In 2011, Mary Patricia Wray was a young law student at Loyola University Law School in New Orleans. Just three short years later, she found herself serving as the communications director for a longshot candidate in the Governor s Race, a democratic state Representative from Amite named John Bel Edwards. You know what happened next Edwards made the runoff and went on to beat his Republican challenger David Vitter and become the only Democratic governor in the dark red deep south. Mary Patricia Wr...
Feb 01, 2019•29 min
Stafford Wood is one of the most talented women in Baton Rouge, and the founder and owner of Covalent Logic, a full service integrated communications firm that specializes in branding, corporate communications, graphic design, web design, public relations and crisis communications. Covalent s clients, past and present, include hospitals, banks, state agencies, churches and nonprofit organizations. Stafford founded the firm in 2005, after spending a decade in the private sector, first with The Ad...
Jan 25, 2019•29 min
We talk a lot about the importance of getting in shape especially at the beginning of a new year or before hitting the beach but do you know what it really means to be in shape And how, exactly, do we get healthy It s a question local businesses and entrepreneurs are helping their clients better understand using new technologies, and new approaches to fitness. Tiffany Stewart is a clinical psychologist and the director of the Behavioral Technology Lab at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center...
Jan 18, 2019•29 min
Thirty years ago, a young, high energy entrepreneur left his private sector job to create the Louisiana Business and Technology Center on the LSU campus, a business incubator for small startups. In the three decades since, the LBTC has helped launch hundreds of businesses and has spawned the creation of the much larger LSU Innovation Park, a 13 year old facility on its own south campus dedicated to research commercialization. This edition of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is a special tribute to that ...
Dec 14, 2018•29 min
Andrea Leyerle is a Baton Rouge based entrepreneur who has created an online and retail nutraceutical business, Andi Lynn s Pure and Custom Formulary. Andrea started the company in 2010 in her kitchen, where she began making her own version of elderberry syrup, known for its cold and flu fighting properties. In the years since, Andi Lynn s Pure and Custom Formulary has expanded into a variety of homeopathic and natural remedies that are sold on line and in more than 150 retail locations in eight...
Dec 07, 2018•29 min
We ve all heard about the Amazon Effect and how ecommerce is seriously disrupting the retail world. Savvy entrepreneurs are figuring out how to carve a niche for themselves, whether by offering unqiue products or that special personal touch you can t get online, creating a unique shopping experience , or, by creating a whole new business model. Mark Peirce is owner of The Royal Standard, a gifts, accessories and at one time antique furniture store. Mark and his wife Krista got into the business ...
Nov 30, 2018•29 min
Workplace accidents cost American companies some 60 billion every year. But, unlike the trajectory of most workplace costs, accident expenses are actually going down. The reason is better training and more proactive safety measures that come from the public and private sectors. Kathy Trahan is president and CEO of the Alliance Safety Council, a 60 year old agency that trains workers to meet federal OSHA regulations. Under Kathy s leadership over the past 15 years, this nonprofit organization has...
Nov 09, 2018•29 min
Seven out of 10 American households own a pet, generally a dog or cat. This has created a huge pet care industry and unlimited opportunity for creative, animal loving entrepreneurs. It has also led to an unfortunate side effect little loved animals, particularly cats, wandering our streets. Angela Schifani is Development Director of Cat Haven, a non profit cat rescue organization that was founded in 1999 in response to a community need for comprehensive rescue, foster, and adoption services for ...
Nov 02, 2018•29 min
"The disruption economy" refers to the fact that technology is changing the traditional constructs of our capitalist economy. Amazon is one of the most obvious examples. Uber is another. Closer to home, local companies are part of that disruption economy, changing the rules of the game for everyone. Chris Meaux is founder and CEO of Waitr, the phenomenally successful tech start up that is revolutionizing the restaurant and food service industries with its trademark food delivery app. Chris found...
Oct 26, 2018•29 min
In 2015, Louisiana lawmakers joined their counterparts in a growing number of states to legalize medical marijuana for a long list of diseases and disorders, including cancer, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, epilepsy and muscular dystrophy. Today, therapeutic cannabis is opening up all sorts of new and promising business opportunities for physicians, pharmacies that can dispense marijuana, and companies that can grow it. Dr. Victor Chou founded Louisiana s first Medical Marijuana Clinic here ...
