Hey Amarillo

A conversation with Marcus Snead, the executive chef at The Barfield and the three-time winner of the "Top Chef Amarillo" competition at Restaurant Roundup. Snead grew up in Canyon before leaving the area for a culinary education, which took him from New York City to the East Coast to Santa Fe to a Michelin-rated restaurant in Chicago. After returning to the Panhandle, he helped launch and operate Canyon's late, great Barrel & Pie until its closure in 2020. Snead shares with host Jason Boyett about his restaurant history, what it's like to oversee dining at Amarillo's most famous hotel, and how the local food culture has changed over the past two decades. This episode is supported by SKP Creative on behalf of The Amarillo Tribune.

A conversation with Lauren Hough, the New York Times bestselling author and essayist. Her critically acclaimed 2021 book, Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing, details her upbringing in a doomsday cult, her eventual Air Force stint and other careers, and includes several mentions of the years she spent in Amarillo as a child and then a teenager. Hough shares with host Jason Boyett about the role Amarillo played—and continues to play—in the story of her life, how she has become the Panhandle correspondent for Texas Highways, and why being from West Texas carries a lot of currency in the world. This episode is supported by Storybridge and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Sheila Sims, a long-time local architect and the president of Sims + Architects. Her firm has designed many prominent local buildings, from the new Amarillo City Hall to the FirstBank Southwest Center at AC to the Harrington Cancer and Health Foundation building near the Medical Center. After earning a degree from Texas A&M, Sims returned to Amarillo to work for Lavin Architects as an intern—and never looked back. She shares with host Jason Boyett about taking over leadership of Lavin right before the pandemic, why she loves being an architect in Amarillo rather than the Metroplex, and what it's like for her work product to be visible to everyone in the community. This episode is supported by Sheman Dental and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Steve Burton, the executive director of Children's Learning Centers of Amarillo, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in April. A Colorado native, Burton arrived in Amarillo after having launched Boys & Girls Clubs in rural towns in both Colorado and Texas. He spent six years leading the Maverick Club before moving to Children's Learning Centers, which provides quality, low-cost childcare to the people of this area. Burton shares with host Jason Boyett about the history of his nonprofit, his ongoing career as an ice hockey official, and why 2025 Amarillo feels like the Colorado Springs of the 1990s. This episode is supported by Amarillo Habitat for Humanity and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Shilee Pearson of RuffLife K9 Training. A former horse trainer who grew up in Nebraska, Pearson pivoted to establish an award-winning dog-training business in Omaha. But two years ago, she moved to Amarillo in pursuit of a relationship. (They ended up getting married.) Pearson shares with host Jason Boyett—who happens to be a client—what it's like to uproot your business and start over in a new place, why her approach to dog training tends to stand out in the Panhandle, and why dog culture in Amarillo is different from anywhere else she's worked. This episode is supported by PestTex Pest Control and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Meaghan Collier, the communications and marketing manager for the Amarillo campus of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Collier was recently named 2025 Volunteer of the Year at the Brickly Awards. A native of Canyon, she spent several years as a local television journalist with KAMR 4 Local News. Locals recognize her from that career, but may not know that she spent a year in post-Katrina New Orleans with Teach for America. Collier shares with host Jason Boyett why journalism became her passion, why her year in New Orleans was the most transformative of her life, and why volunteering in this community is so central to her identity. This episode is supported by La-Z-Boy of Amarillo and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Greg Lusk, the executive director of Amarillo Botanical Gardens, a four-acre oasis near Medi-Park. Lusk is a trained horticulturalist, and right out of college he worked as the private gardener for legendary local businessman T. Boone Pickens. More recently, Lusk has spent the past decade with the Botanical Gardens, leading that organization through a period of growth thanks to seasonal attractions like Christmas in the Gardens and its position as a premier event venue for the community. Lusk shares with host Jason Boyett about the important role his organization plays in the region, and what it's like to make a career out of cultivating beauty in a hostile environment. This episode is supported by SKP Creative and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Marcee Mangiameli, who owns and operates the new Lesson Lounge in Amarillo along with her husband Taylor. This music education co-working space allows multiple music teachers to give lessons on a variety of instruments, offering a relatively new concept in Amarillo. Most of the instructors are local performers in the live music scene. A pianist herself, Marcee shares with host Jason Boyett how she and Taylor came up with the idea, why they returned to the Panhandle after living in other big cities, and why the Lesson Lounge concept may already be heading elsewhere in the state. This episode is supported by Shemen Dental, Storybridge, and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Lindsay London Baker, a registered nurse and one of the founders of the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance (ARFA), a local nonprofit formed, in part, to oppose the City of Amarillo's sanctuary city ordinance in 2024. When voters voted against Prop A last November, Amarillo became the first city in the United States to reject an abortion travel ban proposition. Lindsay shares about her nursing career, her early activism, and how she ended up the voice of ARFA in national news stories about Amarillo's opposition to the ordinance. She also shares with host Jason Boyett what her activism has taught her about the people of the Texas Panhandle. This episode is supported by Amarillo Habitat for Humanity and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

A conversation with Chris Griffin, who owns Blue Crane Bakery with his wife, Donna. The Griffin family recently were named Entrepreneurs of the Year in the Brickly Awards, and have built a reputation at Blue Crane not just for unique Keto-friendly, vegan and gluten-free baked goods, but for community involvement. In this episode, Chris tells host Jason Boyett about his transition from the Fort Worth nightclub scene to motorcycle mechanic to baker, how meeting Donna online brought him to Amarillo, and how the need for open-heart surgery transformed his mindset and career. This episode is supported by La-Z-Boy of Amarillo and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.