Hey Amarillo

Kari Bachman, Senior Services Director at the Warford Activity Center, has spent her career helping people thrive. From serving in the Peace Corps to leading camps and nonprofit organizations across the country, her work has always centered on building connections, strengthening communities, and supporting those who need it most.

Today, that mission continues through her leadership ...

Few people get a closer look at a community than a police officer.

Over the course of his career with the Amarillo Police Department, Matt Adams has served in roles that have taken him into nearly every corner of the city—from patrol and school resource officer assignments at local campuses to the juvenile gang unit, and now moving into homicide investigations. Each position h...

Daniel Rosenbach and his family are restoring Amarillo's historic helium plant and transforming it into a new community gathering place.

In this conversation, we explore the fascinating history behind Amarillo becoming the "Helium Capital of the World," including the plant's role in wartime efforts and its decades of operation before being decommissioned.

We also talk about the chal...

Amber Asher is a neuroscientist focused on brain health and aging, but the work she's doing extends far beyond research.

Alongside her mother—a longtime nursing home nurse—Amber is helping communities have more honest, informed conversations about dementia, Alzheimer's, and the mental health challenges that often come with aging. Together, they're combining science, live...

Ricky Treon is the director of publishing at Blue Handle Publishing—one of Amarillo's own small, independent publishing houses.

Ricky's path into publishing isn't a straight line. He came up in the newspaper world, witnessing firsthand the rapid shifts and challenges that reshaped the industry. From there, he moved into writing, explored acting, and ultimately found himself he...

In this episode of Hey Amarillo, we sit down with Paige Nester, the owner of Creek House Honey Farm—a place that's so much more than its name suggests. What started as an apiary has grown into a full experience: a farm, café, event venue, shop, and home to everything from handcrafted mead to skincare products.

Paige is th...

This week on Hey Amarillo, I sit down with Jamelle Conner, president of Amarillo College.

We talk about her upbringing in Florida and the path that eventually brought her to Amarillo, along with what it's really like to lead one of the most important ...

Episode Description

Jody Holland has spent his career studying people—how we think, how we change, and what actually makes that change possible.

As an executive coach, he works with leaders and teams to improve the way they sho...

Judge Titiana Frausto always knew she wanted to serve on the bench—she just didn't expect it to happen so early in her career.

In this episode, she shares what it looked like to move through law school and into practice, working in both criminal and family law and the realities that come with each. We talk about the weight of that work, the perspective it b...

There are certain places in Amarillo that feel like more than just a restaurant—they feel like part of the fabric of growing up here. Sharky's Burrito Company is one of those places.

I this episode, we sit down with Brent Epps, the longtime owner of Sharky's, to talk about the restaurant's 20+ year run and the life he's built in the food industry. Brent didn't just land here&m...

Amarillo City Councilman David Prescott is a business owner, doctoral candidate, and someone who brings both expertise and candor to public service.

David owns Talon LPE, an environmental cleanup company that operates across several states, and that real-world experience shapes how he thinks about the city's biggest challenges. But as he shares in this conversation, serving on counc...

Chad Johnson is the new reverend at Amarillo United Methodist Church. We talk about what it's like to step into a new community and a new role at the same time.

Chad shares his early impressions of Amarillo, how those first expectations compare to the reality of living here, and what has stood out to him as he gets to know the city. We also spend time talking about his path to becom...

This week on Hey Amarillo, I talk with author Clara Sneed about a wild chapter of Amarillo history that sounds almost too dramatic to be true.

Clara wrote a book about a bitter feud between two Amarillo families in the early 1900s. What began with relationships and eventually spiraled into affairs, accusations, violence, and murder. Along the way, the story touches on questions of j...

This week on Hey Amarillo, I sit down with Sonja Clark, site leader at Bell Helicopter's Amarillo facility. Sonja oversees a large workforce responsible for developing and building some of the military's most critical frontline aircraft — work that requires precision, trust, and ...

What happens to a place when its stories aren't told?

This week on Hey Amarillo!, I sit down with local poet Seth Wieck, whose work captures the beauty, tension, and quiet power of life in the Texas Panhandle. Seth grew up on his family's farm in Umbarger — land his family worked for three generations. He shares what it m...

What does it really take to deliver excellence — over and over again?

This week on Hey Amarillo, I sit down with Don Rhode, a seasoned restaurant leader who has built his career around creating exceptional guest experiences. Don currently serves as General Manager at one of Amarillo's consistently top-rated fine dining es...

This week on Hey Amarillo, we're joined by Dr. Nick Gerlich — longtime marketing professor at West Texas A&M University, writer, and passionate chronicler of regional travel and Route 66.

Nick shares his journey through academia, what it's like teaching marketing in a constantly evolving digital landscape, and how he works to keep students grounded in both fundamentals and...

This week on Hey Amarillo, we sit down with Adrian Meander, a powerful example of what it looks like to grow where you're planted.

Adrian is Amarillo through and through. He grew up here, chose to stay, raised his family here, and built a career rooted in service. He started at Amarillo National Bank as a bank teller and has wo...