Hey Amarillo

A conversation with Courtney White , assistant city attorney for the City of Amarillo. Growing up the daughter of two lawyers, White initially started her legal career in a local firm before shifting her attention to municipal law—one of the most generalist occupations within the legal community. White tells host Jason Boyett what she loves about being a "low-level bureaucrat," what legal work loo...

A conversation with Jim Womack , Executive Director of Family Support Services. A native of southeast Colorado, Jim arrived in the Panhandle for college, and has since served this area in a variety of different roles from the criminal justice system to the nonprofit world. In this conversation with host Jason Boyett, Womack shares about leading Family Support Services through a fire that destroyed...

A conversation with Jackie Nammathao Maldonao, a children's ministry director at the Hillside Amarillo North Grand Campus . Jackie was born in the United States, but her parents arrived in Amarillo as refugees from Laos. She grew up navigating a distinctly multicultural space, honoring her family's traditions while also fully embracing her American identity. In this conversation with host Jason Bo...

In a special Father's Day episode, 19 year-old Owen Boyett interviews his dad, Hey Amarillo host Jason Boyett, about parenting and fatherhood. Owen is a psychology student at Texas A&M University and, in this intimate conversation between father and son, the two discuss parenting, family proximity, growing up in Amarillo, and Jason's relationship with his own father, the late architect Mike Boyett...

A conversation with Taylor Van Valkenburg, the VP of Operations at U.S. Cleaners , a local dry-cleaning business. After growing up here, Taylor didn't think she would return to Amarillo—and definitely didn't plan to lead the family business. But she found out that Amarillo is a fantastic place for entrepreneurship, and U.S. Cleaners has grown significantly in the past few years. She tells host Jas...

A conversation with Josué "Sway" Navarro, the entrepreneur and barber behind the new Renovated Esthetics brand. Sway was born in Durango, Mexico, but grew up in Amarillo. He taught himself to cut hair while attending Caprock High School, converting his tiny bedroom into a makeshift salon to help out his single mom. After graduating, Sway connected with high-profile barbers across the U.S. and move...

A conversation with Gloria Cabrera , a certified health and life coach who works with women who want to lose weight. Raised in Puerto Rico by Cuban parents, Cabrera moved to Amarillo in the 1990s as a young mom with three young children. She set aside her psychology career in the process, only to return to the workforce when her kids had grown—and when her own personal weight gain required some li...

A conversation with Dr. Erin Avirett, an Amarillo-based child psychologist. A specialist in school neuropsychology, Avirett performs neuropsychological assessment and therapy for children and teenagers all over the Texas Panhandle. She also one of the founders of Mind & Child , an online parenting course designed to improve child-parent relationships. In this conversation, she tells Jason Boyett h...

A conversation with Jay Barrett, a longtime academic administrator and the principal of the new AmTech Career Academy . Opened in Fall 2021 by the Amarillo Independent School District, AmTech won the nationwide "Most Innovative Learning Spaces" award from Tech & Learning Magazine and has gained attention all over the United States. Barrett, who began his education in a one-room schoolhouse and tau...

A conversation with Kristin DeRight, owner of Purpose + Passion Boutique . Many of the fashion, decór and gift products carried by this Wolflin Village shop are designed to give back to other organizations. This focus is a culmination of DeRight's unique background, which includes stints in the nonprofit world, fashion and retail merchandising, and online sales. In this conversation with host Jaso...

A conversation with Casie Stoughton, Director of Public Health for the city of Amarillo. Since COVID-19 arrived here in March of 2020, Stoughton has been the public face of the city's pandemic response. In this conversation with host Jason Boyett, Stoughton shares why she choose public health as a career, how the city rolled out its vaccine distribution so efficiently, and how she and her team hav...

A conversation with Chris McGilvery, founder and executive director of the Leaders Readers Network (LRN) and a Ph. D. student at Texas Tech University. A long-time educator who came to Amarillo after stints in central Texas, New York State, and the Caribbean island of Dominica, McGilvery started his nonprofit to help improve literacy programming in local school districts. He tells host Jason Boyet...

