COMPANION PASS: Alexis Bloomer

Four years ago, at the National Finals Rodeo, I was getting ready to go on stage for my talk show, when a well-known barrel racer sat down next to me. I didn’t think much of it because I interview rodeo athletes for a living. I’ll never forget what she said next, “So, is it a publicity stunt?” I looked at her confused and she continued, “You know, dating Sage Kimzey?” I tried not to laugh when I responded, “Well who exactly would it be publicity for?” She ignored my question and proceeded to tell me how smart it was for both of our careers. Keep in mind, I was about to walk on stage and host a live talk show with a full audience and Sage was working on winning his second world title. It wasn’t exactly like we were looking for more attention. That story still makes me laugh to this day because sometimes it feels like people create a story to fit their narrative. I’ve found that dating a rodeo athlete has a lot of those moments, you know, the moments where people come up with their own narrative to our story. I’ve learned that rodeo is about numbers and chapters.

         Sage and I are about to celebrate four years of dating in October, it would be five years if you counted how long we talked before we actually dated. When we started talking, we were both busy. Now that I think about it, we still are. We also had not dated anyone in a really long time and although we both were too stubborn to let someone in, we could not get enough of each other. His ambition made me want to achieve more. I think that is why I fell in love with him in the first place, a few months into talking to him, I knew he was the one. However, I never really anticipated what that would mean for me. I was 22 when we started dating and I had just graduated college, he had just turned 21 and lived seven hours away from me. Maybe we were naïve, but here we are almost four years later. When we started dating, we made each other certain promises and still to this day we stick to those promises, one of those being that we would focus on our careers.

         I hate to admit it, but when I first started dating Sage, I was clueless to this lifestyle. I could tell you all about someone’s stats, big wins or general background information…But I did not really know any of the things that go on behind the scenes. One thing I want to tell everyone up front, it’s not always glamourous. People on social media always tell me how lucky I am to be with Sage and I do feel very blessed to have a great partner, but what they don’t see is two in the morning phone calls to tell you how they did after a rodeo, not seeing your partner except once a month and taking care of everything at home by yourself. Being with a rodeo cowboy is exciting, but a lot of times its exhausting. At the end of the day, I feel thankful that even though he might be over 1,000 miles away from me, he still puts in the effort to make our relationship work.

In the beginning, it was a little bit of culture shock to me. I am someone who beats to my own drum, has my own style and who is very passionate about my career. It was a change when I went from being someone that interviews rodeo athletes to someone who interviews and dates a rodeo athlete. Not to mention, as most of you know, I am the girl that wears heels every day and I’m very girly, so I tend to be the glam to Sage’s grit, not exactly normal for most rodeo athletes. Thankfully, Sage has never asked me to change and I have never asked him to either. I remember Sage’s friends saying that our relationship test would be the NFR, the stress, my working and maybe even my two carts of clothes. I had never experienced the NFR as anything but Alexis Bloomer from Alexis Bloomer Live. After two months of dating, we were at our first NFR together and I went from not only Alexis Bloomer but to also having the role of Sage Kimzey’s girlfriend. If you think it is exciting as a fan, imagine going from being someone that loved the sport to someone who loved someone competing in the sport. I had to learn to strike a balance early on when it came to my career and being Sage’s girlfriend. I have always taken pride in the fact that I preserve journalistic integrity. When I am interviewing, I am not Sage’s girlfriend, I’m a professional and I think that was hard for people to grasp at first. I remember having a bull rider on my couch and when I told him about how great he was riding and how he had a chance at the world title, he looked at me speechless. I was Sage Kimzey’s girlfriend and I was telling the competition that they were riding great, I think the guy thought I was breaking some unspoken rule. I forced myself to learn to balance both titles. I learned that you can be a badass and still date a badass. You don’t have to compromise a career for a relationship. I was an overachiever and had a very successful college experience before Sage, but after I started dating Sage is when I became an award-winning journalist, producer, entrepreneur, and author. I had to learn that I can be successful and supportive at the same time.

