I’m going to come clean in public for the first time: I cyberstalk Randi Gleason.

I’ve told her so, so I think that makes it okay. Even though we’ve never actually met in person, I chat with her online all the time to ask oddball questions about camping life and her time on the road. She is funny, incredibly clever, and I simply don’t understand how she can cram so much productivity into every day. She supports the career of her husband, professional bass angler Darold Gleason (she calls him “D”) as if it were a full-time job, but she also seems to have about 12 other gigs.

Is it weird I wanted to know more?

She didn’t think so and fortunately she took time out of her ultra-busy schedule to answer my questions. She did say it was a great distraction, I got to her just at the right time, from obsessing over BassTrakk (the unofficial daily weight estimates made by the Marshals in the boat of the professional anglers). If any of the Bass wives tell you they aren’t obsessed, they are lying. Here’s Part One of her story.

HPFC: Where are you from originally?

Randi Gleason: A small town in central Louisiana -- Slagle, LA.

HPFC: How did you meet Darold?

Randi Gleason: We met when I was 12 and he was 13 at a high school basketball game.

HPFC: Was Darold on the road to being professional bass angler when you met him?

Randi Gleason: Oh gosh no. We fished the ponds in the pasture.

HPFC: What did he do for a living?

Randi Gleason: After high school, we went to college together and he studied business. After we got married, he was a business teacher to help continue my health insurance with the same provider as my parents had (I have cystic fibrosis). He taught and coached for about 8 years.

HPFC: How did the two of you make the decision that he would become a professional fisherman and take on this huge commitment?

Randi Gleason: While teaching, D fished club tournaments and then gradually worked his way into BFLs, Opens, etc. over about an 8-year span. He then took a year off teaching to get his master’s degree and started his guide business. It combined fishing, teaching, and business all in one career tract and it was a perfect fit for him. He guided 250-300 days a year for several years, all while fishing Bassmaster Opens and FLW Toyota Series. In 2019, he qualified for the FLW/Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and we (us and his sponsors) made the decision to accept the invitation. He had worked so diligently for years representing brands as a reputable guide and they were all on board for the next level. So, in 2020 we fished the Pro Circuit and also continued with the Bassmaster Opens where he then qualified for the Elite series for 2021.

HPFC: How did you end up at Toledo Bend, and what do you like about living there?

Randi Gleason: Most Fridays we hightailed it from college to meet my family at the lake. We had a little place there and it holds such special memories. I am a sunset junkie and everything is better when you’re near water, in my opinion. D was ate up with bass fishing so it’s just what we did. We were literally like an old married couple. D actually proposed on hole 17 of Cypress Bend Resort’s golf course on Toledo Bend at sunset. Our dream was to one day live there and hoped we wouldn’t have to wait until later in life to do so. At that time, we thought we’d spend years chasing corporate career dreams and somehow find our way there.

But life took some turns for us when I was about a year into the workforce after college. My health experienced some decline with cystic fibrosis and I had to make some major career decisions. What I thought was dream crushing, needing to resign from my marketing position to attend to my health, actually turned into one of my greatest blessings of working from home. Fast forward a decade later and D started his guide business and we realized living at the lake was a real possibility sooner than retirement. The dream of living on Toledo Bend one day drove so many of our financial decisions in our twenties as we hustled and saved like crazy for a decade and then made the move in 2017. The sunsets, the people, the lake…it’s just a slice of heaven on earth to us.

HPFC: Why should someone plan their next vacation there?

Randi Gleason: Toledo Bend is beautiful. If someone is looking for a place to just renew and re-center, have amazing views, bass and crappie fish, golf, camp, then head on over.

HPFC: If you couldn’t live in Louisiana/Texas, where would you live?

Randi Gleason: It's funny you say Louisiana/Texas. Looking out our front door is Louisiana and looking out our back windows is Texas. We are literally yards from the state line. We’ve traveled and RV’d in 15 states in the last 3 years on tour. I don’t think we have found a state that we’d want to move to permanently per se, but winters in Florida and summers in upstate NY are pretty darn special to us.

HPFC: Did you ever envision that you would be traveling around the country nearly full-time?

Randi Gleason: NO. Honestly, just the blessing to travel still gives me butterflies. In 2019, a revolutionary drug was released for those of us with cystic fibrosis. Before that drug, I wouldn’t travel too far from my CF medical team in case of an emergency. In the last several years I was experiencing a pretty scary side effect of CF that caused me to feel geographically tethered to my CF team. To think just three years later I’m traveling about 10 months a year is just the greatest blessing. That new drug changed both of our lives because D has always said he wouldn't do this without me by his side.

HPFC: Do you like to fish?

Randi Gleason: Well, I’m one of those “if they are biting” fishermen. So, no. I’ve done three team tournaments with D just because his partner wasn't available. The last tournament we did together, we decided it was my farewell retirement tournament. The GoPro footage is hilarious and you'd find me sleeping under his console for some shade and trying to land a fish with a PB & Jelly Sandwich in my hand. D has a lot of patience if you haven't figured that out yet.

HPFC: You two seem to golf a lot. What are some of your favorite courses?

