
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Est. Listeners
Insufficient chart data. Estimates will improve as the show charts.
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
N/A🎙 Daily cadence·376 episodes·Last published 4d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
N/A - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
N/A
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
—
* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
From 10 epsHost
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Dry Clean Auto
Jun 21, 2026
28m 10s
A Different Drummer
Jun 14, 2026
30m 40s
In The Beginning Was The Word
Jun 7, 2026
30m 10s
Diamond Tack
May 17, 2026
31m 30s
Cajun Certainties - Music & Real Estate
May 10, 2026
29m 56s
Social Links & Contact
Official channels & resources
Official Website
Login
RSS Feed
Login
| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/21/26 | ![]() Dry Clean Auto | A fast car and pressed shirt are two things that probably won't ever go out of style. Considering we live in an age of rapid economic disruption, those two facts present a potentially endless business opportunity. Everything breaks. It’s a natural law. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong is how Murphy put it. Scientists call it entropy. In business terms, you’d call it a blue ocean. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Some stains just never get out of the shirt. Before you panic, though, maybe visit my guest Miles Frank. Dry Clean Miles owns and operates C&R Quality Cleaners, a dry cleaning business with four locations across Acadiana. Trained as a mechanical engineer, Miles hit the road as a field service technician after college. Which meant he was away from his family for long stretches at a time. In 1996, the birth of his twins changed his calculus. He started looking for something closer to home. A dry-cleaning business in Crowley came up for sale, and Miles saw his opening and bought it. Over time, Miles added locations and consolidated operations, applying an engineer's eye to efficiency along the way. Today he runs Park Avenue Cleaners in Crowley and three C&R locations in Lafayette. He says the secret to his success is adaptation. C&R invests a lot in updated equipment and has added 24-hour, automated kiosks to cut down on emergency pickups, for instance. Nationally, the dry cleaning industry is worth roughly nine and a half billion dollars a year — and Miles runs a piece of it right here in Acadiana. Auto In some ways, cars have changed a lot. But when it comes down to it, a car is an engine, a chassis and four wheels. No matter the make and model — or whatever computer is doing the driving — it’s going to need a tune-up once in a while, or maybe something more. My guest Mitchel St. Romain can help you. He owns and operates Driven Results, a Lafayette-based auto shop. Mitchel was born in Alexandria but grew up in Lafayette. He spent his early career in sales and marketing. Then a layoff in the oil industry forced a reckoning. Jobless, he turned to his passion: cars. He had grown up watching his dad fix cars the old fashioned way. Mitchel himself has spent the better part of two decades loving and working on an old Porsche. Fixing cars for other people was a natural next step. Mitchel started doing repair, paint and body work out of a shop at his house. Word of mouth grew the business and in 2020, he made it official. He keeps the operation intentionally small, working alongside his brother-in-law, with subcontractors brought in as needed, so he can keep the experience personal. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded one final time live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi before we packed up our chopsticks, picked up our plate lunch, and moved to our new location, Gravy, just a few blocks away in Downtown Lafayette. Join us next week at Gravy. Meantime, you can find photos from this farewell to Tsunami show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 28m 10s | ||||||
| 6/14/26 | ![]() A Different Drummer | People are looking for healing in places they didn't used to look. Acupuncture, sound baths, energy work — once dismissed as fringe, are now very much moving into the mainstream. That shift shows up in the numbers. Wellness is a trillion dollar industry in the U.S. Americans spend more than $6,000 per person each year on it. That's the broader current carrying a lot of what used to be considered alternative medicine into wider use. It’s also taken on a much wider meaning. My guest Peter Bulliard works where physical and mental wellness collide. He’s a healer, more specifically, he calls himself a master shaman. Peter Bulliard was born in St. Martinville. He got a degree in art and later nursing, but spent years working as a touring musician, primarily as a drummer, before either of those careers took hold. A brain tumor diagnosis in 1998 changed his trajectory. He began studying healing practices, eventually training with shamans and spiritual teachers across the globe, including a stint at The Four Winds Shamanic School, before transitioning into full-time spiritual and healing work.His services include healing sessions, master classes and workshops, property cleansing, personalized mentoring, energy training, death doula services and spiritual guidance. He's also the author of the book Heal Anxiety in One Day. That search for the fabric of reality isn't just happening in wellness. It's happening in our closets, too — a pushback against fast fashion, mass production, and clothes that fall apart in a year. People are turning to the essential fabric of American style: Denim. Dark indigo washes and vintage-inspired silhouettes are