At My Kitchen Table

Teabags, pull up a seat and join me in welcoming Ali Collier back to my kitchen table!  A few of you reached out after Ali’s episode early in the year to let me know that you’d like to hear more about Mini Baja, a topic that came up randomly during our first episode.  Today, Ali obliges us and dives into the life lessons she learned from her time on RIT’s Mini Baja team. 

In addition to Mini Baja, Ali chats about the dawn of Pro/E and cell phones during her college years, the challenges of being a woman in STEM, how she probably shouldn’t go back to Brazil because of her fingerprints on the gun, the direct line from Mini Baja to her corporate job out of college, and her hopes that fucking Adam from the formula team matured.

Get cozy!

This week's small business spotlight is on Tiger Moth Mercantile.

Find Tiger Moth on Instagram: @tigermothmercantile

Order from Tiger Moth at www.tigermothmercantile.com

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

Welcome to Wednesday, teabags!  The absolutely delightful Monica Cwynar pulls up a seat at my kitchen table to talk about her path to becoming a social worker and clinical therapist.  But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, as she highlights some of the many things she’s done in her life that make her call herself the “Forrest Gump of Pittsburgh.”

Monica chats about the orgy that is this allergy season, how her activism is closely tied to social work, how she doesn’t want to (but will) be the therapist who avenges your death, and the importance of her community of strong women, starting with the women in her family.

Get cozy!

This week's small business spotlight is on Tiger Moth Mercantile.

Find Tiger Moth on Instagram: @tigermothmercantile

Order from Tiger Moth at www.tigermothmercantile.com

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

Teabags, this episode has me locked in on all things music as I welcome Robbie Meixner to my kitchen table to shoot the shit about music and art being the throughline of life.  Robbie also talks about cool cobra drum pedals, why making art for money sucks, friendships rooted in a mutual love of ninja turtles, and how concerts are a connection of souls.

During our yap, Robbie and I go back to our MTV days.  And because of MTV and my own musical throughline, I have what I call “lyric brain” which means my brain autofills song lyrics (and often movie quotes) when I hear certain phrases or combinations of words.  So when I say that we “go back” to MTV – my brain also says that I went back to Cali, to the USSR, to the high life, to the grill again, to where I once belonged, and most importantly, I recognize that I wanna go back and do it all over.  Those of you who get all that, get me.  And you’ll probably get Robbie, too.

Get cozy!

This week's small business spotlight is on Umber Chocolates.

Find Umber Chocolates on Instagram / Threads: @umberchocolatespgh

Find Umber Chocolates on Facebook: \umberchocolatespgh

Order Umber Chocolates at www.umberchocolatespgh.com

NOTE: My sincerest apologies to anyone whose ears are easily irritated - it was a really windy day and I live in a fucking wind tunnel.  So for the first probably 20 minutes, I assumed the "knocking" you can hear in the background was a rattling door.  Turns out, it was the welcome sign that hangs on my door.  I removed that about halfway through the recording, and your ears can rest from that point on.  Jesus, Karen.

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

Welcome to Wednesday, Teabags!  The At My Kitchen Table team finally met the demands of Andrew Mandzy’s team (green M&Ms only) to make podcast magic happen.  Andrew joins me today to talk about what it took for a risk averse Jersey boy to leave his corporate job this year and pursue something new, and to explore his Ukrainian roots and bicultural upbringing.

He also chats about other stuff – like how he became instant BFFs with my sister, having a shiner for his first presentation in a new role, his business associates Chat & Claude, and how his multilingual family confused a French waiter.

I swear he’s not aloof, so pull up a seat and get cozy!

This week's small business spotlight is on Umber Chocolates.

Find Umber Chocolates on Instagram / Threads: @umberchocolatespgh

Find Umber Chocolates on Facebook: \umberchocolatespgh

Order Umber Chocolates at www.umberchocolatespgh.com

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

She's back at the kitchen table (which is also technically her kitchen table, too)!  This week, Kenzie Shaak returns for what started out as a yap about over-the-top parent behaviors, but unraveled into topics like the impact of social media on player image, how parents probably do way too much for their kids, the many referees called Jerry, instituting a hell week, and four good things about a very shitty week.

