Inside Monster Jam
This official Monster Jam podcast offers exclusive inside access to Monster Jam Operations, including drivers, safety, track design and the Monster Jam Garage.
Inside Monster Jam
Season 5 – Episode 8 – Meet Geneva Keller
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Get to know one of Monster Jam’s newest rising stars Geneva Keller!
Hello everyone. Welcome to Inside Monster Jam, the official Monster Jam podcast. I'm Scott Jordan, and this week I am going to interview and introduce the world to one of our newest Monster Jam superstars. She has an amazing background story, and I want you fans to get to know her. So let's fire up the Zenny Optical Hotline and welcome in Geneva Keller. Geneva, welcome to Inside Monster Jam. Thanks so much for being here.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Scott. I'm so happy to be here.
SPEAKER_01Uh you um, you know, you you're an Orlando uh resident like me, and we have some mutual friends. So I I sort of you know knew your name. And then when when it was announced you were coming to Monster Jam, we I started connecting the dots with with our friends and and your background and doing some research on you because I wanted to find out who you were and uh you know where you came from. And your background to me is fascinating. So let's uh let's just give the fans that story of of where you know where where you come from and how you ended up driving Thunder Roars because that's fascinating.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll it's a long story, but I'll try to shorten it. So my dad's a Hollywood stunt man, as you know, and my mom was actually a dancer in Disney, and she also was a stunt woman. So I had two very crazy out there parents doing their crazy stuff since they were 20 years old. And I'm 19, so I'm right up that alley with my parents. Um, yeah, so I was born in Switzerland, and we moved to LA when I was three months old, and we flew back and forth pretty much every month. We've lived in LA, we've lived in Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Moscow, pretty much anywhere my dad's work took us is where we lived during that time. And um, you know, obviously being surrounded in such a crazy atmosphere and being on set, I had a lot of um exposure to um car stunts, motocross, anything four wheels. So um it just sparked an interest in me at a really young age. And the main factor was when I was three years old, we went like quad riding, I think. And I was on the back with my dad, and I was like, oh my gosh, I want a quad for my fourth birthday. And my dad's like, I am not buying my four-year-old daughter a quad for her birthday. You're crazy. So I ended up getting a little doom buggy, which was the next best thing, and it ended up being the best thing for me. Um, I drove that thing till the wheels came off, absolutely, and then I started racing go-karts at five. Um, and then I saw my first Monster Jam event when I was six years old with my dad. I think we saw it in Las Vegas because we were over there at that time. And the my favorite thing about Monster Jam is that boys and girls drive together. Because when I was a kid, I loved Formula One. Obviously, that's still not the case where women drive Formula One, especially with men. And um Monster Jam is just the only sport where men and women are on the same playing field all the time and treated the same. And it's literally just the most important thing to me because, you know, a few years back when I wanted to get further into Formula Five or any kind of racing like that, um, the highest women's like racing for the under the thing under Formula One, I remember the class, they had to cancel almost half of their season because there just wasn't enough viewers. So just you know, the fact that in Monster Jam we get to be with the men and we get to compete on the same field, it's just the best thing. And it was my favorite thing. So that's what made it my dream was I wanted to race with the boys like I always had, and that's just really a special factor, and we're all treated the same, and um, it's just really nice because we have little boy fans, little girl fans, and they're all just in one pile, and it it just it was like all I ever wanted to do.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. Well, uh first of all, I I can't blame your dad for not wanting to buy you the quad because if my four-year-old uh asked me for a quad, I would have said no as well. But I think you know what you got in that Doom Buggy was was a nice substitute for that. So that was uh that was a good move for dad. I let's talk about your your parents because I did not know that your mom danced at Disney. Now, um, you know, uh aging myself here, I danced down Main Street and on the castle stage in the late 90s and early 2000s. Was your mom there at that point?
SPEAKER_00She was she was 95 to 2000, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I feel really super old here. Uh what what park did she what park did she work at?
SPEAKER_00So she worked in Epcot and she was opening cast for Animal Kingdom.
