ALL THINGS OAK PARK

Pat Carew is longtime resident of Oak Park. Pat talks about his wonderful childhood in Arlington Heights, discovering his love of reading, the college years, the courtship of his wife Kathleen and owning a water purification business. Pat also gives some unique Oak Park recommendations.

Bethany O'Brien is an Oak Park resident and an emerging writer of young adult fiction. Bethany talks about her childhood in Peoria, majoring in music during college, a pit stop in the pageant world, law school, working as a trust lawyer, landing in Oak Park and writing, her latest jam.

Melissa is an Oak Park resident, chef, food writer, editor and author of the column Oak Park Eats. Melissa talks about her Wisconsin childhood, moving to Chicago, cooking school and her accidental foray into food writing. 

Shana Taveras is a River Forest resident and the owner of Blackout Bakery. Shana talks about growing up in South Dakota and heading east for school and work in fashion. Shana describes her adventure living in Europe with her husband and the move back to the States, being a parent and her early and current days as the Blackout Bakery business owner.

Meg Svec is an Oak Park resident co-owner of the OakPark bakery, Spilt Milk. Meg talks about majoring in Arabic and Political Science, grad school and professional life in the computer science world and her sharp right turn into bakery ownership.

Laura Pekarik is an Oak Park resident and the owner of Courageous Bakery in Oak Park and Elmhurst. Laura's heartwarming cupcake journey begins in an attempt to help a sister during a family crisis and blossoms until a successful professional journey that continues through today.

Anthony Pipitone is the owner of Oak Park Bakery located on Oak Park Ave. and Garfield Blvd. in Oak Park,IL. Oak Park Bakery is my favorite bakery. Anthony talks about working in the bakery as a teen when his dad owned the bakery and now being the owner for over 25 years. Anthony also talks how items are selected to be sold, what is the best selling item and how he will never compromise on quality.

Lisa Parker is a resident of Oak Park and a newswoman. Lisa works as a Consumer Investigative Reporter for NBC 5 Chicago. In this episode Lisa talks about growing up as a curious and somewhat nosy kid in Arlington, VA. Lisa describes her years at Northwestern University and her ups and downs as a newswoman on the journey to her finding her home at NBC 5 Chicago. Finally, Lisa shares the reason for her love of Oak Park and her Oak Park recommendations. 

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Liam Loughran is a film student at the University of Southern California. Liam grew up in Oak Park on the 500 of North Elmwood Ave. in the company of many other talented young artists. Liam discovered his love of filmmaking at a young age and has been honing his craft ever since. Liam offers advice for young filmmakers which also serves as great advice for anyone trying to succeed in anything in life. You can watch Liam Loughran's films on his website loughranproductions.com.

In Part II Amanda Daly owner of the Oak Park bagel shop, The Daly Bagel, talks about her bagel journey. Amanda tells about how The Daly Bagel sprouted from a challenge from her son which turned her home kitchen into a bagel making machine. Amanda also describes all the highs and lows she has experienced on the way to landing in her own retail space and what it took to open the doors of the bagel shop (smack in the middle of a pandemic). Amanda gives her Oak Park recommendations and expresses heartfelt and genuine appreciation for all those who have helped her get to this point in business.