The name of Sadie Robertson first rang throughout the world on 21 March 2012, when the premiere of the reality TV series entitled “Duck Dynasty” aired on the A&E network. It portrayed the day-to-day of the wealthy and unusual Robertson family, which owned and operated their massive business called Duck Commander.
The company provides all kinds of products aimed at explorers and hunters, focusing on outdoor recreational activities. For example, the family’s signature product are their duck call whistles, which hunters use to lure in wild ducks and earn themselves a quick meal.
Duck Commander has many other items on offer as well, including all kinds of camo clothes and face paint, deer calls, fishing lures, off-road vehicle modifications and accessories, and various toy and apparel products, ranging from Halloween costumes to figurines representing the franchise.
It’s by far one of the most successful businesses of its kind, with a worldwide reach and a slew of happy investors whose wealth grows exponentially by the year. They are known to sell over 600,000 of just their duck calls annually, bringing Willie Robertson as the CEO a net worth of over $40 million.
However, the reality TV series in question didn’t focus on the financial side of the business. Instead, it served to show the viewers and their millions of customers who the people behind the brand really are. With a great response from the audience, their brand came out even stronger than prior to the series, while the favorite of the family warmed the hearts of both the Robertsons and the fans.
This is of course no one other than Sadie Carroway Robertson, who was only a young girl when the series landed on the TV screen – born on 17 June 1997, she was only 14 years old on the release of the first episode. The contrast between an easygoing and fairly reckless teenage girl and a group of older bearded men dressing like a biker gang made for a very interesting viewing experience.
It also helped the show’s growth that every rugged-looking Robertson was very sweet to Sadie, as all cast members had a soft spot for her. The audience was effectively able to see her grow up in the show, having witnessed her first drive, her prom, and many other childhood endeavors that were brand new to someone of her age.
Obviously she became the fan favorite as well, garnering hundreds of thousands of followers in her subsequent solo career. The show came to a scheduled end five years after its inception, its last episode having aired on 29 March 2017.
This wasn’t the end of the Robertsons in the limelight, however, but only the beginning. With millions hungry for more insight into the lives of “Duck Dynasty” members, the show inadvertently birthed a number of podcasts and even a spin-off series, all of which sprung up due to the fans’ insatiable curiosity, many of them still running in early 2023.
Sadie’s path
Already a celebrity since the very start of the series, Sadie had the honor of being invited to numerous other TV programs even throughout the filming of “Duck Dynasty”, including “Fox and Friends” in 2013, “Inside Edition,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “Entertainment Tonight” in 2014, and many others.
Following the end of “Duck Dynasty,” Sadie almost immediately appeared in her first podcast, which is thought to have driven her towards creating her own sometime later. She was hosted on the “That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs” podcast, and asked a multitude of questions about the family, and how she expected her life to continue after the show.
Fans didn’t have to wait long to get the definite answer to that question, as in 2018 Sadie created the “WHOA That’s Good” podcast. She also became very active on her YouTube channel, which was created on 26 March 2015.
Notably, religion has always been a very important part of the Robertsons’ way of life, which continues to be embodied in Sadie’s own content. Her channel description states ‘If you are looking for Biblical encouragement, words of affirmation, inspirational stories, relationship advice, and other positive style videos then be sure to subscribe to this channel and click the notification bell so you don’t miss out!’
The story behind her having a channel in the first place is also rather peculiar, and it’s best told by Sadie herself in the same description section. It starts with ‘HEYO, welcome to my YouTube channel! My name is Sadie Rob (…now Sadie Robertson Huff). I started my channel by accident after my little sister, Bella Robertson, uploaded a very personal video of me being vulnerable, but I knew shortly after, that I could be a sister and a friend to everyone.’
That said, what she really means to say there is that her platform is provides support and guidance to anyone who might be feeling insecure or lost in life, which is Sadie’s offering to the world as the selfless Christian she strives to be.
The description further states ‘I love sharing videos, as well as blogs, podcasts, and short messages on socials. My hope is that you’re encouraged by these weekly videos, and they help you in finding purpose in life, know that you are loved. New videos posted every Monday and Thursday. If you have questions or ideas, leave a comment!’
As of February 2023, Sadie’s channel has a total of 37 million views, with bits and pieces of her podcasts consistently appearing as fresh videos every three our four days. Ironically, however, her by-far most viewed video doesn’t contain even a touch of the professional editing that is regular on her channel today.
Entitled “just be you and live original | Sadie Robertson,” the video was uploaded on 26 March 2015, while “Duck Dynasty” was at the peak of its popularity. The TV series itself being all the rage back then is surely what made the greatest contribution to her overall video views, and subsequent channel popularity.
https://www.facebook.com/sadiecrobertson/posts/pfbid0MycN9B3xsrghQsGf3QnGhTQjhAXriKxytX1YA4tPE4natAiwh1C5wibppsKYAm81l
In that particular upload, she took the time to talk about life in general, opening with ‘Hey guys, okay, so, I just really wanted to do this because I’ve been seeing a lot of comments on everybody’s Instagram, a lot of tweets, a lot of everything about, everybody’s saying ‘goals’ nowadays.’
