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Each month, Texas State University President Dr. Kelly Damphousse sits down with faculty members, staff, students, alumni, and community members for a conversation about all things TXST — the past, the present, and the bright future of the university.
Part of the TXST Podcast Network: https://www.txst.edu/podcast-network.html
- And so that starts off with-
- Dos Gatos.
- Dos Gatos, two cats.
- Two cats.
- You guys are the two Katz.
- Two Katz.
- And the cats is the Katz Brothers, right?
- Yeah.
- Until this very moment, I did not make that connection. I was thinking Bobcats, but I wasn't thinking Katz. Oh, my mind is blown now. Hey, Bobcats, welcome back to "The Current" where we talk to faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of Texas State University to learn more about what's happening here at Texas State. And I'm really excited about today's podcast 'cause I've got two of my friends here, Chase Katz and Seth Katz. Thank you guys for joining me on today's podcast.
- Thanks for having us.
- Yeah, we appreciate it.
- It's good to have you guys here. So let's start, Chase, start with you because you actually went to school here-
- I did.
- At Texas State. Tell us about your Texas State story.
- In 2005, I transferred here from U of H, actually.
- [Kelly] Where'd you grow up?
- Grew up in Dickinson, south of Houston.
- OK, so that kind of makes sense. So you're kind of close to Houston, you go there. What caused you to wanna change schools?
- Loved San Marcos. Vacationed here-
- Oh, yeah.
- Growing up and-
- What's not to love?
- Yeah, enjoyed the river.
- Enjoyed the river. So you transfer here, what are you studying?
- I was studying biology.
- OK, and what are the plans?
- The plans were optometry, which quickly changed.
- Why is that? Biology.
- Yeah, biology was tough.
- Chemistry, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah. And so you decide to do something different. You still finished with biology, or did you change majors?
- I changed majors, I wound up with general studies.
- OK, very good, so when'd you graduate?
- Graduated in 2009.
- What's one of your fun memories about being a student here that you're willing to share with us?
- You know, I would say one of the big things, moving to Texas State, was really just walking across campus, it was absolutely gorgeous. And so I enjoyed spending time at the university, and like I said, I moved here for the river.
- Yeah.
- And so it was just, it was great to be on campus.
- And did you, were you a member of any organizations or clubs or anything?
- Unfortunately, I wasn't.
- Yeah, so what were you, were you working?
- Yeah, you know, I actually wound up taking a semester off and finding out that business was more my path than-
- Oh, really?
- You know, biology.
- You came back, finished up, and then the rest is history. We'll talk about history a second.
- And kolaches.
- Yeah, kolaches.
- Yeah.
- Seth, what about you? What's your story? 'Cause I know you didn't go to school here, but you spent a lot of time here in San Marcos, but what's your, you obviously grew up in the same town, right?
- I grew up in Dickinson as well.
- Yeah.
- Wound up-
- Are you the older brother?
- I am the older brother.
- OK, that's what I thought. OK. Is he more mature or less?
- Yeah, no answer, Chase's got no answer.
- Yeah, he's the older brother.
- He's the older brother. How much older are you?
- Two years.
- Two years, OK.
- Wound up realizing I wanted to be in hospitality industry from kind of working in restaurants as well as I had gone to a summer camp growing up. And so I realized I wanted to pursue that. I spoke to a restauranteur down in Galveston and he encouraged me to check out the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
- So a huge hospitality management program, right?
- Yes.
- Yeah.
- So I went out there, got my degree and then got hired by a restaurant company and kind of moved to a few other places before I wound up back in San Marcos 'cause Chase was telling me, "Hey, let's do something here on our own."
- We have a lot of students who come here 'cause they love the town.
- Yeah.
- And then they graduate and they've gotta go because there's not a bunch of industry here. But at some point, some of them say like, "I really wanna stay here." And there's a couple of options. You can work in Austin but live here or work in San Antonio and live here. Or you can work at the university or you can do something like you guys did, become entrepreneurs. And so Chase, it was your idea to start something here.
- Seth moved to town and he really wanted to open a burger bar. And I didn't wanna get left behind. You know, I didn't wanna get left in the dust.
- Was it a branch or was it just gonna be your thing?
- Just our thing.
- Seth's Burgers.
- Sure.
- Was that from Nashville? Is that why you wanted to open a burger bar?
- No, I just thought it was like, it seemed like a good concept, something manageable.
- It would be like a bar though. So it'd be like a licensed establishment that had burgers.
- Correct.
- Yeah.
- Did you do that or just didn't get that going?
- So I wound up looking into baking the buns and that like swiftly turned into kolaches.
