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Το περιεχόμενο παρέχεται από το Jan Swift. Όλο το περιεχόμενο podcast, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των επεισοδίων, των γραφικών και των περιγραφών podcast, μεταφορτώνεται και παρέχεται απευθείας από τον Jan Swift ή τον συνεργάτη της πλατφόρμας podcast. Εάν πιστεύετε ότι κάποιος χρησιμοποιεί το έργο σας που προστατεύεται από πνευματικά δικαιώματα χωρίς την άδειά σας, μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε τη διαδικασία που περιγράφεται εδώ https://el.player.fm/legal.
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Gen Z slang is rife with new words like "unalive," "skibidi" and "rizz." Where do these words come from — and how do they get popular so fast? Linguist Adam Aleksic explores how the forces of social media algorithms are reshaping the way people talk and view their very own identities. For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch . Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links: TEDNext: ted.com/futureyou TEDSports: ted.com/sports TEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-vienna TEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…
Discover Lafayette
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Το περιεχόμενο παρέχεται από το Jan Swift. Όλο το περιεχόμενο podcast, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των επεισοδίων, των γραφικών και των περιγραφών podcast, μεταφορτώνεται και παρέχεται απευθείας από τον Jan Swift ή τον συνεργάτη της πλατφόρμας podcast. Εάν πιστεύετε ότι κάποιος χρησιμοποιεί το έργο σας που προστατεύεται από πνευματικά δικαιώματα χωρίς την άδειά σας, μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε τη διαδικασία που περιγράφεται εδώ https://el.player.fm/legal.
The Gateway to South Louisiana
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Manage series 1814016
Το περιεχόμενο παρέχεται από το Jan Swift. Όλο το περιεχόμενο podcast, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των επεισοδίων, των γραφικών και των περιγραφών podcast, μεταφορτώνεται και παρέχεται απευθείας από τον Jan Swift ή τον συνεργάτη της πλατφόρμας podcast. Εάν πιστεύετε ότι κάποιος χρησιμοποιεί το έργο σας που προστατεύεται από πνευματικά δικαιώματα χωρίς την άδειά σας, μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε τη διαδικασία που περιγράφεται εδώ https://el.player.fm/legal.
The Gateway to South Louisiana
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×Discover Lafayette welcomes Paul Eason, founder of Eason Advertising , a marketing and public relations firm based in Lafayette, to share his family history as a member of the Billeaud family. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Billeaud Companies. A native of Lafayette, Paul graduated from Cathedral-Carmel High School and USL. He has built a successful career in advertising and PR since launching his firm in 1999, representing clients across industries ranging from banks to automotive dealerships. Paul’s story, however, is deeply intertwined with the legacy of the Billeaud family. As a descendant of this influential family, Paul has served on the board of Billeaud Companies since 2013 and has chaired the board since 2021. He is the first chairman in the company’s history who does not carry the Billeaud name, a point of pride and responsibility. The Billeaud Family Legacy The company’s origins began when Pierre Jean Billeaud (1806-1877) and his wife, Rosalie Felicite Grizeau, immigrated to Louisiana with their son, Martial Francois, from Bourgneuf, France in 1840. Pierre made his living as a wheelwright (blacksmith). When Martial was 16 in 1852, he followed in his father’s footsteps and established a blacksmith shop near the Vermilion River, on the site presently occupied by the DoubleTree Hotel. In 1872, Martial brought new stalks of sugar cane to the area, purchased a mule driven-cane crushing machine, built a mill and began buying land to start a sugar cane business. The endeavor evolved into Billeaud buying more land and building up the sugar company. Martial Billeaud was the first in his family to begin the history of the Billeaud family’s commitment to responsible use of land resources and active involvement in the community. Billeaud Companies can be traced back to 1914, when Martial F. Billeaud, Sr. sold the business to his children. who originally incorporated it into the Billeaud Sugar Factory, Inc. Built upon earlier cane-crushing operations started in the late 19th century, the enterprise grew into a powerhouse of sugar production. Over time, multiple plantations—including Comeaux and Broussard—were consolidated under the umbrella of the company, reflecting its family-driven nature. Martial F. Billeaud, Sr. (1836 – 1916) was the driving force behind the current family-owned Billeaud Companies. The family is proud to have facilitated the building of Martial F. Billeaud Elementary School at 500 E Fairfield Dr, Broussard, LA, on property formerly owned by the company. Paul recalls childhood visits to the factory in Broussard, where the machinery left lasting impressions. The sugar factory had been part of the daily life of his family for generations. “Popie Billeaud jokes that I’m the first chairman of Billeaud Companies that doesn’t carry the Billeaud name. As a child, I went to the sugar factory a bunch. In those days, my uncle was running the sugar factory, and as I remember we’d go there to see the them crushing the cane and bringing the cane in and the smokestacks. It was a big operation, located about where Mike’s Marine is in Broussard. I knew that I was always going to be involved with Billeaud Companies. We have a swing set in my backyard that was made at the sugar factory and syrup bowl in the front yard. It was always a part of my life.” As time went on, and Lafayette and Broussard expanded, economic realities, environmental issues, and federal policy shifts made sugar production less sustainable. In 1979, the sugar factory closed. The company pivoted to land development, real estate, and commercial property investment. This strategic shift—guided in part by longtime CEO James L. “Tex” Plumley—allowed the company to prosper through oil discoveries, building acquisitions, and commercial development. Growth Into Real Estate Development Today, the Billeaud Companies own and manage more than 800,000 square feet of developed property, along with hundreds of acres of significant undeveloped land. Their portfolio includes shopping centers in Broussard, office complexes such as 900 South College Road and 218 Rue Beauregard in Lafayette, and other key commercial properties throughout Lafayette Parish. As Chief Executive Officer of Billeaud Companies, Steven Hebert plays an integral role in the company’s operations, growth and overall success. The company has also been instrumental in community growth. From donating the road to our locally beloved zoo, Zoosiana , to facilitating the land deal for Martial F. Billeaud Elementary School , the family has consistently invested in projects that benefit the public while preserving long-term value for shareholders. Family and Community Connections With more than 200 stockholders—spread across Louisiana and beyond—the Billeaud Companies remains a true family enterprise. Annual stockholders’ meetings are as much a reunion and celebration as they are business affairs, often featuring crawfish boils, live music, and fellowship under the oak trees of the historic family headquarters, once the Paul Billeaud home and later Chez Marcelle Restaurant. The Billeaud Foundation, which Paul previously chaired, reflects the family’s commitment to philanthropy. Scholarships in music, science, French, nursing, and in honor of fallen family members continue to impact UL students and the wider Acadiana community. The foundation also supports local churches and civic projects. The Martial F. Billeaud, Sr. Foundation provides funds to be used exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes, with grants being provided to deserving organizations within these criteria. Any organization that fits the criteria stated above may apply for funds by filling out our online grant application. Visit https://billeaudcompanies.com/about/martial-f-billeaud-sr-foundation/ for more information. Carrying the Torch For Paul, being chairman means balancing tradition with innovation. He oversees a diverse board that includes lawyers, bankers, IT specialists, and construction experts, all working toward the goal of preserving the Billeaud legacy while preparing for Lafayette’s future. As he reflects on both his personal career and his family’s 111-year history in business, Paul emphasizes stewardship, adaptability, and optimism about the opportunities ahead in Lafayette and Broussard. To learn more about the company, visit https://billeaudcompanies.com/ .…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Marcelle Bienvenu – Acclaimed Cookbook Author and Food Writer who has been Preparing Cajun and Creole dishes since the 1960s
Discover Lafayette welcomes Marcelle Bienvenu, cookbook author and food writer who has been preparing Cajun and Creole dishes since the 1960s. A St. Martinville native, she still lives there with her husband, Rock Lasserre. Marcelle has written about Creole and Cajun cooking for The Times-Picayune , Time-Life Books, and has been featured in Garden & Gun , Food & Wine , Saveur , Southern Living , Redbook , The New York Times , Louisiana Life , and Acadiana Profile . She authored Who’s Your Mama? Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux? , as well as Who’s Your Mama? The Sequel , and Cajun Cooking for Beginners . She co-edited Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans , which was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2009. Marcelle worked with Emeril Lagasse for 15 years and coauthored several cookbooks with him, including Louisiana Real & Rustic , Emeril’s Creole Christmas , Emeril’s TV Dinners , and Every Day’s a Party . She also owned and operated the beloved restaurant Chez Marcelle in Broussard, at the former Billeaud Family Plantation site. She has worked at legendary restaurants including Commander’s Palace and K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and taught for 11 years at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University. Growing Up in St. Martinville “When I was a youngster, it was idyllic. You could ride your bike anywhere. Nobody cared where you were going. We could go around the block and ask all the ladies, ‘What do you have for supper tonight?’ If I liked hers better than mine, I could stay with her. Everybody on our block was related.” Her father’s family owned The Teche News , and she grew up folding papers and helping with printing: “Besides the newspaper, Daddy did wedding invitations, football programs. I used to hate it because my hands were always full of ink… Mama would fix the sandwiches at the newspaper office because we never went home on paper day until late. The ink was all over your bread.” She credits her early love of cooking to meals at family camps on Vermilion Bay: “My father was a Boy Scout leader, and we had a camp at Granddad’s on Vermilion Bay, at Sycamore Point, and we had one in the Basin. A lot of our meals were cooked on an open fire wood bar. And I thought that was absolutely fabulous. So I would sit at my daddy’s elbow with his beer. I was beer holder. I would say, shouldn’t you go medium low? You don’t have a dial, you’d have to move it. I became infatuated with that. I thought that was just marvelous. “We were laughing the other day about when we were little, nobody said, oh, we’re going to have Cajun food. Are we going to New Orleans? Can we have Creole food? We never would. Nobody ever said that.” An interesting side note : Marcelle is the aunt of Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry. His mother and Marcelle’s sister, Edna Bienvenu Landry, died in 2019. Our governor also unfortunately recently lost his father, architect and business owner, Al James Landry, on July 30, 2025. The Start of a Culinary Career In 1971, while working at The Times-Picayune , Marcelle met the Time-Life Books crew. “They were thinking of doing a book on Acadian Creole cooking… We were supposed to be only a chapter in the Southern book, but we ended up with a whole book.” Working with the Brennans and legendary chef Paul Prudhomme shaped her approach: “He really brought Cajun cooking up to another level… It was absolutely wonderful to see them marrying those two cuisines to see what they came up with.” Before Prudhomme joined Commander’s Palace, no one in New Orleans was serving chicken and andouille sausage gumbo. Chez Marcelle Marcelle’s uncle offered to finance a restaurant in Broussard, and they transformed the old Billeaud Plantation home: “We did fabulously for almost four years and then the whole business… the oil industry crashed. It happened so fast my CPA called to ask if we had closed.” Food Writing & Cookbooks Ella Brennan encouraged Marcelle to write about food for The Times-Picayune . This led to her first book, a collection of her columns: “Mama said, ‘Why don’t you just write a book, just get all your columns and put them together?’ And that’s how Who’s Your Mama? Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux? happened.” Her more recent re-release of Who’s Your Mama is a delightful treat with beautiful colors and a celebration of pink, was sparked by a friend and a publisher’s chance conversation. https://youtu.be/JceDMNScC8o Teaching at Nicholls State After Hurricane Katrina, Marcelle began teaching at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute: “I stayed almost 12 years… I never thought I would like to teach. But as the generation gap got bigger and bigger, it was time for me to go.” With Emeril Lagasse “When we did the first book, Louisiana Real & Rustic , he was very good about keeping to our roots… He was true to keeping the book honest.” She watched his transformation on TV: He was shy. But when they turned that camera on, he lit up. It was amazing to see him do that.” Food Philosophy “Learn to make three good dishes… You go sit with your mama or grandma in the kitchen and watch what they do.” Her favorite dish? “Spaghetti.” “I’m really not a big fan of making gumbo… it has to be cold outside.” Where to Find Her Book Marcelle’s latest release is available at Renaissance Market, The Pink Paisley, Barnes & Noble, Caroline & Company, and Amazon. “It is a great wedding gift.” Final Parting Words…. “Gumbo became a food because of having to have something to eat. They had to use whatever they had… Who do you think ate the first oyster? Somebody who was damn hungry.”…
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Discover Lafayette

Lafayette Fire Chief Robert Benoit, a man who has devoted 46 years to protecting our community, recently announced his retirement. A Lafayette native, Chief Benoit joined the department in May 1979 and made history in August 1993 when he became the first Black fire chief in Lafayette’s history. Under his leadership, the department expanded from seven to fourteen fire stations, modernized equipment and training, and earned improved fire ratings, saving money and lives. Chief Benoit has been inducted into the Louisiana Fire Chiefs Hall of Fame and served as President of the Southwestern Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. As he prepares to retire on August 15, 2025, Chief Benoit reflected on the calling he discovered as a child, the trials and triumphs of leading during economic downturns and political shifts, and the deeper sense of purpose that led him to seminary and prison ministry. “I think it was a gift that God placed in me, probably from birth… getting to how I got there was looking at a firefighter in a book at school at seven years old… and I said, ‘I want to be a firefighter.’” From Stockboy to Chief Chief Benoit’s journey began with humble jobs—first at Lafayette Drug Company, then Martin Mills in St. Martinville—while waiting to meet the age requirement to become a firefighter. When the age was lowered to 18, he took the civil service exam, passed, and began training at the fire academy. His first assignment was the Central Fire Station, where he spent 99% of his career. “The first thing you get is an interview with the fire chief. The fire chief at that time was Wayne Prejean. He told me he was going to give me a shot. I remember walking out the fire station realizing that I was going to get a job. Even though I had to go through the physical process. And then from there, once I cleared the physical, I went to the academy which lasted three months. It was exciting. I did everything I needed to do.” My first station was at Central Downtown, which is where I work today. At that time, we had a pumper truck and a ladder truck and a rescue truck in the station. That’s where I started to learn the business of firefighting. Learning that business, reading on my own time, a lot of time in the fire station. We were very short on firefighters.” “They called it ‘The Rock’… because everything comes through the Central Fire Station. That was administration, firefighters, and the communications center.” A Rapid Rise Through the Ranks Benoit was known for his drive and initiative. He became a truck driver within three years (something that on average takes about eight years), communications officer, arson investigator, and captain—a rank he reached in just six years. “I wanted to learn every section of the fire department… Didn’t realize I was going to be chief. I just wanted to understand how this organization worked.” In the 1980, the local economy tanked. “I used to hear people make the comment. Last one out. Turn the lights out. They had a lot of vacant buildings and having a lot of fires that was arson. Kids were setting buildings on fire. And of course, unfortunately, some businesses were setting their businesses on fire. The fire chief at that time was Jack Massey who needed some help in the fire prevention bureau in the arson section. He asked me to go work in there just for a couple of months, just to help him out. I wound up going in there and found a home in fire prevention. So this is seven years later. I’m in fire prevention. I started learning the business of investigations. I started getting trained by ATF agents, FBI agents, insurance agents and going to school. That’s where my educational level really skyrocketed. I started getting degrees and learning this business of investigating fires. The fire chief put me in charge of internal affairs for the fire department. So I pretty much did everything, became the go to person behind the scenes. If anything was going on in the city within the fire department, I would get the call to go see what’s going on and figure out how to resolve it.” “The first one I purchased for the City of Lafayette, back in 1994, after a year of being fire chief, cost $125,000. Now those trucks are averaging 1.5 million for the small ones. And, almost 1.8 to 2 million, for a ladder truck.” Becoming Fire Chief In 1993, Benoit competed for the chief’s position under Mayor Kenny Bowen, whom he had known since being hired. “We went round and round and round… He was testing me… He said, ‘Relax. I’m sending your name to the media right now.’” Benoit emphasized transparency, professionalism, and integrity: “I wasn’t going to be a yes person… but I’m going to do the business of trying to do the right thing and bring this fire department to another level.” “Everything that went on in the fire department, [the mayors] knew about it… Good, bad, and indifferent.” When you look at the stats in the fire department of the of the 13 stations that actually have fire trucks operating out of them, Station Two on Mudd Avenue is the busiest company in the city because it’s an older neighborhood, with more wear and tear on houses. You’ll see more fires. One of the things that we’re very, very happy about is that the public education component of the fire department and fire prevention helps the elderly because we install smoke alarms. We install fire extinguishers. That’s the way for us getting into your home to give you fire safety pamphlets and to show you how to be fire safe.” Creating a Culture of Service and Safety Chief Benoit led with discipline and grace. He instituted educational reforms, boosted morale, and changed the perception of firefighters in the community. “We became a public relations type organization…to help people, to get involved in nonprofit organizations.” His department offered community fire prevention programs, smoke alarm installations, fire safety education, and support for victims after fires. “Nobody stays in the street after a fire… We partnered with hotels. We even refurbished homes—what I called the ‘burn houses.’” “One of the things I share with people is that we have a tendency to leave our appliances running when we leave. Washer and dryer. Turn those things off. You know, if you’re going to wash your clothes, then wait for to finish washing. If you’re going to dry, stay there until the dryer goes off because something could happen. Any mechanical part that’s moving like that, it’s producing heat. If you have a situation, then nobody’s there to put the fire out. If there is a fire, close your doors, let it be contained in that one room instead of spreading throughout the whole house.” “We always tell people, just get out. Get out and stay out. Don’t go back in. 99% of the time, if you go back in, you’re not going to get back out.” Parish Partnerships and Public Safety Benoit was instrumental in creating strategic partnerships between Lafayette City and Parish fire departments, ensuring fast, seamless service across the region. “All you know is that somebody is going to show up… If it’s in the city, within 3 to 5 minutes. If it’s in the parish, between 5 and 10 minutes.” He also explained the complex elements of Lafayette’s fire insurance rating system, involving fire, water, and communications. “It’s a three-part process… 50% is fire, 40% is the water department, 10% is communications.” “Every station is located within a mile and a half… That goes back to the horse and buggy days.” On Leadership, Grace, and Legacy Chief Benoit has brought a pastoral approach to leadership. He graduated from the Ever Increasing Word Training Center in Barrow LA where he received a diploma of Ministerial Training. In May 2020, he earned a Graduate Certificate in Theology with honors from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix Arizona, and graduated with a masters in Divinity in April of this year. He is also active in the ministry providing bible studies at Lafayette Parish Correctional Center. “God has blessed me with that. He showed me how to give grace… when you’ve got things going on in your world and you don’t know how to fix it.” “By the time you get to me, you’re about to lose your job… Give me an opportunity to help you fix that. If we can fix those things, that fire department problem is going to go away.” His ability to balance discipline with empathy changed lives and careers:“There were some mayors who would tell me, ‘I’d fire him.’ And I’d look at them and say, ‘Well, you can’t fire everybody.’” What’s Next? After retiring, Chief Benoit will serve as Fire Liaison Supervisor for Acadian Ambulance, continuing to lead and connect communities. “One of the things with this job of Acadian, it will have me traveling across the state. Not a problem for me. I’ll be able to network with other people and just enjoy God’s green earth.” “The transition still keeps me connected to government… but it shows me that I’ve done my time here. It’s time to give this leadership over to a younger person.” In his free time, Benoit enjoys walking, traveling, and time with his grandchildren . “I’m a walker. I love to walk. I try to do that at least four days a week. At least three three miles a day minimum.“I walk throughout the city… at least three miles a day… and I love my Netflix.” “I’ve got eight grandkids… a set of twins. I still can’t tell the twins apart.” Final Reflections “Here I am, 67, and I still feel like that little kid… that was excited at 20 years old to walk into that fire station and hear, ‘You’re getting a job.’ Today I can tell you, that little kid is excited to be leaving at 67 years old on August the 15th.”…
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Discover Lafayette

Jonathan Booth, Chartered Financial Analyst and CPA accredited in business valuation, joins Discover Lafayette to share his remarkable journey from being a young boy of 11 years of age falling in love with stock investments to CEO and Managing Partner of Booth Laird Capital Management, a boutique investment firm based in Lafayette. “My uncle would buy me stock in McDonald’s…that was my birthday and Christmas present every year from all the family members instead of toys.” Jonathan’s early exposure to investing—paired with a deep appreciation for Warren Buffett’s philosophy of buying undervalued companies with strong fundamentals—set the tone for a career defined by rigorous analysis and long-term strategy. He emphasizes patience and discipline, especially in volatile markets: “I loved it. My uncle and I would go over the earnings releases. By the time I was in high school, I was managing my own portfolio of stocks. When I was 19, he took me to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Warren Buffett’s company. They call that the Woodstock for capitalists. It’s a chance to listen to Warren Buffett talk for six hours. I didn’t know what to expect, but you just sit there and listen to the Oracle of Omaha, as they call him, spew wisdom.” A passionate and disciplined financial strategist, Jonathan also serves on the board of FlyGuys, the Lafayette-based drone data company in which Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame recently invested $3 million in a $13 million Series A-1 funding round and led the round ; O’Leary’s Wonder Fund investment will accelerate software innovation, expand global reach, and strengthen the commercial drone workforce. Quote from Kevin O’Leary on LinkedIn: “Big news. I recently led a $13 million Series A-1 round through the Wonder Fund North Dakota. The investment went into a company that’s redefining how the physical world feeds the AI economy. Meet FlyGuys — a national network of over 16,000 FAA-certified drone pilots powering the capture and delivery of reality data at scale. From thermal roof scans to solar inspections, agriculture, and infrastructure, they handle it all. FlyGuys is the connective tissue between AI platforms and the physical world. I backed this team because their software is built to scale, their operations are rooted in service and precision, and their impact is real. AI platforms depend on clean, reliable inputs, and FlyGuys delivers exactly that. They’re not just serving today’s use cases, they’re building global infrastructure for tomorrow’s AI economy, while creating new income opportunities for drone pilots around the world. Data is the new oil. AI can’t function without it. FlyGuys is building the pipeline.” A native of Baton Rouge, and graduate of Catholic High and LSU, Jonathan originally pursued accounting. “I got a scholarship from the College of Business, and I chose accounting because I already did it. After my first semester, my professor hired me to work at his private accounting practice because I did pretty well in the class. And so I just kept getting pulled along into accounting and got my bachelor’s and master’s in accounting. Jonathan’s performance earned him a rare honor: “I passed the CPA exam in 2006 with one of the ten highest scores in the world, known as the Elijah Watt Sells Award.” He also passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam (a minimum of three years of exams) on his first attempt. While working at Ernst & Young, Jonathan maintained his passion for investing, ultimately founding Booth Laird Capital Management. Alongside his partner Kevin Laird, Jonathan focuses on concentrated investment strategies, targeting exceptional businesses and waiting for undervaluation. “We call them compounding machines,” he explained. “The term ‘hedge fund’ scares a lot of people, but it’s truly just the way the fund is structured. It allows us the ability and freedom to invest more as we see fit. I prefer to call it a private investment fund. We look for companies that will compound value 10 to 20% a year on average every year. All we’re doing is finding exceptional businesses and waiting for them to be undervalued. High quality, publicly traded stocks. The great thing about these businesses is that when you do have the the pandemic or you have high inflation, their stock price might go down along with everyone else, but their business is fine while their competitors are not. So they have an opportunity to keep investing in marketing, research and development, improving their business while their competitors can’t. And they also get an opportunity to buy their competitors who are struggling because they can’t handle it. That to me means it is less risky because you’re only investing in great companies who thrive in good times, as all companies will, but they’ll do just fine in bad times as well.” Jonathan is clear on his firm’s identity: “We’re not doing what you see on the TV show Billions …All we’re doing is finding exceptional businesses and waiting for them to be undervalued. We just wait for the opportunity to invest at a good price. Once you find these companies, because they’re so good at what they do, they have a very bright future.” “Our clients are very happy. They come to us because they want that outsized return, but they also want someone they can trust. That’s the benefit of us versus a mutual fund. We know each one of our clients and have about 80 investors in the fund. We have one portfolio to manage. We know each one of them. We don’t talk to them all the time, we’re not financial advisors, but they know they can reach out to us at any time. And they trust that we will do well. We’re in the same thing as them. That’s the other part of it. Our fund, our money is invested right alongside theirs in the fund. We have skin in the game.” “The great part as well about our clients is we’ve always been selective in who we’ve let into the fund. And a big part of the criteria is that they do have a long term focus, and they’re not going to panic when the market drops. So when the pandemic hit and the market was down 30 to 40%, the only emails we received were excitement that now, oh, I can’t wait to hear what we’re buying right now.” Jonathan is also a venture investor and founder of Booth Laird Ventures, which backs early-stage companies through single-deal investment vehicles. The company has invested in several startups including FlyGuys and Muddy Water Dredge Solutions. FlyGuys, a pioneer in drone-based reality data capture, began with a $200,000 special-purpose vehicle raised by Booth and Laird’s clients. Jonathan shared a pivotal moment from July 2019: “FlyGuys is going through its growing pains, as all startups eventually do. I’d never done this before, invest my money at risk. I was not going to let that go down without a fight. So I came to Lafayette to see what we can do to fix things. And we figured out a lot in that first month, one of my favorite stories. We were probably two weeks from running out of money at the end of July 2019, and we had an investor who’d put in $100,000 about a year before, and he was mad because he saw what was going on. He thought, oh, you already lost my money. He drove all the way from Alabama just to basically yell at us and try to get his money back, which obviously wasn’t going to be possible. But by that time we had figured out a lot, and by the end of the night, he invested another $100,000. Had that not happened, I don’t know that FlyGuys would still be here.” “The heart of FlyGuys is reality data capture, which is used primarily as an input for other people’s software. AI needs data, and we provide the data that it needs to produce a result. You need someone to actually capture the data. That’s where we came in and continue to be. We have construction progress monitoring. As an example, Buc-ee’s hired us. Every new Buc-ee’s they build in the country, we will provide construction progress monitoring, which means that throughout the course of the build, we fly over every other week, once a month and send a report where they can see the progress of the construction.” Today, FlyGuys operates with over 16,000 FAA-certified independent contractor drone pilots in all 50 states. Booth shared, “We’re increasingly going global.” Booth’s commitment to Lafayette is also deeply personal, as he shared that he moved here to assist FlyGuys stabilize operations back in 2019: “I’ve been here for six years. I would never go back [to Baton Rouge]. Lafayette is my home now. The people here are great, the food is great, the culture is fantastic.” To learn more about Booth Laird Capital Management or to explore raising capital through Booth Laird Ventures, visit b oothlaird.com and follow Jonathan on LinkedIn, where they blog entries are regularly posted.…
Annie Wingate Spell, Louisiana State Representative for District 45 , joins Discover Lafayette to share the journey that led her to public service. Annie’s story is one of unwavering determination, professional excellence, and personal resilience. A licensed clinical child psychologist, Annie holds degrees from UL Lafayette and LSU. In 2024, she was honored with the Angel Award by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation for her long-standing advocacy on behalf of Hearts of Hope, which supports survivors of sexual assault victims in Acadiana. A lifelong learner and self-starter, Annie recounted the early days of her path to becoming a psychologist. While studying at USL, she pivoted from business to psychology after realizing her passion for understanding human behavior. She reached out to 16 local psychologists listed in the Yellow Pages, offering to pay for their time to learn more about the profession. “They didn’t charge me.” One of those who answered her call, Dr. Kenneth Bouillion, became an influential mentor, helping her determine that child psychology was her calling: “I always thought it was easier to build up a child than build up an adult. There’s so much flexibility in a child’s development and fluidity that if we can affect change on their environment, we could have better outcomes for them. ” A Lafayette native, Annie credits her parents, Joan Babineaux Wingate and Keith Wingate, with instilling a deep sense of faith, gratitude, and service. “God will provide. But don’t act as if He will. Don’t take anything for granted.” Her mother, she said, is “the epitome of a servant leader. My father was one of those dads that was ever involved. Having three girls, he learned that shopping malls could be fun. He learned that cheer camps are the best thing ever.” Annie’s grandfather, Judge Allen Babineaux , was also a defining influence in her life. A former Louisiana State Representative for District 45, he served as a judge in the 15th JDC. He championed CODOFIL, advocated for the recognition of Acadiana as a geographic and cultural region, and played a key role in bringing about the Acadiana flag. “He wasn’t just a politician… He was a neighbor, a friend, and a leader.” The flag of Acadiana was first displayed on Feb. 22, 1965, the centennial of the Acadian arrival in this area. Shown are Thomas Arceneaux, president of the Bicentennial Celebration of France-Amerique and the designer of the flag; Roy Theriot, president of the Acadian Committee; and Judge Allen Babineaux, who sponsored the flag’s creation. Photo credit: Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Louis Perret She also spoke of her experience helping children and families after Hurricane Katrina, both in New Orleans and later during her residency in Houston, where she worked with evacuees from Louisiana. “The strength of a community and the ability for people to mobilize together is really critical. “The need for a strong community was ever evident to me in those moments when crisis hits, in those moments when what you thought was certain, which you had taken for granted, was no longer there. The strength of a community and the ability for people to mobilize together is really critical. I saw children who are by far very resilient most times when it comes to tragedy. So a lot of what I did was supporting the parents in those moments because they were the ones that were obviously dealing with the very serious consequences of their home, their work, all of that.” Annie married Joe Spell, founder and CEO of Tides Medical, in 2006. She described him as “a generous person, generous in spirit and time” who waited for her while she pursued her goals. The strength of their relationship was evident when Annie was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma shortly after the birth of their first son. “The day I was diagnosed was the day that my husband Joe, was hiring his first executive besides himself. The company was growing at the time, I believe there was six people in the office, and he was hiring his first exec to help out with the marketing and research. And it was the day that I was diagnosed. And so it was a very pivotal, pivotal day. It’s an indelible memory. I knew I’d be fine…I leaned on my faith tremendously.” She went into remission within six months and has had clean scans ever since. “No one ever regrets surviving cancer.” After her recovery, Annie poured herself into community service. In addition to her leadership with Hearts of Hope, she contributed to the Autism Society of Acadiana, Miles Perret Cancer Services, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Schools of the Sacred Heart, and ESA (Episcopal School of Acadiana). She also became Pack Committee Chair of Cub Scout Pack 446, an active role that involves, as she noted, “a lot of camping and a lot of work.” Annie’s path to the Louisiana House of Representatives was unexpected—she ran unopposed and was seated quickly. “I was extremely flabbergasted…At the end of qualifying, I was the only person that had applied.” She immediately began a “quick tour of Lafayette” to meet with elected officials, law enforcement, community leaders and stakeholders before heading into her first legislative session just one month later. As a freshman legislator, Annie was appointed to Health & Welfare, Transportation, and Retirement committees—assignments that aligned closely with her expertise and priorities. “Health and welfare is something I’m going to try and push the needle on as best I can… statewide.” Among her legislative successes in the 2025 session: A bill signed into law that improves transparency and standardization in the Medicaid system, making it easier for providers to serve patients. Legislation that streamlined procurement processes for first responders, allowing agencies to access necessary equipment more efficiently. Participation in transportation reform efforts, including legislation that consolidates planning and project delivery within DOTD and begins the privatization of lower-tier roadways—measures expected to increase efficiency and bring infrastructure decisions closer to the communities they serve. Annie credited her colleagues—particularly Senator Brach Myers, whose seat she now holds—for helping her acclimate quickly: “He took me on a tour my first day at the Capitol and introduced me to everyone.” She also thanked Speaker Phillip DeVillier for placing her on committees that matched her skills. Annie’s thoughtful, faith-driven, and community-first approach is unmistakable. As she reflected on the whirlwind of her first year in office, she emphasized that public service is about asking the right questions, using personal experience to shape policy, and being an accessible representative for her constituents. To learn more, visit www.anniespell.com . Her District 45 office is located on South College Road in Lafayette alongside that of State Senator Brach Myers, conveniently nestled between Popeyes and Hub City Diner. And when she’s not serving at the Capitol or in the community, you can find Annie cheering on her sons, ages 12 and 8, “on soccer fields across the Southeastern side of the U. S.” In her family, the grandparent names are endearing: “Mojo” for her mom, “Bear” for her dad, Granby for her mother-in-law, Beverly, and “Grizz” for her father-in-law—“because he wanted to be better than Bear.” This conversation with Annie Wingate Spell is a powerful reminder that resilience, service, and a heart for others can drive real change in our community and state.…
