PizzaFace

We start this episode off by catching up with each other since we last met, Brian, tells the group about his crazy week. The crew then jumps into this week’s featured topic, Fellowship. The crew shares how they have each found fellowship, some on purpose, some on accident. Fellowships can be many things, a church group, a podcast, a sports group, a weekly business meetup. Are you a part of any fellowships?

Brian shares some past times when he wouldn’t share all the details in fear of giving away too many secrets. Over time it has been shown that the more you can share the more you can receive. The crew shares how the podcast has formed a fellowship, where we can learn and share what we know to better each other. If you have a fellowship you wouldn’t like to share or any ideas for future episodes email us at [email protected]

We would like to use this episode of PizzaFace to remember John C. Kelleher. Brian looks back on the great memories of his brother.

Disclaimer: we experienced microphone problems throughout this episode. The material throughout this episode is too good to let go unheard. We apologize for technical error and we have learned to do better.

John C. Kelleher, III, MD

1970-2020

John died peacefully on the morning of January 26, 2020, surrounded by his family in West Hollywood, California. He was 49.

Born in Dallas, Texas, December 9, 1970 – his paternal grandmother’s 50th birthday – John touched many lives throughout his lifetime in all the places he lived: Dallas, TX; Toledo, OH; Amarillo, TX; Providence, RI; Nagoya, Japan; New York City, NY; and Los Angeles, CA. Those who were fortunate to know John loved him deeply. John demonstrated a genuine kindness and compassion for every person he encountered. His ever-gracious demeanor garnered him friendships wherever he went. Even in his last days, he was fist-bumping doctors, complimenting a nurse on her earrings, and offering friends and visitors food and drink. Brain cancer robbed John of his language, but not his uncanny ability to make a person feel special and loved. His smile was endearing, laugh infectious, and silliness adored.

John was a dedicated actor, director, singer, dancer, cellist, and pianist. He played Linus, Snoopy, Little John, and countless other memorable parts at the Amarillo Little Theater when he was young. He later studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. He played the cello at his sister’s wedding. He was the Nutcracker Prince in Amarillo.

He was a waiter, serving seafood towers for many years at Balthazar in New York City.

He was a reader, art lover, traveler, and knitter.

He was a consummate host.

He was a perpetual student. John graduated from Brown University in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and East Asian Studies, studied abroad in Nagoya, Japan, and was fluent in Japanese. He studied medicine, also at Brown, with an emphasis on psychiatry, and completed his residency in psychiatry at UCLA.

So that he could deepen his understanding of the mind and further help his patients, John was in the process of completing his psychoanalytic training at The New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. John was renowned by his colleagues for his kindness and compassion, and the ability to treat difficult patients. His patients called him their friend.

He was a cherished friend, son, and brother.

He was Greg’s dear husband.

He was Phoebe’s ever-loving Papa.

While this is the end of a truly extraordinary life, it is not the end of his legacy. John will live in all of us in the ways he impacted us, and in our hearts, minds and souls.

John is survived by his loving husband, Greg Okin, and his adventurous beautiful daughter, Phoebe Okin-Kelleher, of Los Angeles, CA; his parents, John and Cindy Kelleher of Amarillo, TX and Vail, CO; his siblings, Kristin Danford and husband Scott, (children Henry and Kelly) of Englewood, CO, Brian Kelleher and wife Amanda (children Deaven, Callie and Brenna) of Amarillo, TX, and Brooke Cozort and husband Craig (children Owen and Margaret) of Littleton, CO; and his grandmother who shares his birthday, Rose Mary Kelleher, of Toledo, OH. He was preceded in death by his grandfather John C. Kelleher, Sr. MD, and grandparents E. Henry and Harriet Leiphart, also of Toledo, OH and Naples, FL.

A celebration of John’s life will be held in Amarillo, Texas at Boxwell Brothers Funeral Home at 4 pm on Sunday, February 16, 2020. A service will also be held in Los Angeles, California at a future date, to be determined. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider a donation to the LA Gay and Lesbian Center (https://donate.lalgbtcenter.org/), Amarillo Little Theater, Heal the City Free Clinic of Amarillo, or a charity of your choice.

We would like to thank everyone for all the care, concern and love. John certainly deserved and inspired devotion. He was just so easy to love.

Donations can be made to Amarillo College Conservatory Theater.

We are back, after a slight hiatus from recording. We touch on the holidays and reasons we have been absent. The episode then kicks off with a closing of the decade and a quick look back on what has changed and where life has taken the crew through the years. You can’t reminisce about the past without looking towards the future, so the crew shares what they are looking forward to most in the next year and what can happen by 2030. Over the last ten years, 575 has gone from the original location being around just three years, to now we have a second location that’s coming up on its fourth. With 575 celebrating its Fourteenth year, Brian’s hopes for 2020 is to redefine the core values of 575, refreshing the name and ideas behind it. Brian shares a potential future guest and what events in 2020 that he is looking forward to. The crew looks back at all the podcast episodes and share reasons why we love doing it. If you have any questions for the PizzaFace crew or think you could be a potential guest, email us at [email protected].

We are on location in this week's episode of PizzaFace, with Kaleb and Trever of Pondaseta. We start with the origin story of Pondaseta and how Trever and Kaleb's partnership started and transformed into a brewery. We are excited to announce the showing of Warren Miller's Timeless. In honor of the Timeless premiere, we have teamed with Pondaseta Brewing and will premiere our collaboration beer, the Mid Nougat Stout, the night of the event. The Warren Miller event will be held at 575's Hillside location on Sunday, January 12th at 2:00 pm and 5:30 pm. If you want to try some great locally brewed beer, you can stop by Pondaseta's tap house on 7500 SW 45th, Amarillo, Texas 79119. If you have any questions for the PizzaFace crew or any suggestions for future episodes, you can email us at [email protected].

