre dance. We indie folks both looked up to the traditional media, but still enjoyed being independent of the restrictions they had in their coverage. For their part, the traditional media was generally tolerant of us, enjoying being the swaggering older brother, but some of them made the distinction very clear that we weren't in their group.

I happened to be the only writer from my site there on those particular days that summer. For an extrovert, that would be no problem. But I am not an extrovert, not even close. That's why when people make the effort and talk to me, I am both grateful and suspicious.

My suspicions aside, Andy and I hit it off. After training camp, I became a regular listener of his podcast, I was even a guest on the show once. Eventually, he persuaded me to work with him and it has been a strange and rewarding experience--even if it does involve people thinking I'm merely Andy's alter ego.

Working with Andy has given me an inside look at what it takes to create a podcast and YouTube show that has more than 55k subscribers. Andy turned "SKOL and Production Value" into his closing catchphrase, but it's actually more like the show's mission statement. Not only does he bleed purple, but Andy puts time and effort into the show's content, all while trying to make it appear that he's just talking off the cuff in his basement. But he's not, it's researched, it's scripted, and it's got production value. The tagline might seem like a joke, but it's a Purple FTW! way of life.

I like being a part of the production value and try to embrace Andy's quality and style. That was the idea when we created out new Production Value merchandise. Lean into some Purple FTW! production value, the official attitude of the hardworking Andy and Allie team that likes to make it seem as if we just threw things together. So, from our undisclosed basement bunkers to yours, SKOL and production value.

-Producer Allie