Discover Lafayette: Senator Brach Myers on Public Service, Family, and Revitalizing the Oil Center of Lafayette Louisiana State Senator Brach Myers, who began serving Senate District 23 in March 2025 after representing House District 45, joined Discover Lafayette to reflect on his deep-rooted commitment to public service, his childhood journey, and his ongoing mission to uplift Lafayette and the state of Louisiana. A Lafayette transplant by way of Palmetto and New Iberia, Brach shared, “Lafayette was always the big city to us. I joked and said that many days in the back of a hatchback car ride in the back to Lafayette.” He shared his love of Lafayette: “Lafayette has unmatched culture. You can see the most beautiful parts of the U.S., but there’s nothing like coming home.” His upbringing was a blend of blue-collar life and entrepreneurial ambition, split between a trailer park in New Iberia and the early days of LHC Group, the home health care giant his father and stepmother, Ginger and Keith Myers, started in Palmetto, Louisiana. “My mom worked at the General Mill. She was a seamstress. My stepfather was a railroad engineer. She still is a hard worker. She owns a small embroidery business here in Lafayette.” Brach moved to Lafayette in 1999 to attend UL, where he met his wife Carly. They were married just six months into dating. “She’s my absolute soul mate… We’re residents of Bendel Gardens right here by the Oil Center.” Brach’s day job is as Senior VP of Corporate Development at LHC Group, which provides care in over 40 states and employs more than 30,000 people. A humble public servant, he brings his business acumen, heart for his fellow man, and a drive to make things better in his position as State Senator. His son, Emile, shares the family’s spirit of service. After seeing the mob of traffic each year at their neighbor’s “Christmas Light House” (owned by Dr. Andy Blalock), Emile started selling hot chocolate to people stuck in line, to benefit local nonprofits. “He raised over $2,000 in one night the first year. Last year, he raised over $30,000.” It’s now a full-scale community event with music, food trucks, and hundreds of visitors to Bendel Gardens. “He chooses a different charity every year. It’s all on him.” Emile Myer’s hot cocoa fundraiser has grown into quite a success over the years! Sen. Myers indicated that Emile will probably pass the baton soon to a younger entrepreneur who can carry on the fun event which benefits local charities. Brach brings a deeply thoughtful and humble approach to public service. “I never thought I’d be in the legislature… but I felt called to do it.” Inspired by conversations with his wife during long walks, he felt compelled to act: “I can sit on the sideline and complain about it, or I can roll up my sleeves and jump into the pit.” His campaign mantra has been to lead with transparency and openness. “I said, I’m going to contact everybody back. I’m going to give everybody a fair ear, even if we vehemently disagree.” His legislative office “looks more like a counseling office… People can come and sit down.” As a Senator, Brach now represents three times the constituents he did as a State Senator and works with six mayors instead of one. “It’s a lot busier…but I don’t take it lightly.” One of his legislative focuses has been health care, drawing from best practices across the nation. His H.E.R.O. (Healthcare Employment Reinvestment Opportunity) Healthcare Workforce bill, modeled after Kentucky and Florida legislation, aimed to reverse Louisiana’s healthcare staffing crisis by broadening the program’s scope and provide educational grants to reach as many people and institutions as possible. “We picked the things that worked and got rid of the things that didn’t.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geae0oiLHMw He’s also worked to streamline access to services through a “one door” policy for DCFS and Department of Health programs. “Trying to consolidate services and eliminate duplication is how we improve lives efficiently.” In response to Louisiana’s insurance crisis, he filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 60 to study whether recent legislative reforms are working. “People are literally having to make decisions between buying food or paying their car insurance. That’s not a place that we can have our constituents in.” Although the resolution failed to pass, Sen. Myers has vowed to bring it up until his initiative to study the issue is successful. Sen. Myers has championed safety bills targeting nitrous oxide and new synthetic drugs. “We’ve had friends…who had family members lose their lives. It can cause nerve damage, brain damage. But it has still been readily accessible via the internet.” SB 78 and SB 98 were signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry in 2025. “I authored these critical measures to help stop drug overdose deaths and keep harmful inhalants out of the hands of our children.” On the challenges of policymaking, he reflects: “When you touch that red or green button on your desk, somebody’s life is changing… Even if it’s a bad bill, I can’t abstain. I have to vote.” Brach is passionate about revitalizing the Oil Center in Lafayette. “It has the bones—big wide streets, the park, the university. We’ve gotten funding to support beautification, signage, and investment.” His work this past legislative session has helped secure appropriations for new boulevard work and infrastructure improvements in the Oil Center. His perspective on lawmaking is grounded in humility and practical understanding: “You can’t be an expert on everything, but you have to know a lot about everything. This morning I had a call about pompano nets… I didn’t even know what a pompano net was. I had to go Google it.” Despite the intense demands of legislative life, Brach remains grounded. “During session, I leave Sundays and come home Fridays… I FaceTime with my wife and son in the evenings. I’m usually one of the last to leave the Capitol. If I can do this—have a family, have a job, and serve—then so can others. We need more people stepping up.” He takes pride in the mutual respect among legislators. “We can disagree. We always will. But at the end of the day, we have a mutual respect… We love each other. We take care of each other.” “Some legislation doesn’t get the headlines, but it changes lives. That’s what I care about.”” Visit brachmyers.com to learn more about Senator Brach Myers, his legislative priorities, and ways to get involved. “I want to inspire more talented kids to stay here and get involved. They are the future of our state.” Sen. Myers and his family fish whenever they can. Enjoying the outdoors whenever there is a free day is a great past time, which he shared on our interview. Thank you, Sen. Brach Myers, for your service to our community and state!…
Jacoby Landry, the new owner of Lafayette’s oldest indoor shopping center, Northgate Mall, shares his vision to bring hope, commerce, and fresh energy to North Lafayette. Jacoby’s energy and can-do attitude is a beacon of light for a community waiting to see how he will transform the mall into “The Hub.” Jacoby, owner of JL Construction and Pont Breaux Plaza in Breaux Bridge, is the first local owner of Northgate Mall in years. Originally developed by Isan Fontenot, Dr. Daniel Voorheis and Joseph Angelle who opened it in August 1969, Jacoby paid $2.8 million for the property. His journey started under the wing of his grandfather, a framer, and his father, who ran dirt construction, trucking businesses, and in the oil field industry. “My entrepreneurial skills came from my dad. He’s always been a business owner.” After studying engineering at UL Lafayette, Jacoby discovered his love for business and numbers, opening a tax office in his early twenties. Real estate soon became his passion, with his first major commercial property purchased from cousin Dominick Williams (formerly Dominick Davis of LSU and the Houston Texans). “There’s nothing that I didn’t try,” Jacoby shared, reflecting on his entrepreneurial spirit. In 2016, Jacoby earned his residential contractor’s license, followed by obtaining his commercial license a year later. “I went from building custom homes to developing my own lots and building spec homes and selling them.” His interest in North Lafayette grew when he purchased seven acres on Louisiana Avenue at Butcher Switch Road in 2020 with plans for a med spa and gym. Facing zoning challenges, Jacoby joined LEDA’s Elevate North Lafayette program, where he connected with Monte Anderson, a Dallas-based developer. Monte’s advice led Jacoby to consider revitalizing existing properties, prompting Jacoby to set his sights on Northgate Mall. “I was always infatuated with the I-10 and I-49 crossing. I just always had it in my mind that it (development) was going to come to the North one day.” “Before I started the program, I had goals of doing something bigger, but they really pushed me to actually go do it. They gave me the courage and knowledge to do it.” Once Jacoby walked the property, he couldn’t sleep at night thinking about its potential. “Ever since the day I walked on the property, I couldn’t sleep at night, thinking about it. I think I want to do it.” Despite initial nerves, Jacoby embraced the risk, saying, “I’m a risk taker. I could do this.” Jacoby Landry at the Northgate Mall in June 2025. Photo by Brad Kemp, Acadiana Advocate. Jacoby is rebranding Northgate Mall as “The Hub,” inspired by Lafayette’s nickname, Hub City, and the I-10/I-49 cloverleaf, which will be reflected in its new logo. The redevelopment will focus on mixed-use commerce, green spaces, and lighting to ensure safety and create a welcoming atmosphere. “I want to change the whole theme of the mall. I want to have trees, green space, make it nice, have a lot of lighting and make it feel safe.” Contrary to negative perceptions, Jacoby says, “Statistically, there’s no crime at the mall. There’s more crime in other places. The mall’s been dead for so long, there’s nothing to steal.” Jacoby’s vision includes a grocery store, children’s entertainment options, and a health club and spa in the former Planet Fitness space in partnership with his sister, Rachel McCorvey of BeLuxxe Health and Wellness Center. “Our whole motto is to add ten years to your life.” The facility will feature a nutritionist, weight management services, Botox, IV drips, sauna, hot tub, salt room, cold plunge, a health bar, and two indoor pickleball courts. Pilates and boxing fitness will also be offered, bringing Red’s Health Club-like amenities to North Lafayette on a smaller, community-focused scale. Jacoby emphasized his commitment to supporting current tenants, saying, “They’ve been a blessing… I came to introduce myself to them, let them know that I was local, and that I was nothing like the old owners. I told them that I’ll be on the ground every day and trying to help the businesses succeed.” Reflecting on the emotional impact of the project, Jacoby shared, “Never in a million years did I think I would impact the whole North Side. I had people come and talk to me, cry about it, and it’s like everybody has a story about the Northgate Mall.” Home Sweet Home is a long-time beloved gift shop in Northgate Mall celebrating its 39th year in business at the mall. Jacoby also views this project as an inspiration for other local developers: “I give a lot of developers hope… they reached out to me and said, ‘You gave us hope to do it also.’” Currently in pre-planning and permitting, Jacoby anticipates interior work on the health club to finish in about six months, followed by exterior upgrades and phased development, with preliminary renderings coming soon. When he isn’t working, Jacoby finds balance in tennis. “I play tennis probably four times a week… I call it my therapy. It’s the only time I can turn my phone off and free my mind from business.” With Jacoby’s leadership, The Hub promises to become a cornerstone of revitalization and pride for the Northside, blending commerce, community, and hope in Lafayette’s oldest shopping center. Discover Lafayette wishes Jacoby Landry the best of success and thanks him for his commitment to our community.…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Michael Desormeaux, UL – Lafayette Head Football Coach 1:02:10
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We welcome UL – Lafayette Football Head Coach Michael Desormeaux, a graduate of Catholic High in New Iberia and standout UL Lafayette quarterback, who became the eighth quarterback in NCAA history to post back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He joined the UL coaching staff in 2016, helping lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to four consecutive Sunbelt West Division titles and their first outright Sunbelt Championship before being named head coach. Home Bank CEO John Bordelon, Ul Lafayette Coach Michael Desormeaux, Chris Rader, and Jan Swift at recording of Discover Lafayette podcast. Joining us to guide the conversation is John Bordelon, a 1977 graduate of USL, former football player, and current President and CEO of Home Bank. John has worked with Home Bank for over 44 years and loves beng a part of this community along with his wife, Suzanne. Jan Swift, the host of Discover Lafayette, knew she needed a football voice on this episode. Coach Desormeaux reflected on growing up in New Iberia : “New Iberia was a really good place to grow up. Catholic High has been great for us… my whole family’s life revolved around sports and chasing kids around and watching them play. We grew up in ballparks.” “When we were young, our whole life revolved around sports and we grew up in ballparks. Catholic High in New Iberia was a cool place because we went from football to basketball to baseball. When I got to middle school, I started track. Our coaches made it easy for us to be able to do all four. For me, it was just part of the way that we did it. My parents expected us to do well in school. They expected us to play sports. was really just what I grew up doing. I realized after the fact how unique it was to be able to do all four sports in high school. I was always grateful for that.” Coach Desormeaux shared how recruiting has changed dramatically since his high school years: “When I was coming out, I didn’t hear from UL or other colleges. or meet anyone on the staff, until probably week five of my senior high school year season. They came and watched us play… I had a really good game, and the next week they called back and offered me a scholarship. That was the beginning of my recruiting.” John Bordelon shared how relationships drew him to UL: “My brother was seven years older and came to USL to play football, and I fell in love with the people… my heart was set on being part of this community.” An injury in high school changed John Bordelon’s recruitment experience: “My senior year, I actually had an injury, so I missed five ball games… LSU, Tulane, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss dropped me. One of my coaches from high school played at UL and helped me get an interview, and they offered me a scholarship.” Reflecting on how UL shaped his life, Coach Desormeaux noted: “Coaches have always been people I really admired. My dad was my first coach. When I got to Catholic High, Coach David Comeaux got the head job, and I saw the impact he had on our school.” Coach Des’s experience with three different offensive coordinators while playing at UL turned out to be a blessing: “At the time, we had several coaching turnorvers, and it wasn’t what I expected. But I got to learn three different systems and three different offenses… the coaching experience was really good for me.” “I’d love to tell you that I’ve created anything. But football coaches are thieves. I mean, we just take things from different people and make it our own. The whole journey and all these coaches are people that I’ve always admired. I tell our staff all the time, if you got into coaching for anything other than to help kids and for anything other than to help them achieve their goals, you’re in the wrong place.” Coach Des spoke honestly about the challenges of NIL and the transfer porta l : “We believe in building relationships… I wish it wasn’t personal to me when they leave, but it is. You spend so much time with them. The NIL combined with the portal, that’s where most people’s frustration comes from… but we double down on relationships.” “We still prefer to sign high school kids because you can build meaningful relationships with them. You get to recruit their families. They choose to come here because they see the value of living in Lafayette and getting a UL education….a big part of what I have to do now is build relationships with these kids where it’s not just about money, it’s about being in a place where they’re being taking care of. We have 20 seniors again this year. That means that we’re doing a great job in retention. That’s the name of the game for us, keeping the bulk of our roster. Fortunately we’ve been able to do that.” Coach noted: “We’ve been able to keep 95% of the ones we want, which is the key.” John Bordelon, CEO of Home Bank, recalled how different it was during his footbll era in the 1970s: “We had to sit out a year if we transferred, and looking back, I really appreciate that rule. The same nucleus of our team that didn’t win a game in 1973 came back to have the winningest record in school history at 9-2. We may not have if we had the opportunity to leave.” Both men discussed in juries and the toughness of football . John Bordelon shared a story about injuring himself by stepping into his helmet while playing “fudge” with a roommate, while Coach Desormeaux listed several injuries, including a separated sternum and torn ACLs, noting: “That’s just kind of par for the course.” Discussing the upcoming season, Coach Des emphasized the value of continuity: “We have a ton of returning experience this year… our staff did a great job last year, and we feel really good about the production we have coming back.” He highlighted the team’s speed this season: “At receiver, this will be the fastest group we’ve ever had… adding Shelton Sampson was a huge get for us.” On quarterback Walker Howard being on Ul Lafayette’s team, Coach Des shared: “Everyone in Lafayette asks about Walker. He’s right in the middle of it, competing really well, and had a great spring.” Discussing leadership on the team, Coach Desormeaux said: “The key is finding guys that love to compete and love to play. It’s about people, not just positions. There’s a lot of things that go into building chemistry. I think chemistry and leadership and belief in each other matters in team sports. It’s not just about having talent. It’s about having those things along with enough talent.” John Bordelon and Coach Desormeaux discussed team-building despite athletes living off campus, with Coach Des describing the teams they draft in the summer: “We challenge them to do things together, do community service, and get extra work. We try to create teams within the team to make them interact with others that they normally wouldn’t. We tell them, ‘You’re never too young to start leading. Add value to this team now.” On t he game’s evolution, Coach Des noted: “The game changes constantly… offenses evolve, defenses chase them, and then offenses come back around to older concepts.” He discussed the new coach-to-player communication through helmet headsets: “It allows us to be more detailed in the run game… it’s a good thing, and it’s helped with the signal-stealing issues.” John Bordelon noted the correlation between sports discipline and business leadership: “Athletics carry it into the business world. You need people looking to correct themselves and improve every single day.” When asked by Jan Swift how do athletes cope with wins and losses, Coach Desormeaux reinforced that the urgency and discipline learned through sports translates into life: “We work on a different timeline than most people… there’s never enough time, so you’re always trying to maximize the time you have.” The discussion closed on how building a successful program requires focusing on people: Coach Desormeaux said, “There’s a saying: ‘It’s not about the ones (players) you don’t get. It’s about the ones you do get. Just make sure the one that we sign is the right one.’”…
Real estate expert Bill Bacque of Market Scope Consulting, whose career has spanned over 53 years in the housing industry, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss real estate trends. Formerly with Van Eaton & Romero—later acquired by Latter & Blum—Bill is now retired, but his passion for tracking housing statistics and analyzing market trends remains strong. In this episode, Bill shares a data-rich, thoughtful overview of how the housing market in Lafayette has evolved and what lies ahead. “If you look at average sales price over the last 50 years, the overall trend has been up,” Bill began. “That being said, there have been periods… where sales and average prices actually drifted downward. But values were always recouped.” Bill dug into what he called the “Covid years,” pointing out the extraordinary surge in home sales from 2018 to 2021. “In Lafayette Parish, we went from 3,380 transactions in 2018 to 4,830 in 2021—a 43% increase.” Much of this, he explained, was driven by families realizing during the lockdown that they needed more space, “after six months of living together with your wife and three children, working out of your house, eating at your house, living in your house. People began to say, I need a bigger place. Maybe double the size.” And this phenomenon was coupled with historically low interest rates. “By January of 2021, the interest rate was 2.65%.” But as quickly as the boom came, it corrected. From 2021 to 2024, Lafayette experienced a 34% drop in sales. “We literally gave it all back,” Bill said. “Sales are back to 2018 levels. Statistics through May of 2025 show that we are about equal to where we were in May of 2018.” Bill broke down the dramatic rise in average sales prices during COVID, noting that from 2018 to 2022, the average price of a home rose from $223,500 to $285,000, a $50,000 increase in the average cost of a home in four years. However, from 2022 to 2025, the average price has only nudged upward 2.6%, reaching $292,200. “So the average sales price is beginning to stabilize.” He further explained the numbers shared: “I would put some clarification that the average sales price takes into consideration the upper income properties as well as the lower ones. This average sales price includes new construction sales and existing sales. If you back out the new construction sales, the average sales price in Lafayette Parish is about $275,000.00.” Photo of Bill Bacque at his home by Leslie Westbrook, Acadiana Advocate. One big issue affecting today’s buyers? Affordability. “There’s been a significant erosion,” Bill noted, citing both rising home prices and higher interest rates. He shared that the average age for a first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is now 38 to 39 years old—compared to 22 when he bought his first home for under $10,000 in Lake Charles. “ What we’re seeing on a national standard basis is that the average age now for a first time buyer is 38 to 39 years old. When I bought my first house in 1973, I was 22 years old. That was the thing that happened then. I can’t remember what the first house cost, but it was less than $10,000. It was a little bitty house. It was about the size of an apartment. “ Homeowners insurance is now a major wildcard. “My son found a home under $300,000, qualified, but the deal fell through because insurance added another $500 a month,” Bill shared. This isn’t a unique story—buyers across South Louisiana are finding it harder to afford not just a mortgage but the added costs of ownership. We also talked about the evolving design of homes. Post-Covid, people want dedicated workspaces, and Bill said square footage is being used more efficiently. Yet affordability challenges persist. “In 2018, homes under $150,000 made up 24% of our sales. Today, it’s 12.3%,” he said. Meanwhile, homes over $300,000 have grown from 16% of sales to 31%. Another key point Bill raised: “The companies are not the brand anymore. The agents are the brand.” Technology has reshaped the real estate profession, and today’s top producers build their own personal brand—something Bill said wasn’t possible back when listings came via mimeographed sheets once a week. Bill also addressed the shortage of available homes, particularly in affordable price points. “There are currently 69 homes listed at $1 million or more in Lafayette Parish. But only 12 have sold so far this year. At that rate, we have a 28- to 29-month supply.” In contrast, homes under $150,000 are in high demand but low supply. We also touched on long-term housing trends. Many Baby Boomers are choosing to “age in place,” creating tighter inventory. “We’ve always thought the ‘silver tsunami’ would flood the market with homes,” Bill said. “But they’re living longer, and they don’t want to move.” And what advice does Bill give to people thinking about buying their first home today? “Well, probably don’t talk to me—I know too much,” he laughed. “Talk to someone like my son, Joel Bacque, who’s in the business today. He says, ‘If you want a home, we’ll find a way to get you in.’ It might not be your dream home, but it’ll be a start.” As affordability challenges grow, Bill believes it’s time to revisit old assumptions. “What if we had 50-year mortgages?” he asked. “Just like we’ve extended auto loans to 72 months. Who lives in a house for 50 years anyway?” Bill’s data-driven approach gives a clear picture of the local market—its cycles, its pressures, and its future. He leaves us with a reminder: “Real estate is first and foremost about satisfying a need. Yes, it’s an investment. But it’s primarily about having a place to live.” Discover Lafayette thanks Bill Bacque for sharing his expertise, insights, and analysis. He is a true outlier in the real estate industry, someone who has dedicated his whole professional career to helping others while freely sharing his knowledge with all.…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Acadiana Veterans Hockey – Eric Iorio and Dani Francis – Where Camaraderie and Community Meet on the Ice 44:55
In this episode of Discover Lafayette , we shine a light on a unique community tucked away in South Louisiana: veterans who find healing, camaraderie, and fun on the ice rink. Our guests, Eric Iorio and Danielle (“Dani”) Francis, share their inspiring journeys from military service to building a new mission at home — through Acadiana Veterans Hockey. “I was born here in Lafayette, Louisiana. Graduated from Teurlings back in 2008, which seems like forever ago,” Eric begins. After joining the 101st Airborne in 2013 and deploying to Afghanistan, he recounts how life changed on July 28, 2013, when his base came under attack and he took two rounds from a sniper. “I always say it could have been a lot worse. I have all my digits,” he says humbly, remembering the buddy he lost that day. Eric was the recipient of the Purple Heart in honor of his service to our country and sustaining injuries due to enemy action. For Dani, the path started in Illinois. “I actually went into the military right out of high school. I did a bunch of sports in high school and then didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she shares. Inspired by her older brother, she became a military police officer, serving in Guantanamo Bay and later alongside Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq where she was one of four females selected. “It was truly incredible because it was the sense of I was actually doing something with a purpose. There was a bigger purpose at the end of that mission.” Both Eric and Dani’s stories highlight the resilience and discipline they built in uniform — and how they carried that into civilian life. Now, they channel that same spirit into Acadiana Veterans Hockey — an open-arms, non-contact league for veterans of all ages and skill levels. “For us as an organization, being able to play hockey together is absolutely amazing, for physical reasons and mental health,” Eric explains. “If they didn’t have hockey here… they don’t know where they would be at this point.” Dani laughs about how she was pulled onto the ice by Courtney Dugas, who along with her husband, Max, are active with the team: “I said, Courtney, I’ve never played hockey before. She goes, it’s okay, come on out. Next thing I knew, I was meeting her and the team at the rink on a Tuesday night and they were giving me all the gear.” Eric also recounted how fun it is to play with his dad, Angelo (“Pops”) Iorio, who is retired from the Lafayette Police Department. “He is known as a Goon, someone that is like an enforcer. They go out and hit people on the ice. He’s not meaning to do it. He just can’t stop. So he uses other people to stop for him. We’ll have to let the other teams know, hey, he didn’t mean that, you know? It’s just he’s learning.” More than just a game, Acadiana Veterans Hockey is a lifeline. The group connects veterans to resources, benefits, and — most importantly — each other. They help with VA ratings, build wheelchair ramps for local VFWs, and make sure no one feels alone. “We want everyone to feel included… call us at two, three in the morning if you’re having something wrong and someone’s going to be there,” says Eric. But ice time and equipment aren’t free. The team welcomes local support — whether you can sponsor a practice, donate gear, or come cheer them on at their next scrimmage. “Hockey is very expensive, from just the ice alone to the gear involved,” Dani points out. “Any donation or sponsorship truly helps.” Save the Date: 📅 June 28th, 10 a.m. — Acadiana Veterans Hockey vs. the A-Team 📍 Planet Ice, Johnston Street, Lafayette Expect Robby’s famous jambalaya, a 50/50 raffle with a growing pot (drawing July 5th), and the warmest welcome from veterans who invite you to be part of their family on and off the ice. The event is free to all. As is the opportunity to go by and visit the team anytime they are playing and practicing. Want to help or join? No experience? No problem. “As long as you can get up, put your skates on, and get out there — that’s the hardest part,” Danielle smiles. Acadiana Veterans Hockey is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Visit the team’s website at https://acadianaveteranshockey.com /, follow them on Facebook or Instagram , or come out and watch. Acadiana Veterans Hockey is more than a team — it’s a reminder that service never stops, and community makes it all worthwhile.…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Steve Raggio: Co-Owner of Bayou State Pawn and Author of “Heart Talking, Inspiring Poems for the Soul”
Steve Raggio, co-owner of Bayou State Pawn & Jewelry, joins Discover Lafayette to share the remarkable story of his dual life as a successful business owner and newly published poet. His book, Heart Talking, Inspiring Poems for the Soul , has quickly become a best-seller in its category and has touched hearts across the country. “If I can touch just one person in getting closer to God by reading the poems…it’s worth it to bring joy into their life,” Steve shared. Steve’s journey into the pawn business started unexpectedly. “I was two years into college…and I was looking at ads in the paper and it said manager trainee, no experience necessary…so I pull up to it and it was Big State Pawnshops back then…so I pulled up and I said, uh oh. What? Pawn shop? I said, what the hell? But I used to trade marbles and stuff when I was a kid. Let’s try this out.” Eventually, Steve and his brother Jeff opened Bayou State Pawn in 1986 on Johnston Street in Lafayette, later adding a location in New Iberia. “We opened the first store on Johnson Street. Our family members were all supportive. My father cosigned the loan for us to get it started.” Over the years, they built inventory from garage sales, electronics from other pawn shops, and sheer hustle. “We built it up from ground one.” Bayou State Pawn serves everyone: “There are two aspects of the business. You either buy stuff or sell, or you can do a pawn loan, which is where you bring in your merchandise and borrow money, and you come back and pick it up. Jewelry, musical instruments, guns, lawnmowers, bicycles, everything.” Yet it’s his book of poems that is stealing the show. Inspired during a time of personal healing while staying at his camp on False River, Steve found that poetry offered him a way to let his emotions out. “These poems just started hitting me in the head. It was like I’d be looking at the water or something, and it would just come to me and I’d write a poem in 3 to 5 minutes.” He adds, “A lot of them have ‘start a new day, make a new start.’ I end up with a lot of them because a lot of people are looking for a new start. It’s never too late.” One short and powerful verse reads: “The sun has come to brighten your day, to shed light as you make your way. Start your path to touch someone’s heart. Bring joy to their life so they can make a new start.” Steve’s reflections on the value of expressing emotions are powerful: “We all hold a lot of stuff in…you just have to get it out, you know, whether it be journaling, whether it be writing…or talking to somebody…once you get it out…it frees you up.” He encourages aspiring writers: “I’ll say go for it…any avenue like this to get what you feel or what you want to say out…it’s a big healing process, because everybody’s going through a struggle or they’re going to go through some kind of struggle.” Heart Talking, Inspiring Poems for the Soul features 175 short poems and is available at https://www.steveraggio.com , Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers. And for those wondering about pawn shop curiosities he has seen through the years? “Elephant tusk. And they came back and picked those up…we had an old Egyptian parchment that came through, and they picked that up, too.” Ultimately, Steve hopes his work leads others toward peace and faith. “If it helps some people get closer to God and then make everybody more kind and compassionate towards each other, this world will be a better place.”…
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Discover Lafayette

