Meet Mike Rhyner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mike Rhyner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I was retired… I wanted something to do, but I didn’t want another job…doing something similar to what I had been doing and doing it with no regulation, nobody telling me how to do what I knew how to do, nobody telling me when to do it or not do it sounded like fun…starting from the ground up, finding an audience-new or not- in a different format was a daunting task…but I’d done it once; I knew a little something about it

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The lesson I’ve learned along the way is you get what you give…put something into it, and it’ll come back to you—maybe not right away, but over a period of time, it will. I’ve had to put a lot into the podcast. I don’t have all the answers; I learn a little more every day…Stolen Water, Your Dark Companion, are extensions, a continuation, of the story. In retirement, what I found was that I missed being challenged. That was the big thing that made the idea of The Freak (97.1fm) appealing. That’s carried over into the podcast. I’m very lucky to have many friends who have been on the show, even my former co-host, Greggo, who’s a regular. They’ve all been willing to come on the show, and I’m really glad to have them. In fact, naysayers will say that all I’m doing is having my friends on the podcast, to which I say ‘guilty.’ I’m very lucky to have a wide network of amazing people with fascinating stories to tell, and I love getting those stories out of ‘em.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Hmm-interesting question. Dallas doesn’t have the history like cities in the Northeast. If you grew up here and are into that type of thing, there are places of note, but it’s not like Boston or Chicago or New York…Food-wise, I’d take them for good Tex-Mex: Eddie’s or Herrera’s…pizza at Louie’s; maybe sushi at Musume… I’d probably have to reach out to one of my favorite guests, the great Sarah Blaskovich of the Dallas Morning News, and ask her what I’m missing when it comes to food units…beyond that, I’d take them to Oak Cliff, the most fascinating part of our fair burg…I’d love to give a guided tour of Oak Cliff and show people all they don’t know just because they don’t look for it…

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The team at Stolen Water, Your Dark Companion, and all the shows on the Sunset Lounge. My partner, Becca Moore, is our executive producer; she deserves tons of props…she never stops, and she is driven more than anyone I’ve ever known; she was born to do this, and it ain’t easy. Keeping me focused is a tough job; I have the attention span of an 8-year-old…Michael “Grubes” Gruber was first our board-op on The Hardline at The Ticket (1310am/96.7fm) and is one of a kind. He is now co-host/board-op on YDC. He knows me like no one else and can guide me through a podcast better than anyone. Ashlea Bullington helped Stolen Water get off the ground…she works the tech side, and her knowledge of that aspect was essential—she knows about the hard stuff; none of the rest of us do…and Miki and Gordy, our support staff—they all deserve massive props. The really cool thing, though, is the way people have gotten into it…I was coming off a pretty rough go at my last port of call; I wasn’t sure anyone would care anymore, and I had to get my head right with that possibility while coming up with a way to engage them and get ‘em into it…it’s a never-ending process, but if we give ‘em something they like and they care about, they’ll be there—that was the mindset, and fortunately, that’s how it’s played out so far

Website: www.patreon.com/YourDarkCompanion, www.patreon.com/SunsetLounge

Instagram: @theoldgreywolf16, @yourdarkcompanion

Twitter: @theoldgreywolf, @YDC_DFW

Facebook: Mike Rhyner, Your Dark Companion

Youtube: @TheOldGreyWolf16

Other: You can also find me on TikTok, Threads and Bluesky

Image Credits
Photos 1-5 Ashlea Bullington, Your Dark Companion Photo 6 Kathy Tran, Dallas Observer Photo 7 Ben Torres, Dallas Morning News Photo 8 Mike Rhyner