It's Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch

Technology has created challenges and opportunities for businesses. Some companies have had to totally reinvent themselves to remain relevant. Others, well, just invent an app. Patricia Brignac Talbot s business would belong in the former category. When her dad started the business, now called Baton Rouge Digital Products, back in 1955, copying documents was a very big technological deal. It was c...

Fitness has evolved from being a craze back in the 1970s and 80s to becoming a way of life today. Here in Baton Rouge, entrepreneurs have come up with all sorts of interesting and innovative to keep customers in the Captial Region in good shape. Elle Mahoney is the franchise owner and Louisiana area rep for Orange Theory Fitness, a new type of fitness center that s taking the local market by storm...

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 ye...

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 20...

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....

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 Sol...

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 frustrat...

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...

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 o...

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 1...

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 facilit...

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...

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 r...

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 s...

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 doz...

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 pri...

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 sauce...

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 b...

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 y...

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 se...

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 loc...

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...

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....

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...

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 Bel...