On this episode of Discover Lafayette , we welcome Jude David, managing partner of Final Ascent, a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helps mid-market business owners—typically with $5 million or more in annual revenue—prepare their companies for sale and successfully transition for maximum value. But Jude’s passion goes far beyond business mechanics. He’s also a philanthropist and one of the founders of the Catholic Legacy Foundation of Acadiana, a donor-advised fund that enables people of all faiths to support charitable causes in perpetuity—while enjoying significant tax advantages in the process. “People don’t want to plan their succession in life, and they don’t want to plan their succession in business. It’s emotional. It’s scary. And it’s always something they plan to think about ‘one day.'” Jude shares stories of helping longtime business owners who’ve spent decades building their companies and are now looking to exit—but often haven’t thought about what comes next. He draws clear parallels between business transition and end-of-life planning, noting that in both areas, far too many people fail to prepare. “It’s shocking how many successful people don’t have wills or estate plans. Even people of great means often haven’t taken the time to protect what they’ve built—or considered how to give back.” That’s where Jude’s second passion comes into play: philanthropic giving as part of a business exit strategy . Through smart planning, owners can donate a portion of their company prior to selling, reducing capital gains taxes and simultaneously funding charitable initiatives through a donor-advised fund. “When you’re selling a mid market business, there’s going to be a substantial amount of taxes to pay. So our clients are constantly looking for ways to avoid those taxes or defer those taxes. There are several strategies you can use if you have ways of offsetting losses against those gains. It can be very helpful if you can write off new assets that you’re acquiring against the old assets that you’ve sold. For instance, if you sell one business and buy a new one in the same year, you can depreciate the assets on the new business against the old business that you sold. There are several other strategies. One that I really like for owners that are charitably inclined is to give to a foundation or other charities. Why does that matter? Well, if you can structure that kind of transaction appropriately, it saves you significant taxes on your sale. That’s why I’m involved with Catholic Legacy Foundation.” Jude walks us through real-world examples of how this works, explaining how the Catholic Legacy Foundation is helping build endowments that will support Catholic ministries, seminarian education, pro-life efforts, and poverty alleviation—whether the recipient organization is Catholic or simply aligned with Catholic values. “We house the seminarian bursary (scholarship) funds for the Diocese. You can give to support a specific seminarian or the entire class. It’s one of the most direct ways to impact the future of the Church. To get the foundation off the ground, we are taking donations for a Founder’s Circle. So we’re looking for donations of a minimum of $15,000 for Founder’s Circle members. That’s $5,000 a year for three years, and the goal is for us to get the foundation to a size in three years so that it never needs another donation again.” Jude also reflects on the importance of reducing business owner dependence before sale—a common value driver in M&A. He explains how owner involvement, earnings growth, and recurring revenue models (like those used in HVAC and plumbing industries) all affect valuation multiples. “If a business is built around the owner and you can’t pluck the owner from the business, it makes the business a lot less valuable. So if we deal with a business 3 or 4 years before sale, we’ll help them to identify all of their roles in the business and the hats that they wear, and help them to find other people to hand those roles off to. And if they do that appropriately, by the time the sales come, the sale of the business comes, they should be irrelevant to the business. And a buyer is going to ask, well, who has the customer relationships? Is that the owner? Are they calling the owner’s cell phone or are they calling the owner’s number two or the owner’s number three who works in the company. That’ll make a really big difference. And the vendor relationships and all the different things that make the business run, if those are being done by somebody else and that somebody else is going to stay with the company after closing, it makes it a whole lot more valuable.” For Jude, helping people prepare for their next chapter isn’t just a professional mission—it’s personal. From his own business ventures, including Stately Doors and Windows, to his family life rooted in South Louisiana and Maine, he brings both pragmatism and heart to the conversation. “Business owners often don’t know what they’ll do next. They lose a sense of purpose after the sale. But if you’ve created a charitable foundation, you now have something new to pour your passion into.” Whether you’re a business owner eyeing retirement, a professional navigating succession planning, or someone simply interested in how faith and finance can align, Jude David brings clarity, inspiration, and practical tools for moving forward with intention. Learn more about Jude’s work at https://www.famergers.com/ or email him at jude@famergers.com . Explore charitable giving and legacy planning at CatholicLegacyFoundation.org .…
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Discover Lafayette

In this episode of Discover Lafayette , we dive into Lafayette’s emerging role as a major player in the regional and national tech ecosystem with Ben Johnson and Marcus Brown of the newly formed Lafayette Regional Technology Council. This dynamic group of volunteer leaders are working hard to ensure Lafayette’s deep well of tech talent is recognized and nurtured. Ben Johnson , CEO of Techneaux Technology Services and Chair of the Council, shares his local roots—born in Eunice, raised in Scott and Lafayette—and how his passion for computers and community led him to start Techneaux in his garage in 2010. “We started the company with a unique business model: people over profits,” Ben shares. The company now employs about 180 people across Louisiana, Colorado, and Texas, operating on what Ben calls a model of “distributed capitalism.” Techneaux recently relocated to the old Fontana Center on Kaliste Saloom, which they’ve repurposed into a cutting-edge tech hub. Marcus Brown, a returning guest to Discover Lafayette, brings his entertainment industry background and policy insight to the Council. As the founder of Believe Entertainment and partner in Digital Twin Studios , Marcus has worked to build Lafayette’s capabilities in immersive technology and virtual production. “We want to define what technology is—and who is a tech person,” he notes. His work has also included integrating immersive technologies in local education through the Do It Greener Foundation . A Council Rooted in Community and Data The Council was born from a leadership exchange trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, which inspired local leaders to create a similar tech initiative back home. “We realized Lafayette has world-class tech companies that even we weren’t fully aware of,” Ben said. Early supporters include One Acadiana, LEDA, UL Lafayette, LFT Fiber, and leaders from companies like VieMed, Noble Plastics, SchoolMint, and S1 Technology. The Council organizes its work into “GEARS”—Get Everything Accelerated and Ready—subcommittees that focus on workforce and talent, marketing and recruitment, networking and knowledge sharing, and policy advocacy. Their first community-wide event, the Idea Collider , will launch in late June, with the goal of gathering ideas and input from the public and then from business leaders to shape actionable initiatives. Creating Opportunity and Retaining Talent One of the Council’s major goals is to retain the exceptional talent emerging from UL Lafayette and other local schools. “When I graduated in 2001, there weren’t real tech jobs here,” Ben said. “Now, we’re working to create a pipeline and make sure the talent knows they can build a career here.” Marcus emphasizes the community’s history of rising to the occasion: “When Disney filmed Secretariat here, our people showed up. The same thing is happening in tech—people want to step up and lead.” As Marcus explains, “We’re trying to reach students early, even before college, to show them they can create tech—not just consume it.” Both men spoke about the importance of giving young people a sense of purpose and place in the tech world, and commended the Louisiana Department of Education for starting the process of recognizing computer science as a foreign language—a powerful shift in thinking. The Role of AI and the Future of Work When asked about the fear of AI taking jobs, both men provided thoughtful perspectives. “AI doesn’t take jobs,” Ben said. “It removes roles so humans can be more creative and impactful elsewhere.” Marcus added, “AI is like a calculator. It’s a tool, and with proper understanding, it can democratize opportunity.” Looking Ahead The Lafayette Regional Technology Council isn’t charging membership dues yet—they want to first prove their value and build momentum. “We want companies and individuals to contribute time, talent, or treasure,” said Ben. “Let’s build this together, and then figure out the right structure.” A more formal membership structure will be launched in 2026. Whether you’re a business leader, student, educator, or simply someone curious about Lafayette’s future, the Council wants to hear from you. This is a moment of transformation for our region—and it’s being driven by local passion, collaboration, and innovation. To get involved or learn more about the Lafayette Regional Technology Council: 📍 Visit: https://www.lafayetteregionaltechnologycouncil.org/ or follow it on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lafayette-regional-technology-council/ 📅 Watch for their first event: The Idea Collider , coming June 2025…
Robert Daigle on Why He Invested in Upper Lafayette Originally recorded in October 2013 /Aired on Upper Lafayette On the Move This episode of Discover Lafayette takes us back to an insightful conversation with the late Robert Daigle, the visionary managing partner of River Ranch Development Company and the developer of the Village of River Ranch, a 320-acre traditional neighborhood development that reshaped residential life in Lafayette. In October 2013, Robert addressed an Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation meeting to share why he and his team chose to invest in the northern part of Lafayette Parish—an area traditionally overlooked but ripe with potential. His message, filled with clarity and foresight, remains strikingly relevant today as growth continues to expand beyond I-10. David Welch, Robert Daigle, Jan Swift, and Lewis Stirling at an Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation meeting in 2013. Robert’s personal connection to Upper Lafayette, having grown up on Louisiana Avenue across from the municipal golf course, sparked his early interest. But sentiment alone didn’t drive his decision. He outlined six strategic reasons that led to the launch of Couret Farms, a smart growth community designed to meet the needs of a modern workforce and lifestyle needs in the northern part of Lafayette Parish: Job Growth – Post-hurricane recovery and shifting insurance priorities led to a surge in businesses relocating north of I-10. Proximity to job centers, including major employers like Halliburton, made Upper Lafayette a natural location for residential development. Real Estate Value – With South Lafayette experiencing saturation and skyrocketing prices, the undeveloped, high, and beautiful land in Upper Lafayette offered both affordability and opportunity. Lack of Competition – As with River Ranch, Daigle sought to create a unique offering. At the time, Upper Lafayette had no smart growth communities, positioning Couret Farms as the only game in town. Community Support – Daigle emphasized the importance of being “wanted.” In Carencro, support from Mayor Glenn Brasseaux and a cooperative endeavor to extend utilities exemplified the kind of local partnership he considered essential to success. Access to Retail and Services – Developments flourish when services and shopping are nearby. Daigle cited the Target center and Super 1 Foods as game-changing additions that signaled a tipping point for further investment. Public Education – The long-standing challenge of underperforming schools in Upper Lafayette had been a deterrent. But the winds of change were blowing. Daigle’s commitment to establishing a charter school within Couret Farms showed his belief that quality education is not just a necessity—but a catalyst for community transformation. Robert Daigle breaking ground at Couret Farms, along with Kevin Hawkins and Bobby Hines. Robert closed his talk by urging the community to prioritize education reform, emphasizing that the future of Upper Lafayette hinged on the success of its schools. His legacy continues to inspire development rooted in thoughtful planning, civic cooperation, and long-term community investment. This timeless interview reminds us that true visionaries see not just what is, but what could be—and are willing to take the arrows that come with being pioneers.…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Artmosphere Opens Up Under New Leadership – Meet Justin Bennett and his Booking Agent and Sound Engineer, Moose Harris 54:29
Discover Lafayette welcomes Justin Bennett, the new owner of Artmosphere, and Anthony Daniels—known to many as Moose Harris—who serves as booking agent and sound engineer for the venue. Moose Harris, Justin Bennett, and Jan Swift at recording Discover Lafayette at RADER. Located at 902 Johnston Street in downtown Lafayette, Artmosphere has long been known as a cultural hub where music, art, and community converge. Now, with Justin at the helm and Moose helping steer the ship, this iconic space is entering a bold new chapter. Justin, originally from Brooklyn by way of Seattle, and his wife Marcela, a talented chef, made their way to Lafayette after the early waves of the pandemic. A former journalist and public information officer for New York City Emergency Management, Justin brings a rare blend of communication savvy and passion for grassroots music culture. His wife, Marcela, runs Lana’s Empanadas food truck—named after their dog!—and previously helped launch the kitchen at Mercy Kitchen. Together, they’ve embraced Lafayette as home and are now pouring their heart and soul into revitalizing Artmosphere. Moose Harris, born and raised in New Iberia and a seasoned music producer, performer, and radio personality, has deep roots in the Louisiana music scene. From his classical and jazz studies under legends like Ellis Marsalis to his frontman days in the Reggae Ska Conspiracy, Moose brings both creative insight and a wealth of experience to the table. Having worked with Artmosphere under its previous ownership, he already knew the venue inside and out—literally holding the keys before Justin ever stepped through the door. What they’re creating together is something special. Gone are the days of Artmosphere being an undefined multipurpose space. “As Justin clearly puts it, this is first and foremost a music venue.” A place for curated, intentional nights of music that make sense together—no more scattershot open mic lineups. Under their guidance, Artmosphere is becoming a home for touring artists and a launching pad for local talent. And while the name is slated to change soon, the vision is clear: create a sustainable, artist-respecting space with good music, good food, and good drinks. And about that food—Justin’s East Coast roots are making their mark. From his Italian grandmother’s Sunday sauce to a hearty Irish shepherd’s pie and the promise of Lafayette’s best-poured Guinness, the kitchen is set to impress. Marcela is helping build out the kitchen and train staff, sourcing from local farms to ensure seasonal, delicious offerings. It’s all about quality—from the music to the meatballs. During Festival International, the team soft-launched Artmosphere with eight wildly different events in five days, showcasing everything from hip hop and zydeco to burlesque and R&B. Every act was carefully chosen, every night was intentional. And it’s just the beginning. Moose is already booking shows into the fall, and together they’re building a community around the venue, one great night of music at a time. Soon, a new name will be unveiled along with a new website, including a music blog produced in collaboration with UL Lafayette journalism students. It’s all part of a bigger mission: to make Lafayette a must-stop destination for national touring acts and to elevate the local scene with the respect and support it deserves. We’re grateful for what Justin and Moose are doing—for their commitment to musicians, to our cultural economy, and to downtown Lafayette. It’s time for this. And we’re lucky to have them here. For more, visit Artmosphere’s Facebook page or email benett.management@yahoo.com if you’re interested in performing or getting involved. Stay tuned for the name reveal—we’ll be the first to share it!…
In this episode of Discover Lafayette , we honor the 25th anniversary of Miles Perret Cancer Services, a nonprofit that has supported more than 27,000 families in Acadiana over the years facing the challenges of a cancer diagnosis. Joining us are Executive Director, Tim Rinaldi and Community Liaison, Sherry Hernandez, two passionate leaders dedicated to advancing the mission and heart of this vital organization. The organization was founded in honor of Miles Perret who tragically died at the age of eight years of age in 2001 from glioblastoma. From this experience, his parents, Hank and Debbie Verret, had the vision to help others in Acadiana fight, survive and live with cancer with dignity and to have access to the services they may need. Miles’s legacy lives on through a mission of compassion. The organization provides 100% free support services—from wigs and nutritional supplements to transportation assistance and wellness programs—without income restrictions. Tim Rinaldi shares his deeply personal journey to leading Miles Perret—rooted in his family’s long-standing ties to oncology care—and how faith, entrepreneurship, and a calling to serve intersected to bring him home to Acadiana. He offers insight into the organization’s commitment to both strategic impact and compassionate care, and how building a sustainable, team-driven culture remains central to his vision. Sherry Hernandez, who has served with the organization for eight years, reflects on the full-circle moment that led her from for-profit public relations to her role at Miles Perret. Her lifelong passion for community engagement and her personal experiences with cancer have fueled her dedication to connecting families with resources—at no cost and with no income verification required. Listeners will learn about the many services offered by Miles Perret, including nutritional supplements, wigs, medical supplies, transportation assistance, and a growing wellness program that includes yoga, Pilates, circuit training, and soon, a teaching kitchen. All services are 100% free to cancer patients and their families. And the monies raised through generous charitable contributions stay right here in Acadiana. We also explore the Games of Acadiana, the nonprofit’s largest and most iconic fundraiser, now celebrating its 25th year. What began as a friendly competition among the Perret brothers as they looked at how to honor Miles’ legacy, has evolved into a beloved tradition, including a Birthday Bash Kickoff on Saturday, May 31, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., behind the Bayou Church, followed by a two-week virtual scavenger hunt through the GooseChase app. To celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary, from May 30th to June 14th, ALL of Acadiana will be transformed into a playground with a 16-day virtual scavenger hunt full of fun, adventure, and surprises. Participants can complete missions for a chance to win prizes, including a $10,000 grand prize, all while raising awareness and support for the organization. The green space along Settler’s Trace Boulevard (behind the Bayou Church) will be transformed into a hub of excitement with fun games, engaging activities, and interactive attractions including an obstacle course, inflatable mini golf, and a monster fun jump. Cancer survivors will be honored with an inspiring Survivor Walk and the crowd will celebrate together with a delicious birthday cupcake. Other key topics include: The founding story of Miles Perret, named after Hank and Debbies’s son whose legacy lives on in every service offered The organization’s decision to forgo government funding to remain nimble and community-focused The importance of monthly recurring donations and employer-based giving programs Plans for a new facility and expanded wellness services, including a chapel and increased access to nutritional support Whether you’ve participated in the Games of Acadiana, supported the Camellia Crossing Glow Run, or are learning about Miles Perret for the first time, this episode highlights how deeply rooted the organization is in the fabric of Acadiana—and how each of us can play a role in their mission of neighbors helping neighbors . To get involved, donate, volunteer, or sign up for Games of Acadiana, visit milesperret.org .…
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Discover Lafayette

1 John Munsell, Author of “Ingrain AI: Strategy Through Execution 1:07:29
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John Munsell, CEO of Bizzuka, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his newly released book, Ingrain AI: Strategy Through Execution, which offers a practical guide for businesses looking to embed AI into their core operations and culture. John Munsell is a true pioneer in the world of AI, having spent over 10,000 hours mastering how businesses can use AI to achieve extraordinary results. His newly released book, Ingrain AI: Strategy Through Execution , offers a practical guide for organizations looking to embed AI into their core operations and culture, presenting actionable frameworks to facilitate effective AI adoption across all levels of a company. John shared the journey of Bizzuka’s evolution from a web development firm into a digital marketing agency and, ultimately, an AI strategy powerhouse. A pivotal conversation with colleague Jared Allardyce prompted him to sell off his prior business holdings and focus exclusively on the emerging opportunities in AI. Recognizing the profound shift on the horizon, John committed himself to studying how AI could genuinely solve market problems. Through weekly CXO AI Roundtables, he taught executives how to analyze AI tools, leading to Bizzuka’s full transformation into an AI training, coaching, and consulting enterprise. “We had been using AI and I thought this was going to be the next frontier. At Bizzuka, we shifted to try to figure out what problem the market wanted solved with AI. So I spent a year studying that and had this thing called the CXO AI roundtable, where every Friday I would teach various C levels what I was doing in certain aspects of AI I would analyze AI note takers or I would analyze different AI tools, graphic design, copywriting, whatever it would be. And eventually I figured out what the problem was that the market wanted solved.” John explains that today’s businesses are mostly riding AI “tricycles”—using tools at a surface level—without realizing the enormous potential awaiting them when they advance to higher levels of AI proficiency. To help bridge this gap, John developed the AI Strategy Canvas and a unique system called Scalable Prompt Engineering , enabling businesses to build scalable, repeatable AI frameworks that improve efficiency across departments like sales, marketing, HR, operations, and legal. John’s passion for training the Louisiana workforce led to a key partnership with LSU after meeting with Roy Haggerty, Executive Vice President and Provost of LSU. He now serves as an adjunct AI instructor at LSU, teaching businesses how to develop and execute AI strategy an utilize the AI Strategy Canvas® to help their teams master Scalable Prompt Engineering® to get the best results out of AI with maximum efficiency. The frameworks John developed are now required training for all undergraduates pursuing an AI designation. John emphasizes that while universities often focus on teaching how to build large language models (LLMs), the greater workforce need is learning how to use these models effectively. John Munsell teaches companies to prioritize AI safety, security, and ethics. He cautions against uploading sensitive information into free versions of AI tools without understanding the risk of that data becoming part of public training models. Teaching companies how to safeguard proprietary information is a foundational part of Bizzuka’s AI Skills Builder training, which also ensures employees across various departments learn AI skills customized to their job functions. In our conversation, John detailed how businesses can use different AI models—like Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity—for specialized tasks such as deep research, proposal writing, and sales prospecting. He described how he uses AI note-takers like Fathom to generate highly personalized client proposals, saving significant time while ensuring each proposal reflects the company’s brand voice and the client’s specific needs. John advocates for a mindset shift toward “AI First” thinking—using AI not just for speed, but as a true thought partner to unlock creativity and operational excellence. He shared real-world examples of how structured prompting and customized GPTs can make businesses more agile, efficient, and competitive. We also discussed the ethical challenges and biases inherent in AI models, the potential risks of hallucinations (fabricated information), and the rapid path toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), where AI systems could soon surpass human collective intelligence within just a few years. When not transforming businesses through AI, John enjoys hosting his annual “Pork Palooza,” a Mardi Gras tradition featuring an impressive array of barbecued pork dishes—a reminder that even AI innovators know how to kick back and enjoy life’s simple pleasures. John Munsell’s insights serve as a powerful call for businesses to embrace AI thoughtfully and strategically. His work demystifies the complexity of AI and offers a practical roadmap for companies ready to level up their operations and stay competitive in an AI-driven world. For more information on John Munsell, visit https://www.bizzuka.com/john-munsell-speaking/ or https://www.bizzuka.com/ To purchase Ingrain AI: Strategy Through Execution , visit Amazon here .…
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Discover Lafayette

Discover Lafayette welcomes Lafayette Convention & Visitors Commission’s CEO Ben Berthelot and Jesse Guidry, Vice President of Communications, two of the most passionate advocates for Lafayette’s cultural and culinary identity. “You don’t have to go to a museum to experience our culture – you can be immersed in it. You can eat it, dance with it, and live it .” Together, they explore the evolution of the Eat Lafayette campaign, which began over 20 years ago under the tutelage of Charlie Goodson of Cafe Vermilionville. Origniating with just 18 restaurants participating, Eat Lafayette has grown into a powerful initiative celebrating the unique flavors of Acadiana. The conversation dives deep into the importance of supporting locally owned restaurants, especially in a changing economic and tourism landscape. Restaurants wanting to participate in Eat Lafayette can visit https://www.lafayettetravel.com/eatlafayette/registration/ to sign up. Ben and Jesse share how Lafayette has become a destination for food lovers, and how LCVC continues to adapt, from creating searchable dining districts throughout Lafayette Parish on Eat Lafayette’s website, to launching an upcoming Eat Lafayette mobile app expected to launch this summer that will spotlight local eateries and experiences for locals and tourists alike to rely upon. “It will be a one stop shop for all locally owned restaurants. It’s an initiative that we’re going to be launching by way of an app that’s layered with some other things that we do with Lafayette Travel. But the goal would be when you download this app, you will have a direct source to locally owned restaurants in Lafayette.” Lafayette Travel has established new collaborations such as the Acadiana Eats Festival to support our local restauranteurs. It also engages in year-round culinary promotions as a way to sustain mom-and-pop businesses as cultural ambassadors, as they are keepers of our local tradition. “Partnering with Acadiana Eats Festival is a great benefit in terms of promotion for local restaurants as well as that festival. The restaurants are able to sell their food and make money. We’re trying to find different ways to partner with what is already existing in the community and how we can lift those things up. We’re going to put our force behind this and our marketing, and leverage KLFY’s presence and Gerald Gruening who is known for his passion for locally owned restaurants. That’s just one example of some new things that we’re doing, partnering with different festivals and other events throughout the year, and developing the new app.” Key Topics Covered: The origin and growth of Eat Lafayette Why now is a critical time to support local restaurants How Lafayette’s culinary identity contributes to tourism and economic development The creation of a new app to help users discover local dining by location, cuisine, and occasion Strategies for year-round restaurant promotion Challenges facing restaurateurs today: staffing, rising food costs, and competition The power of community collaboration through events like Festival International Lafayette’s potential as a top U.S. destination Fun personal insights from Ben and Jesse, including hobbies like home cooking, dance, and coaching Visit https://www.lafayettetravel.com/food-drink/local-restaurants/ for a listing of all locally-owned, Louisiana-owned, and national favority restaurants in our community. Notable Quotes: Ben Berthelot: “One of my favorite quotes is by a colleague in Irving, Texas, which has really grown. She says if you build a place that people want to visit, you’ll build a place that people want to live. And if you build a place where people want to live, you’ll build a place where business wants to be. And if you build a place where business wants to be, then you’re back to a place where people wamt to visit. It is a cycle. That’s how I think and how I want to lead our organization. Tourism is economic development. Get someone here once, and they fall in love with Lafayette.” Jesse Guidry: “There is no more important time than now to support our locally owned restaurants. And that’s how Eat Lafayette started over 20 years ago. It was driven by the restaurants saying they needed help during the summertime. So it started with 18 restaurants in a two week campaign, and grew to a three month campaign, with over 200 restaurants at one point, with the whole emphasis of being where am I going to go eat tonight? And we want you to go eat at a locally owned restaurant. Support our mom and pops, who are the reason that we were named Tastiest Town of the South, the best food city in the United States, and all of those awards that we’ve gotten over the years.” Links & Resources: 🌐 LafayetteTravel.com 🍽️ EatLafayette.com (Restaurant signup + directory) 📲 Follow on social: @LafayetteTravel | @EatLafayette 🎶 Check out the Lafayette Weekly Live Music Calendar Thanks to our guests Ben Berthelot, Jesse Guidry and the entire Lafayette Travel team for their continued support of Discover Lafayette and for keeping Lafayette’s spirit alive – one plate at a time!…
Michael Soileau and Scott Prather of LFT Fiber: Bringing Community-Owned Connectivity to Lafayette and Beyond This episode of Discover Lafayette features Michael Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber (formerly LUS Fiber), and Scott Prather, Public Relations Manager for the community-owned fiber utility. Together, they share the powerful story of how Lafayette’s local investment in fiber optics two decades ago has blossomed into a cutting-edge broadband network that now reaches into rural and underserved communities across South Louisiana. It also underscored Lafayette’s long-standing commitment to serving as a leader in our region, state, and nation in providing top-notch services to our citizens. A Full-Circle Moment Michael Soileau, a Mamou native, reflects on how the expansion of LFT Fiber into Evangeline Parish—one of Louisiana’s most underserved and impoverished regions—feels personal. Thanks to strategic federal grants secured with the help of former Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet during her time with Acadiana Planning Commission, LFT Fiber is fulfilling its mission to bridge the digital divide in rural communities. Celebrating 20 Years of Fiber Innovation Lafayette was one of the first cities in the country to build its own fiber optic network. What started as a utility communication system quickly evolved into a public broadband network. On June 16, LFT Fiber celebrates the 20th anniversary of the citizens’ vote to support this bold initiative. Expanding Across Acadiana Through federal funding programs such as the GUMBO grant, LFT Fiber has expanded into seven parishes: Evangeline, Iberia, Vermilion, St. Landry, Eunice, Jennings, and Acadia, focusing on homes that previously lacked access to true broadband. While they don’t yet serve 100% of these areas, the goal remains to connect as many people as possible. Workforce and Community Investment LFT Fiber employs 94 local professionals and partners with Lafayette-based contractors for construction and installation. Community pride runs deep, and their mission extends beyond internet access—they support local nonprofits, events like Festival International, and schools through digital access and sponsorships. Connection Essentials: Making Internet Affordable Recognizing that not every household can afford premium internet, LFT Fiber recently launched Connection Essentials, a $25/month plan offering 60 Mbps service to families receiving federal assistance with a student in the home. The plan includes a modem and is currently being rolled out in Evangeline Parish, with expansion underway in Lafayette and beyond. The “Connection Essentials” plan provides internet speeds 60 Mbps download and 60 Mbps upload for $25 per month, with unlimited data usage and no overage fees. Customer premise equipment is included at no additional cost. A one-time installation fee of $49 will be charged at the time of service activation. Everyday Pricing (“EDP”) has also been introduced at affordable rates offered at 1 GBPS for $85.00 per month or 500 MBPS for $65.00 per month. “A commitment to fair, consistent pricing with no gimmicks, no surprises, and no limited-time promotions that leave you guessing.” Digital Literacy and Safety Providing access is only part of the mission. LFT Fiber is actively partnering with school districts, library systems, and nonprofits to improve digital literacy, helping families understand how to safely and effectively use the internet for telemedicine, education, job searching, and more. Collaboration as a Core Value The recent Connectivity Summit, hosted by LFT Fiber on April 2, 2025, brought together business, nonprofit, healthcare, and education leaders to discuss shared challenges and foster partnerships. These summits help generate the kind of serendipitous, five-minute conversations that spark long-term innovation and community growth. On the Connectivity Summit, Michael Soileau shared, “LFT Fiber’s Connective Summit was held to bring thought leaders, business, nonprofit, sports and culture all in the same room to talk about what’s going well, what are some of the challenges being experienced, what have you learned? Here’s what happens when you have those kinds of conversations with all these different people. You understand that there are probably the top 3 or 4 industries that are being impacting similarly, if not exactly the same, across all of those verticals. By collaborating, you can actually solve the issues a lot faster, create momentum, get that synergy going, and then move on. Walking out of that summit, I was so proud to have been a part of it, watching what happened that day, that sense of collaboration and willingness to share. People’s willingness to engage and to collaborate and to share and help each other figure things out. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we need a little help. We can’t do it all on our own.” Lafayette’s Legacy as a Hub Lafayette has always been a forward-thinking hub, from early adoption of electricity in 1896 to establishing its own university and developing a fiber-optic infrastructure. As Scott Prather notes, “The road is underground now.” Fiber connectivity continues that legacy, connecting communities across Acadiana in new, invisible ways. Looking Ahead LFT Fiber continues to focus on economic development, education, arts and culture, and healthcare support—all while being community-owned and operated. Their efforts not only keep Lafayette connected but ensure that the broader region can thrive in today’s digital economy. MIchael Soileau says, “LFT Fiber tries to always think about supporting the educational vertical. How do we help children not just bridge the digital divide, but have internet safety and digital literacy? We think about our arts and culture space, and that includes sports. How do we support them? How do we support the Ragin Cajuns in meaningful ways, not just writing a check, but participating. We think about children and well-being as a whole. And support for organizations that are just getting off their feet. How can we help them establish themselves?” ““I want people to take us for granted, and I don’t want them to take us for granted. I want people to take the service for granted because it’s that reliable. It’s that first class. I don’t want folks to take us for granted and forget the grassroots of this whole thing and that they have ownership in it, I want them to remember that and take pride in it,” says Scott Prather. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation to hear more about how LFT Fiber is empowering Acadiana communities—one connection at a time. 📲 Learn more at LFTFiber.com…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Team Gleason – 4th Annual Fin Feather Fur Food Festival Fundraiser for People Living with ALS- April 24, 2025 41:27