back in style. Selvedge mills produce limited runs and the process can produce one-of-a-kind pieces. The fabric has become a natural fit for boutique brands looking to offer exclusivity their bigger competitors can't. If you’re in Lafayette and want a unique show piece, pop by Son of a Texan in Downtown Lafayette, owned by my guest, Sky King. Sky moved often as a kid — rural Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana — and spent much of his adolescence at a remote church camp, which he says shaped his comfort with rural, small-community life. After high school, he skipped college and went straight into restaurant and food service work, which occupied much of his early adult life. It was his grandfather who first taught him to iron and shine his shoes, planting an early interest in clothing and textiles. After his father died about six years ago, Sky began reassessing his direction — and found his way, alongside his wife Katrena, who'd been taught to sew and repair clothes by her own grandmother, toward a business built around longevity and repairability. Son of a Texan opened in 2025. They specialize in selvedge denim and durable, small-batch goods from independent makers — clothing meant to be worn for years, repaired, and passed down.It’s good for business that people are always wanting more. Sometimes the trick is to convince them to slow down and maybe invest in something deeper and more durable, like spiritual balance or a nice pair of jeans. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 30m 40s | ||||||
| 6/7/26 | ![]() In The Beginning Was The Word | Most of us spend a good portion of our lives looking for the right words. The ones that explain who we are. What we believe. What we're here for. Some people find them early. Others take a longer route — through careers that almost fit, through places that challenge everything they thought they knew, through questions that don't resolve so much as deepen. My guests today have both built businesses around helping people find their voice. For Sarah Mary Toce-Donlon, that voice often comes from above. Sarah Mary works in communications at UL Lafayette and is building a business as a professional speaker. She offers speaking engagements, retreats, workshops, and leadership development . Her presentations weave together theology, philosophy, psychology, and leadership principles. Sarah Mary grew up in Lafayette, and an internship with Homeland Security during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill led her to an early career in nonprofit work and disaster management. She later earned a Master of Divinity from Boston College — and that move to Massachusetts was a turning point. She describes the experience as one that broke her mind open, that challenged her worldview and deepened her understanding of faith and humanity. After years in nonprofit work and communications, she came back to her calling as a public speaker. Her clients include Catholic school teacher retreats, corporate leadership trainings, church lecture series, and continuing education workshops for educators. Having a strong voice is pretty important if you want to be a good writer. We talk about it all the time in my newsroom. Voice communicates everything, and it’s just as essential on the page as it is from the stage. If you’re an author looking to develop a strong voice, you might need the services of a good editor like my guest Keondria Francis. Keondria is owner operator of The Assembly Literary, a brand that houses her services as an editor-for-hire for independent authors. Independent authors carry a particular burden: they are the publisher, the marketer, and the writer, all at once. Keondria tries to lighten that load. She offers manuscript evaluation, copy and line editing, proofreading, coaching sessions, and digital resources — including character development outlines she created after noticing how many authors struggled to build believable, relatable characters. Her editing philosophy centers on one principle: improve the manuscript without losing the writer's voice — an approach that blends African American Vernacular English with traditional grammar standards when it serves the story. Keondria works with two to three clients a month, most of them repeat authors. About 95 percent are self-published. She's now expanding — adding a proofreader to her team, and planning to launch her own publishing company by end of year. Her first project will be her own novel. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 30m 10s | ||||||
| 5/17/26 | ![]() Diamond Tack | So, your family has a business. You grow up around it. You love it. It’s the center of gravity for your family life. But…you swear you'll never do it. You leave. You build something of your own. And then one day you look up and… Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in. That’s one version of the story anyway. There's another where you just never really left. Either way, you inherit something: a lease, a reputation, a relationship with people who really know you through your family and what they do. Family business is a big deal in Carencro. Charlotte Stemmans Clavier runs one that’s been in operation for almost 60 years. She’s the daughter of racehorse trainer Don Stemmans. Her family founded Stemmans Horse Supply in 1968 — one of the only specialty equine stores in the region, serving everyone from backyard horse people to the racehorse industry, with everything you need, as Charlotte puts it, from barn to bell. Charlotte has worked around horses her whole life. She started working at the racetrack at age eleven. By twelve, she was running the family store. She studied history and business at Tulane, worked