It's Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch
Business & Finance
About
OUT TO LUNCH finds Baton Rouge Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel combining her hard news journalist skills and food background: conducting business over lunch. Baton Rouge has long had a storied history of politics being conducted over meals, now the Capital Region has an equivalent culinary home for business: Mansur's. Each week Stephanie holds court over lunch at Mansur's and invites members of the Baton Rouge business community to join her. You can also hear the show on WRKF 89.3FM.
Episodes
- Speed Food and Love
Miranda Albarez hosts this edition of Out to Lunch. If there’s one thing that has consistently evolved as society has progressed over the millennia, it’s the speed we do things. Every year, people’s patience grows thinner…
- Bikes and Buses
There’s a particular kind of business story that you can really only tell about Louisiana. It usually starts with somebody who barely had two nickels to rub together, an idea that almost nobody else took seriously, and a lot of stubb…
- Home Sweet Homes
How many companies do you think are involved in building a single house? Take a guess. Five? Ten? Maybe twenty? Fifty-three. On average, fifty-three different companies touch a single home before anyone moves in — foundation crews, e…
- The Don & Susan Show
In Hollywood, power couples from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, icons like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, and Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, exemplified glamour both on and off the screen. At the pin…
- My Original Plan Was...
There’s a line I keep hearing from people who run small businesses in Baton Rouge. It goes something like: I didn’t plan this. I was doing something else, I saw a gap, and I walked through it. Norisha Kirts Glover has a degree…
- Tech Never Sleeps
Think about the last time you showed your ID. Maybe at the airport, maybe at a bar, maybe somewhere you had to prove you were who you said you were. You pulled out a card. A piece of plastic. Maybe it was a little beat up. Maybe the photo…
- Apps Born In Baton Rouge
I’m Amy Irvin, host of Out to Lunch in Baton Rouge. I was a college student once. A long time ago. And like a lot of college students, I picked some of my classes based on the professor. Word of mouth, mostly. What my friends said. W…
- The Art of Camping
Think about the last time you visited a city you’d never been to before. Not for business — just to go. What made you decide to stay somewhere? What made you feel like the place wanted you there? Most of the time, we don’…
- Fake Video & The Real Thing
Today’s edition of Out to Lunch sits at the intersection of two big ideas: immersion and reach. One guest is building virtual worlds for the world’s largest energy companies and the U.S. Air Force — right here in Ba…
- Beauty Guru
A little wartime history: In 1940, at the start of World War II, approximately 12 million women were working outside the household in the United States, comprising about 25% of the female population. That number rose significantly during t…
- O'Neal Audio Meets Albaledo Media
If you listen to this show you’ve heard at the end of every episode the credits “today’s show was engineered by J T O’Neal” and “photos were taken by Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez.” But do you know…
- Disco Dinosaur
The disco era of the Seventies is characterized by a danceable "four-on-the-floor" beat, lush orchestration, synthesizers, and glamorous fashion, ultimately exploding into mainstream pop culture with hits, iconic clubs like Studio 54, and…
- More Than A Haircut
Louisiana cuisine is famous for its bold, flavorful dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, and crawfish étouffée. Stemming from rich French, Spanish, African, and Native American influences, our world famous fare is illuminated primar…
- Cutting Edge Doctors
Each year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office grants hundreds of thousands of patents to people who embody what we sometimes refer to as “American ingenuity”. These are folks who are creative problem-solvers, capable of out-o…
- I do
Recent brides and their fathers who paid for the wedding won’t be surprised to learn that the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is between $30,000 and $36,000, depending on the couple's choices, incuding the wedding location and…
- Where Good Friends Meet
There are a lot of things to plan for when moving to a new city: renting a UHaul, forwarding personal mail, driving the most efficient route to a new job. But few people plan for or even consider what perhaps is the most important aspect t…
- Yes And
Would you be surprised to learn that the top five degrees in demand in the US are in healthcare, technology, engineering, business, and mathematics? Probably not. But as AI is introduced into nearly every facet of the workplace, coll…
- The Art of Giving
Imagine if you had a few thousand dollars to spend however you wanted? What would you do? A few of my friends might put a down payment on a house. Others would take a long-dreamed about vacation. Or buy an expensive piece of art. Mos…
- Better Safe
You've probably heard that public radio currently exists in an environment of less than zero public funding. "Less than zero" because when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was disbanded, monies that had already been promised to publ…
- Mahjong
In years past, formal dining rooms were used for Sunday dinner or holiday get-togethers, opportunities to cook a traditional meal, served on fine china, leisurely eaten among family or friends over a glass of wine. Today, estate sales are…
- Drawing Conclusions
By all accounts, it’s difficult to land a job or even an interview right now. There’s all kinds of reasons for that, including a stagnant labor market and sluggish hiring by cautious employers. Recent college graduates are bear…
- The Autism Coffee Connection
Since Starbucks opened its first store in Seattle in 1971, coffee shops have become a staple in nearly every city. In Berkeley, California there are approximately 59 coffee shops, resulting in one coffee shop for every 2,000+ residents, wh…
- Oil and Blood
The reasons people give for starting a business aren’t all that surprising. Financial independence, pursuing personal passions, requiring a flexible schedule, or making a positive impact on the community often top the list. What&rsqu…
- One Bourbon One Coffee
95 percent of the world’s bourbon is made in Kentucky. But that doesn’t stop aficionados of the smooth amber-colored liquor from debating where the name bourbon originated. Among Louisianans, there’s no question that bour…