SPEAKER_01Okay, awesome. So yeah, we were we were there around the same times. And your dad, a Hollywood stunt man, is there um any any any movies or or television shows that uh he did that maybe our fans might know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so the biggest one, his big first break was the first Spider-Man with Toey Maguire, Pirates of the Caribbean. Uh he worked with Joe Maganello a lot, Ashton Kutcher, Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, you know, just all these big names that he got to work with. Um he really, you know, came into LA at the right time, is what he always says.
SPEAKER_01So did you ever get to hang out on the sets with him?
SPEAKER_00Always, yeah. A lot of any I'll say 90% of my childhood photos are me on set, either with a little camera taking a picture of someone, or uh there's one picture of um the set of killers with Ashton Kutcher and Tom Selleck, and I rode my scooter over to Tom Selleck at like three years old and was hanging out with him, and um, yeah, so a lot of that kind of stuff. Dad got to work with Burt Reynolds and we were close friends with him before he passed. So um I was always hanging out like on set or just with these people, but it was you know, it was family. Like it is like like Monster Jam's a family, the whole industry is a family, you know.
SPEAKER_01So did you ever have any desires to follow in his footsteps uh and be a Hollywood stunt woman, or was it all driving for you? Um I mean, obviously you could have done that too in Hollywood, too. You could have been a stunt driver as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I do that as well. I worked my first job at eight years old as a s we go as a stunt kid, you know. Um, so it was eight, I was on a horror movie, low budget. I think it was called Bohr. I don't know, I'd have to pull that up, but it was a blast, you know. It was like, oh my gosh, I get to be in the makeup chair now. It's not just dad. So that was cool. Yeah. Um, I got to work on NCIS uh Nashville recently, which has been obviously a blast, and just a lot of shows over in Switzerland, um, mainly just because of the lack of stunt performers in Europe. So that's been, you know, I've had to double boys, I've had to double girls, but you do what you gotta do and it's still fun. So I did go down that path, of course. Um, but that just comes from being exposed to it for so long and you know, going to work with dad, and I was like, oh my gosh, like I can do this too. Like, why not? You need kids to fall down anyway, you know. So um, I definitely did that as well. Um, and it's kind of poetic in a way. Um, I did my first fireburn, my fur first full-body fireburn when I was 12 years old, and you know, my dad lit me on fire, which not a lot of kids get to say, so I think that's kind of a fun thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's not something that's not something that you hear too too many times.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then just last year, my dad was doing a fire stunt, and I got to light him on fire. So, in a way, it was really cool to like, oh, we're switching roles. Like, I get to do this now too, you know, or my dad used to strap me in the car for car stunts, and now I'm helping other people strap in for their car stunts, and it's just like such a nice circle that uh the community has.
SPEAKER_01Do you ever get to go back to um I'm sure you do, but how often do you get to go back to Switzerland?
SPEAKER_00Um, so I've lived in the US now for a year, and I've gone back uh two times. One time for Christmas break, and then when I did my show um in Arnhem, I got to go back for a few days after.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk about your Monster Jam debut. Um what can you talk a little bit about that process? So you you know grew up as a fan, you know, went with your dad. Was it an invite to Monster Jam University? How did that whole situation end up coming to come into play to you for you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so it was um an invite and it's just what I wanted to do for a long time. Uh obviously you can't apply till you're 18, so I, you know, did that process when I was 18. Um, and then getting to go through MJU, it was literally like the best, like most hands-on, smartest way to do it, you know, with the interview process and then the actual driving. And it was just so much fun. And during the summer, when we had all of our days on the track, I dreaded leaving every single time because it was just so much fun. Like the five o'clock, oh, we gotta go home came so fast every day. And I was like, you know, really bummed but excited to go the next day. Um, but it was just such a smooth uh process and transition. Um and it's just so nice because you get to really hone in on all your skills that you have to adapt and have to create because there's not, you know, no one I mean, unless it's like an independent, no one comes into Monster Jam and be like, oh, I have driven monster trucks my whole life. Like it it's something new for everybody, and it's really nice because then everyone is on like an even playing field in a sense.
SPEAKER_01So, how long after that experience did you get the call that you were gonna debut in Monster Jam?
