A conversation with Brady Ragland, Chief Executive Officer of the Amarillo Tri-State Exposition, Fair & Rodeo . A Lubbock native, Ragland grew up showing livestock in the 4-H program before getting into amateur stock and cattle judging at Texas Tech. The connections he made in those worlds led to ag-related work in San Antonio and Alabama before he landed at the Tri-State Expo. With the Fair opening this weekend for its 100th year, Ragland tells host Jason Boyett how his career path brought ...
Sep 11, 2023•45 min•Season 7Ep. 36
A conversation with Nate Green, who owns and operates Starlight Canyon Bed & Breakfast with his wife, Liz. This historic property, located south of Amarillo in the Village of Palisades, is a wedding venue and boutique hotel, and Nate and Liz both have hospitality backgrounds. Before coming to this area, he worked in restaurants at a ski resort in Colorado and served as a diesel mechanic and snow-maker. He explains to host Jason Boyett how his career journey led him to the Panhandle, what mak...
Sep 04, 2023•53 min•Season 7Ep. 35
A conversation with George Jackson , who has just begun his second year as music director of the Amarillo Symphony , guiding the organization during its 100th anniversary season. He's a resident of London, but travels all over Europe to work with symphony orchestras from Paris to Zurich, which has helped shape his perspective on the international reputation of both the Amarillo Symphony and its venue, the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. Jackson shares with host Jason Boyett about his ...
Aug 29, 2023•48 min•Season 7Ep. 34
A conversation with Chad Conner, the executive director of Acts Community . For the past few years, Chad has managed this growing Christian organization, which includes a resource center in San Jacinto and a new downtown community center. Prior to that, this Amarillo native lived in Las Vegas, where he played poker professionally. And during the pandemic, he and his wife, Joy—known together as the Connersseurs—launched an extremely popular Youtube channel dedicated to Indian food and travel. Wit...
Aug 21, 2023•57 min•Season 7Ep. 33
A conversation with Dr. Carolina Perez, a surgical podiatrist with the Amarillo Veterans Healthcare System. Dr. Perez is a veteran of the United States Air Force, and served for several years as a combat medic—including during wartime operations in Iraq—before attending medical school and completing her residency. A native of Colombia, she immigrated to the United States as a child and lived in Florida, Kentucky, and New York City before coming to Amarillo. She tells host Jason Boyett about her ...
Aug 14, 2023•42 min•Season 7Ep. 32
A conversation with Patrick Swindell, one of those guests whose identity isn't easily contained within a single career description. He's a longtime local bankruptcy attorney . He's a prominent jazz musician and the leader of the Esquire Jazz Band. He launched and owned the Esquire Jazz Club on Polk Street before closing it pre-pandemic. He was one of the founders of Ascension Academy and is still chair of that prep school's board of directors. In this episode, Swindell explains these elements of...
Aug 07, 2023•50 min•Season 7Ep. 31
Dr. Shane Harper is the surgical ICU director for Northwest Texas Healthcare System and a professor in the Surgery Department at Texas Tech Physicians . He's also the founding editor-in-chief of the West Texas Journal of Medicine , a new publication that distributes original medical and health sciences research. In this episode, Harper shares with host Jason Boyett about the lifestyle impact of being a critical care specialist, why he decided to launch an independent medical journal, and the dis...
Jul 31, 2023•44 min•Season 7Ep. 31
A conversation with Alyssa Heck Lewis, owner of Hudson House , a senior living community in Canyon and the recent recipient of the Woman-Owned Business of the Year for the West Texas region of the national U.S. Small Business Administration Awards. Lewis bought Hudson House in 2020, during the pandemic, after stints in banking and healthcare administration. She tells host Jason Boyett about the role Hudson House plays for Canyon and surrounding communities, the challenges of serving her resident...
Jul 25, 2023•39 min•Season 7Ep. 30
A conversation with Norbert Chirase, PhD, a former scientist and nutritionist with WTAMU and the founder of GTX Organics and GTX Technologies . Based in Amarillo, Chirase is an expert on humic and fulvic acids and holds multiple patents on applications for human health, agriculture and animal nutrition. GTX manufactures multiple products here in Amarillo—including alkaline "black water"—and exports them all over the world. Chirase tells host Jason Boyett about growing up in Ghana, coming to the ...
Jul 17, 2023•44 min•Season 7Ep. 29
A conversation with Lindsey Lane , one of Amarillo's most in-demand country singers and all-around performers. Originally from Lubbock, Lindsey arrived in this area to pursue an education degree from WTAMU, then taught 3rd-grade math for several years before pursuing music full-time. She shares with host Jason Boyett how she grew up learning the craft from her father, how she decided the time was right to go all-in on her dreams, and offers an expert perspective on the local music scene—includin...