I think that is why I was so captivated by SK, he let me be this girl boss that was building my own empire and I let him build his. We were each grabbing bricks to build our empire but at the center of it was our relationship. Throughout the year, I am busy and so is he. We joke around that I have to be ‘Sage’s girlfriend’ when we are at his events and he has to be ‘Alexis’ boyfriend’ at mine. At first, a lot of people were worried that our individual personalities would clash because we were both used to being in the spotlight in our own way. I think that our passionate personalities actually benefit our relationship. I have stood by Sage at his highest moments and loved him through some of his toughest days, but he has done equally as much for me. Most see Sage as just a fierce competitor, but let me tell you, he is one of my biggest fans. How cool is that? I mean my boyfriend successfully rides bulls for a living, yet he will wake up at 3:30am and go with me to the studio, just to cheer me on and fix my hair before I go on Fox and Friends or he will hit refresh four hundred times on my Amazon page the day I release my book…That’s how I know Sage, he might not be like that to everyone, but he definitely makes me feel more powerful when he is cheering for me. We have been there for a lot of big moments in each other’s life and each one of them we celebrate individually. That is key to keeping our relationship strong, we make time to celebrate each other and we see each other as Sage and Alexis, not our worked titles. We have managed to keep each other humble and feeling unstoppable. It is not hard to do with Sage because he loves what he does, but it doesn’t define his character. He is the most honest and genuine person I have ever met. He was 22 when he became rodeos youngest millionaire and although he is extremely accomplished, the victories do not mean as much as the effort it took for him to accomplish one of his goals. He remains one of the most down to earth competitors that I have ever met and I can truly say he rides because he loves the game. He is obsessed with the game.

However even if I love the game myself, I realize that the game is selfish in a lot of ways. Do not get me wrong, the sport of rodeo has blessed my life and Sage’s life in several ways, but it has also taken several things as well. Being with someone like Sage means that your life revolves around the goal and I have had my fair share of breakdowns realizing that I will probably go to my friend’s weddings without a date, I will cook several meals to enjoy by myself and most recently, I will move into our new house and set it up by myself. The sad part about it is that you know your partner is not doing it on purpose and they probably do not realize how much work it actually is. Being with someone who is constantly on the road is work and when you’re someone like me who works full-time, at times the work can seem overwhelming.

He tries really hard and he does a fantastic job putting in a lot of effort, but it still doesn’t take away the lonely nights. Sage spent three nights in our new home before he left for summer. When we loaded up his RV, moving boxes were spread throughout our house. I remember watching him drive off and starting to cry because my best friend was going to be gone for months and we wouldn’t get to make our new house a home. It felt like this chapter was once again being shortened for rodeo. We had no memories together at our new house and when you love someone who is always gone, you live for the memories…They keep you going. For me, memories and work have always helped me get through summer. I bury myself in work to make time pass quickly because I do not have the luxury of being with Sage at all times. I’m sure you’re wondering why I wouldn’t just go with Sage but I know to be the best partner for Sage, I can’t let go of who I am and only focus on his goal. I have my own goals and I think that is what Sage loved about me in the first place. I know that if I went with him, I would be letting go of who I was. I am a better partner and more supportive when I am excited about both of our futures. This is not true for everyone, but then again not everyone has my mindset. I have learned to balance loving myself and loving Sage. I have also had to learn to balance keeping my emotions in check and not reacting to the negative noise. I wanted to become a journalist because I wanted to be the person that people turned to during chaos to get the answers. A lot changes when the chaos is affecting someone you love.