Discover Lafayette welcomes Dale Clark, Ursula Quoyeser, and Harriet Hoag to discuss the upcoming 4th annual Fin Feather Fur Food Festival (“F5”). This event raises funds for the Team Gleason Foundation, which supports individuals living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (“ALS”). Team Gleason, through its diverse and broad-reaching programming, brings assistive technology, equipment, and robust support services into the hands of ALS patients – to help individuals with ALS not just survive but thrive after a devastating diagnosis. Each of our guests has either been personally affected by ALS or has supported a loved one with the disease. Event Details: Date: April 24, 2025 Time: 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM Location: Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, LA Tickets: $45 Website: https://teamgleason.org/f5/ Attendees can enjoy great food, beer, and wine while supporting a worthy cause. F5 is a cooking competition where teams compete in four categories: Fin, Feather, Fur, and Dessert. Awards will be given to the best dishes, a “People’s Choice” winner, and a “Team Showmanship” winner chosen by a panel of judges. Additionally, a silent auction will offer a selection of valuable items. Teams also compete to raise the most funds for Team Gleason, with prizes awarded to top fundraisers. About Team Gleason Foundation: In January 2011, New Orleans Saints star Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS. Faced with this devastating diagnosis, Steve embraced a new mission: to show that people with ALS can not only live but thrive and to inspire others facing similar challenges. “People were simply expected to fade away quietly and die, that was not acceptable to me. That is not OK.” Steve and his wife, Michel Varisco, founded Team Gleason, a nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals with ALS lead purposeful and fulfilling lives. Team Gleason has provided over $55 million in resources to individuals with ALS. Their work includes supplying mobility equipment, power seat elevators, speech-generating devices, and essential home modifications. Personal Impact of Team Gleason: Ursula Quoyeser’s Experience Ursula has received significant support from Team Gleason. These resources have been life-changing, enabling her to maintain independence. Ursula reflects on how Team Gleason anticipates needs before they arise, ensuring that people living with ALS receive assistance promptly. One of the most important things that Team Gleason provides is pathways of communication to connect ALS families with each other so that resources that are no longer needed are generously shared. Many of you know Ursula as a superstar Volleyball coach! She is still a superstar and it is an honor to share her story so that the Team Gleason message may be distributed to a wide audience! Harriet Hoag’s Journey Harriet’s late husband, Monty, was diagnosed with ALS during the height of COVID-19, making the journey even more isolating. Doctors struggled to diagnose him, but Harriet’s own research led them to Baylor Hospital, where they received confirmation. She credits Team Gleason for providing invaluable resources such as a speech-generating device that allowed Monty to communicate with their granddaughter even in his final days. Dale Clark’s Commitment After being diagnosed with ALS, Dale was inspired to help others in the ALS community. Witnessing the challenges faced by fellow patients at his clinic in Houston, he saw the opportunity to make a difference. His dedication, alongside generous contributions from local companies like Badger Oil and Gas and Service Chevrolet, has helped F5 grow into a major fundraising success. For a more in-depth interview we did in 2024 with Dale and Ursula, listen here. Dale Clark says, “100% of the money goes to Team Gleason. In fact, we tell people to mail their check to Team Gleason so we don’t have to handle any money. The Importance of Fundraising: Over the past three years, F5 has raised more than $500,000, with every dollar going directly to Team Gleason. This funding ensures that individuals with ALS receive the support they need without financial barriers as all assistance is rendered free of charge. In addition to equipment and mobility aids, Team Gleason offers emotional and practical support, such as caregiver resources and the Healing Hearts group for those who have lost loved ones to ALS. About 5,000 people in the U. S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. It is difficult to diagnose and is often diagnosed by ruling out other diseases, which can take months or years. There is no cure for ALS, which is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in which a person’s brain loses connection with the muscles. Symptoms start with a progressive loss of muscle control. ALS kills motor neurons, causing muscles to weaken and eventually paralyze. People with ALS lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and in time, breathe. The average life expectancy is 2 to 5 years once diagnosed. 10% of cases are inherited through a mutated gene; the remaining 90% of cases occur without a family history of ALS. Military veterans are more likely to get ALS. For more information, visit https://www.als.org/ Final Thoughts: F5 is more than a fundraiser; it is a community-driven effort to support individuals and families affected by ALS. Whether attending, donating, or sponsoring, everyone has an opportunity to make a meaningful impact. Join us on April 24, 2025, to enjoy incredible food and camaraderie while contributing to a life-changing cause. For tickets and sponsorship opportunities, visit https://teamgleason.org/f5/ .…
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Discover Lafayette

Discover Lafayette is thrilled to welcome Kiki Frayard, founder of Kiki, a boutique store known for its exquisite selection of fine jewelry, fragrances, handbags, and other carefully curated items from designers across the world. While Kiki is known for offering unique designs, Kiki says, “Anybody can walk in to buy fun or lower price point jewelry at $75 to $250. We also offer jewelry up to $65,000.” In addition to her successful retail business, Kiki recently ventured into children’s literature with her book Lila Says No , cleverly illustrated by Aileen Bennett. Her passion for beauty and creativity extends beyond retail, as seen on her vibrant Instagram page, where she shares colorful and inspirational table settings for various events. Kiki, an Opelousas native, has strong ties to the Lafayette community. She is the sister of Marilyn Castle, retired 15th JDC judge, and Joan Dubuisson of Cox Business. She graduated from UL-Lafayette with degrees in Art History and English, initially intending to become an art teacher before discovering her passion for advertising and retail. Her career has been a fascinating journey, including stints as a nightclub singer in New Orleans, a radio advertising executive, and an ad agency owner. Working alongside advertising legend George Graham, Kiki honed her skills in creative writing and marketing, ultimately paving the way for her entrepreneurial success. Kiki opened her boutique in River Ranch after gaining invaluable retail experience from Molly Flanagan, owner of Molly’s. She and her daughter, Katie, built the business together, expanding to Baton Rouge and establishing Kiki as a premier shopping destination. A life-changing car accident in 2007 prompted Kiki to embrace retail fully, leaving advertising to focus on her boutique. She and Katie meticulously designed the store, ensuring an elevated shopping experience comparable to high-end retailers in New York and beyond. Kiki says, “We knew we wanted to do something nice. We didn’t want it to be a hodgepodge of display cases and just thrown together. We really wanted it to be the nicest store in Lafayette. “We had a vision of doing jewelry with designers in mind so that every case was dedicated to a designer. The handbags were displayed one on a shelf to make it seem really special so that everything seemed a little elevated. That worked when people walked in the store. Also, with most merchandise, if you don’t turn it, you got to put it on sale, you’ve got to get rid of it, you got to turn. But jewelry isn’t like that. We could have an expensive piece of jewelry and it could be there for two years, and then someone comes in and and buys it. So you don’t have to discount quite as much. The same thing with perfume.” Beyond retail, Kiki has made a mark in the Lafayette community. She played a crucial role in the development of Lafayette’s downtown playground, recognizing its value in revitalizing the area. Her passion for community enrichment continues to shape her contributions to the city’s cultural and economic landscape. Kiki’s love for creativity extends to her personal life, where she enjoys setting stunning tablescapes for family gatherings. Her collections of fine china and linens reflect her impeccable taste and appreciation for beauty. Her foray into children’s literature has been met with great enthusiasm. Lila Says No is resonating with parents and educators, with notable endorsements from child psychologist Carolyn Helm. The book received a glowing review rom Kirkus as “quirky and entertaining, with a kid and parent-savvy message.” Kiki’s deep admiration for children’s literature and her collection of over 500 books inspired her to finally write her own story, with more books potentially on the horizon. Though retired from store ownership, Kiki remains an integral part of Kiki, still attending market trips and influencing the store’s aesthetic. She has built a legacy of creativity, business acumen, and community impact that continues to inspire Lafayette and beyond. To learn more about Kiki’s journey and latest endeavors, tune in to this episode of Discover Lafayette!…
In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Chris Cook, General Manager of KLFY-TV 10. With years of experience in the broadcasting industry both locally and nationally, Chris is at the forefront of delivering the news, weather, and community stories that matter most to Acadiana. Under his leadership, KLFY continues to evolve in the digital age while maintaining its deep roots in local journalism. The station signed on the air June 3, 1955 and has remained a CBS affiliate since day one. Chris shares his journey in television news, beginning right out of high school in his hometown of Alexandria, where he worked as a photographer. He later moved to Lafayette, a place that felt like a natural home due to family ties and frequent visits for Mardi Gras and Festival Acadiens. His early experiences exposed him to various aspects of the newsroom, from audio production to graphics, sales and marketing. Throughout our conversation, Chris provides insights into the evolving landscape of television news, the impact of local journalism on our community, and how KLFY stays connected with its audience in a fast-changing digital world. He emphasizes the importance of community engagement, civil discourse, and the responsibility of news organizations to serve their audiences with accurate and fair reporting. Key Takeaways: The Role of Local News: Chris believes that local journalism plays a crucial role in keeping people informed about what’s happening in their city and state. Unlike national news, which can sometimes push an agenda, local news provides facts that allow viewers to form their own opinions. The Digital Transformation of News: KLFY has embraced digital platforms to reach audiences where they consume content, whether through its website, social media, mobile app, or its upcoming streaming service, KLFY Plus, launching in late April on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV, which will focus solely on local news, podcasts. and interviews relating to the Acadiana. Behind the Scenes at KLFY: Chris discusses how news assignments are made, the collaborative effort required to produce a broadcast, and how breaking news can change the course of a reporter’s day at a moment’s notice. Journalism as a Craft: Whether through formal education or hands-on experience, Chris believes that journalism is a skill honed through practice, curiosity, and a commitment to storytelling with integrity. Navigating the Age of Misinformation: With more people consuming news from social media, Chris advises viewers to critically evaluate their news sources, asking who posted the content and why. First of all, this job is fun. We’re working in television. So if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. And, there are few things in this world that are more collaborative than a newscast on a broadcast television station. There’s so many different hands, so many different eyes, so many different brains that have to come together in order to put that newscast together. The journalists, the producer, the meteorologist, sportscaster, graphic artists, director, cameramen, and sales force.” Connect with KLFY: Website: KLFY.com Facebook: KLFY News 10 Instagram: @KLFY Download the KLFY News App: Available on iOS and Android for real-time updates and push alerts. Chris Cook’s passion for journalism and serving the community is evident throughout this discussion. His commitment to upholding the integrity of local news in an ever-changing media landscape is inspiring. Tune in to this episode to learn more about how KLFY continues to innovate while staying true to its mission of informing and engaging Acadiana. Listen now on Spotify , Apple Podcasts , or your favorite podcast platform!…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Fred Reggie, Author of the soon to be released “Tell Me: How to Initiate and Nurture Meaningful Conversations With Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime” 37:33
Fred Reggie is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Tell Me: How to Initiate and Nurture Meaningful Conversations with Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime . Throughout his career, Fred has worked with Fortune 500 companies and service organizations across the U.S., helping leaders cultivate meaningful connections and drive success. Fred Reggie is an executive coach, international speaker, and expert in leadership and service culture development. He is well-known in our community and for years spent his time building funding resources for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a cause dear to many of our hearts. The Power of Communication Fred believes that genuine communication stems from an internal motivation to share a message with others. However, many people struggle with seeing the value they bring to conversations, often due to deep-seated self-doubt and imposter syndrome. He explores how, from an early age, we are celebrated for speaking but later conditioned to limit our expressions, being told to quiet down or avoid talking to strangers. This conditioning, Fred explains, creates subconscious barriers. As adults, many of us hesitate to speak up because we question whether our words have value. Moreover, societal norms and technology have reshaped how we communicate, further distancing us from authentic, face-to-face interactions. The Disruption of Conversation Fred discusses how technology has altered human connection. Younger generations, he notes, often prefer texting over direct conversation, avoiding phone calls altogether. “Cocooned communication,” as Fred calls it, has been evolving for decades—beginning with the automobile, which removed people from their porches and into isolated vehicles, and continuing with the rise of television, personal computers, and smartphones. Today, many people live in bubbles of self-communication, limiting the organic conversations that once thrived in everyday life. The Art of “Tell Me” At the heart of Fred’s book is a simple yet profound concept: using the phrase “Tell me” to invite others into meaningful conversations. Rather than asking closed-ended questions, this approach encourages people to share freely, fostering deeper connections. He recalls a powerful moment when James Earl Jones, upon meeting an adoring fan, responded not with a simple “ Who are you ?” but with, “ Tell me your name .” That small shift in language made the woman feel seen and valued. Fred encourages using this technique in all conversations, whether personal or professional, to create an environment of trust and engagement. The Neuroscience of Connection Fred emphasizes that engaging conversations have a physiological impact. When we participate in meaningful discussions, our brains release oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin—chemicals that enhance emotional intelligence, empathy, and overall well-being. Conversely, negative or disconnected conversations can leave us feeling drained and isolated. The Legacy of Storytelling Growing up in a Lebanese family, Fred was surrounded by master storytellers who didn’t just recount events but embodied the characters they spoke about. He believes that storytelling is fundamental to great conversation—it transforms the exchange of information into a compelling, memorable experience. Fred encourages people to embrace storytelling in their daily interactions, whether through professional networking or personal relationships. He also urges listeners to recognize the ripple effect of their words, as every interaction has the power to uplift or deflate another person. A Call to Action: Create Conversational Moments Fred concludes with a simple yet powerful challenge: create conversational moments. He encourages listeners to step outside their comfort zones, engage with strangers, and make genuine connections. By doing so, we can break the cycle of disconnected communication and bring back the lost art of conversation. Tell Me is more than just a book—it’s a movement toward deeper human connection. As Fred reminds us, the ability to start and sustain meaningful conversations is not just a skill but a gift that can reshape our lives and the world around us. For more information, visit https://www.fredreggie.com/book .…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Denise Giosa – Special Events Coordinator at Warehouse 535 1:05:07
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Denise Giosa: A Journey in Fashion and Events Denise Giosa’s journey in the world of fashion and events began while she was still in high school, when she joined the Junior Fashion Board at D.H. Holmes in Baton Rouge. It was during this time that she met Beth Phillips, a wonderful mentor who played a significant role in shaping her career. Recognizing Denise’s potential, Beth invited her to be the Youth Coordinator, marking the beginning of her involvement in fashion special events. After college, Denise moved to Lafayette and began traveling for Estée Lauder. It wasn’t long before she received a call from the manager of the Lafayette D.H. Holmes store, offering her a job. She accepted and continued working with the company for five years, further establishing herself in the industry. She thereafter worked for Maison Blanche, and eventually began freelancing in fashion and bridal shows. Her career took another turn when Mark Falgout of Warehouse 535 reached out to her. Originally envisioned as a live music venue, Warehouse 535, located at 535 Garfield Street in the Freetown neighborhood near downtown, has evolved into a multi-purpose event space. Over time, it has expanded beyond live music to host a variety of events, and Denise has played a crucial role in that transformation. Guiding Clients in Event Planning Denise takes a structured approach to helping clients determine their event needs. Before a client even books a date, she ensures they go through a detailed planning process. She asks key questions such as the date, type of event, expected size, and any special requirements. She also helps them visualize how the space will be used, ensuring that all elements—such as a photo booth or seating arrangements—are carefully considered. Her meticulous attention to detail means that by the time an event day arrives, she has already coordinated all aspects. She knows every vendor, delivery time, and setup detail, ensuring that clients never have to scramble at the last minute. Her hands-on approach means that every table, chair, and decoration is in place before the event begins, allowing clients to enjoy their special day stress-free. Additional Services and Wedding Planning Warehouse 535 offers comprehensive event services as part of the venue rental. However, additional services, such as hiring a wedding planner, are to be handled by the client. Some clients choose to bring in a planner midway through the process or hire a “day-of” coordinator to handle last-minute details. Denise ensures that clients understand what each wedding planner offers, as different planners provide different levels of service. She also educates clients on the finer details of event planning. For instance, if a couple is handling their own décor, she ensures they have a plan for setup. She also helps them clarify their expectations with vendors, such as ensuring photographers are booked for the right amount of time so they capture key moments, including the end of the event. Catering, Beverages, and Entertainment Warehouse 535 has certain requirements for event vendors. Caterers must be licensed and insured, and all beverages are provided through the venue. Clients can choose from various beverage packages, ranging from domestic beer and wine to premium selections. Entertainment is another major consideration. Some couples prefer DJs over bands because they want to curate their own playlists, while others love the energy of live music. Denise emphasizes that entertainment is key to keeping an event’s momentum going, and she ensures that DJs and bands are properly set up and integrated into the event timeline. The Evolution of Warehouse 535 Denise has witnessed the growth of Warehouse 535 firsthand. What started as a music venue has expanded to host diverse events, including weddings, corporate functions, and creative experiences like an Edgar Allan Poe-themed speakeasy. The venue has also served as a filming location for shows like Dateline, with production teams transforming rooms to suit their needs. A Career Built on Excellence Denise attributes her career success to her strong work ethic and reputation. She believes that “your interview for your next job is the job you have now.” Every opportunity she has received came through word-of-mouth and professional recommendations. Her background in fashion and event planning, combined with her dedication to excellence, has made her a sought-after expert in her field. Her role has evolved over the years, and she now works with a talented team that helps execute events seamlessly. While she never expected to specialize in weddings, she has come to love the experience of working with brides, helping them stay calm and organized on their big day. Booking and Planning Considerations Event planning in Louisiana follows unique seasonal trends. While summer months like July and August might seem slower, Warehouse 535 remains busy with different types of events. Weddings, in particular, often require long-term planning, especially for Catholic ceremonies that may have church booking restrictions. To streamline the booking process, Warehouse 535 uses Planning Pod, a platform that centralizes event details. When a client inquires through the venue’s website, they receive detailed pricing and package information upfront. Denise is happy to provide estimates based on a client’s budget, helping them determine if Warehouse 535 is the right fit before scheduling a visit. Denise emphasizes the importance of visiting a venue in person. While professional photographs can highlight the space’s best features, nothing compares to seeing it firsthand. She also ensures that potential clients receive a thorough tour, with expert guidance rather than just a quick walkthrough. Looking Ahead As Warehouse 535 continues to grow, Denise remains committed to providing exceptional service. She enjoys the variety that comes with hosting different types of events and continues to refine her planning process. Her approach ensures that every event is well-organized, personalized, and executed with precision. From her early days in fashion to her leadership in event management, Denise Giosa’s career has been defined by passion, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Contact and Booking Information For those interested in hosting an event at Warehouse 535, Denise encourages early inquiries and planning. More details about available dates, pricing, and event packages can be found on the venue’s website at https://warehouse535.com/ or by reaching out to Denise directly at denise@warehouse535.com…
In this episode of Discover Lafayette , we are honored to welcome Father Howard Blessing, a retired Catholic priest in the Diocese of Lafayette. Ordained in 1976 at the age of 25, Father Blessing has dedicated his life to serving others through his pastoral work at various parishes, including Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Holy Cross, Fatima, Sacred Heart of Ville Platte, and as chaplain at Our Lady of Lourdes. Today, he continues his ministry with Kent Zerangue through Food for Love, a mission providing meals to hospice patients and their families. Beyond his priestly duties, Father Blessing has a fascinating backstory—including winning a Dancing with the Stars competition at the Academy of the Sacred Heart with his friend Angi Davis! However, what truly defines him is his unwavering compassion and deep spiritual wisdom, which he shares in this moving conversation. Key Topics Discussed: The Calling to Priesthood: Growing up as one of seven children, Father Blessing did not consider becoming a priest until college. His journey has been one of continuous learning, as he believes that every person he encounters teaches him something valuable about life and faith. The Power of Listening: Through his work with parishioners and those in recovery, Father Blessing has learned that true ministry is about being present, listening without judgment, and validating people’s experiences rather than dictating solutions. The Journey from Woundedness to Wholeness: As a recovering alcoholic, Father Blessing speaks candidly about self-worth, healing, and forgiveness. He emphasizes that behavior does not define a person—everyone is inherently valuable and worthy of love. Forgiveness as a Spiritual Practice: Father Blessing shares how forgiveness is central to his faith and personal journey. He explains that it is an act of will that unblocks the spiritual path, allowing grace and love to flow freely. Recognizing Our Own Worth: Inspired by Gandhi’s wisdom, he discusses the importance of self-love and acceptance. The greatest invention, he believes, is the mirror—because the person looking back simply wants to be loved. Marriage and Relationships: Having counseled many couples, Father Blessing offers insights into the challenges of marriage. He stresses that true partnership is about growth, patience, and understanding, rather than relying on another person for happiness. The Art of Silence and Reflection: In a fast-paced, noisy world, Father Blessing advocates for stillness and deep introspection. He believes that in silence, we hear God’s voice and discover our true selves. Wisdom from Hospice Patients: Through his work with Food for Love, he has encountered individuals at the end of life who have found peace, letting go of fear and embracing the journey ahead. Their reflections have profoundly impacted his understanding of life and death. Living with Purpose: Father Blessing humorously notes that when he retired, he told people, “If my garage door is open, I’m open.” He continues to be available to those in need, emphasizing that life’s journey is about embracing transformation and being open to growth. Faith, Identity, and Love: He reminds us that we are not defined by our careers or achievements but by who we are as children of God. True fulfillment comes from embracing our divine essence and loving others unconditionally. Memorable Quotes: “The greatest invention in the world is the mirror, because the person looking back at you just wants to be loved.” “Forgiveness unclogs the arteries of our spiritual lives and allows grace to flow through us.” “We are called to listen and walk with people, not to tell them what to do.” “God is the potter, we are the clay. Life is about allowing ourselves to be shaped and molded.” “Love is the remedy. And sometimes, with gritted teeth, you just do.” This conversation with Father Howard Blessing is an inspiring reminder of the power of faith, compassion, and self-discovery. We hope you enjoy this heartfelt episode of Discover Lafayette . Listen & Subscribe: Find this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Follow Us: Stay connected with Discover Lafayette on social media and visit our website for more interviews celebrating the people and culture of Acadiana.…
In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Jude David, Executive Chairman of Stately Doors & Windows, to discuss the company’s role in delivering ultra-luxury doors and windows for high-end residential and commercial projects. His company does approximately $100 million dollars in sales each year to homes built for business owners, celebrities, and others who can afford to build no matter what the market experiences. Clients have included Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin, Tony Romo, Diddy, and Calvin Klein. A Leader in Bespoke Doors and Windows With nine locations across the U.S., Stately Doors & Windows has established itself as a premier provider of custom, high-quality designs using exotic hardwoods, Swiss steel, and state-of-the-art glass. The company collaborates with top-tier designers and architects, offering one-of-a-kind solutions tailored to their clients’ visionary needs. Stately Doors & Windows is headquartered at 315 S. College Drive in Lafayette, less than a mile from Jude David’s home. Pushing the Boundaries of Design and Automation Stately specializes in cutting-edge bespoke innovations, including: Disappearing doors and windows that retract seamlessly into the floor or basement, allowing for uninterrupted indoor-outdoor living. Fully automated doors and window s , eliminating the need for manual operation. Custom shapes and sizes, ensuring that no design challenge is too complex, even offering bespoke door options for the owners’ pets. Long-Term Planning and Project Management Jude highlights how Stately works with architects years in advance, often three to four years before construction begins. Unlike many competitors that simply sell products, Stately provides comprehensive project management, from design conception to on-site installation, ensuring a seamless experience. Expanding into Commercial Luxury Spaces Although bespoke doors and windows are rare in commercial projects, Stately has found a niche in high-end hotels, including: La Fonda Resort in New Mexico L’Auberge Bishops Lodge Resort For the people able to pay for these high-end resort prices, it is worth every penny. Very few lodging options offer the luxurious spaces designed by Stately Door & Windows. Additionally, the company operates a high-velocity door manufacturing facility in Las Vegas, producing 2,200 doors per week, and a millwork shop in West Monroe, specializing in moldings, corbels, and luxury finishes for hotel lobbies and upscale spaces. Resilience in Market Fluctuations Despite high interest rates, Stately continues to thrive. Their affluent clientele remain committed to their projects regardless of economic conditions, making their business model highly resilient in both up and down markets. The Artisans Behind the Craft Stately Doors & Windows is built upon skilled artisans who treat their work as an art form rather than just a manufacturing process. Jude acknowledges the difficulty in finding such talent and emphasizes the importance of growing artisans from a young age. The company actively recruits from high schools and trade shows, offering apprenticeship opportunities that lead to lifelong careers in millwork and craftsmanship. Alternative Career Paths and Workforce Development Jude believes that success is not limited to a college degree. He encourages individuals to focus on creating value for their employers, stating that career growth and financial success come from hard work and innovation rather than just formal education. Entrepreneurial Spirit and Leadership Jude shares his entrepreneurial journey, reflecting on his natural inclination toward leadership and growth. He thrives on taking calculated risks, expanding the business through strategic acquisitions, and constantly seeking new challenges. While he acknowledges the importance of teamwork, he admits to being most effective when in charge, shaping Stately into a powerhouse in the luxury construction industry. “If you build run of the mill products in the U.S., you’re going to compete against all of the run of the mill importers. You better have something really special you can offer that importers can’t. Otherwise, you’ll be beaten on price every time. So what we focused on was how to go to the very high end of the luxury build and focus on bespoke and fully custom doors and windows. Bespoke is a good word for it because custom means different things to different people. We build one of a kind solutions. Most of our doors are one of one.” Listen to the full episode to learn more about Jude David’s visionary leadership and the unparalleled craftsmanship of Stately Doors & Windows. Visit https://stately.com/ for more information and to delight in examples of the beautiful designs that have been crafted. Jude David is also CEO of Kin Capital Partners , as well as managing partner of Final Ascent , a company that helps mid-market business owners ($5 million an up in value) make their business sellable and find the right buyer and tranistion for maximum value. His specialty is the art of acquisition, focusing on finding the right buyer, negotiating a deal that creates maximum value for everyone involved, and setting business owners up for a lifetime of success after the sale.…
