Conversations with Hailey Ostrom

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hailey Ostrom.

Hailey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a professional golfer turned media influencer located in Phoenix, Arizona. I started playing golf with my dad at a very young age and started competing against girls my own age when I was nine years old. After growing up in Bend, Oregon and playing Central Oregon Junior Golf Association, I decided to attend George Fox University where I competed on the women’s golf team and received my degree in Journalism. I won multiple tournaments my senior season, but my most meaningful award was receiving “Most Inspirational”, voted on by my fellow teammates. It was an owner to Captain my team to the National Championship, where we took home the Fourth Place trophy, our best finish up to that point.

After graduating, I decided to move to Scottsdale, Arizona to pursue professional golf. I took a leap of faith, not having a job lined up, any money to my name, or any friends in the area, but knew I would make it happen and I believed in myself and God’s plan for me. I started working at local golf courses as a beverage cart girl and eventually ended up at Papago Golf Course, where I’d call home the next five years. I signed up for tournaments on the Cactus Tour, secured a couple more jobs, and began “the grind” of professional golf, trying to make it to the LPGA.

Over the next five years I worked many jobs at a time to afford professional golf, (the sad reality of mini tour life), and I said “yes” to everything that came my way. I began my social media career as a “side hustle” to my real life jobs with a goal of signing a couple sponsors. That “side hustle” helped me check off two of my bucket list business goals: Compete on the Golf Channel and sign Nike as a sponsor.

I competed on Golf Channel’s Shotmakers, where I was able to show off my skills amongst other professional golfers. The national recognition helped me secure a few more sponsors and another tv appearance. Eventually my social media became a full-time job and I was making enough money to hang up my Papago uniform and retire as a beverage cart girl.

Once the pandemic hit, most golf tournaments were on pause. I knew most people were turning to social media for their daily sports entertainment, so I took advantage of the opportunity. I started posting daily videos on Instagram and TikTok, growing a following quickly. I was contacted by WME Agency and signed my first agent. The next week my life changed forever. I was signing social media partnerships so quickly I could barely keep up. I LOVED the social media career I had made for myself and made the tough decision to quit pursuing professional golf.

Since then I have worked with multiple large corporations including Michelob Ultra, Genesis, BetOnline, Rocket Mortgage, Massage Envy, PING, and many more. My career has taken me around the world, playing some of the nicest courses golf has to offer. I am able to reach such a large audience and influence more of the younger generation than I ever would have been able to on the LPGA. It is truly one of the best parts of my job is connecting with my audience and showing them my authentic self.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has definitely not been a smooth road, but I always looked at everything with a positive outlook. While I was working three jobs to afford the one career I really wanted, I was exhausted. I would work 4-5 days a week, finish the day with practice time or a quick 9-hole round before we lost daylight. On my off days I would practice for around 6-8 hours a day, rain or shine, sometimes in 100+ degree weather. When golfers refer to “the grind”, this is exactly what we mean.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I answered most of this in the first question, but I’ll try to add some key points.

I am most proud of how I’ve run my account. I have always believed in being myself. I don’t try to fake anything in my life or make it seem perfect. When I have bad rounds, bad days or the occasional acne flare up, I share all of that with my following. I believe its too easy to show the good stuff, but what really sets people aside is when they’re vulnerable.

I also have made a point to keep my page very PG over the years. It’s no secret that sex sells and especially amongst female golf influencers, it’s easy to gain a quick following by showing off your body. I never wanted to take the quick or easy route because I wanted to remain a good role model for the younger girls out there. I wanted to show that you don’t need to use your body to become successful. If that’s what you want to do, great! Do it! But there are a lot of women already doing that and could be role models in that aspect. I wanted to showcase the other angle, one where you don’t need to sell your body if you don’t want to.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Authenticity and the ability to make fun of myself.

The social media game is hard on a lot of people because you put yourself out there to be beaten down. No matter how beautiful or skinny or perfect you are, you will always find haters. One thing I’ve learned is how to make fun of myself and never take myself too seriously. If you go into it with that mindset, the comments from the trolls will never bother you.

I also live by the saying, “I’ve never met a hater more attractive, more rich, or more successful than me”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.haileyostrom.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haileyostrom/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haileyostromgolf/
• Twitter: https://x.com/HaileyOstrom
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HaileyOstromGolf
• Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/@haileyostrom
• Other: https://app.fanfix.io/@haileyostrom

Image Credits
Rudy Ramirez, Alex Weyer