It's New Orleans: Out to Lunch

You may have heard the expression, "The camera doesn t lie." Meaning, if you re looking at a photo of something, well, that s how it is. That may have been how it was before Photoshop and filters on Instagram. Photographs these days have a place in our lives they never had before. Among the millions of photos taken and posted every day for free, there are still photographers who make a living taki...

When we talk about the creative community in New Orleans we re usually referring to musicians. But there are other creative communities in New Orelans, including models, actors, and a range of professions on the other side of the cameras. People in these local communities have typically had to find work for themselves. That is until Elizabeth Perrin started up a creative agency called FiftyTwo45....

Joseph Makkos answered an ad on Craig s List and ended up buying 30,000 perfectly preserved copies of The Times Picayune, dating back to 1885. Through his company NOLA DNA, Joseph is setting about packaging and selling the contents of that collection. Vincent Sciama is also a student of the history of New Orleans, especially our relationship with France. Vincent is France s representative here. Of...

We ve all seen those lists that appear from time to time that say New Orleans is the most crime ridden city in the country that nobody in their right mind would want to live in. On the other hand, those of us who live here not only enjoy an enviable quality of life, we re also one of the places that people from other cities above us on the list most want to visit. It s in this unique climate where...

If there s one thing everybody around the world knows about New Orleans, it s that we were the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The other thing they probably know is, we re the birthplace of jazz. The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra was, for a time, one of the most successful and well funded jazz institutions in the city. Today, a new CEO, Sarah Bell, is guiding the orchestra out of the financial crisis i...

When you think of a business that s based on franchising, you probably think of places like Subway and McDonalds. But there are many more. There are over 750,000 franchise outlets in the U.S. Some of them might surprise you. Like Barre 3. They re workout studios that combine ballet barre with yoga and Pilates. There are 3 Barre 3 studios here in New Orleans, all owned by Kendall Carriere. Jeff And...

When you re starting your own business you often hear two pieces of advice. "Do something you love." And, "use your personal experience to better understand your business." Linsey Lamba used her personal experience as a technology consultant in Seattle, working with Microsoft, to go into business for herself. Making skincare products. Linsey explains her transition from consultant to founder of Ar...

You might have noticed in some grocery stores or coffee shops that when you go to check out there are a handful of CDs for sale. That impulse purchase spot is one of the few places you can buy CDs these days, now that most of us buy or steal music online. That might just seem like inevitable technological evolution to you. But what happens when the world changes and you own a record label Dan Stor...

If you live in or have spent any time in New Orleans recently, this has probably happened to you. You re driving around town, or you walk out of a bar or restaurant, and you re suddenly confronted by a huge bunch of people on bikes. The bikes are all decorated and lit up like neon signs and these people seem to be having the best time ever. This is not a bunch of random friends. It s a group of pe...

You ve probably heard the expression, "follow the money." It usually refers to a method of tracking criminal activity. In entrepreneurial circles, following the money can lead to a lot more money. Or it can lead to absolutely nothing. Knowing which entrepreneurial idea to bet on is more art than science. Peggy Babin is CEO of a firm called Valmiki 504. It s the New Orleans branch of a Manhattan in...

If you ve been out to lunch yourself lately, you ve seen people sitting around a table, all looking at their phones. It s no longer an unusual sight. The boundary between the real world and the digital world is getting more blurred all the time. If you have a business, that blurred line is vital to navigate. Getting people to find you online and then selling them your product in the real world has...

One of the knocks against New Orleans as a place to start up a business is that we can t be all that great or we would have produced a Google or Facebook or some sort of spectacular big bucks success by now. But, despite what you might think, not everybody wants to be a billionaire. Some people have a great idea for a small creative business. They don t need millions of dollars of venture capital...

You don t have to be the host of a business show to hear good ideas for making money. I bet you ve heard a few. Maybe you ve even had a few. Getting your business idea to actually happen though, well, that s not always so easy. Sometimes it s a matter of having enough cash to kick off with. And somebody who knows something about business to help. That s where New Orleans micro loan business accele...