Billi Lacombe, Executive Director of Faith House since 2002, joins Discover Lafayette to talk about her life mission to help survivors of domestic violence become safe. Leaving an abusive situation is never easy due to various barriers such as financial insecurity, lack of support systems, fear of losing children, and concerns over personal safety. Faith House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Lafayette, serving seven parishes in Acadiana, which provides free services to women and children who need help in getting out of a domestic violence situation. Its main source of funding (75%) is through federal grants ( Office on Violence Against Women, the Department of Health and HUD), .and the organization relies upon volunteer services to keep its mission going. Faith House’s mission is to provide safety, shelter, empowerment and advocacy to survivors of domestic violence. It offers confidential and safe resources to those most in need. As a young women, Billi studied to be a paralegal and was contacted in 1998 by a former classmate who asked her to work at Faith House. She had always had an interest in women’s rights after seeing women in her life experiencing extreme hardships and the opportunity seemed appropriate for her. Billi went to work at Faith House as a legal advocate helping survivors, getting protective orders for them, and she says, “That was it for me. I saw nothing else that I would want to do with my life other than continue to help survivors of domestic violence become safe. That became my life’s mission.” And for the record, during our interview, we saw the calming energy Billi brings to the table that is a gift from God. Faith House addresses the challenges women face wherever they are, taking care of their family and trying to earn a livable income for themselves and their family. Many people don’t see the barriers that still exist for women. Billi says, “It is about justice for me. I just want to see justice, equality, and equity happening more for women so that they can exist in this world. Not having to stay with an abusive partner and to be able to live and support your children. You should not have to be abused just to be able to pay your bills. I mean that that’s what these survivors are facing.” Many domestic violence victims and their families need emergency shelter. Faith House offers a safe refuge for those in the highest levels of danger who have experienced severe cases of domestic violence with a high potential for lethality. Billi says, “It is very typical for a family to walk in, a mom with a couple of kids, with absolutely nothing. Sometimes they don’t have shoes on their feet, they’re in their nightclothes and haven’t eaten for 2 or 3 days, and are starving when they walk in the door. The shelter offers anything you could imagine that you would need if you left your home with nothing. Toothpaste. Shampoo. A sandwich, some water. Clothing. Everything that you could imagine.” Glenn Armentor has been generous in supporting Faith House through underwriting television ads which highlight Faith House and its mission to help domestic violence victims. Since this advertising campaign started six years ago, Faith House has had thousands of people call their hotline and say they heard the commercial and reached out for help. They would not have otherwise known there was a place to go for assistance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdgKE3-D6dU Many survivors worry about their children when considering leaving. Losing custody due to financial instability is a significant concern. Abusers often use threats of taking children as a means of control. The fear of homelessness and the inability to provide a stable environment keeps many in dangerous situations. Faith House offers emergency shelter to those in the highest danger levels, providing a safe space where families can focus on rebuilding their lives. Physical safety is another major issue. Survivors are coached on strategies such as leaving only one car door unlocked and backing into driveways for quick exits, as well as making themselves as small as possible in a corner if attacked. Having essential documents and belongings ready to grab in an emergency is crucial. Teaching children to run to a neighbor or using a pre-established code word to alert the children to danger can also be lifesaving. Survivors often freeze up during violent incidents, so training for automatic responses is essential. Faith House helps survivors develop safety plans tailored to their situations, including strategies for staying safe during visitations with abusive parents. Since abuse does not always end when a victim leaves, ongoing safety planning and legal assistance are critical. Faith House works with survivors to understand their legal rights and navigate court processes, including obtaining protective orders. Confidentiality is paramount at Faith House. Many survivors do not disclose their abuse due to shame, fear for their safety, or lack of support from family members. Victim-blaming attitudes, such as questioning why they stayed when abused, only reinforces isolation. Faith House ensures survivors have a trusted space where their experiences are validated, and their safety is prioritized. The legal system can be overwhelming, and financial constraints often prevent victims from accessing legal support. The Lafayette Bar Association provides essential legal forms and assistance for those who cannot afford an attorney, selling low-cost forms that help in filing protective orders, custody arrangements, and divorce proceedings. The Faith House shelter consists of ten bedrooms, each offering five beds, with shared bathrooms and common areas, including a fully stocked kitchen where families can cook their own meals. This structure helps maintain a sense of normalcy. Additionally, a playroom and laundry facilities ensure that families have access to basic needs. Recognizing that pets are also victims of domestic violence and have suffered physical and/or emotional abuse, Faith House has an on-site pet facility through the generosity of Red Rover, a national foundation dedicated to ensuring that survivors can keep their pets. Many abusers harm pets in the household, and having a safe space for them when they leave the abusive home is crucial for the survivors’ emotional well-being. Faith House offers support groups where survivors can connect, share experiences, and heal. These groups are facilitated across multiple parishes and provide a sense of community. Additionally, transitional housing programs help survivors move from emergency shelter to independent living. A new facility in Mansura, Louisiana, is being developed to expand these services. Community support is vital. Fundraisers, donations, and local volunteer efforts sustain many programs. Faith House recently launched Wildflower Lane, a boutique on N. Parkerson Street in Crowley, that sells donated items from local boutiques and gently used items from donors. Volunteers staff the shop, and all proceeds directly support the organization. Board members and volunteers are instrumental in spreading awareness and securing resources. They assist with events, fundraising, and donation drives. Volunteers can also help with shelter maintenance, hotline support, court accompaniment, and organizing group activities for survivors. Due to the sensitive nature of the work, volunteer training is intensive to ensure proper care and confidentiality. Faith House collaborates with the Acadiana Coalition Against Homelessness to address the link between domestic violence and homelessness. Many survivors end up on the streets due to a lack of resources, making accessible shelter options a critical need. Law enforcement plays a key role in intervention, but victims may be hesitant to press charges. Officers are trained to provide support beyond the immediate crisis, recognizing the complexities of abuse. Community members can help by offering non-judgmental support, being available for survivors when they are ready to reach out, and connecting them to resources. Medical professionals frequently encounter and diagnose domestic violence injuries when victims present themselves in the doctor’s office or the hospital, Recognizing signs of abuse and offering discreet support can make a difference. Faith House provides information through its Facebook page and community outreach efforts to raise awareness and connect survivors to help. Volunteer projects range from maintaining shelter grounds to sorting donations and assisting with fundraising. Those interested can contact Faith House at (337) 232-8954 or the 24-hour hotline at 1-888-411-1333. The organization’s wishlist includes expanded shelter capacity and enhanced therapeutic services. With hundreds of people turned away each year due to space limitations, additional facilities are essential. Faith House currently employs two full-time therapists who provide trauma-informed counseling, but more resources are needed to support survivors’ mental health. Faith House continues to be a beacon of hope for those affected by domestic violence, providing immediate safety, long-term support, and the tools necessary to rebuild lives free from abuse. For more information visit https://faithhouseacadiana.com/ Discover Lafayette thanks Billi Lacombe and her staff for their dedication in helping victims of domestic violence abuse achieve a better life!…
Ryan Pécot, proprietor of Adopted Dog Brewing, is a successful commercial realtor with Sterling Properties as well as a force in changing the food and entertainment landscape in Lafayette. Adopted Dog Brewing offers a family friendly place to bring your kids and your dogs. Located at 329 Dulles Drive, it celebrated its second anniversary on February 1, 2025. A public celebration will be held on February 22 , 2025, where The Good Dudes will be playing. “They’re at the brew house right now brewing a beer with my brew master called the Good Brew 2, a Mexican cerveza with lime that we will release on our birthday party weekend,” Ryan says. Ironically, Ryan didn’t drink beer much in his college days. And he recounted that when he and his younger brother would travel to sporting events, his brother would always sample local craft beers, while Ryan would choose generic alcoholic beverages. “Ultimately I got jealous of him. And being jealous of your younger brother is not that cool. I realized he was getting more out of our trips than I was because he was getting a local flair whereas I was just getting the regular thing. I made a New Year’s resolution to learn how to drink beer. And on January 1st, I drank a beer and it was awful. And I drank another one. I couldn’t figure it out. I just didn’t like it. And then I got to a spot where I did. On one of those trips, I said if I ever learn how to drink beer and if I ever open a brewery, this is some of the things I’d like to do. Our flagship beer, which is aptly named 337, is a Blueberry Blonde inspired by a place called Boston BeerWorks across from Fenway Park. We walked in there and saw a bunch of ladies drinking beer, which was not normal. They all had blueberries in their beer. How are all these chicks drinking beer? Like, what is going on? And then I realized, that if I ever open a brewery, I’m going to offer a blueberry lager, because clearly this works.” A few years back, Ryan wasn’t planning to open a brewery, but was inspired to open Adopted Dog by synchronistic events. One day, he and a friend were driving around the industrial area near Dulles Drive looking for a site to store their UL tailgating trailer and assorted gear, while waiting to have a B. F. Goodrich tire changed on Ryan’s truck. They happened to pass by 329 Dulles, the site of the former Cafe 329 which was owned and developed by Peter Martin. “We went through that cul de sac by SLCC. I didn’t even know that road existed. We came across the real estate, and I asked my buddy James to pull in, and I peered through the windows and I’m like, it’s awesome. I’m opening a brewery. James said ‘What?’ I said I’m opening a brewery here. I’m telling you, as a real estate guy, when you see it, you know it. If I was going to open a brewery in Lafayette, this is the physical spot. You’re five minutes to everything, but you’re kind of in a donut hole of nothing else offering all that land. You sit there and you feel like you’re not in Lafayette for an hour.” “I look for the little things. As soon as I saw the building, I realized that the patio on the back deck faced the southeast. That means you’re going to get shaded the quickest in our hot, long summers. If we were going to ever eventually build a deck and a stage that would be positioned correctly, the wind cut through the way the heat felt. The building with the high ceilings has pros and cons, but generally, it worked and checked all the boxes.” The site is also located in mid-city Lafayette, which was important to Ryan in his quest to develop establishments in the heart of our city, just as he has enjoyed when traveling across the country and getting to know the heart of local communities. While the land and building were perfect, opening a brewing company in Lafayette was a challenge. Ryan says, “Without my background as a commercial broker, I’m not sure I would have been successful in opening Adopted Dog Brewing. A lot of breweries try to open in the city of Lafayette. I’m the only one within the city limits of Lafayette, and there were a lot of hurdles that had to be jumped through with partners on the municipality side. A Lot of utility, wastewater issues. There was a zoning piece, a lot of different little pieces. My day job (commercial realtor) is turning a ‘No’ into a ‘Yes.’ There were multiple times throughout the pre-development process where, if I didn’t do this for a living and know how to deal with the fire marshal or have the contacts to help me, I’m not sure I would have crossed the goal line. Honestly. I really was hoping that I could break down those barriers for the next guy, because life is better if we have four or five breweries, not just one in the city.” Adopted Dog Brewery has been a big success. It appeals to locals and travelers alike. “We can see what credit cards are swiped from other states. You’d be shocked how many people across the country have sat down to drank the beer in our brewery.” “Ultimately, we named one of our beers the BFG, after a $1 million BFG, because replacing the flat B.F. Goodrich tire cost me $276, but there was $1 million investment that resulted from the tire. So we named the beer after the $1 million pop.” Adopted Dog Brewing offers 18 beers on tap that are all unique. They also offer brews for dogs, which are broth-based. Ryan has been to roughly 180 breweries across the U. S. and abroad, and he “took little pieces and parts that I liked and didn’t like, and I stored in my memory. Our son loves traveling with us. We like to expose him to the world, and the best breweries in my opinion are typically family friendly. When we get off the plane, we can go to a place that we can all enjoy.” Close to 50% of people that walk in Adopted Dog Brewing are first timers, according to Ryan. “There is $400,000 of shiny stainless steel staring you in the face and people just don’t expect it. It is unexpected in most breweries because fire marshals can be difficult. It’s generally behind the wall, but I worked hard to make sure that it was in your face. When you’re sitting at the bar, you’re watching. If you’re there right now eating lunch, you’re smelling it. And they’re in there brewing a beer. The high ceilings were good for that part of infrastructure heating and cooling the building. When you walk in, it feels like a brewery, but it’s not a dingy, dirty, smelly thing. It’s clean, fresh, lots of windows and and that all overlooks the land. It’s like a little mini park, with kids running around with frisbees and balls. There’s nothing more beautiful when you’re outside on that deck, it’s just beautiful. Even in the heat in the middle of summer, it is just a beautiful.” Ryan and Traci Pécot pictured at Adopted Dog Brewing. Ryan’s wife, Traci, came up with the name, Adopted Dog Brewing. But it took her awhile to be onboard with the idea of his new venture. She was concerned about the time and financial commitment, thinking that she would lose him for a year as he worked to open the business. “For weeks I kept saying I negotiated the land deal with Peter. And then one day, one Saturday morning, I started loading my truck with my tools, and she comes out and says, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, I told you I was doing this. And she said no. ‘Ryan, we can’t lose you for another year’. I said, look, it’s not going to be a year this time. It will not take a year to build out. There’s already some infrastructure there. It’s just going to be better. The good thing is she was wrong because it wasn’t a year. It took a year and one week. Okay, so I was way wrong. But, once we were in the build-out process and she had not yet admitted to me verbally that she knew the location was awesome, her face couldn’t hide that it was cool. We were drinking coffee on the back patio before I went to go work at the spot. And, she said, ‘If you’re going to do this stupid thing, you should at least name it Adopted Dog Brewing. And I knew then that she had buy-in. Both of our dogs are adopted and our son’s adopted, so we’re fine with adopted stuff. I thought it made sense. We knew we were going to be dog-centric. We do a lot of adoption events. There was no other intellectual property register with that name across the country. So that was an easy yes to the name.” There are no plans to distribute Adopted Dog’s craft beers. “I interviewed a ton of breweries, read a bunch of books, lots of podcasts, and I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole. At the end of the day, beyond the difficulty level, you become a manufacturing facility. I did this to make Lafayette cooler. I did it as a passion project. I did it to employ awesome people. I did it to create a spot for my friends, family, investors, and a place to go hang out for Cajuns fans before and after games. I did not want to build an 18-Wheeler dock that I’ve got to worry about sales people and insuring that.” “You don’t choose the flagship beer as an entrepreneur. Your customers choose it. You can just hope and maybe try to position yourself. 337 is a blueberry blonde and an easy gateway into craft beer. Craft beer is a thing that people come in for. 337 sells a third more than everything else. It is wild. I told my brewmaster, ‘You can run out of anything but you can never run out of 337.” “There’s no beer in the city of Lafayette that’s fresher than mine, period. Pick anybody else in Louisiana. They still have to brew and package. It will go in a warehouse, probably change temperatures, come out of the warehouse, goes to a restaurant, sits in their cooler till they’re ready to tap it. Then they tap it. You know, it’s weeks out. We’ll tap some beer that’s two days old. Talk about a difference.” James Lutgring, my brewmaster, and I have known each other since the mid 90s when I was working my way through high school and college in the Outback system, I was a front of house guy. He was the back of house guy. We could lean on each other to be successful for any given shift. Then, we had our professional careers and he came home, doing a lot of home brewing for a long time. I’d see him at beer festivals and events, at church. He was currently brewing at another local brewery when I texted him to see if he wanted to have a conversation. I gave him my vision. And before we hung up, he said, ‘Ryan, when you texted me, I was so hoping this was what you were going to ask me to do. And I was like, man, it was awesome. And so, you know, he, uh, he worked, you know, I couldn’t pay him right off the bat. So he stayed his other brewery for the first six months of while we were under physical development and Development of construction. We still meet once a week and, you know, go through the processes. He’s a scientist and an artist. I’ve also got other great employees, my kitchen manager, Jim Nobles, and General Manager, Mark Chaisson. The food menu is perfect for pairing with beer or non-alcoholic drinks. “We reached out to other local people like Collin Cormier from Pop’s, for advice. We thought we had the menu, and invited him in to wreck it, and he wrecked a few things. That’s what I wanted him to do. We went through a lot of those kind of collaborations to get it right.” The number one entree is the Smashburger. Ryan says that Collin “wanted a cooler hip food beverage scene in town, because if we can attract young professionals to our community or better yet, keep those who graduate from UL from going to Houston or Atlanta or Austin, that’s better for all of us. When I mentioned that we often get off the plane and go to a brewery, it’s always young professionals at 2:00 in the afternoon having lunch that are collaborating. It was very apparent to me that we didn’t have that spot in our city. People are moving here because they came to visit their in-laws and like things. We want them to stay.” If you are not sure which beer you may like, flights are a popular option. Typically first-time visitors enjoy experiments with a flight. “I can look at the sales after a weekend and if there’s a ton of flights sold, it means we got a bunch of new people. Some regulars come in and get a flight, but it’s usually people who have not been, so a flight is a good way to start. My staff is very knowledgeable on the beer. We do beer classes at least once a quarter.” Ryan is a big Cajuns fan and has managed catered tailgate packages. Popular choices are lollipop wings, chicken tenders and smash sliders. Bingo is a popular event at Adopted Dog Brewing. Traci Pecot calls out the numbers and it is free to play. Other regular events such as Trivia Night and live music are offered as well. Check out the schedule at https://www.adopteddogbrewing.com/calendar/ Dogs are all welcome but because of local codes, they cannot go inside of Adopted Dog Brewing. “There are some weekends where you’ll have 40 dogs on the patio or on the lawn. We have three dog beers that are broth based and we have a specific menu just for the dogs. There’s some crazy dog owners who like their dogs more than their kids. They’ll come in and order a Smashburger. No bread. And that’s for the dog, not for anybody else.” Ryan is also a partner in a new hotel venture to be built in Downtown Lafayette, called aptly, “Hotel Lafayette.” It’s going to be catalytic for what happens in downtown Lafayette, offering a wedding venue and event space. We don’t have a spot where a wedding party can book a block of rooms, get there, get dressed, do the rehearsal dinner somewhere downtown, get married at the Cathedral, second line down Jefferson, and go right back to the event space that overlooks the pool and the pool bar. I hate it when I have clients that fly in to do a real estate tour in South Louisiana and we end up dropping them off at a hotel that is in every town USA.” Adopted Dog Brewing is open Wednesday through Sunday, starting at 11:00 a.m. for lunch. It closes at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday; Friday and Saturday 10 p.m.; and Sundays 8 p.m. Thanks to Ryan Pécot for the incredibly positive energy and creativity he brings to our local market. For more information on Adopted Dog Brewing, please visit https://www.adopteddogbrewing.com/ . We’re grateful to Lafayette Travel and Eat Lafayette for partnering with Discover Lafayette for this special episode.…
Molly Rowe, newly appointed Executive director of the Hilliard Art Museum, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss her love of the arts and working with artists. Molly has worked with arts and culture organizations such as the New York City Ballet and Savannah College of Art and Design, and Fortune 500 companies such as Google and The New York Times. Born and raised in Lafayette, Molly’s mother was an antique dealer; from an very early age, Molly was exposed to art, antiques, antiques, provenance, and the research that goes into collecting and telling stories about objects. She grew up appreciating art and objects, learning about other cultures and people. At the age of 18, after graduating from the Episcopal School of Acadiana and ready to see the world, she left Lafayette at 18 to attend Cornell University where she earned Bachelor’s degrees in History and French literature. Molly then earned an MBA in Strategic Management from Tulane, and completed graduate work in Art History at Sorbonne University and Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. Molly’s first job was writing for the President and Co-Founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Paula Wallace. “It’s an institution that started with a dream of one woman who was an educator and now it is globally recognized. It is one of, if not the , largest private art institution in the world. It is a mission driven arts organization, and I learned so much about how it was run, how to build organizations of that nature, how to inspire people through that.” The experiences Molly gained help define her career. “Whenever I started working with Paula Wallace, I envisioned myself to be a writer who was going to go on and do doctorate work in literature. I was very always interested in languages and storytelling. But through my work with her at SCAD, I realized that art has it own language and communicates things that words can’t. Through studying art and learning about art and exhibiting art, working with artists, you’re able to transcend time, cultures, and geography.” Molly shared, “We so often think that being able to create an art object or a painting defines creativity. But some of the most creative people I know are creative in business. I’ve built my career on working with artists and supporting artists and building businesses with them.” After her work at SCAD, she moved to New York and was employed by consultants who worked with arts organizations, museums, institutions, and galleries based all over the world. She eventually opened her own consulting firm with that same focus, at the intersection of arts, education and business,. Molly worked with over 50 institutions internationally, from the United States to Europe, South America, and Asia. Molly says, “It’s that work that allowed me to consult with incredible organizations such as Google, New York City Ballet, and The New York Times. My work with them was always focused around art and culture. I think so many businesses recognize the power of art and culture; in order to get a product into the hands of people, they have to tap into how their desired audience communicates, what they like, what they read, what they listen to.” Molly explained, “Being able to tap into an audience’s culture means you’re going to be working with artists. It means you’re going to be working with the people that are creating and building that culture. That’s where I came in, as this sort of middle person, who would help organizations figure out how they were going to bring their product to people. It was always around working with artists. The other side of that was not only making sure it was good for business, but also that it was good for rhe artists. If we look at Louisiana, one of our biggest economies is cultural tourism. We don’t think enough about who is benefiting from that. My job was always making sure that artists were represented appropriately and that were being compensated and rewarded in the right way.” When Molly moved back to Lafayette during COVID, she had a young daughter. She worked from home with clients and projects scattered all over the country and says, “It was wonderful, but at the same time I wasn’t really connected here; I was in my office at home, with the door closed, working with people that were not here.” She was also finishing up her MBA at Tulane, and had been asked to serve on the board of directors of Basin Arts. She led a strategy session for Basin Arts, and then Clare Cook introduced her to the Dean of the College of the Arts at UL-Lafayette as they were also looking to perform a strategy session. Molly says, “It was through that introduction and the work I did with the College of the Arts, that someone asked me if I’d be interested in the position of the Executive Director at the Hilliard. It came at a very interesting time as I was just wrapping up my MBA. Serving on the board at Basin Arts brought me into the community here. I’m from here but had been gone for 22 years, so I was actually gone longer than I was from here.” “Through Clare Cook, Founder and Creative Director of Basin Arts, I was able to reconnect and reroute, to understand how rich the cultural community is here. Clare really opened my eyes to what’s happening here today and also the need for advocates of our culture and bringing experience here instead of needing to leave Lafayette to pursue your career.” Molly credits the Hilliard’s prior director, Louanne Greenwald, for lifting the organization to the place where it is today, and getting it accredited. “I think what makes the Hilliard very unique is that it’s tied to a university, a research institution. So one of the things I’m thinking a lot about is what does it mean to be an art museum that’s tied to a university in such a rich cultural landscape? What does it mean specifically in Acadiana? How do we communicate with other institutions? What is our role?” She further stated, “We are deeply rooted where we are. We also have the ability to be in dialogue with artists and cultures from all over the world. So that idea is that we’re rooted in place and also connected globally. That connection is coming through our work in the arts and it’s that balance between where we are physically and who we’re speaking with globally. We hope to grow to be able to strike something that allows us to build our permanent collection as well as to have study and research around art objects that other institutions aren’t able to do as much. And that’s through our connection with the university and the scholarship that we’re able to tap into.” There are currently three exhibitions on display now, the largest being the Rodin Toward Modernity. Curated by Ben Hickey, with support from the Hilliard Society and the Hilliard Board of Directors, the exhibition consists of 40 iconic sculptures in Rodin’s practice. Molly says, “Today, Rodin is known as the greatest sculpturer since Michelangelo. But during the time he was practicing, at the turn of the 19th century and into the early 20th, he was not looked upon as such. He was an artist looked at as someone with vulgar taste, bumping up against tradition and doing something new. As we all know, someone who does something new is not always received with open arms at first. So the exhibition looks at Rodin as this figure who reshaped how we think about art, how we look at art, and how he reshaped the possibilities of art. Prior to this moment in art history, art and sculpture were very much figurative. As you walk into the exhibition at the Hilliard, the first thing you see is a grouping of five sculptures. It’s The Burghers of Calais, a monument Rodin was commissioned to do for heroes of the Hundred Years War. But these heroes are shown in despair. They’re shown in complete vulnerability as they were walking to their death. In Rodin’s mind, this is the moment when someone becomes a hero, when they’re putting up their life. It’s the courage and what comes of that, not a moment of glory.” The Hilliard Art Museum offers a beautiful event space in Lafayette, and also offers the Hayes Town building. Look forward to March for a Spring reception, followed by a free family day in mid-March. Molly Rowe’s thoughts on talent and young people’s creativity: “Art with kids is so much fun because there are no rules yet. They look at things a lot differently than somebody who’s had an education or had some experience and is kind of confined to this box. It’s fearless. I think your most successful artists are the ones that are fearless, who get up and try again and again. We see them as big name artists, but what we’re not seeing are the 30 years of trial and error that went into it. We see them when they become really big. But they may have had a very long path. It takes determination, that this is what I’m going to do, no matter the criticism, no matter if someone tells me it’s impossible. You see that in children. I like encouraging that and not putting limits on it. By putting barriers on our thinking, by forcing ourselves to call something what everyone else calls it, how are we limiting ourselves?” The Hilliard recently celebrated 20 years in operation. Located at 710 East Saint Mary Boulevard on UL Lafayette’s campus. It offers 11,000 square feet of gallery space and is the largest exhibition space between Houston and New Orleans. The museum is free for members, faculty and students. Adult admission is $10. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 to 5. For more information, visit https://hilliardmuseum.org/ . Discover Lafayette is proud to showcase Molly Rowe and the Hilliard Art Museum. Best wishes on continued success!…
Becca Begnaud, actor, musician, creative, and traiteur joined Discover Lafayette alongside John Paul (JP) Summers, Abbeville-based director and cinematographer, to discuss their collaboration on the 2025 Doritos Crash Commercial, which ranked in the top 25 out of 2000 entries. Together, they share their stories of creativity, healing, and cultural preservation. It is a story about synchronicity in life, healing, and maintaining a sense of humor. Becca Begnaud has dedicated her life to preserving and practicing Cajun healing traditions. Growing up in Scott, LA, Becca had an idyllic life, close with her extended family. Her grandparents had a farm and every weekend, her family would go to the country, ride horses, and her grandma would cook dinner. “My house faced the side of the church and the back of the house faced the school. You could walk to the grocery store and post office, you could walk everywhere. When you talk about maintaining a culture, you have to look at what community historically looked like.” She grew up speaking English and French. She learned the value of healing from her grandfather who was a traiteur.” “We didn’t even think of it as healing. Because if you had warts, or a headache or a sprained ankle, you went to see a particular traiteur. You could be rich, you could be poor, black, white or native. None of that mattered. If someone had given you the prayer, you did that.”’ Becca Begnaud pictured with her grandfather, Maurice Pellessier. Picture from Facebook. Becca says, “Every culture has within it a community of people who do healing work. So when we got together here in Acadiana with the Native Americans and the African Americans, and then us, the French Europeans, this method of healing developed in our region. It is basically prayer.” As a backdrop, Becca was diagnosed in 1989 with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. One of the nuns at the hospital, Sister Hilda Mallet, told her she should look into healing work. “I thought, are you serious? Well, my grandpa was a traiteur. Maybe I should look into this. I studied Rieki, healing work, awakenings, and something called Trauma First Aid. There are lots of methods of healing out there. I did hospice work for 30 years, and worked with Lourdes at Camp Bluebird, a camp for adults with cancer. I have the perspective of a person who was ill. I have the perspective of a person who worked with a medical team, all as a volunteer.” Today, Becca continues her healing practice at her office at 600 St. Landry Street in Lafayette, Louisiana. Becca embraced her role as a healer, never doing it as a way to earn a living, just as a volunteer. “When you have a catastrophic illness, you don’t have extra money to drop on treatments of any kind. You hope to pay the deductible of 20%. So, when I studied with nurses, we were talking about Source. If you are teaching in a professional educational setting, you can’t talk about what you call God. There may be Jewish or Native American people, Christian or Hindu. So, we talked about Source. We were all saying the same thing but in a different way.” After many synchronistic experiences, Becca had a professor at the university, Frans Amelinckx, give her the prayer of a traiteur, Mr. Nestor Guidry. It said, “” Je suis parent and je suis parenté, ” which means we are related, we are related. You repeat it three times. And it is beautiful. Native Americans always speak of all our relations. We’re all one. We are. So that was a light bulb moment for me.” When asked if you had to believe for a traiteur’s prayer to work, Becca said, “Traiteurs treat cows, pigs, horses and other animals that need healing. What does a cow or a pig know about beliefs or church? Then I thought if my grandfather could do this healing work, why not me?” A musician to this day, Becca came up in a family of drummers and she played the drums. “When you play rhythm and you don’t really think, then who you are comes out. Music by itself is healing.” JP Summers, a director and cinematographer from Abbeville, Louisiana, has been creating impactful films with local talent. JP first encountered Becca during the filming of 17 Year Locust and found her energy transformative. Her first acting collaboration dates back to 2018, when Hunter Burke asked Begnaud to serve as a dialect coach for “Lost Bayou.” Becca’s recent film credits include Intention . Another film Becca and JP collaberated on, Treatment , is in post-production. In it, Becca interviews Matt Allen, Ray Brasseur and Dr. Sarah Brabant, who taught Death and Dying. Her therapist, Louis Deshotel, was also interviewed ten days before his passing. Becca says, “My relationship with JP and the projects we worked on all had something to do with death and dying. It has brought us to this shared depth of that part of life.” JP and Becca worked on a commercial for the Doritos Crash competition, which challenges filmmakers worldwide to create Super Bowl-worthy ads. Initially, JP envisioned a young man spreading his father’s ashes, but inspiration struck him to cast Becca as the lead. The result, filmed at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, was a heartfelt and humorous commercial where Becca’s character is eating Doritos while looking at this picture of her and a man at a younger age. She then looks over and there is an urn on the passenger seat. She grabs it, goes to the beach to spread the ashes, and the wind blows it all over her. The she’s back in the car, goes to get another Dorito, but there are no more in the bag. She then looks at her fingers and there are ashes mixed in with the Dorito dust. She enjoys it! All filmed with no words spoken. The tagline? “You have to be bold.” A famous Doritos tagline. Becca and JP describe the experience as deeply moving. JP recalls, “It felt like a healing ceremony. The clouds literally parted as we began filming.” He further said, “That end of life question and dealing with death and dying is Becca’s message. And God had a plan to get that message in this weird, unique, sort of synchronous way. I think it is fun that a Doritos commercial can carry that whole package inside of such a short, 30-second message.” Becca reflects on the balance between laughter and loss: “As a healer, you know not everyone will get well. Humor helps us embrace all parts of life, even the tough ones.” JP and Becca’s partnership showcases the unique talent pool in Acadiana. From JP’s work with local filmmakers like Logan LeBlanc to Becca’s authentic performances, their projects highlight the beauty and resilience of Cajun culture. “Becca’s energy brings something singular and unique to every project. She transforms humor into connection.” Discover Lafayette extends gratitude to Becca and JP for sharing their inspiring journeys and to the community of Acadiana for nurturing such extraordinary talent. For more on JP’s work, visit Honest Art , and to connect with Becca, find her on Facebook or visit her office in Lafayette. Watch the Doritos Crash Commercial Experience the magic of Becca Begnaud and JP Summers in their Doritos Crash Commercial – a testament to bold creativity and heartfelt storytelling. https://youtu.be/oWARtsbOmzI…
Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas joined Discover Lafayette to discuss his mission to protect the citizens of Lafayette and to become the best marshal’s office nationally. A 30-year veteran of the Lafayette City Police Department who worked his way up the ranks, as a detective and eventually serving as deputy and interim chief of police, Marshal Reggie was elected Lafayette City Marshal in December 2020. On January 8th, 2025, he celebrated his fourth anniversary in office. Of note, Marshal Reggie was the first African American to be elected citywide in the history of Lafayette. The Marshal’s office is chiefly responsible for keeping the city court safe and secure, serving subpoenas to people called to court, and executing arrest warrants for people who have not complied with the law or court order. In the City of Lafayette, there are two city court judges, Judge Douglas J. Saloom and interim Judge Vanessa Harris, who was called to served upon the untimely death of Judge Jules Edwards. Salary and benefits for the marshal’s office staff are paid for by the City of Lafayette. Everything else is funded by a percentage of criminal and civil fines and fees paid for citations and tickets. The employees are at-will employees. “We have 32 sworn officers, as well as ten reserve officers. We have another 30 to 35 clerks that work in the building, handling the court, the tickets, the civil part,the criminal part, and the supervisors. We might have 400 people come through the door on any given day, and each person has to be searched to make sure everyone is safe.” The City Court territorial jurisdiction extends over all territory in the corporate limits of the City of Lafayette, plus the Third and Tenth Wards of Lafayette Parish. The court handles claims for personal injury, general damages, contract, open account, and commercial paper where the amount of the claim doesn’t exceed $35,000, and small claims suits that do not exceed $5,000. It also handles landlord-tenant matters (Evictions) and violations of state misdemeanor criminal laws and/or Lafayette Consolidated Government City Ordinance violations that occur within the City of Lafayette. First time domestic violence cases also go through City Court. Marshal Reggie mentioned the important work of the late Judge Jules Edwards, who endeavored to assist first time offenders, to keep them from getting in deeper trouble and ending up in Angola. When Marshal Reggie was elected, they started the “Renewal Program”, where participants learn to manage anger, control their behavior, and become better citizens. Upon completing the program, their efforts are recognized, and they have the opportunity to move forward with a clean slate by having their offense expunged from their record. “The renewal program was something that I started when I first took office, along with Judge Edwards. When a first time offender gets sentenced by the judge, normally they have to do community service. With this program, they attend eight weeks of classes and we have people that have made major mistakes come in and talk to them. Maybe a guy that did 25 years in jail or was on drugs, stuff like that. So we show them things that, hey, this is where you don’t want to be at, but this is what you can accomplish if you’re doing the right thing.” Seventy juveniles have participated so far with great success. “Most schools have zero tolerance. Now, if you get in a fight at school, you go to jail. Some of us older people remember when we were in school, you would have to go sit in a corner after a fight, but you didn’t go to jail. So now, you are arrested, you have to come to court and pay fines. I started seeing where the parents weren’t able to pay the fines, and the kids would wind up in juvenile detention. So the Renewal Program gives a second chance and the charge won’t remain on their permanent record. The kids have to be serious about the program, can’t miss any days, or be late. We did three classes last year and intend to do three more this year. We’re funded by grants.” Marshal Reggie learned how to write grants when he worked for the city police. His office is now the only accredited City Marshal’s office in Louisiana and he was able to secure funding to offset costs of training and other requirements needed for the CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) through a $75,000 grant. “We meet the same standards that the city police and the sheriff’s office meet, who are both accredited by CALEA, We have to continue to work and make sure we meet their requirements. One of the things a lot of people don’t know is our marshals go through the same training as the sheriff’s department and the city police. The same academy.” A new initiative of the Marshal’s office is to serve as School Resource Officers (SRO) in private schools such as Westminister, St. Pius, Cathedral Carmel, and our local charter schools. “We have SRO officers at the schools. We are meeting needs that the marshal’s office didn’t in the past. It’s a part of the vision that I have, to allow the community to tell us what they want and need done.” Another example of expanded services offered by the City Marshal’s Office is park police. The park police were disbanded under the past LCG administration. “Lafayette city parks were having all types of issues. People just want to go to the parks with their kids and feel safe. We partnered with LCG to provide deputies in the parks.” The City Marshal’s Parks Patrol Division now covers 30 parks spanning 1,300 acres and 10 recreation centers in the City of Lafayette. During the recent January 2025 freeze, many homeless people, as well as those with subpar housing, found themselves vulnerable to the cold conditions. At Brown Park and Dupuis Recreation Center, “warming centers” were opened. With the first emergency plan executed under the newly established Lafayette Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (OHSEP), refuge for more than 70 individuals experiencing homelessness or inadequate heating was provided and the Marshal’s office provided security to ensure the well-being of all participants. The City of Lafayette provided bus service to transport individuals to the centers, and then back and forth to St. Joseph’s Diner for hot meals. Marshal Reggie says, “It’s an opportunity to help. We want all of our citizens to be safe. In my line of duty I saw during a cold spell like this, some people didn’t make it. If you go under the house with a blanket and it’s 30 degree weather, you might not wake up.” During Marshal Reggie’s tenure with the Lafayette City Police, he started the Community Walk. “Officers weren’t getting out of the car. So they didn’t get to know the people in the neighborhoods, the people they were policing. So we started going into neighborhoods, knock on doors, and just talk to people. I tell the story all the time…an officer said, ‘See that house right there? That’s probably the worst house in the neighborhood.’ So I said, Let’s go knock. A 75-year old lady opened the door and she was all by herself. She said, ‘They sit on the porch. I’m scared to come outside. Y’all come sometime and make arrests and I could go to the store. But right now, I’m scared to go. Nobody had ever knocked on the door to talk to her. So we cleared it up. I still have a relationship with her and purchased a tv for her about two weeks ago.” When Marshal Reggie was elected, it had been more than 20 years since the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program had been taught in Lafayette Parish schools. DARE teaches the kids about substance abuse, but has also evolved to teach decision-making and responsible behavior skills. His office has a part-time administrator, which he is hoping to turn into a full-time position. “hey teach about drugs, fentanyl, things going on in the community that the kids need to know. And then the kids get comfortable with the DARE officer and get comfortable with the uniform.” Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas was awarded “Marshal of the Year” 2023 Annual Training Conference of National Constable and Marshals Association. Serving in law enforcement since 1990, Thomas served as patrol officer, narcotics agent, training director, homicide detective, and precinct commander. He graduated from the FBI Academy in 2011 and in January 2016 was appointed as the Lafayette Interim Chief of Police. “I’ve learned so much through the years, and especially being a chief over at the Lafayette Police Department. I went from supervising 300 to 30 officers. We don’t handle the 911 calls and murder cases. So now I come to work, and they tell me about stuff that happened at the schools. It’s mostly stuff that makes me smile and makes me have a good day.” A new website is coming soon for the Marshal’s office. In the meantime, note that the office has made it so much easier for citizens to pay their fines online. “You know, you used to have to come to court to pay fines, and we would have so many people in long lines. Now you can pay online. A lot of times we can call you and say, hey, the judge, just got a warrant out for you, but you have an opportunity to pay right now online. 50% of the people now pay online.” We can’t thank Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas and his accredited staff for all the work they do for our community! Thank you Marshal Reggie for your commitment to excellence!…
Ari Dolegowski, a BioPerformance Therapist who offers transformative massage sessions with a tailored approach rooted in Physical Therapy and Eastern medicine, joins Discover Lafayette to share his philosophy on living a well-rounded and healthy life. He studied both Eastern and Western modalities of therapy in Thailand, Costa Rica, and New York City, to form an integrative approach to treatment and to better understand human nature. Ari played pro soccer in Chile, Tel Aviv and the U. S. and maintains a consistently active lifestyle, biking whenever he can in lieu of starting up a car. He also maintains a Tai Chi practice which ensures full body power and optimal alignment. Tai Chi is a moving meditation in the form of a series of gentle exercises that create harmony between the mind and body. The ultimate purpose is to cultivate our inner life energy (qi) to flow smoothly and powerfully through the body, a spiritual experience as much as a physical one. Ari will be offering classes in Tai Chi this year. Ari’s work focuses on optimizing the body’s natural abilities, through physical therapy and massage treatments to encourage clients to achieve peak physical and mental states. One thing many of us fail to do is stretch enough and he offers “Stretched Out,” a modality of massage with a lineage of Thai Massage, TaiChi, Yoga Therapy, and Western joint mobilization. “Imagine having a stretch, a trigger point release, and increased blood flow all at one time,” Ari says. His practice also includes cranio-sacral massage, a gentle yet effective way to ease tension and promote relaxation, and can help relieve headaches, reduce stress and improve overall well-being. Local athletes call on Ari for deep tissue massage sessions to treat musculoskeletal issues such as sprains and sports injuries; this form of massage helps break up scar tissue that forms following an injury and reduces tension in muscle and tissue. Ari offers consistent messaging on lifestyle, health, and wellness. “It all starts with us, our choices, our movement, and our intention to live a good life. Bio means life and performance considers honest personal health choices that can revolutionize your own path to developing awareness of the body and in the mind in order to lead an overall healthier and happier lifestyle.” Ari’s background working for an Eastern-Western physical therapy clinic gave him a way to look at the body in different ways than the Western lifestyle. “Environmental issues, not just lead in the water but anything outside that we bring in on ourselves, whether it’s family or the news or politics, is a culmination of everything that we do. Then one thing can trigger pain, whether it is an unfortunate bike accident, being yelled at, a TV show that upsets you or the news….all of a sudden you have sharp pain in your neck and you don’t know why. People look for one thing to blame, and just want to fix it. Is it acupuncture? Meditation? A cortisone shot or a chiropractor? It might need to be all, depending on how tightly wound up you are or your physical and emotional pain.” At times, Ari works with people who may have unrealistic goals who have pushed themselves too far and incur an injury, taking on physical exercise that their body is not ready for. “The body just says ‘whoa.’ You know, if you’re just looking to be healthy, maybe you need to go out and walk really fast a few times a week, rather than taking on running when you have never exercised. Because that’s really hard on the body.” “You should be able to do your job and then offset it with what you do when you’re not working. If you sit all day, you should be in good enough shape that you can sit, stand, maybe go for a walk, do a quick stretch and not worry about that too much. ‘Am I sitting ergonomically? Is my desk high enough?’ I think it’s what you do outside of your job or your career that helps with that. Perhaps you just have a simple 20 minute a day or every other day routine that allows you to sit comfortably and achieve the small goals with minor adjustments you can build off of. People complain about their sleep. Whether you’re going to pharmaceuticals or you’re going to Instagram to get weird, funny pillows to fix your neck while you sleep, it will benefit you more to have a routine that you do during the day, and then you can rest or fall asleep or stay asleep.” “I recommend that people build an achievable 20 to 40 minute routine that you do two to three times a week consistently. You can even do a ten minute routine that just wakes you up or calms you down, or just mobilizes your body before a sport or before you’re just going to sit down or even before you sleep. The magic word for anything is consistency, which is the hardest.” Ari is a big believer in the benefits of Tai Chi. “It is for everything. Pick your ailment and Tai Chi can help as long as you complement or supplement it with something else. Eating right, finding happiness somewhere, or an emotional compliment of having good friends, enjoying your work. We asked Ari what Tai Chi is: “In stillness you can sense movement. Once you learn movement, you can sense stillness. Until you find a class and go consistently, you will not feel the benefit of stillness, which is an upright meditation. Tai chi is a martial arts form of qigong. And qigong is a repetitive movement designed to build Qi. Qi is energy and gong is work. Through those slow, repetitive movements, you actually build up energy with the least amount of tension. You’re mobilizing all the bones, muscle, fascia and nerves.” “I ran for years on a treadmill and you will not see me on one of those anymore unless I’m trying to do some funny Instagram reel where I run backwards eating an ice cream cone. It’s the way: getting the sun in your eyes and the sun on your skin. The air in your lungs. I don’t think we were made to ride a stationary bike. Although if that’s all you can do, that’s fine too.” Eastern techniques are longer” a traditional Thai massage is two hours. “A traditional Chinese treatment can start in the morning with acupuncture and manual work or herbs, and then you have lunch, come back for an the next part of the treatment, which usually ultimately ends in bone setting or chiropractic work. It can be a whole day. The time it takes to heal is given more time. So instead of just treating your headache really quickly, with traditional eastern medicine it might take two months to get to the root of it and devise a plan. Threemonths to make herbs for you to drink or apply, and four to adjust the treatments as you get better to weed out what’s causing your pain. Whereas in Western medicine, no one has three months to have a headache.” “The root causes of so many illnesses are stress and driving ourselves too hard. Think about heart disease. If we were more relaxed, perhaps we wouldn’t have those high rates of heart attacks and cancer. It’s just a different lifestyle. The Eastern medicine takes longer because they get to the root cause, whereas Western medicine, we feel the need to get fixed right away. Sometimes you may need to get fixed right away. I like taking herbs, but at the same time, I might need a professional practitioner to tell me to take an MRI.” “I think everybody everywhere needs the same treatment. It’s just other cultures are different. Americans are apprehensive of manual treatments, whereas in Thailand, it’s perfectly normal for people to get a two hour massage and then sit in an herbal spa, bath, steam room for another two hours. The economy might not be flying as ours is here, but they’re in a healthier culture. In Russia, men have no problem being in a room with tons of other men and slapping each other with a banya. It’s a special tree branch that has herbal superpowers. And you’ll go in a hot room and you’re all sitting in there and it’s super hot, and one guy slaps the other’s back with it. It seems like torture. In Russia,it is perfectly normal for a bunch of men or women. If you go to Korea, you walk in, you all pay at the same door, and the women go that way and the men go that way. No matter what your creed is or how you feel in your brain, they don’t care. You go that way, you go that way, and everybody’s naked. But the men are over on that side of the wall. The women are over on that side of the wall. Nobody cares.” “The other things fall into place when you take care of business,” says Ari Dolegowski. To find out more about Lafayette BioPerformance Therapist Ari Dolegowski, visit https://www.instagram.com/ari_d_therapy/ or email aridolegowski@gmail.com.…
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Discover Lafayette

Paul Hilliard, President of Badger Oil Corporation, has led a wonderful life of generosity and love of community that provides a humbling lesson in being a good steward of God’s resources. At 99 years of age, he is sharp and insightful, a true testament to his wisdom and vitality. Paul was 17 when he enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps during his Senior year in high school in February 1943, quitting school when he received permission from his mother to join the war effort. He trained to be a gunner, handling machine guns in the back of Douglas SBD Dauntless (Scout Bomber by Douglas Aircraft) planes in air missions conducted in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. SBD was jokingly referred to as “Slow But Deadly.” He flew 45 combat missions and was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in addition to receiving the Air Medal with six bronze stars. Following his service, Hilliard earned his law degree from the University of Texas before beginning a career in the oil and gas industry. He credits the GI Bill for the opportunities it afforded him and so many other servicemen who would not have otherwise been able to obtain an education. Hilliard exemplifies the selfless spirit and pride of our WWII generation of heroes, as well as the successful ingenuity of a veteran oil and gas entrepreneur. Known for his self-effacing wit and ability to achieve in spite of a hardscrabble upbringing in Wisconsin, Hilliard has been a successful independent operator and owner of Badger Oil Corporation since 1955 and has seen fit to use his success in business to help others in need. Awarded the Civic Cup in 2003 and the esteemed national Horatio Alger Award in 2009, Paul has also been active in statewide associations working to improve the oil and gas industry, business, and civic endeavors. Paul has also been active in statewide associations working to improve the oil and gas industry, business, and civic endeavors. In 2015, he received the Circle of Honor Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. UL Press released Dauntless : Paul Hilliard in WWII and a Transformed America in 2023. Written by Rob Citino with Ken Stickney and Lori Ochsner, the book documents some of the most fascinating decades in American history: the impact of World War II, the importance of post-war social and economic changes, and the development of the oil industry from the 1950s to today. “ Dauntless is a compelling narrative tracing Paul Hilliard’s life experiences during the Great Depression, from farm life in Wisconsin’s Dust Bowl to his distinguished service as a Marine in World War II, his education through law school, and a long and successful business in the oil fields. Paul’s lifelong philanthropy and his passion for education and the lessons of WWII make him an inspiration. His life is the Horatio Alger story. He is, and always be, one of my heroes.”—Boysie Bollinger Paul has been a generous benefactor in causes to help at-risk children learn to read so that they can overcome poverty as he did. He and his late wife, Lulu, provided $5 million dollars in seed money to start the Paul and Lulu Hilliard Art Museum at UL – Lafayette. Paul has served as a National WWII Museum trustee, and he and his wife, Madlyn, have been two of the Museum’s most active advocates and supporters. They have provided transformative support for several Museum initiatives, including acquisition and restoration of artifacts, collection of oral histories, and education programs. In September 2018, Hilliard accepted the position of Board Chair of the museum, focusing on the completion of the its $400 million campus expansion. For more information, visit https://www.nationalww2museum.org , a treasure trove of thousands of oral histories and hundreds of thousands of photos depicting the WWII experience. Paul ended the interview by sharing his gratitude for being born in the United States of America. He spoke of a favorite quote by Cicero: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Words of wisdom that we should always remember. In closing, it is fitting to share the message of the bumper sticker proudly displayed on Paul’s vehicle….. Temporarily Unassigned Old Marine. Any group lucky enough to be assigned the company of Paul Hilliard has much to be grateful for!…
Matt Oldenburg, Director of Zoosiana, is our guest today. The zoo has been a family passion for years, as it was originally purchased by Matt’s father, George Oldenburg, in 2002, after a successful banking career. George transitioned into zoo ownership to pursue his love for animals. Over the years, Matt took on a leadership role, managing the zoo’s operations and its expansive collection of over 1,000 animals spanning 150 species. Never dreaming he would run the zoo, Matt majored in wildlife biology, as well as marketing and management. While his schooling came in handy, running a zoo is a field of study that you learn on the job. Matt Oldenburg at Zoosiana. Zoosiana, one of the few privately owned and accredited zoos in the U.S., is known for its education and memory-making opportunities, community engagement, and family-friendly attractions. It features animal shows, a petting zoo, a Louisiana swamp exhibit, and unique animals like golden-striped Bengal tigers, giraffes, exotic birds, and much, much more. Incredibly, the zoo welcmes over 150,000 visitors annually. Zoosiana is open 9 to 5 daily, seven days a week, weather permitting, except for major holidays and hurricanes. The zoo will be 33 years old in 2025, and getting to that stage where it can become a legacy for our local families and visitors alike. Matt says, “The children who have visited Zoosiana through the years bring their own children and maybe their grandchildren, and make lasting memories. Perhaps taking a family photo by the same live oak tree that they took a photo in front of 20 or 30 years earlier. I think that’s a very special attribute. It adds to our efforts to connect the community with the zoo. Ownership has never been front of mind for us. We believe that we are the stewards of the zoo and of the animals on behalf of Acadiana’s children. Everything we do there is for the children, to be an education-based program and make an opportunity to create a lifelong memory of connecting you with an animal on some level.” Zoosiana is located at 5601 Hwy 90 E Broussard, LA 70518, on a 45-acre piece of property in Broussard at the corner of Ambassador Caffery and Highway 90. It is privately owned and self-sustaining and with no outside funding coming into the zoo. “There was no life plan to land at the zoo. We never had unusual pets growing up, just a dog and a cat. But, I was excited about the zoo from day one with dad. Not every day has been fun or easy. But I think very quickly I realized that if I could pick one thing in life, I would probably pick what I am doing at the zoo.” The zoo is busiest in the springtime and in the comfortable October season. “With a thousand animals to care for each day, no two days are alike,” says Matt. “We go through quite a bit of food and, and we order our produce, fruits and veggies from the same vendors that restaurants and cafeterias here in Lafayette order from. Its not second choice. So it’s fresh produce and fresh vegetables of of a quality that you would be happy to have on your own dinner plate.” Matt further stated, “We’ve got an animal care team who do a phenomenal job of providing the daily care and maintenance, which include feeding, cleaning, health checks, and monitoring. Enrichment is a very big part of what we do. We want to make sure our animals have a stimulating environment that they’re able to utilize and practice their natural behaviors. It could be leaping from one perch to the next or figuring out a puzzle feeder of some kind. We do enrichment with smells, olfactory sound, and visual.” Zoosiana has particular meal plans for their various animals, and a recipe book for the different meals that lists everything that the animals can have and cannot have. With so many different omnivores, herbivores, and carnivores, you can imagine the varying diets from species to species. Matt says, “It’s thousands of pounds of food a week. We’ve got dry grain. We’ve got raw meat for the carnivores. the giraffes get gallons of grain a day. And we serve alfalfa hay, any type of hay or grain that you can think of we probably have at the zoo.” Giraffes are very popular and the tallest land animal. They can reach up to 18 feet tall, and their head weighs approximately 150 pounds when fully grown. Their necks have seven vertebrae, just like humans do, but they’re elongated so as to hold and manage the head that which is big as a human torso. Their heads hold two eyes that have incredible eyesight and Matt explained, “The shorter animals out on the Savanna in the wild will typically evacuate in whatever direction the giraffes are evacuating, because the giraffes can spot danger coming from a bit further away than the shorter animals can detect. They’re known as being gentle giants. For a long time it was thought that they did not vocalize at all, but there’s been some research now that they do, but at a sound frequency that human ears cannot pick up on.” Giraffes are beautiful and the males and females feed differently to prevent interspecies competition. Typically a female giraffe will give birth while standing and the calf will fall about six feet to the ground. The mom expects the baby to stand very quickly because a predator is not going to wait for the baby to run away. “She’ll probably push baby down a couple of times. So the baby learns how to get back up,” Matt says. Zoosiana is fortunate to be an accredited facility, and it works in a collaborative effort with other zoos around the nation for the purpose of breeding. Zoosiana may have a vibrant animal of a particular species that they would like to pair up with, a male or female, and they can work with a number of other zoos who might have the opposite situation. The relationships are intended to benefit the species and in partnership with other zoos so animals do not need to be purchased. The Oldenburgs have maintained a very humble, practical approach to their zoological facility. It’s not flashy and shiny. You walk in and you’re under the canopy of century-old live oak trees and bamboo forests that shoot up 30 and 40 feet into the air. One of the first habitats you encounter is their cheetah habitat. Matt believes they may be the only cheetahs in the state. In Zoosiana’ efforts to connect the zoo with the local community, they felt it was important to ask the community to help name the cheetahs. The public chose to name the cheetahs after the beloved Golden Girls: Dorothy, Blanche and Rose. The three are sisters and approximately two years old. Zoosiana brought in two pygmy hippos about a month ago, which are small for hippos but still about six hundred pounds each. Bella and Noche came from South Florida and Arizona. Bella is in charge and Matt says from a physical standpoint, “Noche is stronger physically; Bella is a bit stronger from a mental standpoint. Bella, one of two pygmy hippos at Zoosiana, pictured on November 19, 2024, Acadiana Advocate photo by Brad Bowie. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_8nzXUdj6yY Other animals at Zoosiana include three different species of lemurs, gibbons (smallest of the apes but biggest primate at the zoo, tigers, lions, birds, macaws, zebras, American alligators, camels, a pair of clouded leopards, and East African crowned cranes. Most primates cannot swim so they live the island life at the zoo. They won’t attempt to cross the water, because even if they learned the process of swimming, their body mass is too dense and they would sink. The primates know that instinctly and will not attempt to cross any water deeper than a couple of inches. They’ve got full access to the trees, go all the way to the top, and do their beautiful hooping calls each morning and evening to the other islands at the zoo. Train rides offer a 3/8 mile adventure out to the zoo’s safari pasture, where you can see free ranging blackbuck and waterbuck. There is also a strong botanical to the Zoosiana property including the oak trees, and one of them is estimated to be 350 years old, registered by the Live Oak Society. Matt says, “It’s a labor of love keeping up the zoo. We’ve got the most incredible people who work at the zoo. From animal care to maintenance to guest services and a number of odds and ends positions around the zoo. A lot of us wear multiple hats, but I believe we’re among some of the luckiest people in the world to work at the zoo, because most of our time is outdoors. What a great place to spend your time outside. We’re in the presence of animals and we are working to connect our visitors with those animals. That’s a great way to spend your time.” The animals are a lot smarter than most people think. “Most animals are observers, and they’ll lay back and assess the situation and are very cautious. They take their time building comfort and won’t rush into anything without getting acclimated with the situation. If you spend enough time with any one animal, either as a species or an individual, you’ll find a reason to love that animal.” The admission rate at Zoosiana for adults is $19.99 and children, $14.99. The zoo has a membership program that will get you into the zoo all year long, and is on sale now for 20% off. Visit https://zoosiana.com/ or call (337) 837-4325 for more information. For young teens, it’s a safe place for mom and dad to drop them off with their friend group or on a date. They can walk around, get a Coke, Icee or a stuffed animal from the gift shop, and take a couple of selfies. Birthday parties and school field trips are also popular. Matt remembers, “We had somebody say we should replace FaceTime with FaceTime, where you’re getting rid of the screen and you’re now face to face with an animal that you never even knew existed, or a species that you never heard of, or for whatever reason, the giraffe just took a liking to you during this particular visit. And you know, he can’t get enough of you or whatever. That’s special, I think.” Z ebras can be feisty and like a buffer between them and the zookeepers or maintenance crew. They’re muscular powerhouses. Matt says, “Some animals have bad days and good days. It’s interesting from an animal behavior standpoint, male primates typically are a little cautious around male humans because there’s a little bit of ‘are you threatening my dominance by being around me’ kind of a situation. We employ a practice of not doing things that would make that male primate think you are, in fact, challenging them. You should not make eye contact with them and don’t show them your teeth. And so if you’re in there for a particular purpose, maybe you’re cleaning the exhibit or doing a repair or an enrichment project of some kind. You’re focused on that and more or less being submissive.” “We’re not too different from our long distance primate cousins. Most people are afraid of snakes, and most primates are afraid of snakes. And so we’ve had anecdotal situations where we were having to go in with a primate that you otherwise wouldn’t typically go in with. And we will put like a fake plush snake on our shoulders just so that they don’t come around us and we can get in to do our our task and get out pretty quickly. Wintertime can be the hardest time of the year as most of Zoosiana’ animals are from warmer, tropical Savanna-type environments. They can handle our heat a lot better than most people assume. “Animals, are very smart. They’ll dial down their activity, eat less and move less in the warmer months to keep their body temperatures from elevating unnecessarily. In the wintertime, they’ll eat more and put on that winter coat, building up fat reserves to keep their body warmer. A body that’s digesting food is warmer than one that’s not digesting food. That’s why you see a frisky animal in that first cool snap; they’re getting their blood pumping and trying to raise their body temperature a bit. So supplement their environments by adding extra bedding, a heat source, to shelter from the elements. In the summertime, they can thermoregulate and, and provide enough self care on their own without a lot of input from us.” Just the threat of a hurricane can involve intense planning for the animals’ safety. Zoosiana warehouses a equipment and supplies to have on hand because they can’t risk a store being out of stock of something they need, or a store not being able to reopen quickly after a storm. So if it’s a heater or tools to repair water lines, animal feed, etc., the zoo keeps an inventory on hand. They prepare as we do at home, so anything that can fly around, benches, picnic tables, etc. are all tied down, The animals have shelters. They can go in, but some stay outside. The birds that are normally very talkative get very quiet. Matt says, “they can feel that the change in the pressure coming from the hurricane and with 45 acres and a thousand animals, hurricane prep can take days. We do everything we can that would allow us to remain open as long as we can. But at some point, what we have to do kind of forces our hand and we close. And so we’ll close typically a day or two prior to the expected arrival of a storm, because we’ve got animals that are off exhibit, no benches anywhere for people to sit on and our own staff needs to take care of their own homes.” In the springtime the zoo puts on a spring themed Easter event. We decorate the zoo, give candy to the kids, have a photo op. In October, “Boo at the Zoo” with festive fall decorations, a costume contest, a photo booth, and candy is held. We thank Matt and George Oldenburg and the whole team at Zoosiana for providing this precious resource to all of Acadiana! Please consider joining so we can keep this privately-owned zoo in our community for generations to come!…
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Discover Lafayette