- Oh, so instead of buying the buns, you're gonna bake the buns and you said, "Hey, there's money to be made in these here buns."
- We were actually Hopdoddy before Hopdoddy started.
- So that's how the kolaches thing starts.
- That's how the kolaches started.
- Now, were you kolache aficionados? 'Cause I am, there's some places, like when I go to Oklahoma, I have to go, when I'm going through West, I gotta stop there. And when I get to the border, I stop, there's a place, there's a place called Rumpy's that I've, you know, I've made that, I put that place on the map. I, every time I stop there.
- Never heard of Rumpy's.
- You've never heard of Rumpy's?
- No.
- Oh man, it's great. And so there's the Slovacek's, of course, in West. And so I am, I've eaten kolaches all over Texas, but I have to say, I kind of like the ones here in San Marcos, there's some pretty good ones here. But so were you like big kolache fans or was it just kind of happened?
- I think I was the kolache fan. You kind of really weren't.
- He's a burger bar guy.
- Yeah, exactly.
- So, and so that starts off with-
- Dos Gatos Kolache.
- Dos Gatos, two cats.
- Two cats.
- You guys are the two Katz.
- Two Katz.
- And the cats is, the Katz Brothers, right?
- Yeah.
- Until this very moment, I did not make that connection. I was thinking Bobcats, but I wasn't thinking Katz. Oh, my mind is blown now. I love going in there because you guys hire a lot of students. And whenever I go in, there's always a new, seems like there's a new student there and they're always, it's amazing how industrious they are. I went in there one day, there was a young lady on a ladder. She was doing something somewhere and they work really hard for you. But you guys make a point of hiring students in Dos Gatos, right?
- Yeah, I mentioned we were coming to the podcast and they were excited. They say you pop in and-
- Yeah, I love it there.
- They like seeing you.
- So you get Dos Gatos going and then, you know, you decide to do some other stuff. So what is the next, 'cause you guys have, you're like serial entrepreneurs. So what's next?
- Well, Zelicks came next.
- Oh, Zelicks was next, okay.
- Yeah, Zelicks came next, followed by the pizzeria.
- So is Zelicks like the hamburger bar that you were hoping it would be?
- Initially, we actually didn't do our own food there.
- No food there?
- Now we do, but right off the bat, we didn't.
- OK, so it was more just the bar.
- Just the bar.
- It's a great place to hang out. I love that place.
- Good community space.
- Yeah, and so that's on the other side of downtown. So now you got downtown surrounded and then you decide to do pizza. So where does the idea for pizza come from? You already got dough for kolaches, I guess.
- No, actually, there was a pizzeria that was there and we were always friendly with the gentleman 'cause we're in the same center. And one day he just locked the door. And he said he'd just throw in the towel. And we saw people going in there. He had a great product and we just thought a pizzeria could make it there, so we just went for it.
- So I gotta go back to Zelicks here. Where does the name Zelicks come from?
- So Zelicks is our grandfather's middle name.
- That's right, I saw there's a picture of him in the bar.
- Right.
- Right?
- Yeah, all the pictures are of him.
- OK, so you got Zelicks then you got Pie Society. So where does the name Pie Society come from?
- Our business partner, Benji Ackerman, is the one who came up with Pie Society.
- I always wanna be like, where does these things come from? You guys are just brainstorming one day. You're eating kolaches and drinking coffee and going, what are we gonna call it?
- I mean, we brainstormed.
- Yeah, we just batted things around for a while and that's what stuck.
- So my favorite pizza there is, is it called Balance of Power? Yeah, 'cause it's got a little drizzle of honey on it. I love the sweet and the savory together, but do you have a favorite pizza when you go there, or does it matter to you?
- I actually really eat cheese pizza a lot.
- Oh, really?
- I really just like the tried and true, the traditional, but I would say Chase was pushing on for the Balance of Power.
- Yeah, the Balance of Power was kind of, I think, my creation.
- Yeah.
- And I think it's the best seller.
- Yeah.
- Is it really?
- Yeah, to this day.
- Well, you got the big oven, kind of the brick oven kind of feel there. And what I like about it, sometimes you go to a pizza place and you gotta wait for the pizza to get cooked, but you actually have the slices already made and really what you're doing is just heating 'em up.
- Definitely New York style where you can walk in and grab a slice quick.
- Yeah.
- Hopefully.
- Yeah, well, that's always been my experience. And again, a lot of students working there. Whenever I walk in, there's like 20 kids working there and they're all working hard, putting themselves through school by working like you guys probably did. So did you work, Chase, while you were going to school?
- I was, I drove a tube bus in New Braunfels.
- [Kelly] A tube bus?
