Boiled peanuts, IBC root beer, and hard hits on the track all show up in this episode of Snackin’ & Yakkin’ with Big Ben Kennedy. Sitting across from him is Haley “Striker” Macon, a Lowcountry Highrollers skater who went from volunteer to derby skater, all while living with Crohn’s disease. The result is a funny, honest, and surprisingly tender look at what it means to be tough on the outside and even tougher on the inside.

Meet Haley “Striker” Macon of the Lowcountry Highrollers

When Ben first met Haley, she was not Striker yet. She was the tiny volunteer hanging around the announcer table, then a street team member helping promote bouts for the Lowcountry Highrollers in Charleston, South Carolina. Years later, she rolled back into the Highrollers wearing a helmet and a jersey.

Today, she skates for the league she once flyered for, part of a crew that includes nurses, bartenders, photographers, and every job in between. Fans who want the official scoop on the league’s schedule, teams, and mission can head to the Lowcountry Highrollers website or the Lowcountry Highrollers WFTDA page to see where they fit into modern women’s flat-track derby.

Halloween Fits and Boiled Peanut Energy

The episode was filmed with Halloween right around the corner, and Haley arrived ready. She showed up in a full spooky look, hoping the timing worked so she would not be “the weirdo in costume in November.” Ben matched the vibe in the most Lowcountry way possible: a Charleston RiverDogs “Boiled Peanuts” hat, complete with peanut-print brim.

Her snack choice fit the hat. She brought country staple boiled peanuts, and she even brought bowls because a former derby photographer, Bad Jon, roasted Ben on camera for serving snacks on paper towels. Lesson learned. Fans got steaming peanuts in proper bowls.

Haley first tried boiled peanuts on a boat with her parents, floating around on a “party barge” in the harbor. Since then, they have become the perfect lazy-day snack, whether that is on the water or in plastic seats at a ballpark watching the RiverDogs temporarily rebrand as the Boiled Peanuts.

Root Beer Opinions: IBC Takes the Win

Drinks for the day came in glass bottles. Ben admitted he never liked root beer much, especially brands like Mug, but IBC changed his mind. The real cane sugar and smooth flavor won him over on-air.

Haley agreed that IBC sits near the top of the root beer food chain. They both ended up talking themselves into craving root beer floats, which would turn the already sweet drink into a full dessert situation.

Fans who enjoy watching Ben work through snack opinions on the regular can see more of that on the Snackin’ & Yakkin’ Instagram.

From Volunteer Kid to Tough Blocker

Haley’s derby journey has been slow-cooked, much like those peanuts. She grew up around the league, watched from the sidelines, then stepped into the pack herself. The Lowcountry Highrollers became her home team in more ways than one.

In the episode, she and Ben talk about a recent bout against Greenville’s team. Greenville has a long-held reputation as a Tough opponent, full of tall skaters who look like they were grown on cornbread and weight plates. They swap stories about past stars like Freckles Kaboom, and joke that Greenville must have a “you must be this tall to join” ruler at the door.

It highlights a classic derby truth: the sport pulls in every body type and every background, then puts them all on eight wheels to figure it out together.

The Semicolon Helmet and Living With Crohn’s

One small mark on Haley’s gear carries a big story. On her helmet sits a semicolon, the little punctuation mark that signals a pause, not an ending. At first, she used it as a Crohn’s joke about her “semi-colon,” a wink at the parts of her intestines she has lost. Over time that same symbol became widely known for suicide and mental health awareness, so she uses it less loudly now, but the purple she wears still nods to the Crohn’s awareness ribbon.

How Crohn’s Turned a Life Sideways

Haley is a military brat who moved often. In 2009, at age 22, she was living in Arkansas, very sick, and bouncing between ERs. Doctors kept handing her discharge papers that said “gastritis” while she dropped to 92 pounds on a 5-foot frame and struggled to stand up straight at work.

When she discovered her partner was cheating, she called her mom in tears. That same day, the family learned a close friend in Arkansas had died. Her parents were already traveling in for the memorial, so they packed Haley’s things into storage, scooped her up, and took her to South Carolina. Her mom, an RN at Trident Medical, became the fierce advocate Haley could not be for herself.