- Loupe Mesh
Depending on your disposition for integrating technology into your work day, you believe AI is either a tool for increased efficiency and productivity. Or it presents challenges such as job displacement, the potential for bias and misinfor…
- Ladies & Gentlemen
If you read the bestseller “Bowling Alone” in 2000 or are taking notice of wellness stories offering advice on how to reconnect with others IRL, you know that Americans are facing a crisis of loneliness. According to an advisor…
- Based On A True Story
Here’s a plotline we’re all familiar with, something from a novel or a movie. After years of good health, our heroine begins to feel less like herself. She feels sluggish and fatigued at work. She loses her appetite and can&rsq…
- On The Boulevard
When you think back on your most memorable meal, what comes to mind? The company you kept? The exceptional wine list? An entre made up of the freshest Louisiana ingredients? Chef Barrett Meeks and Abney Harper are two Baton Rouge restaurat…
- Daddy Daycare
We all know raising kids takes a village—but what if you’re the one building that village? What if you're the one creating the spaces where children feel safe? Daycare Tessa Holloway is the Owner and Director of Kidz Karousel ,…
- Meet The Hacketts
Only a particularly hard-hearted human could see a dog or cat in trouble and not want to help. Maybe you’d share a post on social media. Or make a donation to a shelter, or a Go-Fund Me for a pet. But would you contemplate turning yo…
- Studyville Tigers
Asking for help isn’t always easy, but sometimes, it’s the smartest thing you can do, especially when it comes to learning. Amanda Martin learned that firsthand as a parent. When her kids hit middle school, she started looking…
- Live Catfish With Boudin Balls
Food is culture. It’s memory and identity. But turning tradition into innovation takes more than a good recipe. It takes creativity, grit, and a deep understanding of what people crave. Yvette Bonanno knows that well. She grew up in…
- Running Pathos
Entrepreneurship can start in a lot of different ways. Sometimes it starts with a tiny idea that just grows alongside a community. Other times, it comes from a personal need—something you realize just isn’t out there yet, and y…
- From Rouge to Green
Baton Rouge is a city known for its strong sense of community. But it’s also a city that’s becoming more aware of the need to protect and enhance its natural environment. In a region where development has often meant the…
- Ever Better
We love to divide things into categories of two. Tall or short. Hot or cold. Liberal or conservative. And then there’s creative, or not. That one’s simply not true. Everyone has something they want to see come to li…
- Animals
Animals. For most people animals are a part of their everyday life. Maybe it's your dog that loves it so much when you come home from work. Maybe there's a duck in the park you go to that remembers you because you feed him every time you s…
- Lean On Me
When you draw up a business contract, lawyers try and predict the myriad things that could go wrong and plan strategies and remedies so if they do there are no surprises and you know what to do. Well, outside of business, real life is diff…
- Feeling Better
"Hi, how are you? " It's amazing how often the word "hi" and the question “How are you?” go together. The latter is such a standard greeting it barely registers as a serious question. The standard answer is, “Good.…
- Mr. Payne & Mr. Payne
In the past few decades, technology has taken over the way we live our lives. From the books that we read to news we receive, the way we consume media has been changed forever. But recently, there’s been a movement to return to the a…
- Care Connexion
Baton Rouge has long been a city of tradition. People here can be a little resistant to change. This is true from centers of political, economic and even medical focus. But recently, the stage has been set for the capital city to become a…
- Location Insurance Mortgage
The golden rule of real estate has always been, "Location Location Location." Today in Louisiana it's more like, "Location, Insurance, Mortgage." When we say "real estate" we're mostly talking about something more than just a transaction.…
- Korean Swamp Cows
In some ways, there are two Louisianas. There's the one the tourism marketing folks sell to visitors, centered on New Orleans on one side of Baton Rouge and Cajun Country on the other. And then there's the Louisiana that we live in, which…
- Art & Design
When you’re launching your own business, some of the first questions you have to ask yourself are, who is your target market? How are you going to differentiate yourself from the competition? Are you going to try to be all things to…
- Cafe Hope
We live in fractured, divided times where sometimes even simple facts about basic reality are too much for folks to agree on. Partisan politics, social media and the internet serve to divide us and keep us apart. And experts tell us all th…
- Merely Players
"All the world's a stage," as Shakespeare famously wrote, and we are "merely players" performing roles, today as professionals or politicians or teachers in a classroom of students. or parents modeling behavior for their children. In an er…
- Golden Business Plan
Making a business plan is an essential part of launching a new business. But it’s not a skill an aspiring business owner necessarily has. Which is where Camille Terk comes in. Writing business plans is literally what she does for a living.…
- Radiation Vibe
Around two million people in the United states will be diagnosed this year with cancer. Taken together, each one of these individual life-changing diagnoses forms a part of an overall cancer care industrial complex which adds to up to an a…
- Bloom & Tipzy
There are cose to 3 milllion apps available today – nearly 3 times as many as there were a decade ago – and they are designed to do everything imaginable, whether it’s helping us buy a house, track a hurricane, rent a car or remember to br…
- There's Got To Be A Better Way
When is the last time you heard someone say, “I love email?” I would bet, probably never. Every day it seems like we’re swamped with more spam. And when we do actually rely on email for something important, well, you know how that goes. Yo…
- Dem Bones
The complexity of healthcare today and all the western advances that go with it – from AI generated diagnoses to online scheduling platforms to cold, impersonal clinical settings – has a lot of people – and their four-legged friends - look…