Being a mid sized city in the deep south, you don t think of Baton Rouge as necessarily being a center for the performing arts. But there is a lot of hidden talent in this town, doing really impressive things on the stage and at local birthday parties Jenny Ballard is the managing artistic director of Theater Baton Rouge. Jenny began her career in Tennessee and came to Baton Rouge after several years in local theater there to pursue a master s degree in fine arts. After completing the program, s...
Jun 02, 2017•30 min
Sometimes in life you get what you always want. Or what you thought you wanted. And it turns out to be different than you imagined. Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball and your path takes a sudden detour. On this edition of Out to Lunch Stepahanie is catching up with two of her first Out to Lunch guests, whose careers have both taken a dramatic turn since she first met them in the summer of 2015. Richard Hanley is the owner of Hanley s Foods, a homegrown company whose line of all natural sal...
May 26, 2017•29 min
Generational family businesses often have a notoriously determined matriach or patriach whose toughness started the business and maintains its success. You may have heard the old tale of the old family business partiach on his death bed. Eyes closed, with his dying breaths he asks who is around the bed. "My son, Seth, are you here " "Yes, dad." "My daughter Samantha are you here " "Yes, dad, I am." When the old man names every member of his family and discovers they re all present, he opens his ...
May 12, 2017•29 min
Navigating the ever changing and uncertain healthcare landscape can be a nightmare for providers and businesses alike. It s also an opportunity for entrepreneurs, who have come up with ways to help others make sense of what s going on out there. Incredibly, two of the leading tech health companies in the nation are right here in Baton Rouge. Cindy Heine is President and Principal of SyncStream Solutions. It s a Baton Rouge based company that was founded three years ago to help employers both nav...
May 04, 2017•29 min
Nothing can ruin an otherwise perfectly great day like a bad hair day. It s a problem every woman can relate to. And one that two baton rogue enterpreneurs are helping to address. Boyce Clark has done what many would tell you is impossible. He has found a way to tame frizzy hair. In 2015, this one time nuclear physicist walked away from his job doing research at the north pole to help his frustrated teenage daughter bring her unruly locks under control and created a two step hair care product th...
Apr 28, 2017•29 min
Louisiana is dripping with unique culture and history. But packaging up the images, icons and natural resources that come from our land and its landscapes, and bottling and selling them takes a special kind of talent. Casey Delmont Johnson is the designer director of Roux Brands, a nine year old wholesaler of home d cor, gifts and dinnerware. Roux Brands is based in Port Allen and incorporates in its products a southern theme that tells the story and the history of the Deep South. Roux Brands st...
Apr 21, 2017•29 min
In a state that claims as its motto "Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez," it s not surprising that what today are euphemistically called adult beverages factor prominently in the culture. What is surprising is the growing number of distilleries and breweries based in south Louisiana including right here in Baton Rouge that are emerging on the local scene and making a name for themselves. Ricci Hull is one such distiller. He is the owner of Baton Rouge Distilling, a distillery that opened in April 2016...
Apr 07, 2017•29 min
Louisiana has a rich musical history, with New Orleans claiming to be the birthplace of jazz and Baton Rouge promoting its prominent role in the development of the blues. But what is the state of the music scene today, and how do you make a living in the field locally Samuel Ricciuti is a record producer based in Baton Rouge and the owner of Chez Kito Kat records, a production company he founded 10 years ago that has produced some 60 records from artists from all over Europe. He s also produced ...
Mar 31, 2017•28 min
Few subjects are nearer and dearer to hearts than babies and children. On this edition of Out to Lunch Stephanie talks with guests who are Baton Rouge and nationwide experts on delivering them and educating them. Dr. Ryan Dickerson is the owner and medical director of The Birth Center of Baton Rouge, the only freestanding birth center in Louisiana. A freestanding birth center is a homelike facility not affiliated with a hospital. It provides family oriented care for healthy women before, during ...
Mar 24, 2017•28 min
Necessity is the mother of invention. If you ve spent any time in the kitchen, you ve no doubt thought, more than once, about building a better gizmo or gadget to help you cook, clean or organize your kitchen. Perhaps you ve even done it. But have you been able to get your invention before 250 million eyes on the QVC shopping channel Gaye Sandoz has. If you don t recognize Gaye s face from QVC you might recognize her name from the LSU Ag Center Food Incubator, which she runs. In her spare time G...