Oct 19, 2018•29 min
Health and wellness is big business today between 2013 and 2015, the global wellness industry grew nearly 11 percent from 3 point 3 trillion to more than 3 point 7 TRILLION dollars. And it is continuing to grow. For local entrepreneurs, that is creating a lot of opportunities but that also means there s a lot of competition. Nicole Cummins is owner of Barre 3, a boutique fitness studio that s part of a Portland, Oregon based chain with more than 130 locations around the country. Barre 3 offers a...
Oct 12, 2018•29 min
Local Baton Rouge companies are carving out an amazing space in the tech sector. They re designing impressive software platforms and tools that are attracting worldwide attention. Steve McKinney is the Chief Operating Officer of Cell Control, a Baton Rouge company that, in 2009, came up with technology to help eliminate distracted driving. In the years since, Cell Control has become the global leader in this field by selling its services to companies big Fortune 500 companies that have huge flee...
Oct 05, 2018•29 min
One of the chief goals of technology is to improve efficiency to make it quicker and easier to do our jobs and to make money. Baton Rouge is home to a growing number of tech companies that are coming up with software products and services that increase efficiency in a variety of sectors. Joel Costonis is CEO of Advanced Concepts and Engineering. The company s signature product is the ACE Auto Grade Laboratory. It s a mobile testing lab about the size of your average washing machine, and it strea...
Sep 21, 2018•29 min
South Louisiana doesn t usually get much recognition for being home to IT and biotech talent, but there are impressive start up businesses you may never have heard of that are turning heads around the country. And beyond. Casey Roussel is Executive Vice President of Cloud Gavel, a company that is revolutionizing the way law enforcement officers do their jobs. More specifically, Cloud Gavel has created software that streamlines the way officers obtain warrants in the field by enabling them to com...
Sep 14, 2018•29 min
Ann Connelly is a legend in the art world. Ann is founder and owner of Ann Connelly Fine Art where she is a curator, interior designer, and consultant to homeowners and businesses. Over the past 25 years, Ann has grown her business into a gallery that today carries the works of more than 40 creatives, and as a consultancy to some of the most prominent companies and institutions in Baton Rouge, that have hired Ann to hang art on their walls. Jillian Hall is a documentary fiim maker. She also head...
Sep 07, 2018•29 min
Every place has a history and a past, but preserving the best of it and keeping it relevant doesn t just happen, you have to work at it, through education, and preservation. Which is exactly what Stephanie s guests on Out to Lunch do every single day. Michael Desmond is an architect and scholar in the LSU School of Art and Design, with a particular expertise in the history of architecture. For the past decade, Michael has been studying the architecture of the historic LSU campus. Since receiving...
Aug 31, 2018•29 min
Andi Holliday is a professional home stager with a local firm called Stage Presence. Andi s been dubbed the "House Doctor," writing out design prescriptions that can sell the unsellable. Her firm offers a range of services, from full staging to less expensive walk through and written consultations, as well as "redesign" services that s where Andi uses the client s existing furniture and d cor to showcase a room s focal points. Andi s services can help sell a house that s been on the market for a...
Aug 24, 2018•27 min
As the tech industry evolves and matures, all sorts of new opportunities are created for entrepreneurs, who see where existing technologies don t meet a need or don t go far enough to deliver what customers demand. But taking a good idea and developing it into the latest app one that works and then getting customers to buy it is a challenge that kills a lot of enterprising start ups before they get off the ground. Chris Jordan is the founder of Omnidek, an all in one business platform geared tow...
Aug 17, 2018•29 min
We talk a lot about business on this show, and what it takes to be successful in business. On this edition of Out to Lunch Stephanie focuses on an aspect of business that doesn t typically get so much attention ethics. Aaron Beam is a former executive who travels around the country lecturing on ethics in business. It s a topic he knows well. In the late 1990s, Aaron participated in a 2 billion securities fraud scandal at Health South, the extremely successful Fortune 500 company he d co founded ...
Jul 27, 2018•29 min
Technology plays an increasingly important role in all aspects of our lives today. The more entrenched it is in government systems, in our offices and in our home appliances the more vulnerable we are to cyber attacks. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Stephanie Riegel introduces two local experts on the subject of cyber security. One developing technology; the other trying to protect us from malware and hackers. Mo Vij is the founder and CEO of General Infomatics. It s a nearly 16 year old IT se...