SPEAKER_00I was still in Switzerland when I got the call, and then I moved to the US two weeks later because I yeah, so I had my final exam for school because I did Cambridge University A levels. I had my final exam on March 30th or something, and then I got the call like a week later, and I literally cried on the phone. I was so excited that I got to go to MJU. Um, and then I got the call that I got to debut in Spokane was the first debut. That was obviously an insane experience, and I cried, of course, because my parents came out and it was a whole thing, and that I got to drive Dalmatian as my debut truck was just incredible because it's a classic. It's obviously, I mean, it's so um what's the word? It's just a fan favorite, you know, and it was just such an honor to get to drive like such a known and popular truck for my debut.
SPEAKER_01And then you move into Thunder Rorus. So you go from you know, the classic to one of the newer trucks in Monster Jam. And uh, you know, you've had Cole Stevens now on that truck for a few years. Tony Oaks drove it as well, but you get to become, you know, the first female driver to really uh you know put Thunder Rorus on the map on the international show. So how how was that experience for you driving this awesome dinosaur, this 12,000-pound dinosaur overseas where you know where you're from and to be able to put a female face into that truck?
SPEAKER_00I absolutely love it. I really love the Thunder Aurora's truck so much. Um, all the fan little fans love it because I have a lot more boy fans and little girl fans, and it's just been such an honor to go overseas to drive it because you know, in a way that is my home turf, like I like to consider it like that. So it's just been so much fun. And the crew that I like got to work with, it's so much like family and just we're all friends, and yes, it's a competition, but we're all still cheering each other on the whole time. And um, you know, it's just it's been such it's really just been such an honor, like for a lack of better words, like it's just been some of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do. Um, you know, I did my first stadium event, which um was insane for me because you know, going from arena to stadium is a little bit of a jump. Um, the craziest thing was the two-minute freestyle that I had to wrap my head around that feels a lot longer than two minutes, I'll tell you that. At first, I was like, okay, well, okay, but it's fine, you know. Um, no, but it's so much fun. And getting to be the first female driver of Thunder Rorus has just been, like I said, such an honor because Colt Stevens is obviously amazing. Tony Oakes is so cool. I mean, Tony's just such a sweet guy. He was one of the first faces I met um in Monster Jam, and he's just been nothing but welcoming to me as well. So um it's really been just such a cool thing to get to drive the Thunder Rourus Monster Jam truck.
SPEAKER_01So when you talk about arena tracks and stadium tracks, obviously the two-minute freestyle was an adjustment. Um, what what were the other uh things that you found either challenging or easy for you to adjust from the the smaller pod track to the bigger stadium freestyle track?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so speaking um as far as just arena and stadium, the racing is obviously super different. Um in arenas, I personally love timed racing a little bit more because it's just me against myself and me against my time. Um I tend to get a little nervous if there's someone else on the track, but I think that's just normal. Um for stadium, the racing path is way more like way bigger. You get to do a jump, which is super fun. Uh so I really liked the racing, and I um really just feel like I was a little more confident on stadium, obviously because you have more space for sure. Uh two-wheel skills as well. I got to learn how to do a little popper off the pod, which has been way easier for me. And you get to really have way more space just to play, which is just the most like the most rewarding factor, I think, of stadium is getting to use that extra space and getting to build up your confidence. Um, two-wheel skills is obvious, it's really hard to learn, and everyone learns it differently and at a different pace. So the fact that in stadium I already got a little bit more comfortable and I was able to walk it up, that was really something amazing for me that I didn't think I'd get to do for like at least another year or something, just because I'd never been as comfortable as I have been in the Thunder Roar's truck and in stadium.
SPEAKER_01So I know you are uh still soaking in your debut year, but uh what are what are some of the things that you hope to accomplish in Monster Jam in the future? You have a bright future ahead of you, uh 19 years young, amazing that you're already a part of this sport. But have you thought about any long-term goals that you'd like to accomplish while you're here?