- For a while, that was a great experience, actually.
- You know, that is quintessential Hill Country, right? Like, I'm not kidding, I never heard the term tube bus until just now, but I know what it is. Yeah, and so you drove the tube bus for down in New Braunfels. Did you work, you were in the food industry a little bit?
- Yeah, I mean, for the last-
- First job, what was your first job?
- My very first job, oh, we both worked for our father as our very first job, but then when I moved on from that-
- Was he the best boss or not? 'Cause I'm gonna ask him.
- You can ask him, we learned some good lessons there.
- I'll bet.
- My first job after that.
- Did he cut you like a paycheck or did he just pay you cash?
- I'm sure it was a paycheck.
- Yeah, he got a paycheck.
- My grandfather was a farmer and I would go there in the summer and he would, like he'd hire, like he'd pay all the hired hands and he would pay me and I remember getting a check, like a real-
- Yeah, it was a job.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, it was a real job. And then I think my first job after that was I worked in movie theater.
- OK.
- But you did-
- Made me realize I didn't wanna do that forever.
- So movie theater is not in the future for you?
- No.
- No, have you thought about doing franchise work or just like doing your own thing?
- We definitely-
- Oh, you mean like going and getting a brand?
- Either going into a franchise or franchising what you have.
- Both.
- Both of them, yeah.
- Seth worked in a Waffle House actually at one point in time in high school. He's the one who got all the experience like down and dirty, you know?
- Were you like making waffles and stuff or were you-
- Oh yeah.
- Yeah, you're a short order cook?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I mean, I tried.
- Yeah, you were serving mostly there.
- I did a little bit of both. But we had a family friend that owned quite a few Waffle House franchises so like we were exposed to that as well.
- One of our alumni got into McDonald's early on and he just kept adding McDonald's over and over again and now he's like one of the biggest McDonald's franchisees all over El Paso, Richard Castro. I'm not sure if you know the name.
- Yeah, Castro Club, right?
- Yeah, Castro Club and that was just his entree. He bought a McDonald's and then he bought another one and the next thing you know, he had a whole bunch of them. So lots of different ways. So you go, you got Dos Gatos, then you got Zelicks, then you got Pie Society and then you do something really unique.
- We have North Street.
- Yeah, you got North Street and that's a really unique place. It's probably my wife's favorite of all your restaurants 'cause it's got such an eclectic menu. How would you describe it?
- We call it a curry shop but we're doing like Indian inspired food is what we kinda like to, you know, Indian-ish.
- Indian-ish, yeah.
- We wanna expose people to Indian flavors that haven't been exposed to Indian flavors and if you have something like a queso that has a bit of a curry flavor in it, people are more willing to try a curry.
- Or a taco.
- Or a taco.
- Yeah, yeah, I've had a taco before but I've never had a taco with some curry in it and then you have it, you go, holy cow, it's a whole new flavor that you're not familiar with. So what got you interested in Indian cuisine?
- Probably growing up, our father used to make some Indian food.
- Oh really?
- Yeah. So we were exposed to some of those flavors early on.
- Your dad inspired you for a lot of different ways. Was he an entrepreneur as well?
- Both of our parents own their own businesses. They're both eye doctors, have their own practices separate from one another and so there was a lot of, you know, the dinner conversation was about business.
- Were they in competition with each other? Like at the end of the year, they're going, hey, I made more money than you guys did.
- Yeah, exactly.
- Yeah, I had more patients than you. I knew they were both eye doctors, I did not know they had their own thing. Oh, that's really interesting. Well, what's next for you guys?
- Well, we've got two-
- You don't have to tell me too much depth.
- No, we've got two projects going on.
- I think you've got one going down to New Braunfels, right?
- Yeah, two side by side there.
- OK, what are you doing down there?
- So we've got a bar called the Hunter Road Country Club, which is right at the entrance to Gruene, which we're really excited about. And then our, it'll be the third kolache bakery. It's gonna be next door to the bar and that's gonna be a drive-thru kolache bakery.
- Do you have to have a more limited menu with the drive-thru?
- We're gonna find out.
- You're gonna find out.
- We're gonna need your help when we open 'cause I don't know if we're gonna be ready for it.
- Let me know, you know, the reason I ask because sometimes you get there and like, if you have too much, then you're like trying to figure out, especially if you're not, like you go to some stores, you say I want a number one and they've got like three number ones ready to go and it kind of speeds the lineup a little bit. If you have too much, then there's too much, I'm guessing.
- I think we're gonna have to create combos, like you're saying.
