Boonie Babies release new podcast, ‘Hot Girls Rescue Dogs’

To respond to repeated questions that are constantly asked them and to share a more in-depth look combining their personal lives with their mission, sisters Aria and Grace Keilbach of Boonie Babies have created a podcast series called “Hot Girls Rescue Dogs,” which aired its first episode last Oct. 10 on Spotify and Apple Music Podcasts.

Grace Keilbach shared with Saipan Tribune that the podcast is something that she and her sister have been working on for a while now.

“We always get a lot of questions from people, not only on Saipan but around the world too, of how the heck did the two of you end up on this island doing what you’re doing, so we thought that a podcast would be the perfect platform to not only share a bit of more of our own personal lives but further continue to advocate for what we stand for, which is saving the boonies and improving animal welfare on Saipan,” she said,

The term “boonie dog” refers to the many stray dogs on Saipan, many of them descended from World War II dogs that were left on the islands by the U.S. military.

When asked about the reason behind the podcast name, Grace Keilbach said she and her sister had been receiving so much hate online after posting photos with the dogs while wearing their bikinis—comments that try to negate their efforts and all the work that they have done for the island and the dogs.

“…Many people were hating on us and really taking that all away, solely based on the fact that we are two girls and wear our bikinis to the beach. So, we kind of wanted to reclaim that phrase ‘hot girls’ that people have used in kind of a derogatory, negative way and share that there’s so much more to us, just like there’s so much more to a lot more women who are facing the same issues,” she said.

They never really intended for the podcast and the “hot girls rescue dogs” slogan to be that big of a deal but she said that has become a big slogan of Boonie Babies.

“It’s just our way of reclaiming the words and the negativity and saying it doesn’t matter what you think of us or who we are as people. The work that we are doing is making a difference and take it or leave it,” Grace Keilbach said.

The podcasts are available on Spotify and Apple Podcast and they release an episode every Tuesday. They currently have two episodes out now.

“The goal of the podcast is to continue sharing the beauty of Saipan, but [also] the neglect that our island faces from an outside perspective, especially when it comes to animal welfare. …Through a podcast we’re able to more intricately share these details and reach a larger audience,” she said.

She said they are hoping to feature some guests soon “so we’re excited to share another viewpoint from somebody that has got entangled into the happy mess.”

Grace Keilbach said the idea for the podcast first came to them late last year. “We sat down, recorded one episode, and absolutely hated it, and then haven’t picked it up since. And then last month, we decided to actually take this seriously. It’s hard to hear yourself talk. I think a lot of people can relate to that. It’s hard to be proud of your own work and when you’re seeing yourself on the screen or any type of recording or picture. That was one thing we really struggled with, but we decided we’re just going to do it and share what we have,” she said.

The podcast isn’t the only thing up their sleeves these past months. She said they are also coming out with a new “Boonies and Bikinis” calendars. The 2024 calendar would feature many of the amazing women on Saipan and Guam who are active in the rescue scene.

She knows that some people aren’t used to seeing young girls running a rescue while sharing their personal lives, so they are hoping the calendar would be one way to counter that.

“We’re excited to share that [calendar] for many reasons, but one is that in our line of work, we don’t get to do a lot of fun projects. Animal rescue is extremely, emotionally draining; so we’re having so much fun working on something that’s bringing a lot of joy to our lives and we hope is able to raise a lot of money for the dogs as well.” she said.

Boonie Babies currently has 22 dogs in their care that are looking for forever homes.