I know that a lot of times we only see the positivity of our sport and believe me, it would be hard to find someone who loved our sport any more than I do, but there have been times when it has not been kind Sage. Rodeo is hard, even if you are winning, it is still hard because you’re sacrificing your health and mental strength to finish in the magical Top 15. When you start dating a cowboy, you realize how much numbers matter. The number 1, has always been the goal, but it becomes an obsession in our sport. Seconds that used to quickly pass, slow down when you watch your partner on the back of a 2,000-pound bull. Fifteen spots are chased after by hundreds of talented athletes because in our sport, that is how you measure success. Most only dream of making the finals, but to Sage and I, the number 10 also rings in our minds. Ten rounds to accomplish what you have worked all year for, thousands of miles, hundreds of gas station meals and sleepless nights come down to ten days. Last year, I really learned how much emphasis we place on ten rides or runs. Sage’s NFR started off great and then he got hurt in round four. A separated shoulder, messed up ribs and a banged-up elbow. When he got thrown into the chutes, most only thought it was an unlikely get off for the guy who lands on his feet, but that buck off hurt. If you know Sage, you know that the NFR is where he shines, the least amount of bulls he has ever ridden was 6 out of 10. Last year at the NFR, he rode four. When I talk about negative noise, this is what I’m talking about. Sage decided not to tell anyone about his injuries and instead he rolled out of bed and forced himself to go get on the last six bulls. I don’t think I have ever prayed that hard in my life. I would go interview all day, listening to people tell me to tell Sage to stay on because he is screwing up their fantasy team. Then I would go to the hotel and watch the person I love more than anything move in pain. For fans, the NFR is a fun fantasy game and I am glad that people love it so much, but sometimes I think they forget they are real people. Do you honestly think that anyone plans to come to the NFR and not do well? Of course not. Remember the narrative I was talking about? That is the one they wrote, but we were living the reality. In those last six rounds, we both would struggle to find the motivation to go to the rodeo. It came down to the final ride, Sage had to ride to win the world. That is when the seconds feel slow, when numbers can decide if you are able to grasp your goal. All night, I sat quietly watching the rodeo. Then, it came time for Sage to ride. I can honestly say that in that moment, I have never seen someone try so hard. It was beautiful to watch because it was Sage doing what he loved and in those eight seconds, nothing else mattered. People were screaming and at the same time, it felt silent. He fought for that title and he was rewarded with a 93-point ride on Shooting Stars. When he got off his bull, I remember the noise coming back and I started crying. It sounds cheesy but as I am writing this I feel tears coming back because when you love someone, you want them to love what they are doing and our sport sometimes can try to take that from them. To everyone else, they just thought it was another title, but every title helps you reach another number and each year means something different to those competing. When we got back to our room, we sat down and we cried. A moment of success and we both were exhausted. I think that is the rugged beauty of rodeo, even the sweetest moments sometimes earn tears. Dating a cowboy, has humanized the sport for me and made me appreciate the rides and runs more.

If someone asked me to describe what it is like to go into a rodeo not only to interview but to use Sage’s PRCA companion pass, I would say that it introduces you to who you really are. For me, rodeo was always a passion, but that companion pass introduced me to my best friend at Cheyenne Frontier Days, it was my ticket to watch rodeos in some of the most beautiful places in the world, it was finally accepting to myself that I could be a girlfriend and still be great in my career. I knew that by taking that companion pass, it would probably change a few things but I never knew that it would let me experience some of my favorite chapters in life. I was afraid at first that it would diminish my worth and career, but now I proudly carry his companion pass in my wallet because I know that it means that I am a part of Sage and that is a title that anyone would be proud to have.  

Being with a cowboy is hard, but worth it. There are few things in this world that make me happier than seeing Sage do what he loves. I admire passion and being with him has shown me that you have to work hard and fight for what you want in life. His work ethic has influenced my work ethic in so many ways because I want him to be proud of me, like I am of him. I’m blessed enough to have a front row seat to watch him do what he loves, but I know at the end of the day, he’ll always be sitting front row for me in my moment too. I know that he cannot ride bulls forever, so for now, I want him to enjoy the ride. This chapter of our life is one that we will look back on with such genuine love one day because rodeo has taught us who we are and what were made of. Luckily, it has allowed us both to be accomplish some of our goals and in the process, it has taught us that with a lot of grit and some glam, we can do anything we set our minds to.