From Russellville to Netflix

RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. – “I loved growing up in Russellville and people till this day still ask me ‘Where you from?.’ And I always get so excited to say I’m from Russellville, Kentucky.” said Kesi Neblett.

Kesi Neblett is the youngest daughter of civil rights veteran Charles Neblett. Over the years, she attended Russellville High School, went on to Gatton Academy at Western Kentucky University, then made her way to Columbia University, playing division 1 volleyball and majoring in computer science engineering.

After graduation in 2017, Neblett went on to work at Goldman Sachs in New York for almost four years before deciding to tap into her more creative and adventurous side, quitting her corporate job in order to pursue things like travel. The next day, a classmate from Gatton reached out to her and asked if she’d be interested in auditioning for a game show. Ironically enough, Neblett grew up in a TV-free household but agreed to take the chance on the show.

After four months of filming in Australia, Neblett comes to us as a contestant on “The Mole”. If you aren’t familiar with the show, it’s a reality game show where 12 contestants vie for a cash prize, but, unfortunately for the other 11 players, one of them is aptly, the mole.

In her interview with News 40, Neblett made sure to give much thanks to her parents for how she turned out today. As the daughter of Black Americans who grew up through the Jim Crow era, she said they raised to be confident in herself and her abilities.

“If you didn’t like something, you change it. If someone tells you no, figure out a way to turn that no into a yes. And that meant if I was in school and a course was really difficult, it didn’t mean I was stupid, or I wasn’t intelligent, it just meant I needed to change something.” the Netflix star added. 

She also said that being on “The Mole” had a lot of semblance to real life, telling us “… I say that because in life I’m oftentimes talking to people, getting to know them but getting to know them in a way that’s a little bit deeper. Like what makes you happy, what about your past makes you make the decisions you make today?”

Of course if you want to know who the mole is and who won the money, you’ll have to check out the show for yourself on Netflix.