for an attorney, and considered law school — before coming home. Over time, responsibility shifted to her. After her mother's passing in 2002 and her father's more recently, the store became hers to carry forward. Today, Stemmans operates two locations: the main store in Carencro and a second on the backside of Evangeline Downs. Charlotte is also a notary public, deeply involved in Louisiana horse racing organizations — and the mayor of Carencro. Jewelry wasn't Troy Raxsdale’s plan. Troy grew up in Lafayette, served four years in the U.S. Navy, came home, and studied marketing and economics at UL — while working full-time in the restaurant business. His father started a home-based jewelry business and asked Troy if he wanted to help with sales. Troy said yes. They traveled together, selling out of cases, building territory — and eventually bought a storefront together. Then Troy struck out on his own. In 1999 he founded Unique Wholesale Jewelry, which supplies retail stores across the country. And in 2021, when a Lafayette storefront called Southern Jewelers came up for sale, he bought that too. Southern Jewelers carries the range you'd expect — necklaces, bracelets, charms, custom designs — but what keeps the lights on is repairs. About sixty percent of the store's business is fixing things: resizing rings, resetting stones, restoring pieces that belong to somebody's grandmother. It's painstaking work, and it's gotten more complicated as the market fills up with jewelry from online vendors and mass retailers, where what something looks like and what it actually is aren't always the same thing. There’s a lot to be said for just enjoying life for what it is. Maybe that’s the simple pleasure of riding a horse, or admiring a precious stone. But in reality, nothing is as simple as it looks. Somebody has to provide the tools for keeping a horse healthy and happy. Somebody has to procure, display and sell precious stones. Troy and Charlotte are both contributors to providing life’s pleasures and treasures. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 31m 30s | ||||||
| 5/10/26 | ![]() Cajun Certainties - Music & Real Estate | Megan Constantin sits in for Christiaan Mader on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana. When I say the name "Jourdan Thibodeaux…" You’re thinking of a musician. He’s hard to miss on stage at a festival as a fiddler and frontman for Jourdan Thibodeaux et les Rôdailleurs. But Jourdan is also a business owner. In Henderson Swamp outside Breaux Bridge, Jourdan and his partner Scott LaGrange own and operate Cypress Cove Landing — a marina, dance hall, restaurant, bait shop, and alligator hunt outfitter. Born on Cypress Island, Jourdan was raised speaking French by his grandmother, self-taught on a pawn shop fiddle. Everything he does is a kind of cultural advocacy. So you’re probably not surprised that he thinks of Cypress Cove Landing as a cultural hub. And a hub it certainly is. Cypress Cove offers boat slips, houseboat rentals, guided alligator hunts, fishing, and weekly Cajun dances that regularly draw five to six hundred people. The venue also hosts music tour groups through SOKO Music Tours. It's deliberately family friendly — all ages, all parts of the property. For Jourdan, it’s a place that exists because he got tired of watching authentic Cajun culture get replaced by a commercial version of it. Cypress Cove is a mission driven kind of entrepreneurship. But, as Jourdan will tell you, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Cypress Cove employs ten people, and Jourdan puts whatever the business earns back into the operation and the community. Real estate broker Beau Bourque, has always wanted to run something of his own. He grew up in New Iberia, studied business at UL Lafayette, and came out of school looking for work with an entrepreneurial edge. He found it selling beer and liquor for Crescent Crown Distributing — out front, making things happen. Then real estate called. Beaux joined a commercial team at Van Eaton Romero in 2011, built a niche in mobile home parks and industrial properties, and in 2020 launched Beacon Realty — his own commercial brokerage in Lafayette. Beacon serves local and national clients. It completes an average of a transaction every couple of weeks, which is impressive for a company that, so far, runs lean. Beau has brought on a second commercial agent and sees room to grow to five or six. About eight out of ten deals come through online leads, though Beau still makes at least an hour of calls every day and mails letters to prospective clients. The fundamentals, he'll tell you, don't go out of style. Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette.You can find photos from this show by Alisha Zachery Lazard at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 29m 56s | ||||||
| 5/2/26 | ![]() The E Wanderer | There's a version of life in Acadiana that most of us only see from a car window. We live in something of a paradise, it’s just sort of removed from your day-to-day reality. That’s in part because Louisiana’s natural beauty isn’t always so easy to see. Louisiana is flat. Famously so. We don’t have mountain vistas to behold. So, if you want to really drink in Acadiana’s splendor, you probably need to get on the water. Don’t have a boat? Don’t worry about it. Reed Rudasil has you covered. Reed is the owner of Wanderlust Rentals, a startup that rents kayaks, right on the water. He grew up in Lafayette and studied civil engineering at UL. But he figured out pretty quick he didn't want to sit in an office. He tried landscaping, he managed a crawfish restaurant, he started buying rental properties. Eventually Reed founded a property management