What if your next meeting had no PowerPoint, no laptops, and no “here’s what I did last week” updates? This week we sit down with Matt Homann, founder and CEO of Filament, the Cortex-based company that helps smart people think together better. Matt is a recovering lawyer and one of the first legal bloggers. He explains how a 3 a.m. conversation at a conference hotel bar turned into a business built on designing and facilitating meetings, retreats and off-sites with zero slides on purpose.

We get into why a weekly status meeting with eight people is really an eight-hour meeting, how “idea surplus disorder” can wear out a team, the four kinds of conversations every leader should label, and why the obvious ideas are often the breakthrough ones. Matt also talks about Thinksgiving, Filament’s annual event now in its seventh year. It pairs dozens of St. Louis nonprofits with business teams for a full day of solving real challenges, and none of those challenges can be about money. He also shares why he thinks St. Louis needs less happy-hour networking and more thinking together, his go-to spots for out-of-town guests (City Museum, the Japanese Garden, Forest Park), and his big bucket-list dream: making Thinksgiving St. Louis’s own South by Southwest for nonprofits.

Learn more about Filament and Thinksgiving, and find out how your business or nonprofit can get involved next year, at https://www.thinksgivingday.com/

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📍 Recorded at Bucket List Podcast Studio, St. Louis, MO

What happens when a dad’s dare turns into a commercial smoker, a 70-foot trailer, and one of St. Louis’s most talked-about barbecue spots? This week on the STL Bucket List Show, we sit down with Shawn and Chef Marvion of Maci’s Prime Barbecue to hear how a chance meeting at a fight night and one bite of brisket turned two strangers into business partners.

They explain their no-sauce, no-bread philosophy (and the money-back guarantee that’s only been used twice), why turkey is the most underrated meat in barbecue, and how their Texas-sourced wood shapes every bite. We also talk about building a hospitality-first brand, why handing out free samples is the smartest money they spend, and what customers can expect when Maci’s opens as a founding vendor at the new food hall.

Plus, the guys share their favorite hidden gems around St. Louis, including a Persian cafe on St. Charles Rock Road you’ll want on your list.

Food hall media night is November 5th, with the ribbon cutting on November 6th.

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🎙 New episodes drop every Wednesday.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEK 🔔

🎧 LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts ▶ https://apple.co/36ycuuO Spotify ▶ https://spoti.fi/3svGoqS

🔗 CONNECT WITH STL BUCKET LIST: Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/stlbucketlist Website ▶ stlbucketlist.com

🤝 WORK WITH STL BUCKET LIST Interested in partnering or sponsoring an episode? Email ▶ show@stlbucketlist.com Website ▶ https://www.bucketlistcreative.com

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube
📍 Recorded at Bucket List Podcast Studio, St. Louis, MO

On this episode of the STL Bucket List Show, we sit down with Ono Ikanone, the chef and owner behind Levels, an authentic Nigerian restaurant in the heart of downtown St. Louis on Washington Ave.

Ono Ikanone moved from Nigeria to St. Louis at 14, the youngest in a family that already had deep roots in the city. He figured out American life on his own, from traffic tickets to property taxes. He also learned to cook by calling his mom back home and following her recipes. What started as cooking for friends, with pregame hangouts at his place and parties that pulled together Nigerian friends, SLU students, and everyone in between, turned into a restaurant that opened in July 2023. He tells the story of buying the building, how his parents’ hopes for a doctor, lawyer, or engineer gave way to pride, and what it takes to own real estate in a tough industry, where one broken roof or HVAC unit can wipe out a month.

He walks through the evolution of the Levels menu, from the pepper soup with goat meat to spice levels that every guest can choose for themselves, plus Sunday brunch, catering, festival appearances, and pop-ups. He shares the story of a campus pop-up where a summer class left early and the college professor who said it was all his fault. He also talks about a trip back to Nigeria to reset and take in its hospitality scene, and about his dream of becoming a chef who cooks special dishes, comes out to tell the story behind them, and hosts dinner series.

He also shares some of his favorite spots around St. Louis, including Mama’s on the Hill and Me Hungry.

It’s a conversation about culture, hospitality, and building something bigger than a restaurant, one plate at a time.

They discuss:

• Moving from Nigeria to St. Louis at 14 and learning to cook by calling mom
• Buying a building on Wash Ave and winning over skeptical parents
• Turning friend gatherings into Levels, which opened in July 2023
• Pepper soup, adjustable spice levels, Sunday brunch, catering, and pop-ups
• The realities of owning a building in the restaurant industry
• A trip back to Nigeria, dinner series dreams, and his favorite St. Louis restaurants

Support the show

🎙 New episodes drop every Wednesday.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEK 🔔

🎧 LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts ▶ https://apple.co/36ycuuO Spotify ▶ https://spoti.fi/3svGoqS

🔗 CONNECT WITH STL BUCKET LIST: Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/stlbucketlist Website ▶ stlbucketlist.com

🤝 WORK WITH STL BUCKET LIST Interested in partnering or sponsoring an episode? Email ▶ show@stlbucketlist.com Website ▶ https://www.bucketlistcreative.com

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube
📍 Recorded at Bucket List Podcast Studio, St. Louis, MO