There are 500 million people on Instagram. It s the world s biggest social media site behind Facebook. Instagram reportedly grew by 100 million users over the past 12 months. Business people wrestle with a simple question How do you turn this captive audience into customers On this edition of Out to Lunch we meet the person who has the answer. His name is Dalton Dean. Dalton s app, Mainspree, lets...

There is, apparently, more than one way to skin a cat. You might imagine, however, that choices become more limited if you think about how many ways you could shuck an oyster. Or buy a steak. Well, time to expand your imagination. Peter s guests on today s Out to Lunch have found new ways to shuck oysters. And sell meat. Becky Wasden is the owner of a company called Two Girls One Shuck. Two Girls...

Of the many things that divide us, there is one thing that unites us all. We all get sick. So it s ironic that healthcare is one of the most divisive issues in the country. While political arguments about healthcare seem to be stuck in an endless loop, healthcare technology continues to advance. At New Orleans Ochsner Health System, Aimee Quirk is CEO of a division called Innovation Ochsner where...

What do you think when someone you re doing business with tells you, "I m not in it for the money" You assume they re in it for the money, right I mean, why else would they say that Well, once in a while you meet people in business who genuinely are in it for reasons other than money. Like Mike Kantor and Andy Kopplin. Mike is the interim director of the Grow Dat Youth Farm a working urban farm in...

Many of our greatest artists liked cocktails. Degas, Van Gogh, Manet, and many others spoke glowingly of the effect of alcohol on their work, and painted bottles, glasses, and folks drinking. Here in New Orleans, and in 36 states across the U.S, you can find out if a couple of cocktails can turn you into a master painter at Painting With a Twist, where partying and painting go hand in hand. The co...

We assume people like to visit New Orleans for the food and music. Which they do. But most music is at night. And there s only so many hours a day you can eat. If you visit Magazine Street on any given day you ll find tourists shopping alongside locals on almost every block of the 6 miles of stores that stretch from the Lower Garden District to Uptown. Magazine Street has been a commercial backbon...

Remember that time you had a good idea that was going to make you a millionaire It was probably an idea for an app, right In the back of your mind you re still thinking about doing it if you could just find the time to figure it out. And find someone who builds apps. And find someone to kick in some money. Brice Sanderford knows the process. He built the app MySquad. MySquad hooks up people lookin...

Before you get on a plane, you go through a number of layers of security. The airline and the TSA both check to make sure you are who your ID claims you are. One of the methods the TSA uses is a version of a security check system that s also used by IBM, Tesla, and some of the world s largest retailers when you check out with a debit or credit card. The technology for these security checks is prov...

In Louisiana, although gumbo and jambalaya are everyday foods, finding the time to make a good gumbo or jambalaya from scratch is not so easy. You can cut down on prep time by making these traditional dishes with a mix out of a box. If you re a purist, you might turn your nose up at that. On the other hand, there s Jambalaya Girl. Jambalaya Girl is a mix in a box that is an old family recipe creat...

If you re like most Americans, you like to shop. Either in a store or on your phone. Every single retailer in America right now from Walmart to your local shoe shop is trying to figure out how to get you off your phone and into their store. Somebody somewhere is going to have to figure that out to save retail stores from going the way of the dinosaur. That somebody might be New Orleanian Mike Mass...

From the beginning of recorded history we ve had a fascination with the blurred lines between the real world and the supernatural world. Greek gods and Hindu gods were described as humans with superpowers who lived in other dimensions and interacted with people on Earth. In biblical times, an all powerful but invisible God granted some humans super powers, like parting seas and feeding multitudes....

Maybe you've thought about all the things you could do, if you didn't have to work. Sometimes we tell ourselves we're going to do those things later - when we retire. For example, you could spend more time playing guitar. Or you could try your hand at standup comedy. Peter's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch decided not to postpone doing what they liked best. John Rankin has devoted his life...