When they sit down, put on their headphones and open their notebooks, Hank Pankratz and Mitch Torres flow so well you would think it’s rehearsed.
Mr. Pankratz, the OVS Upper Campus Athletic Director, and Mr. Torres, who is a team manager for Ghost Energy, have been friends since their high school days and have made a successful podcast, Hold My Junk, talking about all things sports.
“It’s always a good time getting together with the boys,” said Mr. Pankratz about his experience on the podcast. “Just getting back with them, that’s really my favorite part. And the show just rolls from that.”
While it might sound like locker-room talk, the podcast name comes from the days before the podcast.
When the two were just starting their podcast Mr. Pankratz often said they had “junk” takes, and they now call their fans, “Junkies.” The “Hold My” idea came from Mr. Torres’ fiance: she said the H in “Hold” is the first initial in Mr. Pankratz’ first name, Hank. The M in “My” is the first initial of Mr. Torres’ first name, Mitch.
The podcast was born in a Gold’s Gym in Roseville, California three years ago.
The two would stop their workouts and just talk about everything, and that was really when the idea came up. They both ran with it, putting their ideas into action with their first episode being a Twitch live stream, which they both agreed to never do again.
After a few tries, the podcast picked up a rhythm of its own.
“It almost felt like the most natural form of content that I could put out because I’m not trying to do anything or be anything that I’m not,” Mr. Torres said.
Although it is only Mr. Pankratz and Mr. Torres podcasting there is a lot of behind the scenes work.
The podcasts producer/director/writer Chris Meza records the podcast and puts it out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts making any additional edits and cuts they need.
“The fun part for me I would say is making the titles,” Mr. Meza said. “I feel like the title decides whether the audience will listen or not so I try my best to make it catch the viewer’s attention or make it appealing to the eye.”
The other half behind the scenes is a man named Youssif Khattab who does the prep sheets to make sure they cover every topic from football to golf. His role is essential as everything that is important he makes sure is interesting and is talked about.
“My experience so far has been fun,” says Mr. Khattab. “When Mr. Pankratz and Mr. Torres came to me with the idea I didn’t know how long we’d go but I was excited to help. Now we’re almost at 40 episodes and the grind keeps going.”
Even though they have “writers,” Mr. Pankratz said that the podcast takes come 100% off the top of the head.
Aside from Mr. Pankratz’s connection with OVS, the podcast also has a nice connection with Ojai Valley School through Interim Head of School Craig Floyd and his partner Anthony Williams. Hold My Junk is a proud partner with Restore Education After Disasters (READ).
READ is a disaster relief non-profit that helps children following disasters by providing backpacks filled with school supplies. They are also an official unofficial sponsor of Hold My Junk. At the start of every episode from Episode 6 on, you can hear Mr. Pankratz give a short ad about READ.
“Working with the guys has been great,” Mr. Floyd said. “We’ve gotten donations from junkies, and our annual golf tournament this summer was sponsored by Mr. Torres and Ghost.”
Mr. Torres also shared a new exciting official sponsorship with O’Callahan’s Spice and Rubs. He said there will be more exciting news with that in the future.
The most recent episode, #36, just dropped on Sept. 26. It is a 90 minute episode where the two briefly talk about last week’s college football, their predictions of this week’s (week 4) of pro football, hit one of the favorite subjects Trash or Treasure and do their famous HMJ Parlay.
In addition to Spotify and Apple Podcasts, listeners can also find the podcast @HoldMyJunkPod on Instagram and X, and you can email them at Holdmyjunkpod@gmail.com with any suggestions you have.
The boys at Hold My Junk don’t plan to stop. The podcast now averages about 30 listeners an episode, and in the future they hope to have guests on ranging from former pro athletes to current college athletes. They have also talked about ideas for apparel in the future.
“So we’re all kind of just doing this for the love of the game, and we enjoy it,” Mr. Torres said. “We see potential, we see growth, and it’s like an opportunity to kind of get together with the boys and just talk sports.”
Added Mr. Pankratz: “Yeah, it’s great, man. I love it.”