Jul 10, 2023•38 min•Season 7Ep. 28
A conversation with Sherman Bass, the new film commissioner with the Amarillo Film Office and the former general manager of the Amarillo Civic Center. An Amarillo native with a background in acting, Bass worked for the Civic Center across two different stints before a brief retirement last year. In that previous job, he oversaw every detail of the Civic Center—which makes him an expert on the needs and challenges related to the current complex. Regarding his new role, Bass explains to host Jason...
Jul 03, 2023•46 min•Season 7Ep. 27
A conversation with Kathy Lopez, the entrepreneur and owner of Little Bee's Playhouse , a child-focused play and party venue in Wolflin Square. Lopez was a WT grad who went on to work in the corporate event world of the Metroplex, traveling internationally as a specialist in hospitality, marketing and event management. Then she returned to Amarillo. Lopez explains to host Jason Boyett how that move—with young children in tow—inspired her to build a career that was flexible enough to involve her ...
Jun 26, 2023•37 min•Season 7Ep. 26
A conversation with Matt Morgan, the interim director of Outdoor Amarillo and a longtime local volunteer, board member and nonprofit advocate. Morgan walks host Jason Boyett through his diverse career, which includes everything from marketing to human resources, personnel, grant management and more— including his current work with the International Sustainable Energy Foundation. He also shares about the goals and origin of Outdoor Amarillo, an Amarillo nonprofit dedicated to growing community an...
Jun 19, 2023•48 min•Season 7Ep. 25
A conversation with Andrew Brandt , a local novelist and one of the owners of Phone Medic , a smartphone and computer repair business with locations in Amarillo, Canyon and Lubbock. With host Jason Boyett, Brandt shares about these two divergent career paths. In one, he grew a computer repair hobby into a multi-location business—including a new Phone Medic site in Lubbock—by dreaming big and partnering with the right people. In the other, this author of books like Mixtape for the End of the Worl...
Jun 12, 2023•41 min•Season 7Ep. 24
A conversation with Amelia Balderrama, the President and CEO of iDocket , a software company specializing in products for local governments, including statewide case management software used by cities and counties within the Texas judicial system—and potentially beyond. She shares with host Jason Boyett the company's origin story in Amarillo and how it now serves local courts, sheriff's offices and public entities across the state. She also details why Amarillo is the ideal place to operate her ...
Jun 05, 2023•39 min•Season 7Ep. 23
A conversation with Mark Zimmerman, the former Missions and Campus Development Pastor at Hillside Christian Church and the new Executive Director of Transformation Park . A unique public-private partnership designed to address homelessness in Amarillo, Transformation Park serves as a collaboration between the City of Amarillo, local churches and businesses. In this episode, Zimmerman explains the concept to host Jason Boyett, highlighting its drop-in shelter, day room, pallet-home cabin communit...
May 29, 2023•52 min•Season 7Ep. 22
In this special live show recording, host Jason Boyett takes a seat on the other side of the host microphone as he is interviewed by former Amarillo mayor Ginger Nelson at Arts in the Sunset. (Don't miss last week's episode for Jason's in-depth interview of the mayor.) In front of an audience, Nelson asks Jason about entrepreneurship, how he would describe the current moment in Amarillo, and—not a joke—to share his thoughts about the meaning of life. This concludes a two-week celebration of 300 ...
May 22, 2023•28 min•Season 7Ep. 21
A conversation with outgoing Amarillo mayor Ginger Nelson, recorded in front of a live audience at Arts in the Sunset. To celebrate the 300th episode of this podcast, Jason Boyett hosted a live show on May 5, 2023, interviewing Nelson—who'd served as the guest for the very first episode of Hey Amarillo in September 2017. In this episode, Nelson reflects on her tenure as mayor, answering questions about her nationally recognized COVID-19 response, her cancer treatment during the pandemic, the Civ...
May 15, 2023•1 hr•Season 7Ep. 20
A conversation with Maegan Laughlin, AuD, a clinical audiologist with Amarillo Hearing Clinic . Laughlin is a Sunray native who returned to the Panhandle after a prestigious clinical residency at the VA Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee. In Amarillo, she had the opportunity to take over and rebrand Ormson Hearing, a well-known local clinic with more than four decades of history. She shares with host Jason Boyett about her path to audiology, why it's so important for adults to treat heari...
May 08, 2023•44 min•Season 7Ep. 19
A conversation with Rosemary Robinson, who is believed to be the longest-tenured employee in the history of the City of Amarillo . Rosemary began working for the City in 1973 in a position with the Amarillo Public Library, before quickly taking on an administrative role with the Amarillo Police Department. She has spent the past 50 years working for APD—and doesn't have current plans to retire. In this episode, she shares with host Jason Boyett how she ended up in Amarillo after growing up in Mc...