Welcome to Kenzie's Corner!  Get cozy!

This week's small business spotlight is on Umber Chocolates.

Find Umber Chocolates on Instagram / Threads: @umberchocolatespgh

Find Umber Chocolates on Facebook: \umberchocolatespgh

Order Umber Chocolates at www.umberchocolatespgh.com

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

Welcome to today’s delicious episode where Veronica Molitor, Owner & Chief Executive Chocolatier of Umber Chocolates, pulls up a chair at my kitchen table to talk about how she started her own chocolate business, despite being the one member of her family who didn’t really care for chocolate!

Veronica also chats about being from Texas but loving the snow and cold, the benefits of having the gift of gab, that box of stuff that goes in the cabinets above the fridge through every move, and how we all owe her husband Adam a big thank you for nudging her to pursue her dream job. 

Get cozy!

Find Umber Chocolates on Instagram / Threads: @umberchocolatespgh

Find Umber Chocolates on Facebook: \umberchocolatespgh

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

Teabags, I’m so excited for this week’s guest because I have so much respect for librarians.  They are, in my opinion, the final level adults in the room.  Today at my kitchen table I'm joined by Suzy Waldo, who is a librarian, among many other things.

Suzy is the city kid to my suburban kid, and joins me to talk about the evolution of Pittsburgh neighborhoods, her days a bike messenger, and her path to becoming a librarian for the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh.  She also chats about being passionate about her neighborhood and community, long distance cycling, the many times she's almost died, and setting up your grandma's iPad.  This episode could easily be titled "The Many lives (and near deaths) of Suzy Waldo" or "How I've Traumatized Small Children."

Get cozy!

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

Hey everyone!  I had this fun idea and my guest was game.

This week on At My Kitchen Table, I joined Hadley Haas at her kitchen table to have a get-to-know-you discussion with her.

Hadley is deeply devoted to her family, she’s a fierce advocate, a friend, a hands-on community builder, and an activist. And, oh yeah, she's running for the PA State House of Representatives for District 44.

We get into the importance of service, being a servant leader, and her path to politics.  Hadley also chats about how she got her name, the discomfort of fundraising cold calls, how helping others feeds her soul, and the honor she feels to carry forth her father’s leadership lessons.  Pull up a chair!

PS - I don't know how, but I didn't use any swear words in this episode.  I might still check the "Explicit" box to maintain my cred!

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

It’s Wednesday, so we're heading to the kitchen!  At my kitchen table this week is Heather Capezio.  I knew Heather in the way back of middle and high school, and while we haven’t seen each other much IRL, we’ve stayed connected through socials.

Today, Heather talks about tapping into her creativity, starting her own business, and ultimately leaving her corporate job.  But she chats about a lot of other things well, including her love of theater, her preference of the Mexican dialect of Spanish that we learned in high school (RIP Mrs. Kreeger, 2023), and what it means to her to be "hands and feet" for causes she believes in. 

Heather indulges me by reminiscing about school - the gifted nerdiness, journalism, and choir of it all.  Pull up a chair!

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.

It's another wild Wednesday as I'm joined at my kitchen table by Steven Janofsky. Steven is my former co-worker who became a close friend of the family.  He tends to be relatively private, so when he said he’d come have a yap on the podcast, I thought he'd have some pretty strict guardrails.  He surprised the hell out of me by keeping nothing back.  He talks about things like his ADD (he's old, and that's what it was called back in the 1900s), the solid and nurturing foundation of the Jewish community in his childhood, and being alone versus being lonely.

He does paint every college roommate he had as a maniac, which sounds suspect.  And he admits that he was not a good nerd for a computer guy.  But buckle up, because he also spills some piping hot tea!

Intro riff by Dale Lytle (concert husband).

All content edited (I use that term very loosely) by Karen Shaak.