Mar 16, 2017•29 min
Behind every successful business is a great idea, but just having a great idea doesn t necessarily guarantee success. What are the keys to going from concept to successful operation And what are some of the pitfalls Stephanie Riegel s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch have interesting perspectives on this topic. Trey Williams is the co owner of City Pork Hospitality, a family of Baton Rouge restaurants that has taken off in just three years and now includes City Pork Deli and Charcuterie; C...
Mar 10, 2017•29 min
Baton Rouge is a city that loves its sports. While Tiger Football dominates the headlines, baseball has a large following too, as do soccer and basketball. And there s a vibrant and growing outdoor community, active in running, cycling, swimming and rowing. That homegrown passion for sports and athletics hasn t just resulted in some of the most die hard fans you ll meet, it s also given birth to some impressive companies. Really impressive. Local Company Marucci Sports started out making wooden ...
Mar 03, 2017•29 min
You don t have to spend much time driving around Baton Rouge to notice that the local real estate economy is booming. New construction is going up in the residential, commercial, multifamily and office markets. Todd Waguespack has been in the industry for nearly two decades and is the managing partner for Level Homes, a residential construction company that is developing homes in more than two dozen subdivisions in Louisiana and North Carolina. Level has been recognized by trade publications as ...
Feb 24, 2017•29 min
As our economy has become more specialized, so have the consultants who come into our companies and help us improve performance, from the loading dock to the boardroom. In the digital economy it gets even more interesting consulting firms don t have to rely on local or regional clients. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Editor of the Baton Rouge Business Report Stephanie Riegel is joined by the principals of two Baton Rouge consulting firms who have clients all across the country. Robert Munson i...
Feb 17, 2017•29 min
People in most places eat to live. Here in south Louisiana we live to eat. For those who make their living in the culinary world that means the stakes are high and the competition intense. Daniel Thompson knows this only too well. He is the executive chef and co owner of D Agostino Pasta, a Baton Rouge based company located in the Drusilla Shopping Center that makes homemade pastas and pasta sauces and is rapidly expanding its footprint in supermarkets from Lafayette to New Orleans. Daniel is a ...
Feb 10, 2017•29 min
Some of us are fortunate enough to be born with a creative flair or a sense of style. Suppose you are one of the fortunate few, now you are posed with a problem how do you turn your talents into something that can sustain you Grace Emden is a Baton Rouge artist, more specifically, a makeup artist, who specializes in special effects makeup for the movie industry. Grace actually started out making beautiful, high end cakes for weddings and birthday parties and realized, after working on a movie se...
Jan 27, 2017•29 min
Technology has enabled us to accomplish all sorts of things that we never thought possible. And it s not only world renowned experts in Silicon Valley who are accomplishing these feats. Scientists and engineers right here in South Louisiana are creating amazing technologies and products, and building successful businesses around them. Craig Billings is co owner of Acadian Robotics, a nearly five year old company that is Louisiana s only manufacturer of 3D printers. Craig and his partner built th...
Jan 12, 2017•29 min
Though the world of retail fashion has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, the art of good salesmanship never changes. And it continues to be the key to many a successful business. Hans Sternberg is something of an expert on this topic. For 30 years Hans had a successful career in retail with his family s beloved department store, Goudchaux s. Then, in the early 1990s, Hans embarked on a second career with the creation of Starmount Life Insuarnce and Always Care Benefits. Now, at age 82, ...
Jan 06, 2017•29 min
When you sit down to search the internet for something, you ve probably noticed the advertisers vying for your attention. What you may not be aware of is that all those helpful blogs and lists of 10 things you gotta know are often carefully crafted marketing pieces designed to draw you in. And, eventually, sell you something. In this brave new world of marketing and messaging Natalie Noel is a local expert. Natalie s firm, Tech Advocate Group, specializes in high tech marketing specifically, wha...
Dec 30, 2016•29 min
Real estate is one of the largest sectors of the Baton Rouge economy. In the world of Baton Rouge real estate you don t get any bigger than Mike Wampold. Over the past three decades Mike s Wompald Companies has established itself as the premier developer in Baton Rouge, with a portfolio that includes an extraordinary list of apartments, hotels, office buildings and planned unit developments. Mike s devleopment, Harveston, is transforming the landscape of the southeastern part of the parish. A fe...
