One Shining Blogpost: Talia Von Oelhoffen

To celebrate March Madness, we’ll be highlighting various student-athletes from all over the country—because you’ll need something to read at halftime! 

Talia von Oelhoffen is a well-known figure in college basketball. An early enrollee at Oregon State University, she started playing in Corvallis immediately and quickly became a leader on the team and a star in her own right, being named All-Pac-12 last season. Unfortunately for the women of Oregon State, Beavers basketball didn’t make the NCAA tournament this year, and von Oelhoffen is facing some personal adversity, too. We spoke just after she got home from her pre-op appointment for a knee surgery she’s set to have this week. In an Instagram post on February 24th, she wrote that she battled a torn meniscus all year, causing her to bow out for the remainder of the season. In the same game that she tore her meniscus, she told us she also broke her nose — an injury that will also require surgery. 

While von Oelhoffen has lots of physical work ahead, she plans to use her downtime to get creative with her hobbies and side projects — when she’s able to walk again, that is.

FM: I wanted to talk about the content that you've been creating because, with the current state of NIL, athletes are allowed to make money for themselves through content creation. I know you have a partnership with Instagram where they pay you to make reels. I’ve watched them, and I love the series where you try to play sports other than basketball. How do you decide what content to create?

TVO: During the season, it's hard to produce that much content because I think it was supposed to be like two reels a week. So…I was trying to think of concepts where I can just film for a couple of hours and have the content spread out, you know. It was definitely hard. As we were doing it, I was like, this would be like a really good YouTube video, but the [reels] could only be a minute and a half. So it's kind of like a challenge to make it make sense or make it enjoyable to watch when it's like so many different parts.

FM: Do you think you'll create content longer-form content for YouTube at some point? 

TVO: I've actually filmed some. I just haven't uploaded anything yet because it's a lot to do during the season…but I'm thinking of starting a YouTube channel in the off-season…then I want to get into podcasting as well.

FM:  What’s your podcast going to be about?

TVO: I don't want it to be super sports-based, honestly. Like, obviously, it's going to come up just because that's my life. But I wouldn't really want to have a basketball [podcast]. It would probably be with athletes just because…*laughs* the people I know are mostly athletes, but if I did have athletes on, I’d like talking to athletes about non-sports stuff.

FM: It seems like you have an inquisitive and curious mind, and you're interested in trying and learning new things. Where do you think that comes from?

TVO: I was someone that sort of grew up on social media. Once I got to like middle school, I was very into watching YouTube videos and stuff like that. So a lot of like, “influencers,” I guess, that aren't like huge celebrities to most are kind of celebrities to me. And I just like kind of grew up consuming that, which I feel like not everyone my age did. So I feel like I just have kind of a mind for it. I have a lot of ideas, especially YouTube videos, and it's just like the execution part that I'm missing.

I mean, it's great talking to you; this is a lot different, but like normal interviews when it's just like answering the same question a million times…I don't know. When you watch celebrity interviews, like Jimmy Fallon or something like that, it’s just telling stories that aren't even really related to anything. I feel like that's what I would want to watch. I don't like listening to athletes talk about their sport all the time. So I just feel like that other side of [content] is missing in the college market.

FM: Yeah, those interviews can get boring. “How’s your rehab going? Oh, it's good, you know, taking a day-by-day, blah, blah, blah.” Those questions aren't where you get the intrigue or the meat of interviews. You mentioned Jimmy Fallon interviews, but who are your favorite content creators? Who are the people that you've watched and idolized?

TVO: My favorite ones growing up and I guess even now are KianAndJC. Cody Ko is another one…most comedy YouTubers. And I really like watching Hot Ones, too. 

FM: Hot Ones is great. What do your FYP and explore pages look like?

TVO: That's a good question. It's definitely a lot of college athletes. I feel like just because also it's I like ideas of like things I want to do. So then I just get that same stuff, but that's like a big one. Also, nutrition-based content…I save, so I just get a lot of it.

FM: I feel like my explore page is all how-to's, educational stuff, or informational content. There’s a lot of bad in social media, but there’s also a lot of good. There’s a lot of learning to be had, even fun, small things…do you feel like you have anything, even really small, that you've learned from social media that you can point to?

TVO: Definitely a lot of nutrition stuff. And then just the most random stuff that I've learned…I learned I was like holding my brush the wrong direction, and it goes through your hair better if you just hold it like, upright. And it, like, changed my life. 

FM: Wait, no way. 

TVO: Yeah, if you brush it horizontally versus if you hold it vertically, it’s so much different. You have to try it. It literally changed my life. I can't think of another example, but *laughs*

FM: *laughs* that’s a great example. When I was in college, I had, you know, all these hopes and goals and things that I wanted to achieve. Some I’ve achieved, and others…not so much. *laughs* Is there anything that you're like, this is my end game, my dream, this is what I want to do with my life.

TVO: Yeah! Playing in the W and then having some sort of content creation that's my own. I don't want to do broadcasting or anything like that, but having my own thing would be super cool on top of playing for as long as I can. 

FM: And speaking of playing in the W, what players or teams would you want to play with?

TVO: I would probably say Stewie. Or if— hopefully—Portland gets a team, I think that would be super cool, too. But just to be close to home.  I guess I'd want to stay on the West Coast. I'm kind of a West Coast girl.

FM: I'm hoping for a Portland team, too. That would be amazing.

TVO: Yeah, I was at the [panel on the WNBA and women’s hoops in Portland] at the sports bra with Cathy Engelbert to try to get a WNBA team to Portland, and they did a good job of selling it. So I feel like I think the W would be dumb not to have a team in Portland.

FM: That's exactly how I feel, too. [Portland] is such a basketball city! There's so much space for it. There's even an entire arena for it that's kind of just sitting there. So I really hope they make it happen. But they said like maybe five years, so I'm like, okay, I won't hold my breath.

TVO: Yeah. And I feel like just like the support for women specifically is just above and beyond any other city. The way that the Thorns draw. [Karina LeBlanc, the general manager and president of the Portland Thorns] was there and just hearing her talk about how many fans they get…I've been to a Thorns game, and it is crazy!

FM: Ok, final question, since the Beavs didn’t make the tourney, who are you rooting for?

TVO: I would say Washington State. I don’t know if they'll win it all, but I want them to go far and have success for sure. I just love their team. They're all super cool people. And it’s the closest PAC-12 team to where I live. So it's kind of just super familiar. And it was the first PAC-12 title for any women's sport in their school’s history, which I think is just super cool…I'm rooting for some upsets.

FM: Okay, sounds good to me! Go Beavs! I'll be rooting for you next year and forever.

TVO: *laughs* Thank you. I appreciate it.