Adam Daigle, Business Editor of the Acadiana Advocate, discusses the biggest business news of 2024 in this episode of Discover Lafayette. We want to thank the Advocate for highlighting our latest podcast each week in their online Business Section. You can subscribe online at theadvocate.com/newsletters to keep up with our community’s latest business headlines. The # 1 story in 2024, without a doubt, is the announcement that Buc’ees will be opening at the northeast corner of Louisiana Avenue and Interstate 10. Rumored for years, this will be a major draw for motorists traveling along I-10, and most of the sales taxes paid will be collected from out-of-towners. When people travel, Buc-ees is a destination as well as a place to fill up the tank. The new site is projected to be a 74,000-square-foot building, complete with gas pumps and nearly 700 parking spaces, and the store is estimated to be a 13-month build, opening during the 2025 holiday season. The closest Buc-ees to Lafayette is either Alabama or Baytown, TX, so Lafayette can anticipate a heavily-trafficked spot for people looking for that golden Buc-ees’ experience. I talked to a convenience store analyst, and he said, “Buc’ees takes everything you hate about traveling, removes it, and replaces it with what you love about traveling. You want to stop there because you’ll never wait in line for a gas pump. You want to go there because you know the bathroom is clean. You want to go there because they’ve got unique snacks and not Cheetos that every other place has. You get a brisket sandwich or a hot dog with the gas station. They’ve just flipped the whole concept on its head.” There’s a Tax-Increment Financing (“TIF”) district already in place that dates back to when Stirling Properties originally built the Target Shopping Center across I-10 from where Buc-ees will be located. At the time, there was no water or sewer lines and the project was only feasible with this type of government assistance to cover the massive infrastructure needs. The TIF was paid off quicker than anticipated and is still in play today. To accommodate the Buc-ee’s deal, a subdistrict was created, which will tax 2% of all sales, including gasoline purchases. While some question the need for TIF districts, this is a trend that has been taking place all across the U. S., and it is a negotiating tool that jurisdictions utilize to attract big business such as Buc-ees, Bass Pro, and other large retailers. As Adam says, “That is what you do to land the big boys. You got to pay for it.” The # 2 story is the passing of Richard Zuschlag, Chairman and CEO of Acadian Companies. When he started his business in the early 70s with Roland Dugas and Richard Sturlese, funeral homes were dispatched to pick up people who were ill, and they were transported in a hearse. This was the era prior to ambulances and the trio identified a huge gap in the healthcare market. Zuschlag was the driving force in the company’s growth, and he was also literally a driver of an ambulance in the early days. He attended all of the police jury and city council meetings to meet with people and get agreements signed. Acadian Ambulance would hold membership drives that ran on television, where people paid a fee to ensure that an ambulance would pick them up. Over the years, Zuschlag became the principal behind Acadian and the company experience extraordinary growth, opening up it National EMS Academy, Acadian Total Security, Air Med, Safety Management Systems, Executive Aircraft Charter Service, and Acadian Health (home healthcare services.) The late Richard Zuschlag, who founded Acadian Ambulance and served as Chairman and CEO of Acadian Companies. Today, Acadian Companies is an employee-owned company with 5200 employees in four states. Zuschlag’s memory lives on through his family, and his son, Blaise, serves as Executive V. P. and Chief Administrative Officer. The # 3 story of the year is the opening of Superior Grill at 2320 Kaliste Saloom Road. The restaurant is wildly successful, with the positive reaction of people being off the charts. The core of Lafayette’s activity has been gravitation to South Lafayette, in the area of River Ranch, Youngsville, and Broussard. People meet to eat and spend lots of their money. Outside investors have see the strength of our market, and where the money and demand is. When Topgolf came in, according to Adam, “That put Lafayette on people’s radar. It’s the strength of our market, and people from the outside are putting up their radar.” Superior Grill spared no expense in detail when designing and building the restaurant. Old brick, electric doors from Turkey, Mexican tile patterns, exquisite glass. The site is in a prime location where the former Randol’s Restaurant was situated, and is now a dominant force in our restaurant market. The #4 story is the $19 million, full-service, 83 room boutique hotel to be built downtown at the former Don’s Seafood location. Sans Souci Properties is the owner and managed by Lafayette business owners Gus Rezende, Ryan Pecot, BJ Crist and John Peterson. Adam says it is significant to have local people invest that much money in a project of this magnitude, and to do so with our town’s best interest in mind. The project is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2025, and will be built by the Thrash Group out of Hattiesburg, MS which has experience with this kind of unique hotel concept. The hotel will feature a restaurant space, an outdoor pool and 2,500-square-foot event spaces. The #5 story is Waitr filing for bankruptcy. Waitr was Lafayette’s shining story of success in entrepreneurship. Adam explained in these type of startups, the goal is to invest, hit success within eight years, and then to sell, to cash out, “Where some big shot comes along and says, ‘I’ll pay you $300 million for it. Everybody gets paid and more. Then they go on to something else.” But Waitr did it in only five years and was a huge success when it was managed locally. It was out in front of the trend of DoorDash. The turning point for Waitr was when it purchased Bite Squad. The exiting local private board advised against the purchase, but the incoming public board wanted to grow the company’s national footprint fast. It turned out that Bite Squad was hemorrhaging money, $3 million per month, in a declining market share. Adam shared that Joe Stough, an angel investor who was on the private Waitr board, gave him one of his best quotes of the year. “It was like attaching an anchor to the company.” Waitr had been doing fine before the Bite Squad purchase, but things slowly unraveled and now Waitr is shut down in bankruptcy. The silver lining is that all the people who were at Waitr went through an incredible learning process, gathering institutional knowledge of startups and how to how to make things work. They stayed in Lafayette, and one of them, Joe Stough is now a principal at FlyGuys, which specializes in contract drone operations worldwide. For our Business Person of the Year, Adam selected John Tomassini, owner and proprietor of Jet Coffee, a rising local star in the coffee market. John played baseball at Oregon State, and “when his sister married a Louisiana guy she said, you got to come down here, it’s great. So he did.” Tommasini had a vision to start a coffee shop and his first was down the road in Maurice. Next came Broussard, then Ambassador Town Center by Dave & Busters with its rooftop lookout, and now its newest location on Johnston Street in the former Johnson Street Java locale. Jet Coffee owner John Tommasini and manager Gabby Constant. Jet Coffee appeals to the young adult crowd which craves its energy drinks. The incredible part of his story is that he had to elbow his way into this market as a guy who’s not from here. His manager, Gabby Constant, shared that when she met him for an interview, he talked about Jet Coffee as if it had been open for ten years; he was had that much of a vision. Customer service comes first and Tommasini promotes from within, hiring people from the ground up and developing them into management talent. Jet even has its own roasting facility in Lafayette. We congratulate John Tommasini on his success and wish him the best as Jet Coffee continues its growth trajectory. Adam and the Acadiana Advocate run their Power Poll once a month. People can sign up to answer questions on their opinions about the latest news. For more information, visit https://www.powerpoll.com/la/lafayette . As we wound down our conversation, Adam shared a few other tidbits of developments. Starbucks is moving into the former Capital One building in the Stirling Shopping Center on Louisiana Avenue. The third Aldi store in Lafayette will be built across the street from Walmart on Ambassador Caffery. Amazon quietly expanded their employee base in Carencro to 1400. They originally projected 500 people. And, movie theaters are hanging in there with their $5 cup of Skittles and $8 popcorn offering families and friends the whole big screen experience where you can pop your feet up. Stuller is still the biggest non-healthcare employer in Lafayette. We thank Adam Daigle for his commitment to delivering the best business news! We look forward to a prosperous 2025. Happy Holidays!…
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Discover Lafayette

In this episode of Discover Lafayette , we feature Mel Haynes, owner and proprietor of Sweet Envie, a delightful bakery and deli located at 4302 Moss Street in North Lafayette. Mel brings a beautiful sense of joy and humor into our world and shares her inspirational story of becoming a successful business owner who follows her instincts. Since opening in 2021, Sweet Envie has become beloved for its heavenly pastries, confections, and a menu that caters to both sweet and savory cravings. Mel’s journey is one of passion, resilience, and community, as she found and followed her calling after a career in corporate management. A graduate of the Accelerate Northside Program, Mel transitioned from her management role at Acadian Companies to entrepreneurship, fulfilling a dream that began as a conversation with her late husband as to what her future would hold. Inspired by her mother’s talent for baking and informed by her mom’s recipes, Mel honed her craft, from decorating wedding cakes to mastering the art of petit fours. “Eventually I want to get to the point where I’m not working in my business as much. If my seven year old Samuel has an event at school. I don’t have to ask anybody if I can go. I don’t have to say, mother, may I? I’m going. so that’s freedom. That feels so good that I can just say, you know what? The kids have something going on. I’m one of those moms that’s involved. If the teacher calls me, I’ll be there in a second. I’m going to make sure that it’s wonderful. Whatever I need to do for my kids. They are my first priority because if it weren’t for them, I don’t know where I’d be. I’d probably still be working another job, but being able to wake up and go to work and show my daughter, my 12 year old daughter. You know what? If you decide one day you want to run your business, you can run your own business.” Today, Sweet Envie offers not only baked goods but also a retail baking supply store and catering services, bringing smiles to clients throughout Acadiana. Sweet Envie won accolades in 2024 for Gold Best Deli, Bronze Best Bakery, and Silver Best Dessert in the Acadiana Advocate’s Acadiana’s Choice Awards. Highlights from the Conversation: The Spark: Mel shares how her passion for baking was ignited while creating her “huge castle” wedding cake with her mother and later through baking for coworkers. Leap of Faith: Following the loss of her husband and with a newborn on the way, Mel took a chance on herself, joining the Accelerator Northside program to gain the tools needed to launch Sweet Envie. Challenges & Joys of Entrepreneurship: Mel discusses the highs and lows of running a business—from the freedom to attend her children’s events to the challenges of wearing all hats, including maintenance and accounting. Community Impact: Sweet Envie provides a welcoming space where families and children can explore their own creativity. Whether decorating cakes or learning how to fry beignets, Mel inspires future generations. Catering Services: Sweet Envie offers both savory and sweet catering options for groups ranging from 5 to 300 people, with onsite food truck services provided by Mel’s fiancé, “Big Nick.” Sweet Envie Favorites: Signature cinnamon rolls Chicken salad Petit fours Fried-to-order beignets Mel credits her faith, compassion, and authenticity as the foundation of her success. She encourages listeners to embrace their dreams and let go of imposter syndrome, reminding us all that we are capable of achieving greatness. As Mel says, “You have to get out of your own way. That is a big thing that a lot of people suffer from. That imposter syndrome where you don’t think that you’re good enough to run your own business. You know, I saw X, Y, and Z do it. How can I do it? I’m not half as good, half as smart, half as talented. When in fact, you are just as good, just as smart, just as talented. I don’t ever use any of those excuses such as ‘because I’m this or I’m that, I won’t be able to make it. If you don’t get out there, you’ll never make it.” Thank You: This special episode is made possible by Lafayette Travel and Eat Lafayette , who continue to support local entrepreneurs shaping the culinary landscape of Acadiana. To visit Sweet Envie or place a catering order, stop by 4302 Moss Street, Lafayette, call (337) 344-4425, or follow on Facebook for updates and inspiration.…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Acadiana Center for the Arts’ Sam Oliver, Executive Director, and Taylor Davis, Board President 53:57
The Acadiana Center for the Arts’ Sam Oliver, Executive director, and Taylor Davis, Board President, join Discover Lafayette to discuss the AcA’s 50th anniversary approaching, the superb programming they offer our community, and discuss upcoming events. The Acadiana Arts Council, the organization that later evolved into the Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA), was established in 1975. It began as a regional arts organization focused on promoting and supporting the arts throughout Acadiana. Over the years, the Council expanded its vision and programming, eventually leading to the creation of the AcA as its permanent home on November 1, 2010. The AcA, at its core, is the Arts Council for the region, that offers Lafayette and the Acadiana region something you would expect in a larger metropolitan area: incredible performances from all over the world, high production quality shows, and the promotion of local and regional artists. It is a space for visual arts, performing arts, music, dance, and theatre. It is also a gathering place for social events, debates and forums for political occasions, and civic presentations that benefit the entire community. Sam has served as Executive Director for six years. You can hear our original interview with Sam here where we discussed his educational background and what led him to serve the AcA. Taylor has served on the board the past ten years and was first exposed to the AcA at its first show ever which brought Lyle Lovett to Lafayette. Taylor says his service is “a labor of love,” and he and his wife, Yvette regularly go out to see and enjoy live music. The James Devin Moncus Theater offers a superb sound system that was upgraded this year, with a seating capacity of 304 seats, “and there is really not a bad seat in the house!” It’s a great time to join or renew your AcA membership as you receive early bird access to tickets for 2025’s in-demand performances before they open for sale to the general public. Yearly memberships begin at $35 a year with higher levels for those who want to support the organization at a higher level. The AcA’s 2025’s Louisiana Crossroads series will showcase performers such as Steve Khan, Louis Michot, and C.J. Chenier celebrating the 100 th birthday of Clifton Chenier. Scott Mulvahill, a Nashville based singer, songwriter and bass player, will be leading a full album length playthrough of Paul Simon’s Graceland album, which featured Acadiana artists with Zydeco and accordion music. George Porter Jr. will round out the year. January 2025 will be kicked off with a two-night concert “The Roots of Fire Live,” bringing local Cajun and Creole together live on stage to perform, Other big name acts will include Lucinda Williams, Andrew Duhon, Ruthie Foster, and Kat Higgins, Several perks are being offered to enhance your AcA experience. Parking is always a challenge downtown, so the AcA is introducing free parking with a ticket at the parking lot across from Chase Tower on Jefferson Street. If you’re planning dinner and drinks after a show, the AcA has partnered with downtown restaurants such as Vestal and Pop’s Poboys who are doing pre-show discounts on meals. The Aca has also partnered with restaurants such as Pamplona and Ton’s Downtown who will stay open later on show nights to offer post-show cocktails, In order to ensure a lineup of performances which pleases its patrons, the AcA put out a survey asking for the types of acts desired by the community. Putting together a 50th anniversary season “had to be not just good, but something that our audience and our supporters really resonate with. We actually put out a survey where we said to members of ACA, tell us what you want to see”, Sam Oliver said. In honor of the upcoming 50 th anniversary of AcA, on December 7, 2024, the Pelican Ball will honor five people who have made an impact over the course of its existence. One of the founders of the Acadiana Center for the Arts, Janet Begneaud, was an active participant in the original Arts Council in 1975, and will be recognized for her early work in creating the organization while a volulnteer with the Lafayette Junior league, which was which was very involved in the founding. Begneaud has remained involved throughout the past 50 years as a member and a board. Sharon Moss, a generous philanthropist and supporter of the arts in Lafayette will also be honored, along with Todd Mouton, who founded the Louisiana Crossroads series 24 years ago as an educational forum. Cathy Webre and Jody Nederveld, who played big parts in the creation of the Downtown Development District and the Downtown Cultural District, with the streetscaping of Jefferson Street, the planting of beautiful cypress trees and creative placemaking work through the 80s and 90s will also be honored. A highlight of the Pelican Ball each year is the auctioning off of two special pelicans: one is pre-decorated and the other, known as “the Ghost,” will be available to the highest bidder. The blank pelican is always very desirable because it offers the opportunity to have a pelican custom-made by an artist to suit the winner’s dream of what their pelican should represent. Artie was purchased in 2023 as a Ghost Pelican through the Acadiana Center for the Arts by Annie and Joe Spell and then commissioned by Tides Medical’s Sarah Marr. According to Tides Medical’s Facebook Page, “Artie, in his wisdom, is a pelican of many talents and curiosities. He meditates daily, enjoys the harmonica, is pursuing a master’s in philosophy, and winds down with an ice-cold IPA at the local microbrewery. We are so proud to house him at our headquarters to inspire all who see him to “ride the wave that is life.” There are currently 89 Pelicans on Parade showcased around town. The idea originally began to recognize the schools where the AcA’s programs were active, and students participated in decorating them. Soon, business owners and people around the community said, ‘I want a pelican.’ So the AcA introduced the pelicans as something that businesses could sponsor as a way to provide support for the AcA’s art and education work. The annual Pelican Ball is the only venue where you can access the opportunity to bid on your own pelican. Admission to the Pelican Ball on December 7 is $125 per ticket. Dress is black tie optional, but “dancing shoes are mandatory!” Besides the Pelican Ball, the AcA hosts two yearly signature events: Gulf Brew in October and a Spring Jazz Brunch hosted at the beautiful home of Kip and Carolyn Schumacher. Throughout each year, there are 100 events held at the AcA.. The Louisiana Music Museum is a big project in the works, with construction to begin in 2025. It will be located immediately next door to the ACA in the Lafayette Hardware Store, the oldest commercial building in downtown Lafayette which is listed on the National Historic Register. The project commenced in 2021 and significant progress has been made on the design. Jane Vidrine was recently hired as the Director. A capital campaign to raise $10 million is underway. Sam Oliver speaking in front of the former Lafayette Hardware Store, soon to be the Louisiana Music Museum. Sam says, “This project is about telling the story of Louisiana’s music and musicians who have made an impact on the whole world through melodies that resonate throughout the world. But today, there is really no home to share these stories. So we want to build a place to connect people back to this place and our culture, to have a place where people can visit and go further and find something new. To really help the local person understand the impact of our culture and be proud of it. We want to tell these stories from the lens of Acadiana and talk about those connections and the story of community, the people and places, traditions, struggle and strife, joy and celebration, and how music is an essential part of all those things.” “I would really like to communicate how important our cultural economy is to this community. Festival Acadiens, Festival International, all the many festivals that we have. This is not just fun and games. This is our economy. We talk about oil and gas or medical economies. But the cultural economy is so unique to Louisiana. When we talk about the Louisiana Music Museum, this is going to be a big conversation of how we can share our cultural economy with the world,” says Taylor Davis, Board President of the AcA. AcA brings equitable access to the arts through year-round education and outreach activities and aims to build a more sustainable cultural ecosystem for future generations in Acadiana across an eight-parish region that includes Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and Vermilion Parishes. Arts in Education is one of the most significant contributions AcA makes in our community, touching the lives of 40,000 children in 89 schools throughout Acadiana and education committee. PACE (Primary Academic and Creative Experiences) assists schools in teaching the arts and teaching other academic areas through the arts. Each year, AcA’s team of Teaching Artists provide lessons in 546 preK–3rd grade classrooms on a weekly basis. Teaching Artists conduct arts integrated classes that advance state standard curriculum in Science and Social Studies through engaging activities rooted in visual art and dance. PACE is based on the idea that children learn in a variety of ways. Speaking on the importance of the AcA providing access to arts education to 40,000 children each year, Sam Oliver says, “Only with that access can you create that spark that can turn into a real fire of passion, but it could not be possible at all without that exposure. So we’re not there to provide the the air for the fire, the oxygen for the entire life. But we are there to help provide the spark.” ACA teaching artists who are professional artists in a variety of disciplines such as visual arts, music, dance, theater go into those schools and teach. These lessons offer courses that those schools couldn’t otherwise offer due to limited budgets. The Student Arts Expo is a one day festival each Spring where the AcA brings in students to perform or exhibit their visual artwork. It is the premier arts event in where you can get a glimpse of all of the best artworks created by the students educated by the AcA Teaching Artists each school year. The public can walk in to tour the AcA and check out its exhibits for $10 general admission. One great exhibit currently up through January 2025 is the George Loli exhibition. A well-kept secret is that you can go the Lafayette Parish Public Library and check out passes to the AcA, as well as to Vermilionville, the Science Museum, and the Hillard Museum. For more information, visit https://acadianacenterforthearts.org/…
Our guests today are Jeff Martin and Blake Adams, creators and proprietors of Short and Fat, a unique custom men’s clothing line. While there are plenty of options out there for plus sizes, big and tall, and regular, there just aren’t traditionally that many for, well, someone who may be short and fat. Short and Fat originated in 2017 as Jeff and Blake’s response to a lack of clothing options for men who are “short and fat”. Their online store focuses on a subscription-based service for men’s custom shirts with hundreds of choices for customers. Shirts can be ordered on their website, https://shortandfat.com/ and have a one-month turnaround. Customers are shown nine videos which demonstrate the correct way to measure yourself and Short and Fat takes these measurements to make a perfectly tailored shirt! There are nine different cuffs and collars to choose from, as well as a choice of pocket, button color, button stitching, and shirt fabric. Jeff Martin tells us they are “custom built shirts for custom built men” which will give their customers confidence in their appearance. https://youtu.be/OsNeqgrmFME They have found five pain points for men’s dress shirts: collars, shoulder seams, sleeve length, shirt length, and something they call the “belly wink”. Blake describes it as the moment where someone’s shirt is too tight, and the buttonhole opens and “winks” at you. Short and Fat addresses these pain points with the 3 important variables to feeling more confident: fit, fabric, and fashion. They want the shirts to fit well, with over 1200 fabrics to choose from while also adding the fashion aspect with small details like buttons. The custom shirts, manufactured in Bangkok and shipped directly to Short and Fat, are all wrinkle free, aside from the linen, and customers don’t have to tuck in their shirt if they don’t want to. The average Short and Fat customer stays with the business for a long time, because once the shirt fits perfectly, the measurements and customizations are saved. The subscription service allows customers to receive custom shirts they know will fit well on a quarterly basis. Blake Adams has a “no bullshirt guarantee” that if a shirt doesn’t fit perfectly, they’ll retry until they get it right. Blake’s customer service is one reason why the business made it through the pandemic after production shut down. He kept customers up to date and made sure they received the shirts they were owed once production picked up again. Blake also uses a one-on-one approach with customers for their custom blazers and suits. Suits and blazers cannot be ordered on their website yet, but Blake will assist customers in creating the perfect suit through email. He helps with fabric, accent color, and gives advice to first time customers when creating their suit or blazer. The idea for the business began when Jeff Martin was shopping in the “big and tall” section of the men’s department store. He had trouble getting a shirt to fit his neck and said, “I’m not big and tall, I’m short and fat”. Later, he met Blake at a Catholic retreat where they shared their similar struggles with men’s shirts. Blake was on board immediately, the two entrepreneurs launched a Kickstarter campaign, and Short and Fat was born as a way to help men who are “vertically challenged and horizontally blessed.” Now they say that they are a startup with eight years of experience since COVID shut them down for nine months. Short and Fat is a passion project for Jeff Martin and Blake Adams, and Jeff says, “we know our customer; we are our customer”. This passion is apparent from their dedication to making clothes that men want to wear and that fit them. https://youtu.be/RXvS7JQSLZA Learn more at https://shortandfat.com/ . Their hilarious and informative videos can be found on their YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok which are all @shortandfat.…
Becky Collins and Jennifer Joseph, volunteers with the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia, join Discover Lafayette to discuss the museum’s inaugural fundraising musical event, Music On Main, taking place November 21, 2024. Located at the Bayou Teche Trading Company, Music on Main will be filled with food, music, and fun! The two bands performing are The Eighties Experience, an 80’s and 90’s tribute band, and 5 th Avenue, playing R&B, country, and zydeco music. Co-chair member Jennifer Joseph says, “we’re also going to be combining music with laughter” and Jerrod Guillory, a local comedian, will certainly bring laughs to the event. Music On Main is a casual event that takes place both indoors and outdoors so Jennifer says “come as you want,” but get there early because there is a capacity limit. The first band starts at 7pm; doors open at 6pm. Attendees can park in Bouligny Plaza or across from the Bayou Teche Trading Company. Admission is $60 per person, and tickets can be purchased on their website , their Facebook page, or at the door at the event. The museum is also asking for sponsors to donate to the fundraiser in one of 3 tiers: The Bronze level at $250 will receive 2 complimentary tickets, Silver at $500 will receive 4 tickets, and Gold at $1000 will receive 8 tickets. All proceeds will go towards expansion of the museum, namely the “Doc” Voorhies wing, and improvements to the exhibits. When there isn’t a fun-filled music event, the Bayou Teche Museum is open from 10-4 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There is an admission fee, but Veteran’s tickets are free so Becky and Jennifer urge Veterans to check out the museum. The Bayou Teche Museum at 131 E. Main Street, opened in 2010, and displays historic exhibits and art from New Iberia and the surrounding areas. Becky Collins states the museum’s mission: “Our mission is simple: Education, preservation, and engagement”. It reflects the excitement of New Iberia as well as the rich history of the towns along the Bayou Teche. As proof of her love New Iberia, Becky tells us, “I could live anywhere in the United States…we choose to live there because it is such an exciting place”. The museum serves as a bridge to bring the community together, and with a diverse board of directors, they are open to any suggestions to improve the museum. Going with their mission of engaging with the community, the museum wants to include members from pre-school as well as those from nursing homes and assisted living. The museum is hoping to add more interactive exhibits with the funds from the music event. When you step into the museum, there is a timeline that starts all the way back to 10000 BC where it traces the earliest Native Americans through New Iberia. It also includes artifacts and pottery from 400 AD connected to the Atakapa tribe. The timeline ends in 2013 as the museum was opening. There are several interesting artifacts thanks to the generous donations from the community. The Exhibit Acquisition Committee is in charge of going through these donations and determining if they have a purpose and fit the meaning of the museum. Some special exhibits include stories from Beyonce and Solange Knowles, who have connections to New Iberia, as part of their music area, and the painting that George Rodrigue was working on when he died. Becky Collins also tells us about her favorite exhibit, the Salt Mine. In this part of the museum, guests can step into an elevator and “it simulates what it would be like to ride down to the bottom of the salt mine”. It involves a fully immersive experience, including a lever that triggers a dynamite explosion. Exciting and interesting exhibits such as these are possible through generous donations from the community, so they urge those interested to join them on November 21 st for Music On Main. For more information, reach out to bayoutechemuseum@gmail.com .…
Our guests today are Mia and Rob Sandberg, husband and wife, and a dynamic duo of entrepreneurship! Mia is the proprietor of Root Floral on Jefferson Street in Downtown Lafayette, 810 Jefferson Street. The shop is open Tuesday – Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. unless an event taking place.. Her company specializes in providing floral arrangements for events, weddings, and everyday flowers. They offer a subscription service where you can sign up to give periodical gifts of flowers to that special someone. Open for walk-in arrangements, Root Floral’s stock varies from day to day, so Mia advises people to order online or call ahead if they can. Big events like weddings can affect the in-store supply so it’s best to place an order well in advance. Rob is the proprietor of Lucia, a bakery that offers not only delicious pastries but baked goods that offer a feast for the eyes! One look at their website will have you running to Lucia, located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road. Lucia started out as a small batch, from-scratch bakery that began doing popups in our downtown area in late 2020, selling brioche-stuffed donuts (bombolonis) and then slowly began adding laminated pastries to the rotational menu. Lucia now concentrates on viennoise-style baking, a form of pastry made famous in France with origins in Vienna. Mia proudly shares the expansion of her online event collections, which now includes 21 color palettes to choose from. This is a great option for a bride who just needs basic items or those who don’t want to go through the whole process of meeting. These collections can be used for bridal showers, baby showers, Christmas parties, or any special occasion. It’s also a great way for clients on a budget to order flower arrangements. For clients worried about costs, Mia says that Root Floral will work with clients on a budget to help them achieve a beautiful arrangement for their special day. She explains that for pricing, they “price everything out by the stem” and “use a system called curate”. This is helpful for adjusting the number and types of flowers based on a client’s budget. Mia graduated from the UL-Lafayette with a degree in interior design in 2008. She is passionate about color, texture and proportions, which she says helps her now in making her floral arrangements. After graduating, she took various jobs in product design and interior design in Dallas, Texas. She also was a waitress as Toulouse, the same restaurant Rob worked as a pastry chef. When the couple moved back to Lafayette in 2012, Rob was the one who suggested she open a flower shop. So, she began creating and sharing her creations inside of a small portable storage building at her parent’s house in Cecilia. For a year she says she was “sending arrangements to as many businesses as I could”, like Carpe Diem or Kiki, to promote her work. She attributes good photography, Facebook, and her unique arrangements for her success. In the beginning she says, “there was lots of spray paint”. Within a year, she outgrew that location and moved to downtown Lafayette. Now she continues to provide beautiful flowers for events across Lafayette. It is an understatement to say that her company began to flourish; Root Floral has even been written up in Martha Stewart Living! Lucía, a boulangerie and viennoiserie located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road near St. Pius was opened by Rob Sandberg in 2021. He began in the bakery business by doing popups and later selling pastries at the Moncus Park farmer’s market where his brother Ruben Sandberg came on board. Lucía sold out each Saturday for about 2 years before Lucia opened on Kaliste Saloom. Rob says in the early days, he and Mia converted their sunroom into a bakery where their were frying donuts and making custards. Pastries and floral bouquets showcased at Lucia Mother’s Day weekend 2024. A wonderful partnership between Mia and Rob Sandberg. Lucía is open Wednesday – Saturday from 8 – 2, but Rob says, “we close when we sell out so usually, we don’t make it to 2”. The bakery is full of beautiful and delicious Viennese style pastries, croissants, Danishes, Bomboloni, lemon tarts and more. It’s a cozy atmosphere with 6 tables inside and outdoor seating available, although Saturdays are almost always busy, so Rob mentions the best times to go are from 8 – 11! The recipes are all created by Rob and his brother Ruben and he says, “we make everything from scratch”. Lucia Bakehouse Rob got his start in 2008 where he attended a 2-year culinary school in Dallas, Texas. He describes his love of the “artistic side of cooking” and began working in a French restaurant (Toulouse) as a pastry chef making lots of souffles and as a garde manger making salads. When the couple moved back to Lafayette in 2012, Rob got a job as a line cook working for Jolies. He then worked in restaurants that were just starting up, like Pop’s Po’boys. He notes that, “most restaurants I’ve worked in, I’ve worked in from the beginning”. He then took a break from restaurants and helped Mia with Root Floral for about a year. During the pandemic, Rob decided he wanted to get back into baking and “wanted to do something different that no one else is really doing”. And he had no experience at that time baking pastries yet mastered hir craft beautifully. A few years later, Lucía Bakehouse is selling out within hours, constantly improving their menu and creating delicious treats. Rob’s advice to up and coming entrepreneurs is to be careful with your funds. He obtained a $35,000 loan from Home Bank and utilized some of the couple’s savings. It is difficult to obtain loans as a newly minted business and never a good idea to get in over your head in debt. To learn more about Lucía, visit https://lucialafayette.com/ or go to their Instagram @luciabakehouse. To learn more about Root Floral, visit their website or Instagram @rootfloraldesign.…
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Discover Lafayette

1 On Track by 5 Alliance – You Can Support Early Childhood Education Through Louisiana State Tax Credits 55:33