A conversation with Kaytie Gann, the owner and creator of Hollow Dot Designs . After living in Canada and Europe, Gann eventually settled in Amarillo and launched her jewelry brand in 2016. Her delicate Welded Forever bracelets—which are permanently attached to the wrist—have gained a huge local following, turning jewelry-buying into an immersive experience. She tells host Jason Boyett how her bus...

A conversation with Dr. Priscella Correa , Assistant Professor of Nursing at West Texas A&M University. Originally from southwest Kansas, Correa entered nursing after seeing the ways her parents were treated by the medical profession. She tells host Jason Boyett how she now hopes to educate the next generation of nurses to provide care without bias. Correa is just one of 12 Texans chosen this year...

A conversation with Eric Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of Education Credit Union . Jenkins has been working in the credit union world for decades, but only came to ECU—and Amarillo—in 2019. He's originally from South Carolina and spent the last several years in Atlanta. He shares with host Jason Boyett about his decision to move to Amarillo, what impresses him about this community, and what rol...

A conversation with Vicki Wilmarth , an employment law attorney and business transactions lawyer with more than 30 years in the business. With host Jason Boyett, Wilmarth details the challenges local businesses have faced over the past two years, and also helps explain the worker shortages that persist today. Vicki is also a passionate birder and photographer , and shares why the Texas Panhandle i...

A conversation with Joe Bill Sherrod , the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Amarillo College and Executive Director of the AC Foundation. What those two lengthy titles mean is that, among other duties, Sherrod serves as an institutional fundraising professional. He spent several years in a similar role for WTAMU, preceded by careers in personal insurance and youth ministry. In this c...

A conversation with Glenda Moore, the proprietor of Kind House Ukraine Bakery , an Amarillo nonprofit that has been raising money for Ukraine since 2014. A former elementary teacher and assistant principal, Moore fell in love with Ukraine and its people after a mission trip. She began baking to raise money for Ukrainians in need, and eventually left her education career to manage Kind House full t...

A conversation with Stephen Crandall , the newly named artistic director for the TEXAS Outdoor Musical. Currently finishing up a career as Department Head and Professor of Theatre at WTAMU, Crandall will assume his new leadership position for the 56th season of the storied musical in Palo Duro Canyon. In this episode, Crandall shares with host Jason Boyett about his acting career before WT, his po...

A conversation with Gayle Callahan, the President and CEO of Plains Plumbing . After a multi-faceted career that included a stint as a corporate pilot, Gayle assumed leadership of a multi-generational family business after her husband's death from cancer. Today, the Amarillo-based Plains Plumbing serves customers from Georgia to California. In this episode, Gayle shares with Jason Boyett about her...

A conversation with Katie Wieck, the broker/owner of Wieck Realty . After growing up in and around a variety of Amarillo schools, Katie got into the real estate business within a year of her high school graduation. Incredibly, she bought her first home at the age of 19. In this episode, Wieck tells host Jason Boyett how she got into the business, why she decided to become a broker, and what's happ...

A conversation with John Forbis , coordinator of district communications for Canyon ISD. A former teacher and administrator, Forbis arrived in Amarillo several years ago after working in the Metroplex and in Bryan/College Station. He and his family ended up falling in love with this area. Forbis shares with host Jason Boyett details about the new West Plains High School, how he uses social media t...

A conversation with Strecia McCaig, owner of On Target Amarillo and an honorably retired sergeant with the Amarillo Police Department. After 26 years of service with APD, McCaig opened a firearms training business that specializes in teaching women how to shoot or hunt. With host Jason Boyett, she shares about being one of just a few female officers at APD, her path from patrol officer to sergeant...

A conversation with Trevor Caviness, the president of Caviness Beef Packers , a multi-generational family business that processes nearly a million head of cattle per year. Despite being privately owned, Caviness is one of the largest beef-packing businesses in the United States, with products sold around the world. In this conversation with host Jason Boyett, Trevor discusses his decision to work...

A conversation with Marcie Steward, a local entrepreneur and minister who works at Park Central . Marcie grew up in Amarillo, dropped out of high school, and became homeless—as a single mother—before getting back on her feet through the assistance of Martha's Home. With host Jason Boyett, Marcie shares how she overcame those challenges through a combination of grit, faith, and the safety net Marth...