In Charleston, doctors finally ordered the right tests. A colonoscopy and biopsies confirmed Crohn’s disease, but by then she also had an intestinal abscess and was septic. She spent 14 days in the hospital, 13 of them NPO, which meant no food or drink by mouth at all. Later on, she had two bowel resections, losing about 8 inches of small intestine in the first surgery. As anyone with Crohn’s knows, the medical bills, colonoscopies, and medication costs stack up fast.

The episode is a quiet reminder to support friends dealing with chronic illness, share their fundraisers when they pop up, and not put off screening when a doctor recommends it.

Family, Boxing Gloves, and Bartending DNA

Haley’s dad is retired Air Force and the kind of father who shows affection by teaching skills. He taught her how to roller skate, and when she was about eight, he also taught her how to make his Bacardi and Coke. He tipped her for every drink, and today she works as a full-time bartender, so that early training clearly stuck.

One of the sweetest stories in the episode comes from her purple kid-sized boxing gloves. Her dad bought them and started showing her how to block. During one drill, he dropped his hands to adjust her guard and she popped him right in the nose, hard enough to draw blood. He kept the gloves, bloodstain and all. They are somewhere in his house, part family heirloom, part warning label.

Social Media Magic for a Derby League

Off the track, Haley runs marketing as the committee chair for Lowcountry Highrollers. She is the one behind many of the league’s TikToks and Reels, from trend-based memes to clips that highlight big hits and bench antics. She works with teammates like Little Strawberry Shortcake and content creator Chris Powell, who helps cut action footage into scroll-stopping clips.

Her approach is simple:

1. Click into the audio on a trend and study how others use it.
2. Keep the same vibe, then twist it slightly so it fits derby and feels like the team.

Ben admits that part of him is jealous. He can write jokes and host a show, but timing out a TikTok trend is a different skill. Fans can see the results of her work on the Lowcountry Highrollers Instagram and learn what a small volunteer crew can do when it leans into short-form video.

Photographer Flashley, who shoots many of the league’s photos and this very episode, also gets a shout-out, especially when Haley gifts Ben a laser-engraved tile made from one of Flashley’s shots.

Derby Weddings, Chaos Cats, and Everyday Mayhem

Because derby is one big extended family, the conversation drifts to memories like Red Dread’s in-game proposal and voodoo-themed wedding, officiated by teammate T-Bone. There were skull tutus, rain, and broom-jumping, the whole derby-romance package.

Then there are the cats. Haley and former housemate (and teammate) Nikki Drew Blood share two black cats, Codwell and Rosalie. Codwell is the chaos engine, known for spinning the air fryer around, opening it, and hunting for leftovers. He has also jumped into the fridge, the microwave, and the oven. Haley once filmed a TikTok that was just 24 hours of walking by the air fryer and closing it again.

How Fans Can Support Derby, Crohn’s Warriors, and the Show

The episode was recorded leading up to the league’s Movember Mania bout, a no-shave, fake-mustache kind of night at the Charleston Area Convention Center. The Lowcountry Highrollers site regularly posts those home-game dates and special themes.

Fans who want more Snackin’ & Yakkin’ beyond the main show can join the Snackin’ & Yakkin’ Patreon for bonus podcasts with Ben’s daughter and wife, plus extra behind-the-scenes content. The main video interviews live on the Snackin’ & Yakkin’ YouTube channel, and the show stays active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok as @snackinyakkin.

Wrapping Up: Boiled Peanuts, Big Hits, and Bigger Hearts

This episode packs a lot into an hour of talking and snacking. Viewers get derby stories, snack debates, wild cat behavior, and a clear picture of how community keeps people going through chronic illness and everyday chaos. Haley “Striker” Macon shows that tough hits on the track are one thing, but staying kind and funny through Crohn’s, surgeries, and life changes is a different kind of strength. Fans of women’s roller derby, or anyone who loves a good survival story with jokes baked in, will find a lot to carry with them. Sharing the episode with a derby friend or someone living with Crohn’s disease is a simple way to keep that support rolling.

Find Haley on Instagram: @striker501! And special thanks to @flashley.photos on Instagram!

More episodes over on the blog!