Dr. Shannon Bernard and Michelle Luquette, representatives of On Track by 5 Alliance for the Lafayette Parish Public School System, join Discover Lafayette to discuss their department’s mission to improve the quality and access of early care and education for children from birth to age 5 years of age. The research is clear: 90% of brain development occurs before age 5. Great work is being done to improve early childhood educational options for young people which is being funded through School Readiness Tax Credits and the generosity of Lafayette businesses. You can actually designate up to $5,000.00 of your state tax dollars that are owed each year to go to On Track by 5 Alliance, and then get a refundable tax credit of that same amount. How does this work? In January of 2008, Louisiana established a package of refundable state tax credits for businesses designed to support quality child care pursuant to LA R. S. 47:6107. A business is defined as any for-profit or not for-profit entity, which includes sole proprietors, partnerships, limited liability corporations, and corporations. Your CPA can help you file for this refund if you give them a heads up before filing your tax documents. See below for Michelle Luquette’s contact information to ask questions on this detail. How to Claim the School Readiness Tax Credit for Businesses? To file the SRTC for businesses: a) Filing Individually: complete tax form IT-540; b) Filing as a corporation or franchise: complete tax form CIFT-620; c) Filing for non-profit organization: complete tax form CIFT – 620. These tax credits provide businesses with a dollar-for-dollar credit of up to $5000 for donations made to Child Care Resource and Referral agencies that are contracted by the Department of Education. On Track by 5 Alliance is such an agency and your contributions go directly to benefit children that live in Lafayette Parish. You can make this designation each and every year, get a tax refund, and know that your money is being dedicated to early childhood educational efforts for our must vulnerable and in-need young people. Pictures above were taken when Ochsner’s Lafayette General adopted Campbell Academy Childcare Center. Ochsner’s Lafayette General participates in the School Readiness Tax Credit as a non-profit, giving OTb5 $5000 contribution per entity in its health system and in return Ochsner’s entities get their contribution back with the dollar-for-dollar refundable tax credit program. These dollars are invested directly into our publicly funded childcare centers and Campbell Academy was able to get a Frog Street Pre-K curriculum. OTb5’s mission is to have all children in Lafayette Parish kindergarten ready! Paul Molbert said this is part of their “Healthy State” initiative as education is one of the key components of improving the healthcare status of our citizens. The School Readiness Tax Credit and ON TRACK programs here in Lafayette are so special because they serve learning centers and programs only in Lafayette Parish. Lafayette applied to be a Childcare Resource and Referral Agency just for Lafayette parish, so businesses know their dollars are staying in the parish and serving local centers when they designate . This tax credit not only boosts the economy by investing money back into the parish, but also ensures that children will become contributing members of society. In Lafayette Parish there are 58 publicly funded centers (meaning they accept childcare tax dollar assistance) and over 100 centers total which service over 6,000 children. Some publicly funded centers include Gifted Early Learning Center, Little Blessings, Little Miracles, and LA 4 (a public pre-school). In a typical school day, children are learning through play, such as dramatic play, sensory play, and manipulatives. Manipulatives are tools like string beads for counting and puzzles which develop the child’s fine motor skills. They are also being taught social-emotional skills that are critical for development and will set the child up for the next stage in their life. The children at these schools may not otherwise learn life skills and will enter kindergarten way behind their peers. This program is a life changer for many young people who are intelligent and gifted but need a hand-up while being provided a safe learning environment. Early childcare is much more than just babysitting, which is a common misconception about the On Track by 5 programs. Children are taught by qualified teachers who go through yearly training to continually provide quality care and education to the children. Providers are registered with the state and can take up to six children in their home from birth to 5 years old. There are also several Head Start programs and pre-schools in Lafayette that On Track by 5 works with. Parents are encouraged to be involved in the process of choosing a program and deciding what is best for their family and children. Dr. Bernard tells parents, “Don’t be afraid to say, ‘can I come and see the facility?’, don’t be afraid to ask questions”. Parents know their children the best, so they can give vital information on their child and what ON TRACK can do for them. Parents can visit www.enrolllafayette.com for more information and to apply for programs in Lafayette parish. They can also go online to the Louisiana Department of Education and search for programs by address. Here they can learn about learning centers near them, with information on classroom ratios, qualified teachers, curriculum, hours, and more. So how do parents learn about their options when it comes to early childcare and education? There are three main divisions in the early education department: LA 4 programs, Lafayette Ready Start, and ON TRACK by 5. Each division serves a different purpose and can help guide parents in making the right choices for their children. Dr. Bernard describes Ready Start as the access piece, where parents can start the process of finding the perfect fit, while ON TRACK is the quality piece. This is where they can give referrals to parents after determining the best program to care for the child. Background on our guests : Michelle Luquette, Child Care Resource & Referral Marketing Specialist, began her work in the Lafayette school system in 2017. Her background was in marketing, but then she went back to school as a non-traditional student and graduated at 36 years old. After graduating, she focused her time on working at a for-profit college helping non-traditional students, guiding them through resume writing and finding jobs after graduating. This inspired her to pursue a career in early education. Ms. Luquette joined the team for ON TRACK by 5 because she believes “early childcare…plays a huge part and critical role in our lives”. Dr. Shannon Bernard grew up in Lafayette and graduated from Northside High. She earned her Masters and Doctorate from the UL – Lafayette. Dr. Bernard says that early education “help set the foundation for our earliest learners” which is one reason why she is so involved in aiding the youngest group in our society. Her background is in non-profit work, serving families of children with disabilities, low-income families, and those who are disadvantaged. Bradley Beck State Farm Agency in front of Nite Owls Childcare after adopting it , When adopting a learning center, a sign will be put up in front of the center in honor of the donor. A sign will also be placed in front of the business to show their support and dedication to early leaning in Lafayette. Businesses will also get the chance to visit their adopted center and help deliver the materials that are bought with their generous donation. Dr. Bernard remarks on how excited the children get when they see the mountain of boxes that are delivered to their center. Donations to learning centers go towards materials like books, manipulatives like puzzles and counting beads, and even outdoor learning materials like sand tables. Money is also set aside to provide monthly training for teachers, coaches, and staff so they can stay updated on the best practices for educating children. Ms. Luquette says that “over the past 8 years with the tax credit and the ready start program, we’ve put over 300 curriculums in these classrooms” which is an astounding number that shows the importance of donations from local businesses. Delivering supplies to Truman after being adopted Businesses interested in donating can call Michelle Luquette at 337-521-7209 or go to https://sites.google.com/a/lpssonline.com/on-track-by-5 . When donating through the website, Ms. Luquette will be immediately notified and can begin preparing the paperwork for the donor’s CPA.…
Kevin Landry, proprietor of Café Lola, joins Discover Lafayette in special partnership with Eat Lafayette and Lafayette Travel. Eat Lafayette is a yearlong celebration of Lafayette’s locally owned restaurants. Café Lola was opened at 1155 Coolidge in the Oil Center in April 2002 by Mark and Jill Balser. Their focus was on fresh, wholesome, colorful, and delicious ingredients sourced locally. They offered a simple menu that worked through repeated trial and error as they found out what the customers consistently liked. Kevin took over the helm of Café Lola in February 2021 and has intentionally kept things just the same, because it works.! Café Lola is open for lunch, 10:30 AM – 2 PM. They can seat about 60 patrons at any time and about 70% of customers are dine-in and pick up. Door Dash is a popular option. They have a steady clientele of pharmaceutical/medical/business customers who order for meetings; call or order online ahead one day for these items. This is a great gig for single moms who need to drop off their children for school in the morning and then pick them up after school. Kevin is proud of his staff and depends on them for their understanding of customers’ needs as they order meals daily. “The menu is a guide but you can substitute anything to ge what you really want.” He trusts the staff and stays out of their way. “Our food is fresh. We make our bread daily. My motto is, ‘Fresh ingredients, fast service, and friendly faces. We are not fast food. Our menu is a guide but you can substitute anything.” In the ensuring years since opening, the restaurant earned and maintained a popular reputation for its great lunch time menu selection of sandwiches, soups, and salads. Even today, you know you are always going to have plenty of delicious options for high-quality, fresh food with great service. And, the brownies are always a hit! While Kevin shares that prices on the menu went up recently against his instincts, it was done to meet the inflationary impact on the cost of fresh lettuce and other items. At one point, romaine lettuce soared in price from $29 to $80 per order. “We held on as long as we could to raise prices. It’s bad that we are not the gas pump and have the flexibility to raise and lower prices quickly. We have no choice but to wait it out and adjust accordingly.” Pictured above are Lynn and Kevin Landry. Fan favorites are the TLC Sandwich, composed of Turkey, Lettuce, Provolone cheese, sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes, and avocado, as well as the Shrimp wrap. “People like wraps,” says Kevin. At a point early on during the pandemic, the original owners, the Balsers, were empty nesters and found themselves ready to retire and live at their vacation home right outside of Park City, Utah. Kevin took over the helm of Café Lola in February 2021 when he and his wife were looking to buy a sustainable business venture; the opportunity fell in his lap and was the right fit. He secured financing and used his business acumen to maintain what was already a successful business. Soups are a popular option. Pictured is Café Lola’s Seafood bisque. Many people wait for the daily soup specials, which include Potato Soup on Wednesday, Broccoli and Cheese on Thursday, and Seafood Bisque on Fridays. ” We enter the Eat Lafayette soup competition all the time and usually win. One time we came in second.” Kevin hasn’t changed a thing on the menu since he purchased the restaurant and shares how when he talked to customers and polled people about Café Lola, saying he couldn’t “find a hole in the restaurant. Everything worked from an investment standpoint as well as the quality of food and service that Café Lola offered day in and day out.” The only downside he found was that people might have forgotten the restaurant was there in the Oil Center. That could be fixed. One of Kevin’s favorite meals is the Cobb Salad. He is an intermittent faster who eats around 10:30 to 11:00 am every day. “I’ll walk into the restaurant and tell everyone ‘I’m fixing my salad.” He’ll shake it up with different options such as olives and other tasty ingredients. With a unique blend of eclectic flavors and a cozy atmosphere offering nostaligic touches such as red and black tiles originally installed by Radio Shack, the original tenant, Café Lola has become a staple in the local dining scene, drawing in both longtime residents and visitors alike. “Some people say you need to be in the right place in the right time. I say, ‘No, you’ve got to be in the right place all the time.” Kevin Landry showed up prepared to take over Café Lola’s ownership as an experienced business person and a guy who had worked with his dad running a Mr. Gatti’s franchise in Abbeville in his teen and college years. He knew management, sales, food, and was steeped in the “As a service model” focused on the customer. Kevin currently has a day job as Director of Business Development for LineOne , a cloud-based business phone system. Café Lola offers a diverse menu that reflects Lafayette’s love of good food, featuring both local Louisiana-inspired dishes and a variety of international flavors. Customers rave about the gourmet sandwiches, artisan salads, and hearty soups that rotate with the seasons. Known for using fresh ingredients, the café provides something for everyone when you’re in the mood for a casual lunch. Café Lola isn’t just about food; it’s also about the experience. With comfortable seating and tasteful, clean décor, the space offers a welcoming environment that encourages guests to linger. But interestingly, Kevin shared that most patrons work in the Oil Center and have a 30-minute lunch break….they come in, pick up, and eat at their desk. Kevin Landry has been careful to maintain Café Lola’s original, distinctive vibe, balancing a relaxed charm with excellent service. His ability to remain true to the café’s roots has helped it thrive through changing times, making it a cherished part of Lafayette’s culinary landscape. To find out more, please visit https://www.cafelolalafayette.com /. Discover Lafayette would like to thank Eat Lafayette for its continuing partnership as we showcase local success stories in the locally-owned restaurant business!…
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Discover Lafayette

Jill McGehee and Amy Broussard of Acadiana Vintage Finds join Discover Lafayette to discuss their inaugural marketplace event to be held October 25 – 27, 2024 at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette. If you love consignment or thrift shopping, want to do your bit to purchase repurposed items to reduce waste production and conserve resources while supporting sustainable consumer habits, or just love the thrill of the hunt, Acadiana Vintage Finds’ offerings will please your tastes. How did this event come about? About two years ago, Jill began mulling over the lack of access to a one-stop shop for unique accessories and vintage items that can be purchased by people on a budget or who want to purchase unique items that have vintage appeal. On the same note, thrift shopping is on the rise nationally and Lafayette has some catching up to do! The thrift store industry in the U.S. generates over $17 billion in revenue annually. A few statistics: The average thrift store item is sold for about 75% less than its original retail price. 56% of thrift store consumers are under the age of 35. 80% of thrift store revenue is reinvested into the local community. It is definitely a real industry to take seriously. With all that said, about a year ago Jill reached out to Amy, her close friend from their Comeaux High days here in Lafayette, to partner with her to pull off this event. The upside is that Acadiana Vintage Finds will offer our community plenty of shopping opportunities for the home and personal apparel, Christmas gifts, and so much more. Acadiana Vintage Finds will feature everything from vintage fashion to antique treasures, handmade wonders, and gourmet delights. Repurposed furniture and lamps, new baby clothes, and uniqe jewelry will be found. This type of shopping is such a delightful to find unique ways to upgrade your home and fashion while keeping within a budget. Whether you’re a vintage lover, treasure hunter, or just love discovering unique items, there’s something here for everyone! Patrons can purchase a 3-day parking pass for $13.00 or a one day pass on Sunday for $10.00 where you will find all the markdowns from merchandise for sale on the last day. Vendors will be offering clothing & accessories, furniture and home decor, photography and artwork, collectibles and memorabilia, and there will be food truck offering delicious eats! Visit here to purchase a parking pass. According to the Journal of Antiques and Collectibles, 2024 was poised to be a year where vintage and retro trends took center stage. From the resurgence of ’90s nostalgia in fashion to the revival of retrocolor palettes in interior design, this year promised a celebration of the past. Designers are reimagining classic elements with fresh, playful styles, making Acadiana Vintage Finds the perfect destination for those seeking to embrace these trends. Blake Brodhead of Primary Artworks will be offering his unique designs. Banannie Bands, pictured above, will offer children’s items at Acadiana Vintage Finds. When: October 25-27, 2024 Time: Friday & Saturday 10 AM- 4 PM; Sunday 10 AM- 3 PM Where: Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, LA Cajun Cuisine will be joining the event as a food truck vendor at Acadiana Vintage Finds . For more information and to purchase a parking pass, visit https://www.acadianavintagefinds.com/ .…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Ochsner Lafayette General’s Patrick Gandy and Marie Lukaszeski – Transforming the Delivery of Healthcare for our Region 1:09:35
1:09:35
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Ochsner Lafayette General’s Patrick Gandy and Marie Lukaszeski join Discover Lafayette to discuss the hospital system’s careful growth and planned design to meet the needs of the region today and into the future. The only Level II Trauma Center in Southwest Louisiana, its services extend to patients “from the bayou to the border,” stretching along I-10. Incredibly, the hospital system treats 255,000 unique patients per year. Patrick Gandy, a licensed CPA who has been with the organization for 31 years, began serving as President and CEO of in March 2021. He previously served in several senior management positions at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center, Ochsner Lafayette General Surgical Hospital and Ochsner Lafayette General Imaging. His tenure as CEO began right after Lafayette General Health merged with Ochsner Health of New Orleans in September 2020, and he successfully led the hospital system through the trying times of the pandemic. A native of Shreveport, Patrick loves the community and says he has been “happily married to a girl from Arnaudville since 1998.” Marie Lukaszeski, Director of Planning and Design, is an Arnaudville native who graduated in Interior Design at UL-Lafayette (formerly USL) in 1995. She is certified by the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers (“AAHID”), the highest standard for the knowledge needed and experience required to address acute, ambulatory and residential care environments. After working with other industry professionals and a local architectural firm, Marie opened Interior Design Solutions in 2009 and became a consultant to Lafayette General. They began a series of expansions to meet the growing demands of the healthcare landscape, including expansions to its surgical platform and Emergency Department. Her service as Facilitator and Project Manager overseeing the projects was so successful that Patrick jokes, “We wanted her all the time!” So Marie and her team joined the healthcare system in 2015. Marie Lukaszeski is an artist at heart and in practice, and she brings that aesthetically pleasing touch to Ochsner Lafayette General’s design concepts! “There was a study done with prisoners that showed that blues and greens were more calming to your physiology than reds and yellows. We tend to go with a soothing, neutral palate for our interiors. But most of my time goes into ensuring that our spaces are safe, help the staff interact easily, and function successfully. I work with third party vendors and a whole team of Security, IT, and FF & E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) people to make sure that vital equipment, patient beds, etc. to make sure that the building is being designed to meet our standards. We have to meet licensing standards mandated by the State of Louisiana.” Ochsner Lafayette General has a rich history of significant contributions to our community’s well-being. It began in 1911 as a 6-bed sanitarium and has grown into an 8-hospital health system, the regional hub for Ochsner, and a leader in healthcare. Patrick mentioned the health system’s three core principles that define its mission: “First, we are always focused on patients first and then create our organization around their needs. Second, Transparency in everything we do is incredibly important as a philosophy for our organization. Third, We have to constantly evolve and assess how we can best adapt our business model to take care of our patients. “ The first major milestone in Lafayette General’s growth was in 2009 when it acquired St. Martin Hospital in Breaux Bridge. Patrick says “It was the first hospital outside of Lafayette. That was the beginning of us becoming a regional healthcare system in South Central Louisiana. That was a defining moment for us as well as rural healthcare in Acadiana. We want to invest in whatever a local community can support because local healthcare is the best healthcare.” U.S. News & World Report named Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center as the best hospital in Southwestern Louisiana for the second straight year in 2024. This recognition includes Ochsner Lafayette General Surgical Hospital, Ochsner Lafayette General Orthopedic Hospital and Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana. It was also named the No. 4 hospital in Louisiana and the Best Regional Hospital for Equitable Access. Patrick states, “This award starts with our talented medical staff, nurses, and clinical staff. For them to receive this recognition brings me great pride and joy.” Ochsner Lafayette General delivers more babies than any other hospital in the community and surveys have consistently ranked it in the 99th percentile for patients’ likelihood of recommending our facility to other mothers-to-be. To meet its growing needs, a recent $30 million expansion of the mother-baby suites allowed the medical center’s obstetricians to treat more patients. . Before the expansion, the medical center already delivered more babies than any other hospital in the region, but it had maxed out its capacity. The medical center now has the ability to perform 5,400 deliveries each year, as well as more beds for its obstetrics emergency department, and beds for antenatal care. The neonatal intensive care unit will also has significantly more space, meeting a growing need in the region. On April 16, 2024, Ochsner Lafayette General celebrated the launch of its new General Surgery Residency Program, which began July 1, 2024. The new residency program is both a strategic response to the escalating physician shortage and a model for innovative care solutions leading to increased patient access. In a 2024 report, the Association of American Medical Colleges projected that physician demand will grow faster than supply, leading to a projected total shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. Moreover, Louisiana is projected to rank third nationally for a shortage of physicians by 2030, according to a Human Resources for Health analysis. The accredited surgical residency program received nearly 600 applications for three coveted spots. The 5-year surgery program will train a new class of three residents per academic year. Ochsner is also pursuing accreditation of Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Transitional Year Programs. The hope is that these physicians will remain in Acadiana upon finishing their training, as residents typically stay within 50 to 55 miles of where they train. On September 22, 2024, Ochsner Lafayette General broke ground on the $24 million expansion and renovation of the Ochsner American Legion Hospital in Jennings, the last American Legion hospital in the U. S. This rural hospital has been a cornerstone of healthcare in Jennings for more than 70 years. It merged with Ochsner in 2022. The renovation will expand the Emergency Department, create a drive-through pharmacy, and relocate the OB/GYN Rural Health Clinic to the hospital with expanded space. Ochsner American Legion Hospital cares for approximately 31,338 patients annually, with a staff of over 445 employees, greatly increasing access to care for this rural population. In August 2024, Ochsner Lafayette General broke ground in a project that aims to bring the most comprehensive orthopedic care to Acadiana. Two years ago, the medical center partnered with world-renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews to create The Ochsner Andrews Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute. Located at 4212 W. Congress Street (at Ambassador Caffery intersection), the expansion adds 17,000 square feet to the property, and a 14,000 square-foot facility dedicated to physical therapy and sports medicine services. Patrick said the medical center is “transforming sports, medicine and orthopedic care for the for the community” by bringing together a multidisciplinary team under one roof. The new facility is expected to open in the Fall of 2025. Groundbreaking ceremony of the Ochsner Lafayette General Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute on August 29, 2024. Patrick Gandy speaking of Ochsner Lafayette General being a Level II Trauma Center: “We are the only one from the Bayou to the Border (of Louisiana and Texas) and one of the busiest trauma programs across the state of Louisiana. We are consistently ranked one of the best in Louisiana. The other nearest trauma center would be the Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge.” The physical safety and aesthetics of a hospital interior and exterior are important components of any project. Marie Lukaszeski has dedicated her professional life to ensuring that patients and visitors alike are comfortable in Ochsner Lafayette General’s facilities. Good lighting, clean air filtration, and art work that is pleasing to the eye all provide calm settings. “Any images on the wall should be one the brain can easily recognize. Abstract art is kept out. “That is why there is a lot of Time photography in healthcare facilities. You know if you are looking at a meadow or a beach. It doesn’t require your mind to make a translation.” Marie Lukaszeski, Director of Planning and Design, oversees all of the major expansions conducted by Ochsner Lafayette General. “If I’m confortable in a space and my family is comfortable, I feel that will translate into a space that others would feel good in. It’s a personal connection for me, ensuring that our spaces are safe and our clinical folks can handle their jobs efficiently. We want healing, confortable, calming spaces where people feel at home.” Ochsner Lafayette General has committed to expanding its footprint next to University Hospital & Clinics in the space that was formerly the Daily Advertiser building. Patrick stated the health system is adding 100 exam rooms and moving UHC Internal Medicine into the building to expand the care as part of its commitment to grow its Graduate Medical Education program to train physicians. In August 2024, Kent Design Build pulled a commercial alteration permit for $17.8 million for the space at 1100 Bertrand Drive to renovate the existing office building and warehouse. Ochsner Lafayette General and Oceans Healthcare have formed a partnership to increase access to behavioral health services in Southwest Louisiana. Oceans Healthcare is leading the development of an approximately 120-bed hospital that will operate under the name Ochsner Behavioral Health Acadiana and is expected to open in the first half of 2026. This partnership is a result of the Community Health Needs Assessment Ochsner conducts every two years. Behavioral and mental health are one of the top problems in Acadiana, which has secondary factors negatively affecting overall health. Located on Verot School Road, plans include inpatient services for adolescents, adults and geriatric patients, as well as outpatient treatment options. The new facility will greatly increase access to services, create the largest behavioral health center in the region and fill a critical need for compassionate, comprehensive care for those experiencing mental health issues and co-occurring substance use disorders. Together, the partners will invest approximately $30 million in the expansion. Shortages in the clinical workforce were exacerbated by the pandemic, in particular in the nursing profession. Ochsner Lafayette General is investing in training programs to bridge the gap and as part of that focus, Ochsner Lafayette General has partnered with UL – Lafayette to create an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Students with a completed bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing discipline will complete 70 hours of nursing course work and earn their BSN through a combination of teaching methodologies including didactic courses, clinical and lab experiences, and hybrid interactive learning courses, in just 15 months. There are scholarship opportunities for students who commit to work for Ochsner Lafayette General for three years after graduation. Learn more here . LSU Eunice, Ochsner Lafayette Genera,l and Acadiana Workforce Solutions have partnered to create a Respiratory Therapy Apprenticeship Customized Training Program on the campus of LSUE which offers students the unique chance to “earn while they learn” through a paid apprenticeship while pursuing an Associate of Science in Respiratory Care at LSU Eunice. Specifically designed to provide opportunities in the thriving Respiratory Therapy field for financially challenged families. students benefit from paid positions at an Ochsner Lafayette General facility in Acadiana as they work towards their degree. Other initiatives to educate medical professionals exist at South Louisiana Community College (practical nursing) and the funding of faculty spots at UL Lafayette. We thank Ochsner Lafayette General for its commitment to providing the best health care in our region. For more information on the general surgery teaching initiative, please listen to our previous podcast with Ochsner Lafayette General Chief Medical Officer Dr. Amanda Logue here.…
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Discover Lafayette

1 Shelley Delahoussaye – Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center 1:06:38
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Shelley Delahoussaye, Supervisor of the Lafayette Animal Shelter & Care Center, joins Discover Lafayette to share her passion and love of animals and how the animal shelter works to save as any animals as possible while searching for loving and safe environments for them. A graduate of UL – Lafayette, Shelley earned a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. After working in private vet clinics, she was hired in 2017 by the Lafayette Animal Shelter as an Adoption, Foster, and Rescue Coordinator. One year later, she was promoted to Shelter Supervisor. She has always had a passion for animals. Prior to Shelley’s leadership, the save rate for dogs was 47% and cats a low 9%. In 2016 when former Mayor-President Joel Robideaux ran for office, he campaigned on the idea of NO-Kill 2020, an initiative to which he dedicated focus and support to make it happen. Through changes made under Shelley’s supervision, the shelter achieved a 90.3% save rate by 2020, and has maintained that rate ever since. Even with this success, there is still a continuing glut of stray animals in our community and the work of Lafayette Animal Shelter is critical. Pictured above is the beautiful Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Facility. Designed by Architects Beasley Moliere, the front entrance is separated into two wings: the surrender side and the adoption side. While Shelley originally questioned this decision, she quickly realized how important it is to keep the interactions separate. “The Surrender side is sad, with frantic owners looking for their pets. The Adoption side is happy, with people looking for a pet to love and care for.” Prior to COVID, other states around the country would take many of our stray animals as there was a shortage of pets. Nationally, there is a trend of more responsible pet ownership and laws enforcing spay/neuter, as well as restrictions on breeders as to how many animals can be bred and how often, thus reducing the overpopulation. But now post-COVID, the shelters around the U. S. are also full and can’t take our strays. “It’s important to get to the root of the stray population, which is access to low-cost spay and neuter. Wild Cat SpayNation for dogs and cats is the only nonprofit low-cost spay/neuter provider that services all of Acadiana. They can only do so much. Many people want to do better by their pets but can’t afford it. Please donate to them!” Lafayette Animal Shelter takes in approximately 5000 animals each year. And they get in not only dogs and cats, but potbellied pigs, goats, horses, cattle, bunnies and chickens. Shelley joked that recently her team nicknamed the facility “Old MacDonald’s Farm” because of the variety of barnyard animals they took in. Luckily that week they found homes for 10 chickens, 3 potbellied pigs, 3 goats, and a horse! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34TI_obzQj8 Shelley Delahoussaye on how to prepare adequately for your pet’s safety as a storm or hurricane approaches. Adopted animals are neutered, fully vaccinated and microchipped before you take them home. “It’s a great deal,” Shelley says, and “The animals receive about $600 worth of vet treatment before they go to their new home.” Adoption fees are $35 for dogs and $25 for cats. Seniors and military vets can adopt at no charge. Any pets who have been at the Animal Shelter over 30 days can be adopted for free and when the shelter gets full, adoption fees are waived. “We want them in good homes without financial barriers.” Thanks to BISSELL Pet Foundation and Cathy Bissell – all adoption fees are WAIVED until October 15, 2024. The ratio of cats and dogs in the shelter is approximately 50% each. About 800 of the 5000 animals who arrive annually are owner-surrendered each year. For some, the owner tried to rehome them with no success, and other owners find themselves in a situation where they have to get rid of the pet immediately and turn to the Shelter as a last resort. Shelley encourages owners who may be struggling with their pet’s behavior to take advantage of Good Pup, an app that teaches your how to effectively manage your pet. The Shelter partners with Good Pup and you can take advantage of the live video training for free. It is difficult for the Shelter’s staff to see animals returned when perhaps a bit of training and patience can make all the difference in a successful outcome. The Trap/Neuter/Release (“TNR”) program for community cats was an important key to reducing the kill rate for cats. Just a few short years ago the kill rate was 9% for cats; they were almost certain to be put down once they arrived at the facility. Kittens that came in without a mom almost always faced the “death sentence” according to Shelley. There was no foster program until recently and the community cat population was out of control. In 2017, Robert Benoit, who worked for Joel Robideaux, presented an Ordinance that authorized the TNR program. Today, the Shelter is seeing the results of this successful program and there are much fewer rescued kittens being brought to the facility. If you see a cat with a clipped ear, this is a universal sign that it has been neutered. Another fun initiative to place cats into useful settings is the “ Cats Clocking In ” program. An idea of former Mayor-President Robideaux, cats can be ‘hired’ and they ‘work’ to reduce pesky rodents in shops and barns. These cats may not fit into your home, but they definitely earn their keep by providing pest control services! Sometimes just the smell of a cat will keep rodents away. Working cats will arrive neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. They will need about two to three weeks in a safe, enclosed space to get acclimated to their new environment and adjust to the new sounds and smells. Employers must provide food, water, and future medical care. The Shelter staff recommends that you adopt cats in pairs as they will stick together beautifully. A ‘No-Kill’ facility means that at least 90% of the animals are saved from euthanasia. Some animals must be put down; if the animal is suffering after being severely injured, extremely old, or has a condition that can’t be addressed, they will be a candidate for euthanasia. If a $15,000 surgery is required in an attempt to save an animal, Shelley says that animal would be put down. “We try so hard to avoid euthanasia. But I’d rather take care of 20 animals for that amount of money. We have to watch our funds.” Also, some animals with severe behavioral issues that are too aggressive to be suitable for adoption will be put down. Shelley says, “I wouldn’t put an aggressive animal in someone’s home. When animals are picked up off the streets, there are varying stray/hold times. If an animal is untagged or not chipped, it will be held for 3 days before being released for adoption to the general public; it will be held for 5 days if they do have identification, in order to give the owner a chance to retrieve their pet. Many pets are reclaimed within one to three days. Once the stray/hold period ends, the pet becomes the property of LCG and it can be adopted or transferred. Volunteers enable the Lafayette Animal Shelter to provide the animals the love and attention they deserve. The Shelter is always in need of animal lovers who can volunteer their time bathing, grooming, walking, and socializing the animals. They need the help of volunteers at off-site events, photography, laundry, cleaning, and even some administrative duties. Volunteers must be 18 years and youth that are 12-15 years of age must have a parent volunteer with them. Volunteers 16-18 years of age can volunteer on their own with a parental consent. Contact LASCC@lafayettela.gov for more information. Shelley studied Animal Sciences at UL – Lafayette and had plans to become a veterinarian. But family responsibilities, namely a pregnancy, changed her plans. She worked at the New Iberia Research Center and as a vet tech before joining Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Facility. She is married with four children and has four dogs, a cat and chickens. “Its a circus but I love it!” The Lafayette Animal Shelter is open Monday – Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM, and Saturday from 12 to 2PM for adoptions only. Located at 410 N. Dugas Road off of University Avenue, it is a beautiful and clean facility filled with dedicated staff, many of whom have worked there for years. We thank Shelley Delahoussaye, along with her staff, for their dedicated service to our community of humans and animals! Visit https://www.lafayettela.gov/lascc/default for more information.…
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