May 01, 2023•32 min•Season 7Ep. 18
Shannon Herrick, M.D. is a long-time local pediatrician and the Regional Chair and Associate Professor for the Amarillo Pediatric Administration at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which has just opened a new pediatrics clinic in southwest Amarillo . In this conversation with host Jason Boyett, Herrick shares how she ended up in Amarillo after growing up in San Antonio, how she balances a medical practice with her educational and administrative duties at TTUHSC, and the impact of th...
Apr 24, 2023•49 min•Season 7Ep. 17
Justin Thompson is a social worker with a career spanning from full-time instruction at WTAMU to several years on staff at Boys Ranch. He recently was profiled in Brick & Elm Magazine about his vintage golf clubs collection and the founding of the Tiger Flight Golf Club at Hamlet Elementary. Thompson tells host Jason Boyett about his career, the Tiger Flight origin story, his golf club addiction, and his sister Hali and advocacy among adults with special needs. This episode is sponsored by J...
Apr 17, 2023•51 min•Season 7Ep. 16
A conversation with Cynthia Barela Graham , a family law attorney and the current chair of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Graham spent time as a criminal defense lawyer before turning her attention to family law, and currently emphasizes an approach known as "collaborative divorce." She tells host Jason Boyett how this mediation process helps couples navigate divorce without mud-slinging or conflict, how she maintains career balance, and why Amarillo's quality of life is so attractive ...
Apr 10, 2023•46 min•Season 7Ep. 15
A conversation with Stephanie Brady, the founder and executive director of Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center . A former vet tech and experienced wildlife rehabber, Brady moved to Amarillo in 2015 only to discover she was the only rehabber in the area with an official permit. Within a year, she had organized Wild West, and last year the organization cared for more than 3,000 orphaned and injured animals. In this episode, Brady tells host Jason Boyett how she first got started, how local pe...
Apr 03, 2023•47 min•Season 7Ep. 14
A conversation with Joe Garcia III, the Chief Revenue Officer for eCatholic . Garcia lives in Amarillo and works remotely for this global tech company, which gives him the time and ability to serve the local community as " JPEG Joe ," a local portrait and sports photographer. He's also the managing partner of Press Pass Sports , an independent publication covering sports in the Texas Panhandle. Garcia tells host Jason Boyett how he found his way to Amarillo in the first place, the winding path i...
Mar 27, 2023•42 min•Season 7Ep. 13
A conversation with Zack Wilson, executive director of High Plains Food Bank . Wilson's first experience with the Food Bank was as a communication intern when he was a WT student. More than two decades later, he's heading up this massive nonprofit, which serves the entire Texas Panhandle and distributes more than 8 million pounds of food a year. In this conversation with host Jason Boyett, Wilson details finding his way into his career, how the pandemic forced an important transformation at the ...
Mar 20, 2023•51 min•Season 7Ep. 12
A conversation with Mary Jane Johnson, the general and artistic director for Amarillo Opera . Before taking that role a few years ago, she was one of the world's great dramatic sopranos in the international opera scene. While based in Amarillo, she performed worldwide, from Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera in New York to the Sydney Opera House in Australia. She's been the subject of a PBS documentary ("Mary Jane Johnson: From the Heart") and shared a stage with Luciano Pavarotti. In this...
Mar 13, 2023•51 min•Season 7Ep. 11
A conversation with Adrian Escobar, the Outdoor Recreation Planner for the Cross Bar Management Area . Escobar is employed by the Bureau of Land Management—a federal agency. The only BLM land in Texas is located just a few miles northwest of Amarillo, and he's working to turn that historic property into a Special Recreation Management Area that includes campsites, trails and other outdoor activities. In this conversation with host Jason Boyett, Escobar explains how he ended up here after growing...
Mar 06, 2023•47 min•Season 7Ep. 10
A conversation with Angela Knapp Eggers, the Senior Managing Director of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health in Amarillo. A former ballerina whose career has spanned both the nonprofit and for-profit spheres, Knapp Eggers worked for cattleman Paul Engler during the big Oprah trial in 1998 and guided the Lone Star Ballet through the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Since 2010, she's worked to improve the lives of women and girls through the Institute. She shares about this journey wi...
Feb 27, 2023•56 min•Season 7Ep. 9
A conversation with Matt Griffith, the vice president of Rockrose Development , the company behind the development of Amarillo neighborhoods including The Colonies, Westover Park and Pinnacle . Griffith began designing houses in high school, worked in planning for the City of Amarillo, and has now spent nearly 30 years with Rockrose. He shares with host Jason Boyett about the role of developers in a city like Amarillo, how he found his way into that role, and why Amarillo is now on the radar of ...
Feb 20, 2023•51 min•Season 7Ep. 8