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, so long-term goals, truthfully, like I just want to be an idol for like the little girls, because I was one of the girls, so like having an idol to look up to, I just want to be that for someone else, even if it is just one or two people. Um, and you know, I I love in Monster Jam how family-based everyone is. You know, Cynthia's a mom, Brianna's a mom. I want to be a mom one day. So getting to know that it's accepted to be a mom and do such a really cool job is obviously just amazing as it is. Um, but I think really just to be an idol for someone and to never lose the love for this sport, which will never happen. You know, you want to love what you do for work and just I know that I'm never gonna not love going to an event or going to an interview or going to um just be there for even one kid in the stadium. Um, so just like I just have positive outlooks on my future.
SPEAKER_01It's amazing the the family atmosphere because when you go behind the scenes, you the locker rooms, everybody's you bring in their families, bring in their kids. And I've been here for almost a decade. So to watch some of these drivers that I came in with, uh you mentioned Cynthia, Brianna, um, you know, Colts have have kids while they're here, and to see, you know, those kids grow up is has really been special. My kids have grown up here. When I when I'm I first started at Monster GM, my my my daughter was one, and now all three of my kids come with me. So I think that's an amazing goal to have. And uh hopefully uh you'll be around here for for decades and decades and decades of fun. Um I do want to talk about you. You want to yes, you want to inspire fans, um, and you do already, but who are some of the drivers who have inspired you so far, whether that was before you became a part of Monster GM or now that you're involved in the company and driving?
SPEAKER_00So when I was six years old and I saw my first event, uh the Medusa truck was still driving, and I, you know, was watching this and I saw the helmet come off after a freestyle and just blonde, and I was like, oh my gosh, my Malibu Barbie is now driving monster trucks. Like, how cool, right? So, like, girls can do this too was like the first initial thing. Um, Caleb Blood was a really big inspiration for me too when she was um uh driving when I was a kid as well. Obviously, Brianna loved Scooby-Doo. That was, I know, who what kid doesn't love Scooby-Doo anyway? So then it was always just the factor of having a toy that I liked as a kid or a show that I liked as a kid, and then some kind of aspect in the Monster Joke world was so cool. So a lot of the girl drivers obviously were a big inspiration for me. And then ever since I've come in, I think just like the kindness that revolves around each driver, where yes, we like I said, we're all in competition with each other, but everyone has been so welcoming and friendly to me. And I will like admit, before I got to new people, I was a little nervous because you know, I I'm very young and I didn't know how people might react, and I didn't know what um a normal day looked like at all. Um I was in a I haven't lived here in almost 10 years. So coming to the US as well, I was like, oh, what if I miss certain lingos or what if I am not accepted correctly? And I have had nothing but positive um feedback and just always a positive atmosphere. We're all having fun, like on the road. Um, everyone jokes with each other, but no one's been rude, and that has just been the biggest like inspiration. Um, because you know, even at school you get bullied or whatever, and just that that doesn't bleed in at all is just so amazing. So I think the inspiration is the people as well, but also just the atmosphere inspires me to like come and like and hang out and like just be friendly with everyone because everyone's been friendly and kind to me as well.
SPEAKER_01Monster Jam to me uh is so great for for many reasons, but I when you watch other motorsports on on television, you see a lot of rivalries that bleed from the track off the track, and we don't have that here. Of course, there are rivalries um, you know, on the track when people, you know, drivers want to beat each other and they have a friendly, fun rivalry, but it it never bleeds into you know what happens when the helmet comes off. And I love that everybody is so supportive of one another. And I challenge anyone to find another sport, another motorsport where you're gonna find people that truthfully, honestly just want to help each other succeed. Um so I love that you said that. So that's amazing. Um, I let's talk about some of your friendly rivalries. Who are some of the drivers so far that you have loved to face off with in racing? Some drivers that you, you know, love to beat in freestyles. Is there somebody on the international series or even domestically that that you have battled that has really been fun for you?