Dec 23, 2016•29 min
Sports today is big business in the United States, and Baton Rouge is no exception. Since 2006, sporting events that have been lured here over have generated an economic impact of more than 304m. Stephanie s guests on Out to Lunch are two of the leading lights growing Baton Rouge s sports sector. Pat Fellows is a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, created the Louisiana Marathon in 2012. In the years since, it has grown to become Baton Rouge s premier sporting event after Tiger Football...
Dec 09, 2016•29 min
To be a great city you have to have great performing arts organizations. For nearly 70 years, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra has been delightingting audiences in the Capital Region, with performances that rival those found in any major market in America. The organization s Executive Director is Cary Byrd. Cary started out as a French horn player with the symphony in the late 1990s. Since then he has helped lead the LSU School of Music, the LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts, the Houston ...
Dec 02, 2016•29 min
Next time you re in a hotel room with a little coffee maker, take a look at the individual coffee pod. There s a good chance it came from right here in Baton Rouge, headquarters of Pod Pack International. The local company manufactures and distributes single cup brewing solutions not only for hotels, but for offices, restaurants, convenience stores, and homes. And as of recently for every Taco Bell in the US. Last year, the company announced plans to expand its presence in Baton Rouge and invest...
Nov 18, 2016•29 min
Sometimes what makes a business interesting is not so much what it does as much as how it does it. Today, the internet and mobile platforms make it possible to do business in all sorts of new ways. Then again, the digital era has also made it possible for savvy entrepreneurs to improve on age old business models. Like the barter economy. And come up with something better. Stephanie s guests on Out to Lunch exemplify those trends. Chip Davis is president and CEO of the Trade Authority. It s a Bat...
Nov 11, 2016•29 min
In today s high tech world, we re increasingly isolated from one another. And yet, in some ways it s easier than ever to make connections. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Stephanie Riegel introduces two guests who are helping us connect. One, through an app that brings people together; the other, through an organization that helps start up businesses connect and find synergies that can help them thrive and grow. Alayna Dixon is the creator of a mobile app called Redu, which enables its users to...
Nov 04, 2016•29 min
It is not unusual for entrepreneurs to tell you that the single biggest attribute you need to succeed in business is "passion." Even if you ve heard that a thousand times you won t fully appreciate what it means till you hear the business tales of Todd Graves and Brandon Landry. These two homegrown Baton Rouge entrepreneurs have defied the odds and the expressed wisdom of their elders to follow their dreams and act on what they knew was a good idea. Both of their companies are now powerhouse res...
Oct 28, 2016•29 min
You could say we re sports crazy in south Louisiana. And with good reason more professional athletes come out of Louisiana per capita than any other state in the U.S. Maybe it s our famous cuisine. Or the chemicals in our environment Whatever the reason, It s taken us a while to capitalize on one of our greatest natural resources, but that is starting to change. Our sports obsessed culture is spawning a growing number of sports related businesses. Eric Engmann is helping to lead the charge and g...
Oct 21, 2016•29 min
There s an old proverb that says, "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day but if you teach him to fish you feed him for a lifetime." Learning something new changes one s perception of the world and opens so many doors. Being on the teaching end presents opportunities, too. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Stephanie introduces two entrepreneurs who are creating opportunities through education companies that are teaching clients life changing and life saving skills. Joey Comeaux is found...
Oct 14, 2016•29 min
Many a young boy aspires to play in the NFL. But only a small percentage actually realize that dream. It s similar to how many people dream of starting their own business, graduating from the work a day world, doing something they re passionate about, and making it big. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Andre Moreau sits in for Stephanie Riegel and hosts lunch with two members of a family who have done both gotten to the NFL and started their own business, at the same time Matt Flynn is an NFL qu...
Sep 30, 2016•29 min
How many times have you thought, "There s got to be a better way" to do any one a thousand tasks Stephanie s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch had the same thought. Then they went and did something about it. And in the process created a better way to get from A to B, to publish a book, to find a job, to save your precious photos and raise money for your school. Two years ago most people in Louisiana had never heard of Uber. Today, the company that makes the popular ride sharing app is a hou...
Sep 23, 2016•29 min