- Combos, yeah, the way to go. Let's shift gears a little bit. So Chase, you went to school here. Seth, you moved here. You obviously know the impact that Texas State has on the local economy. It's in the billions of dollars. It's literally billions of dollars in the economy. But you all, I think, understand that at a level that other people who live here don't because first off, students are your customers, but they're also your employees as well. And so it's interesting. Actually, you and I had coffee the other day with one of your former employees who actually works here at Texas State now and she worked at Zelicks for a while and so she was an employee, but now she's a customer. And so there's a symbiotic relationship between the university and your businesses because they're a customer base, but also an employee base as well later on. Talk a little bit about that. How do you view yourself in relationship with the university?
- Initially, it was just a work relationship because I wasn't a student here. I didn't have that aspect. Obviously, I went to university, but I think it's also developed in time. When we first opened Dos Gatos, we were the only employees in there to start and then as we added them, and then you realize as you go down the road, it's been a long time. You've seen a guest or an employee of ours grow up and move on and then they come back and visit. So I think through time that developed, I mean, it's a wonderful relationship now. Might not have recognized that right off the bat.
- Yeah, and I think that's one of the quintessential things about a college town is how the relationship with the businesses. And I think college towns tend to create opportunities for kind of, you might call them mom and pop, restaurants and businesses like you all have. Because I think students are looking for that. They don't wanna go to a chain, right? They wanna go to someplace that's unusual, that only makes sense if you've been there. It's almost like being an insider, like later on in your life. Remember all that time we spent at Zelicks? Like it has a certain cachet because it wasn't, I don't wanna name another company that everyone's been to in every other town. It's special because it's only at San Marcos.
- [Seth] I'd agree.
- Yeah, so let's touch on something else I know you're both passionate about and that's athletics. So what do you, I know you guys are very involved in supporting athletics and why is that a passion for you?
- It's fun to go to the events. There's nice, I like going and hanging out with everybody at the event, honestly. Of course I like to watch the game and whatnot too, but it's just exciting. Also as we're like becoming more successful as the Bobcat teams are doing well, it's really fun to go to the games and see everybody cheer and have just a great atmosphere.
- I think it's, it is fun. I've heard people talk about what it was like when the football team wasn't doing as well and there's a difference, a different feel now. Saturdays feel different, which means Fridays feel different, which means Thursdays feel different.
- That's the feeling that I get and even just being out around town, whether it's at our businesses or anywhere else, I think that's the vibe in town.
- One of the cool things I think that's happened in the past couple of years, we had this Back the Bobcats week. So it's the week leading up to the first game. And what we wanted to do was have an event where the city became part or partnered with the university celebrating the fact that the football season was about to start. And the first year, I think people weren't quite sure what to do with it. In the second year, we decided to have a block party and we put the block party right outside of Zelicks and you guys play a huge role in getting that going. Talk about the planning that went into that and why you guys wanted to be part of this.
- Just thought it was, Chase touched on it earlier, like Zelicks we really look at it as a community place to host events, bring people in. And it just sounded like a really cool way to ramp up for the Bobcat football season. It was exciting, like the way you approached it and pitched it to us and to try to put it all together and see if we can get the community out, draw people in before the first home game. It tends to fall on a long weekend. So try to get some people out here and excited for football season.
- Not saying anything that you're not aware of, but I think you've done an amazing job of bringing businesses and the whole community together and rally around the Bobcats and Texas State. And it's been really exciting to see that blend more than it has previously.
- You know, it's been, my wife will go around and she does, they've got a contest, like people decorate their businesses up and they get awards for doing it. And we actually give the awards at the bash, the Bobcat bash. And it's been really exciting. Again, the first year, like people weren't sure, like how do you decorate your business up? And then the second year, one of the local pizza establishments started the KDamp's Pizza. He actually, "Is it OK if I use your name?" I said, "I don't care." And that became like a thing now, like every year he does that. And actually what he does is he donates proceeds to our foster kid scholarship program. And so for that week, he's KDamp's Pizza. And so businesses are starting to see like, oh, I can really partner with the university. It's good for business, but it's also good for community morale and so on.
- Absolutely.
- And to see businesses now going all out and then leaving their decorations up, there's a business not far from the Square that hired someone to paint their windows. And it was like Bobcat. BoKo is like in a tire, like a tube on the river. And they just left that up there. And it's good for us because when we bring recruits into town, we drive them around and we say, "Look at that business is supporting Texas State Athletics." And so it shows the relationship between the community and the university. And that's something students are looking for as well.
- But I also think just doing those events or at the athletic events, the social parts, it's really cool. I mean, we've got to meet a lot of people along the way. You've interviewed some of those folks, like just being able to meet them because it's game day and we're all having a good time, but then we can make relationships and kind of grow other aspects. It's really cool. Much more of a community centered feel in town with the university now.