Randi Gleason: We began golfing in high school at our cow pastures. It’s really our only hobby. Fishing 300+ days a year leaves little time for much else but sneaking in golf is totally doable. Two courses rank at the top of our list: Manele Golf Course in Lanai, Hawaii and we recently played Sutton Bay in South Dakota and it was exceptional.

HPFC: You are great on social media. How did you build that skill set?

Randi Gleason: Oh goodness. It can be challenging to be an open book and be vulnerable. But I truly believe that when we each show up as our true authentic selves and offer up our unique gifts to help others, the world would be a better place - online and in person. I’ve met so many incredible people online who have become friends. I love how it makes the big world seem so small and can have the power to connect people and lift up others. I would never want to meet someone in real life and have them say, "She's nothing like she is online." That is the truth way too often for people we meet. I just think the world would be better if we all trusted that our uniqueness is our superpower God gave each of us. I believe there is a way to be real and also positive and professional. I personally get on social media to laugh, be inspired, or learn so even though there are really difficult things in life, they don't all get a post in the moment. I often want to get through a trial to reflect, see what God intended to teach me, and then share it.

HPFC: You seem to have a lot of different jobs – can you describe them all?

Randi Gleason: I think women today wear so many hats. I run the back office for D’s business (accounting, editing, etc.), run the household on the road (chef, shopper, housekeeper) and the details of the house back home while D is on the water. I just celebrated 20 years with my own business (Pink Cadillac Director with Mary Kay cosmetics).

HPFC: What do you think you’d be doing if you never met Darold?

Randi Gleason: That hurts my heart to think about. We have literally grown up together. He’s my best friend and partner in this crazy ride of life.

Pink Cadillac Director Mary Kay Cosmetics

HPFC: What is an average day like with Darold is out fishing?

Randi Gleason: Once I get him out the door with his snacks and lunch, I hit my RV office and get to work. Over the last few years, I’ve become a morning person and my mind is sharpest from 5-9am. It’s a miracle. I love to get my office tasks complete ‘before the world wakes up’. I typically can get through my task list and customer orders fulfilled and shipped before I get my first text message or phone call.

Then eat breakfast and take Rowdy on a little walk. If I really want to get my cardio in, I’ll have to bring his stroller because he’s not a fan of walking long distances. I’ll then dress for Zoom meetings or appointments. Most days you’ll smell my camper around lunch because I cook a Thai dish nearly every day. D doesn’t like it as much as I do so I eat Thai at lunch and cook traditional for dinner.

The afternoon is editing, content creation, more work tasks, etc… then dinner prep. Tournament days we head off to the weigh in with camera gear. When D gets in, we eat, he rigs tackle while I rip and organize footage, take my respiratory treatment and then off to bed to do it all over again.

HPFC: What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of work/travel?

Randi Gleason: Cooking and hosting at our lake home is a favorite. When we designed our lake house, we wanted it to be a place our friends and clients could come out, unplug, and renew. We truly love to cook and host. Other than that, I love reading and studying all things business. I'm really a nerd at heart and enjoy entrepreneurship and financial planning. Our only hobby is playing golf.

Dog Rowdy in a Backpack at a Bassmaster event

HPFC: What’s something people need to know about you that’s not evident from social media?

Randi Gleason: I try to be an open book so this is a challenging one. Possibly that I love to go to bat for the underdog, the one who is honest to a fault, a good person striving to overcome great obstacles, or for someone who has been treated unfairly. A giant comes alive inside of me when I see things like this and it often takes all I have to ignore it or keep quiet.

HPFC: Who are your best friends on tour?

Randi Gleason: Gosh, am I even a girl if I say I really dislike the word "besties," lol? It's truly an interesting dynamic out here. While everyone are fierce competitors, there is also a mutual respect because we all understand the trials and challenges of this journey. I've gotten to know the wives who travel with their spouses and also the campground wives the most since we have time to visit during the day. Not everyone understands all the behind the scenes of this life but these ladies do. Leann Swindle and I began Reel RV Wives social channel last year and that’s been a lot of fun.

HPFC: What is the long-term goal for the two of you?

Randi Gleason: You have to understand that medically we were told this time period would be 'end of life' for me. When we got married the average life expectancy for someone with Cystic Fibrosis was 31. This might help you to understand why we try to live life full out and with no regrets. We truly feel like we are living on borrowed/bonus time. With the new drug in 2019, my life expectancy has increased to the 50s. That feels like an eternity. So, while we have some insanely exciting business goals in the works, our focus is time with each other along the way and doing all the things we dreamed of when we were two young kids hoping to have a decade together. Time is a gift and D tries to help remind me to not work too much and take a moment to cherish each day along the way.

HPFC: Is it true that redheads have more fun? (this is a Pete question but you have to answer 😊)

Randi Gleason: Well, I don’t want to make generalizations but D could probably answer this for us. I’ll just say I’m maybe opinionated, passionate, driven and slightly hardheaded.

I learned so much and want to be more like Randi. She inspires me to not sweat the little stuff as there are others that have way more on their plate. We thought we were going to be able to meet in person at the James River but for a number of reasons that didn’t happen. At some point in the near future I need to meet my cyber twin, my redheaded passionate and slightly hardheaded sister.

One interview was not enough to contain her – tune back in next Wednesday to read Part Two, specifically about the RV lifestyle.