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, so it's been really fun to get to drive with Charlie Paulkin because uh he was one of the he's a gravedigger that I've known for a long time, and he's the first gravedigger I saw in Switzerland. So when I got to meet him in Switzerland a few years back, and now that I get to, you know, go head on hand with him in racing, it's really cool. And obviously everyone wants to beat Gravedigger, you know, it's the fan favorite. And um, Chelsea Van Cleef as well, like she's just such a sweetheart. We have become really close friends, but as well, like there is a little friendly rivalry, a little like we're the only girls on the international tour, like we gotta beat each other, you know. But you know, helmets come off and we're gonna go make TikToks. I don't know if you've seen them, but um, you know, like we are just really good friends as well. So there's um obviously probably want to beat Gravedigger just for fun. Um, in freestyle, geez, I just want to beat myself, honestly. Like, I just want to like try to make the truck last through all the time without getting so excited and wanting to just go big and crash it, in all honesty. But um, yeah, honestly, just the friendly rivalries of it all. And um on the international tour, maybe zombie be fun to beat as well. He's really cool. Joe Dennis is a really he's a sweetheart as well. So just beat someone in racing. I did beat someone in racing, I got to semifinals. Maybe I'll get to finals in Cardiff, England, because that's the next one coming up. So that would be really exciting.
SPEAKER_01That's a great city, uh, great stadium as well. Principality been there many times. Uh I love Chelsea's shoe collection. You know, any anytime Chelsea gets in a new Monster Jam truck, he always has a pair of shoes to match, and I think that's amazing. Um, has she made any shoes for you yet? Or is that something that that's not yet?
SPEAKER_00I've asked her, so we'll see if she pulls through, but I did ask her, so we'll see.
SPEAKER_01That's fascinating. Well, you you've been awesome to uh to watch since your debut, and I really do appreciate you coming on so that her fans get a better idea of who Geneva Keller is. And your story is uh, I think one of the most fascinating, at least in recent memory, of drivers coming in here. So I'm gonna open this floor up to you because you do inspire, and it's not just one or two fans. There are thousands of fans that have already been inspired by your story to be 19 years old to come back from Europe to the United States and compete in Monster Jam is something that uh you I don't think you can write a better Hollywood script with Stuntman or without Stuntman. Um but anything that you want to say to you know young kids that are watching right now that are in in high school or middle school that that you were once in their spot that they would love to follow in your footsteps. So uh you you know, you're motivating all the time on the track, but anything you would tell these young kids who look up to you now as an idol?
SPEAKER_00Um the biggest thing for me, I think, is just that everyone is smart in a different way. I was pretty good in school, but I wasn't good in different subjects, and that was one of the biggest things that really beat me down. And maybe you're really good at a sport, maybe you're really good at art, maybe you're really good at science or at math, and just finding something that you have a passion for and that you're really good at is just so important, and really just going for it because I moved here, yes, with the promise of I'm getting to get to do monster jam, but my parents both still live in Switzerland. I live here completely alone, and it was a really big step for me, but just really going for it, and there's some sacrifices you'll have to make, but if you go for something, it's gonna pay off one way or another, and it really just becomes uphill after you hit rock button. So find someone that you love, find something that you are really good at, and just go for it and don't wait around and don't listen to what other people say either. I had a lot of negative things from uh teachers and friends, and oh, don't move back, you know, like what if this doesn't work out? And it did work out, so just do literally follow your heart, which is so cliche, but it is the truth.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing advice. Um for me, I I went through the same thing, wanting to be uh a performer and an entertainer. My my teachers and my counselors, there were a few that supported it, but most of them were just you know, you have to have a backup plan. What what what else are you gonna do? Be a little more realistic. And I always tell my kids, you know, to be big dreamers, and their dreams can come true. And I would I would never stand in their way of trying to accomplish that. And if they want to be, you know, a superhero, then I'm gonna support them. I will buy them their first cape to be a superhero. So I love that. I know, I know you know that there are a lot of supportive people out there for um young kids that do reach for the the stars and want to do that. So you are a true example of that, and thank you so much for being here.
SPEAKER_00Yes, thank you so much, Scott.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Geneva Killer driver of Thunder Roarus, you can see her on the international series. Go to monsterjam.com for those dates. That's all the time we have. I will see you here next week on Inside Monster Jam, the official Monster Jam podcast.