- Yeah, I think, and it's gotta be right. I've always believed that the town and the gown relationship has to be really strong. And then whatever we can do to lift the town up, by town, I mean the businesses and the local community and the environment, it raises the university up as well and vice versa. Because for many people like you, Chase, you've got a degree from, was it Southwest Texas State or Texas State?
- It was Texas State.
- OK, Texas State. You're not that old. I didn't wanna presume anything. But your degree has some value, but every time the university raises its profile, your degree becomes more valuable. And so partnering with businesses and with the city, with the community, with our faculty and staff who are doing things, when we raise our national profile, it raises the profile of the degree that you have. And so that's the partnership we're trying to create in a way that benefits everyone. Like we're not doing this just to make money. We're doing this to get more students to come here, to get a degree, to graduate, to have a life after this, but also to create culture and an atmosphere while we're here, going to the games and having fun, going to great restaurants. That's gotta be a big part of it. College towns always have places like that. So it's part of the whole experience is not just a school, not just football, not just basketball, but it's also the community as well. It has to be intertwined. And you guys are a big part of that. And it feels good to be a big part of it.
- So talk about the first time we had the Bobcat Bash and you walked out into that street and saw all those people there. What'd that feel like?
- It was awesome. Put in a lot of hard work. I was out there all day setting it up and to see people show up.
- And you're kind of nervous, like are people gonna show up, right?
- Of course you're nervous. We joke about it sometimes when we were younger, we had a party that nobody came to. So we're like, is it gonna be like that party? And you're standing out there hoping and then it fills up and feels really good.
- And I think it'll just continue to grow over time because I think we'll promote it by saying, look what happened the last two years and we'll continue doing this thing. And I think actually, we didn't promote it very much on our campus. And so we didn't have a lot of students at the first year. But the second year, a lot more knew about it. And I think in time, we didn't wanna grow too quick and then have it like fail, where don't have enough people there or not enough food and drinks and so on. And then people leave hungry or grumpy. I think we're gonna have some nice organic growth there. I think this year will be, every year will improve upon itself. It's a lot of fun.
- [Seth] That's what we're hoping for.
- We're hoping for it. It's fun to have the cheer squad comes and the band comes. We have live music, lots of restaurants. There are lots of people buying stuff.
- Tons of vendors.
- Merchandise everywhere.
- Tons of Bobcat merch, yeah.
- Yeah, so it's great. That's exciting to be part of that. Well, thank you guys for representing Texas State so well as one of our alumni, but also someone who supports us in athletics and understanding the value of your business, not just for yourselves, but for our community and for our students who are working there, but also your customers as well. So you're helping us create an environment that is really important when we're recruiting students to come here. We're not just recruiting them to campus, we're recruiting them to San Marcos as well and not just students, but faculty and staff as well. You're helping us create an environment that we think is really cool. All right, guys, now this is kind of an interesting part of our podcast. We ask people who are watching or listening to send in questions that they might wanna ask me. And so, Seth, I'm just gonna give it to you and let you look at it.
- All right, check it out.
- I've not seen the question.
- All right, Kelly. The Bobcat nation wants to know, if you could have any superpower, what would it be?
- I've always thought being able to fly would be the best thing. Just be able to get places quickly. So I think being able to fly would be probably my superpower. What about you?
- I don't know.
- Chase, I'm coming to you, so get ready.
- I haven't thought about it. Come back.
- Yeah, Chase?
- Maybe being invisible.
- Well, that's the other. I almost went with invisible. It'd be kind of cool to be invisible.
- I don't know, maybe being able to know what other people are thinking about.
- So some ESP?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, that'd be kind of cool too. What is it? There was a show where someone could tell, they could see the future, but only 10 seconds in advance. And so, that's kind of the same thing. So, I wish we all had more superpowers. My superpower right now, I told somebody the other day, my superpower is patience. So, what's your superpower that you have right now?
- No, that is a good one. It's hard to take a deep breath and think about it before you do something.
- Yeah, that's right. Chase, do you have a superpower right now?
- I think my children are teaching me patience.
- That is so funny. You know, we're all in different spaces. We're not the same people all the time. When you have small children, you're different. And when you get to be my age, where my kids are in their 30s, I'm still a parent, but it's a different kind of experience. And our relationships are different. So, that'll happen for you eventually. You'll get through this point.
- I'm in the patience stage.
- This is the hardest part right now. But it does get better, but it's different for sure. So, thank you guys for joining us. And thank you for joining us as well. It's always a great time to get together, to learn more about what's happening here at Texas State University. Until next time, States Up, everyone.