ALL THINGS OAK PARK

Mixing it up with a first solo episode. Interviews to come next time.  Can we really become a more positive person? Anything is possible, right?

Tim Cozzens is a longtime Oak Park resident, a professor at Columbia College Chicago and a woodworker among many other things. Tim and I dive into his crazy childhood, work life and how kids struggle with adulting. 

Paul Clancy is currently a senior investment analyst for CapX Partners in Chicago, an OPRF graduate and my favorite oldest child. On this episode, Paul and I go back to his grade school, middle school and high school life and where Paul is at now. Along with that, he gives some wonderful advice for college students and young adults.  

Back again is Oak Park resident and co-owner of Spilt Milk, Meg Svec. Meg discusses the struggles she has faced trying to keep a bakery open during a pandemic among other unfortunate complications. Listen to find out how Spilt Milk is doing and where you can now find them.

Mia Reynes is a River Forest resident and currently a freshman at College of Dupage and will be heading off to Colorado State University in the fall. Mia speaks on her childhood in River Forest, her high school career, some things this past year has taught her and advice for teens her age about to embark on their own college journey.  

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...

ALL THINGS OAK PARK (PODCAST) RSS 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...

ALL THINGS OAK PARK (PODCAST) RSS 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 too...

ALL THINGS OAK PARK (PODCAST) RSS Amanda Daly is the owner of the bagel shop The Daly Bagel located on Chicago Ave. and Lombard Ave. in Oak Park, Illinois. Like her bagels, Amanda's story is so chocked full of flavor it took two episodes to capture it. In this episode (Part I) Amanda talks about her childhood and her college experiences including what compelled her to switch gears and study A...

ALL THINGS OAK PARK (PODCAST) RSS Yasmin and Sean Cavenagh are mother and son. They are both residents of Oak Park and share the same profession, nursing. Although they have many similarities, their paths to nursing were quite different. Take a listen to Yasmin and Sean tell their stories about how they arrived at the profession of nursing, what they would like to see happen in the future of healt...

ALL THINGS OAK PARK (PODCAST) RSS Henry Griffin has an unusual and fascinating story that at 20 years old has lead him to be an aspiring opera singer and a bird watching tour guide. Henry grew up in Oak Park in a house of music. His dad plays for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and his mom plays for the Chicago Lyric Opera. So, it is no surprise that Henry is now a classical voice major at The Manh...

ALL THINGS OAK PARK (PODCAST) RSS Jill and Brent Showalter live in Oak Park and own three Oak Park businesses; Yuppie Puppy, Doggie Day Play, and Hometown Handyman. Their story began when they were just 12 years old as participants in the world of Drum and Bugle Corps. Learn what brought them to Oak Park and how the lessons they learned as 12 year olds laid the perfect foundation for being busines...

ALL THINGS OAK PARK (PODCAST) RSS Patrick is a third generation Oak Parker who is graduating from University of Southern California. Although Patrick experienced a typical Oak Park childhood, his path to USC was anything but typical. Patrick gives great credit to Triton Community College in helping him achieve his goal of attending USC.

In this episode I talk about my journey to Oak Park, what I found when I arrived and my intent and hope for starting this podcast.