Hey Amarillo

A conversation with Bowden Jones Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer at FirstBank Southwest. Bowden is involved with a variety of community nonprofits and is one of the creators of the Northside Toy Drive. He shares with host Jason Boyett about his military-kid upbringing, coming Amarillo after having lived in Panama, how he stumbled into a successful banking career, and why he's optimistic about progress toward racial reconciliation in Amarillo. This episode is sponsored by Wieck Realty.

A conversation with Austin Sutter, executive director of the Amarillo Hockey Association. A native of Red Deer, Alberta, he tells host Jason Boyett about arriving in Amarillo 15 years ago as a professional hockey player and deciding to stay even after his playing career ended. He believes Amarillo is on the verge of becoming a thriving hockey city and explains how the Amarillo Ice Ranch—a year-round ice facility currently under construction—will transform local athletics. This episode is sponsored by Shemen Dental.

A conversation with Karah Gilbert, the founder of Solidarity Isn't Silent and an employee of Randall County's Youth Center of the High Plains. Karah shares with host Jason Boyett about her work with young people in the criminal justice system. They also discuss her multi-faceted organization, which began this summer as a way to stand up to the injustice faced by Black residents in Amarillo and across the country. This episode is sponsored by Blue Handle Publishing and SKP Creative.

A conversation with Devenie Graham, artistic director for the brand-new Sharpened Iron Studios, a newly launched company that is working to bring Hollywood-level film and TV production to the Texas Panhandle. An actor/model who worked in New York City and Los Angeles before returning to Amarillo, Devenie shares with host Jason Boyett why Amarillo is the perfect location for a major motion picture studio and how the city can become a cultural character of its own. This episode is sponsored by Bivins Pointe and La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries.

A conversation with Kishore Yalamanchili, MD, a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center assistant professor and local Division Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care. Having spent the pandemic treating COVID-19 critical care patients—and sharing about it on Facebook—Dr. Yalamanchili shares with host Jason Boyett about his career, his unlikely social media prominence, and why he has chosen to live and practice in Amarillo. This episode is sponsored by Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Kyla Frye, Executive Director of the WT Enterprise Center. The Enterprise Center is central to Amarillo's economic ecosystem, and Kyla shares with host Jason Boyett how the WTEC is helping local people launch new businesses and improve existing ones. They also discuss the Wire Accelerator program for early-stage tech startups, including why this area is building a reputation as a great place to start a company. This episode is sponsored by Wieck Realty and SKP Creative.

A conversation with Mugisha Aime, a mechanical engineer who recently graduated from Texas Tech. After Mugisha's family fled genocide in Rwanda, he grew up in a refugee camp in Tanzania. Eventually they resettled in the U.S. when Mugisha was in his early teens. He shares with host Jason Boyett about what it was like to enter American school with no English, and how one teacher at Palo Duro High School transformed his experience by giving him the confidence to succeed. This episode is sponsored by Pesttex, Shemen Dental and La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries.

A conversation with Megan Eikner, a local agriculture and natural resource agent with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Her job is wide-ranging and complex, but it's largely educational in nature. She helps local farmers understand the latest ag science and research, sharing with them the techniques that work best for the Texas Panhandle. A native of southeast Colorado, Megan also explains why she decided to plant herself in Amarillo. This episode is sponsored by Blue Handle Publishing and Bivins Pointe.

A conversation with Liz Rascon Alaniz, a doctoral candidate at WTAMU and executive director of the Wesley Community Center. The Wesley is located in the heart of the Hispanic Barrio and has a long history of serving that historic neighborhood. Born in the Texas Panhandle to parents who immigrated from Mexico, Liz shares about her family's search for opportunity, the unique gifts of the Barrio to Amarillo's larger community, and the multiple generations who benefit from the Wesley and its programming. This episode is sponsored by Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Michael Timcisko, executive director of the Panhandle AIDS Support Organization (PASO). As Pride month concludes, Michael tells host Jason Boyett about coming of age as a gay man during the height of the AIDS pandemic, and how that has informed PASO's efforts to serve HIV-positive individuals. (It also has interesting parallels with the current moment, as our society learns to live with a deadly virus.) They also discuss how shifting local attitudes in recent years related to LGBTQ issues have given Michael a sense of hope. This episode is sponsored by Wieck Realty and SKP Creative.