Music is a major part of most people's lives, you hear it in every retail store or restaurant you go in as background noise. Whether you notice the music or not, here at 575 we take our playlist curation very seriously. Brian's attempt to change up the music that plays in the restaurants has proved to be a harder task than it perceived. The group talks music in all its forms in this episode, with Apple and Spotify's year-end review release, the group shares their results. The group also dives in on how important the background music while you're sitting down and enjoying a meal. Are you a fan of live music in a restaurant? 575 on Civic Circle host Andy Chase every Tuesday night. The group looks forward to where the restaurant music flow can go and what to look out for in the future in 575. If you have any questions for the crew at PizzaFace, you can email [email protected].

This week we have Seth Thatcher, a childhood friend of Brian’s, on the podcast. Seth starts off the episode introducing himself to the listeners and shares the story of how his brother, Steve Thatcher started and sold an Amarillo based coffee shop, Roasters.

Brian and Seth look back on the starting process and reflect on how business owners' families can get involved in a small start-up business.

The crew brings up the future of food delivery services, and Brian shares his experiences with third-party food delivery services. Seth and Tamar both share how these services can help when you have a family.

Seth shares how he became a commercial realtor, and some of the headaches that have come along with that. The crew talks about the future of retail stores and how it has changed so quickly.

Brian pays tribute to Seth’s father Tom, founder of Thatcher Realtors, and shares how he impacted his life. Thank you, Seth, for stopping by PizzaFace, if you have any comments or questions you can email us @[email protected]

In Brian’s search to better understand his employees, he asked each of his 575 managers to write down three goals for the week. Brian shared how his idea worked out in their weekly manager meeting and this brought the crew to a personal and professional goal-setting. Some people today don’t practice goal setting and the crew shares how it can be beneficial to most people. practicing goal setting can bring several roadblocks, and these roadblocks can seem impossible to get around. Brian and Marcus each share what this roadblock can look like and some techniques to get around them. The goals you set are only as important as the purpose of that goal. Creating the why is emphasized in this conversation and tools and resources are given.

If you have any questions or topic ideas for the PizzaFace crew, you can email us @ [email protected]

Brian starts off the episode with an article from Jake Mooney, interviewing Joel Cummins, keyboardist for Umphrey’s McGee. This leads the crew into the world of mental health. How can business owners make sure their employees understand the importance of mental health? How can that​ owner then reach out to their employees when they need it without reaching too far? These are a few problems the crew tries to solve this week. Tamar and Christopher point out how Brian as an owner has taken those extra steps with 575. There have been too many artists taken too early from mental health over the years. the crew tried to tackle why these artists see no other way out, and how we can relate that to coworkers and how we can then help each other get through life’s hurdles. Work consumes a major part of our day and our lives. This time spent with those we work with can create a close relationship and allow us to talk through those life questions with those coworkers. Brian has his weekly Seth Godin blog post ready referencing enthusiasm in what we do. Seth’s blog asks "does enthusiasm come from within or is it created by a great event or atmosphere".Brian shares his tactics to start the day for success. The crew shares some of the things they struggle with that could lead to a better lifestyle. If you have any questions or topic ideas for PizzaFace, you can email us at [email protected]

Are you a self-learner? Or are you better at going through a class and a curriculum? Throughout most of our adolescence, we are taught to ask the question, is this on the test? We go through grade school learning only to check a box or pass a test, instead of learning​ for the love of knowledge. The PizzaFace crew discusses whether college is necessary for everyone. Brian has a Seth Godin quote ready for this week’s episode, as usual. That brings the crew to touch on college and how its very important for some careers and the way some people learn, but not always necessary for all. The crew shares what they each enjoyed about the college experience, and how it helped their career path. Experience can go just as far as a college degree in today’s job place. Why once we earn that degree do we think it's a good idea to stop learning? The school system sets up a finish line and once we pass that finish line we forget that knowledge is infinite. With the number of restaurants that are thriving in Amarillo, Brian brings up the idea of a high school level hospitality class to help the youth be able to jump into the restaurant world with a head start. Restaurants usually work as a stepping stone to help employees jump to the next level of their careers. The crew talks about how a high school level class could help these students who plan to use the restaurant business as a stepping stone to be better prepared in the real-world workplace. This leads the crew to talk on how can they help motivate 575 employees to want to learn more about how to improve their daily work. We’ve all felt like we are standing still at times in our career, how did you get through that rut? If you wanna share comments or have questions for the PizzaFace crew you can email us @ [email protected]

We celebrate our 25th episode! Thank you to all the listeners who make this podcast possible. The crew looks back on where Pizzaface has come from and some of the things we look forward to in the coming episodes. The crew shares some of their favorite podcast that they listen to regularly. Have you ever had to market something to the public? Brian and Tamar share of insight on how they handle the social media accounts for 575 and how they are trying to create a relationship with customers and fans of 575. Social media is the forefront of getting a name out to the public and create a brand. Brian shares some 575 history of how he has handled marketing in the past and some of the tasks that he had to tackle to get 575 where it is today. Have you ever wondered where 575 the name comes from? Brian shares that story and more of how 575 became a staple here in Amarillo. Gourmet pizza and craft beer was the idea behind 575, but in thirteen years it has transformed into so much more. Do you enjoy 575 Pizzeria regularly? If so make sure you join our rewards program with Thanx. Brian shares why he decided to offer a rewards program to reward our regular guest. If you were lucky enough to experience P3 in the past, then you understand why events have been a major part of 575 since the beginning. The crew takes a look back on some past events and shares some upcoming events coming to 575. If you have any questions for the PizzaFace crew you can email us at [email protected].​