Admittedly, 2015 was the time when social media posts related to yearly goals were fairly popular, which further helped Sadie tap into the content creator market, as she was apparently focusing on a current trend.
She continued with ‘They’re saying ‘your relationship goals’ or ‘your eyebrow goals’ or ‘your thigh gap goals,’ or just goals in general. And, like, people are really comparing themselves to others, and they’re really wanting to reach this ‘goal.’ And, so, I wanted to hit you with the reality. And I’m just gonna be straight-up honest about everything.’
One important thing to note is that Sadie uploaded this video without any make-up on, which only served to further prove her points and present her to the world as a girl who is quite confident even in her teenage years.
She said ‘My name is Sadie Carroway Robertson, I’m 5’7” (170cms), I weigh 122lbs (55kgs) and I eat all the time, like, all the time. I’m not toned, I don’t have abs, no, definitely don’t have abs. I do have a thigh gap, but that’s only because I’m really bow-legged and my thighs have never been able to touch.’
This brutally honest approach apparently connected a great deal with the audience, especially all the girls near her age who likely had body image issues at the time, and probably considered Sadie their idol.
To push the point home, she explained ‘The reason why I’m telling you this is because I wanna tell you the reality of things. I struggle with jealousy, and I struggle with comparing myself to other people. I struggle with worry and I’m really hard on myself. I’m just like any other girl. I look in the mirror and I pick out the flaw, which is embarrassing, but it’s true.’
It was obvious from looking at her face that she was reading a script that she wrote earlier, which probably helped a great deal with getting such honest words out onto the internet. She proceeded to smash the illusion of being untouchable, which most celebrities on social media sported at the time.
I hope everyone had a restful weekend… We are looking forward to a fun & exciting week here at LO! Stay tuned 🤩 pic.twitter.com/QDbwYAXxyZ
— Sadie Robertson Huff (@sadierob) June 15, 2020
Sadie explained that she overthinks pretty much all the time, and that she’s very far from perfect, saying ‘I have a hard time with people not liking me, and a lot of the time I assume people don’t like me or whatever. They probably haven’t even thought twice about me.’
She then gave the explanation that pretty much sums up the start of her career as we know it today, stating ‘About a year ago I started preaching about confidence, and that’s mainly because I struggle with confidence, and I thought that maybe by me talking about it, it would help me out. And it actually did, and this is what I realized.’
Sadie proceeded to explain that people should live originally, and not vicariously, that their goals should be their own, and ought to have nothing to do with how others live their lives. This message of confidence and positivity obviously had a significant impact on the viewers, with the video exploding on social media in a matter of weeks.
Sadie later used this popularity to jump-start her career as a public speaker and YouTube content creator, branching out into all kinds of positive advice, especially related to religion and self-improvement.
Live Original
The video was so successful that she chose its main message as the name for her brand – Live Original. An eponymous book was released in the same year as the aforementioned video, while “Live Original Devotional” came in 2016, “Live Fearless” in 2018, “Live” in 2020, “Live On Purpose” in 2021, and “Who Are You Following?” in 2022.
Having been an author and media personality since 2015, Sadie still thought that wasn’t enough, and began to branch out into the entertainment industry, snagging the role of Marlene in “God’s Not Dead 2” from 2016, as well was Chloe in “Sun, Sand & Romance” in 2017.
In the same year she also starred in the music video by Brett Eldredge entitled “The Long Way,” which aside from appearing in a video by College Humor, starring as Charity in 2016’s “I’m Not Ashamed,” and her own self in the short film entitled “Past the Past” from 2017, marks the grand total of her acting career to date.
She also continues to appear in most “Duck Dynasty” spin-offs, specials and podcasts, including “At Home with the Robertsons” from 2021, and “Unashamed with Phil & Jase Robertson” in 2022.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpitj7jpudy/
One of the most significant projects she’s been undertaking over the past couple of years is the LO Sister Conference event, which gathers fans of her books and podcasts from all over the world at various cultural centers, to host prominent self-improvement and religion speakers, as well as many other celebrities who share Sadie’s vision.
She has unequivocal support of the Christian community, with many of their websites constantly promoting LO Sister Conferences. She also has a website on which tickets to these events are sold many months in advance.
Lastly, Sadie’s own Instagram page lists her as a ‘wifey & mommy,’ which aside from her blooming career, is the most important aspect of who she is today. She became engaged to a certain Christian Huff on 9 June 2019, and married him on 25 November of the same year. They have since had a girl named Honey, born on 11 May 2021, while their second child will arrive into the world in June 2023.