Jul 06, 2018•29 min
There s a lot of cool stuff going on in Baton Rouge. From the redevelopment of neighborhoods downtown and in Mid City to the young entrepreneurial culture that is fostering startup companies willing to take risk and take advantage of new technologies. Gerald Drefahl s company, Kinesics, is a homegrown, biotech start up that licenses a software program that analyzes the physical mobility of athletes, workers and other users and then gives predictive analytics into their health. In other words, th...
Jun 29, 2018•29 min
Though Baton Rouge, in many ways, is slow to change, in recent years there has been a gradual shift in the balance of power. New, young firms and new, young business leaders are taking over from the Baby Boomer generation that preceded them. One such leader is Julie Laperouse. Julie is Director of Training at Emergent Method, a management consulting firm owned and run by an ambitious group of Millennials that in just six years has grown to become one of the most sought after consulting firms in ...
Jun 22, 2018•29 min
Few industries in our economy today are changing as rapidly and dramatically as health care. In Baton Rouge we are far from immune to these national changes. Teri Fontenot is President and CEO of Woman s Hospital, the only independent, community owned women s and children s hospital in the country and the largest birthing and neonatal intensive care facility in Louisiana. Teri has been at the helm of Womans for more than 22 years, making her one of the longest serving hospital CEOs in the nation...
Jun 15, 2018•29 min
Ted Kergan is the largest franchisee of Sonic drive in restaurants in the state of Louisiana. Ted owns 58 Sonic locations in the central and southern part of the state. That sounds like a lot but it s just a fraction of the more than 150 Sonic restaurants Ted has developed during his nearly 40 year career. Ted Kergan is originally from Detroit. Ted began his career in 1977 as a managing partner in an Alexandria Sonic restaurant. He eventually became a partner in the operation with his brother, t...
Jun 01, 2018•29 min
Nationwide, there s a lot of talk these days about two major subjects Infrastructure and health care. Specifically, how to improve and rebuild roads, bridges and other vital connections that we all depend on, and how to pay for the level of increasingly complex care that our aging population requires. Stephanie s guests on Out to Lunch are problem solvers whose locally owned companies are in the thick of these two fields and helping to forge solutions. Tim Barfield is president of CSRS, an archi...
May 25, 2018•29 min
We re serious about our food in south Louisiana, and food related businesses are as interesting and varied as are our own family recipes for gumbo or oyster dressing. As the food industry becomes more complex and sophisticated there are ever more opportunities for entrepreneurs to craft new business models and come up with new ways of serving an ever expanding clientele. Emliy Carlson is the Account Leader of an advertising and marketing firm devoted exclusively to servicing clients in the food ...
May 18, 2018•28 min
Local retailers give a city a sense of place, setting it apart from the next big exit off the interstate. In Baton Rouge, we re fortunate to have several much loved local retailers who, in some cases, have spent generations serving Baton Rouge shoppers with quality products. Manuel Martinez is a well known fixture in Baton Rouge for his sartorial style and for his Corporate Boulevard storefront, Martinez Custom Clothier, which sells Manuel s custom made suits, shirts and sports coats., as well a...
May 11, 2018•29 min
In recent months, female empowerment has become an important topic dominating the media, and the issues raised by the metoo movement have forced this country to have important discussions about how women are treated in the workplace and beyond. Here in Baton Rouge we have some incredibly strong, powerful women who have their own stories of struggles and successes to share. Dima Ghawi specializes in empowering women and helping them reach their leadership potential through the organization she fo...
Apr 27, 2018•29 min
One of the biggest challenges in Louisiana is a lack of skilled workers in the technical trades. Companies complain about it all the time. And yet, many young people will tell you they can t find a good paying job, which is a reason so many of them leave after high school. For the past several years, the business community in south Louisiana has been focused on this dynamic. On this edition of Out to LUnch, Stephanie Riegel uncovers some promising developments in correcting this trend. Stephen T...
Mar 23, 2018•29 min
While New Orleans gets the lion s share of attention for being Louisiana s premier tourist destination, Baton Rouge has some offerings of its own. Michael Day is General Manager of the Raising Cane s River Center, Baton Rouge s premier event facility. Built in 1977, the River Center has more than 14 thousand square meters of exhibition space, a 12 thousand seat facility for concerts, performances and sporting events, a ballroom and meeting rooms and a separate fine arts theater where the Baton R...
Mar 16, 2018•29 min