company called Experience Louisiana, focused on short-term rentals that often put guests close to waterways. Renting kayaks came naturally from there. Many of the properties he manages sit on the water — and guests kept asking what to do once they arrived. Reed's answer was Wanderlust Rentals, Louisiana's first multi-point service kayak rental system. The concept is straightforward: kiosks placed by the water, stocked with single and tandem kayaks. Customers sign a waiver, pay, get a code, and they're on the water. No staff required. No waiting. The whole transaction happens just feet from the bayou. Don’t have a car to get the bayou? Maybe try an e-bike. They’re everywhere, in case you hadn’t noticed. The electric bike market in the United States was worth $2 billion in 2025 and is projected to more than double in the next decade. Gerri Simon is a serial entrepreneur who’s cashing in on that market. She owns eBikes Plus, a one-stop shop for electric bike sales and repair here in Lafayette. She grew up in Vermilion Parish — not far from the water, and not far from the kind of hands-on problem solving that runs in Cajun households. Gerri's dad, she'll tell you, was an engineer who never finished high school. He taught her to build things and to work on things. She took that instinct to UL, where she discovered she was good at math, and came out the other side with a degree in mechanical engineering. She later got an MBA. She went on to found and operate several businesses before landing on eBikes plus. A big part of her customer base is retirees with RVs who pack up the bikes to take with them on their roving vacations. But more and more people are turning to e-Bikes as their primary means of conveyance. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 31m 45s | ||||||
| 4/19/26 | ![]() Laying Down The AI Law✨ | AIlaw+3 | Grant Schexnailder | EmpathChatGPT+10 | LafayetteMilton+5 | jury selectionlitigation+2 | — | 29m 00s | |
| 4/11/26 | ![]() Keep It Simple Stupid✨ | clutterprofessional organizing+1 | Heather Borges | Bee OrganizedBrand Russo+7 | LafayetteUS+2 | consumer ageburnout+2 | — | 29m 57s | |
| 4/5/26 | ![]() Tell It Like It Is✨ | advocacylaw+3 | Corrie Gallien | Gallien LawCorrie Gallien Collective+10 | OpelousasLafayette | legal systempublic speaking+2 | — | 30m 10s | |
| 3/21/26 | ![]() Selfless Help✨ | nonprofitentertainment+2 | Susan Titus | Susie Q face paintingThe Confidence Campaign+5 | LafayetteFranklin+5 | face paintingballoon artist+2 | — | 29m 20s | |
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 3/14/26 | ![]() Social Scout✨ | small businessmarketing+2 | Ashlynn Gary | Leading ColorAsh Creative Collective+6 | Lake CharlesLafayette+4 | content planningcustomer engagement+1 | — | 29m 10s | |
| 3/7/26 | ![]() Dive Bars & Barbecue✨ | dive barsbarbecue+2 | Justin Bennett | Texas TwisterArtmosphere+8 | AcadianaLafayette+8 | LafayetteArtmosphere+3 | — | 30m 15s | |
| 2/21/26 | ![]() Sound Scents✨ | businessexperience design+1 | Rochelle CampbellYvette Landry | Pure Intentions Candle CompanyOut to Lunch+1 | Youngsvillethe Atchafalaya Basin+2 | candlesmusic+2 | — | 30m 40s | |
| 2/14/26 | ![]() Guitar Two-Step✨ | guitar buildingteaching+2 | Garret Rosen | Rosen GuitarsOxford University+6 | LafayetteU.S.+1 | autodidactLafayette+2 | — | 30m 48s | |
| 2/8/26 | ![]() What's Your Story?✨ | storytellingjournalism+3 | LaToya Guillory | The Intentional AuthorAcadiana Black Author Expo+11 | LafayetteLouisiana+1 | editingbusiness+2 | — | 29m 05s | |
| 2/1/26 | ![]() Pet Projects✨ | businessemotional work+2 | Alex Pitre | Meow Woof Animal CollectiveMeow Woof+4 | OpelousasNew York City+3 | Meow Woof Animal Collectiveanimal adoption+1 | — | 29m 35s | |
| 1/18/26 | ![]() Dig It | Some things you don’t think about until they stop working. Then you get a trickle from your shower head. Suddenly, all you can think about is what’s happening with the pipes underground. There’s money to be made in invisible industries. That’s true if you’re pumping water from a well — a technology as old as civilization itself — or driving engineered fluids underground to drill for oil. Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch both work in industries that sit mostly out of sight — below ground, behind fences, or buried in technical jargon — but when they’re needed, they’re really needed. Scott Russo is co-owner and water specialist at Waterboys LLC, a water well services company serving residential, commercial, and agricultural clients in Acadiana. Most people get their water from large public or private utility systems. But more than 23 million U.S. households rely on private groundwater wells for their drinking water. That’s about 15 percent of the U.S. population who aren’t connected to municipal water systems and must maintain their own sources. Waterboys, founded in 2020, offers well drilling, pump installation, maintenance, and emergency repair — often with Scott himself answering the phone at all hours. Water is a round-the-clock need, so Scott is always on call. Scott grew up in Kaplan, studied geology, lived overseas and in Las Vegas, and eventually found his way back home and into the water well industry. Zach West is president of Downhole Chemical Solutions, a Lafayette-based company operating in the hydraulic fracturing industry. Downhole plays a big role in the hydraulic part of fracking, providing the tech and engineering needed to get oil and gas out of the ground. The fracking boom revived the domestic oil industry over the last decade. The hydraulic fracturing services industry alone is estimated at more than $40 billion in size in 2025. Downhole is an employee owned company with over 200 people on staff and serves a mix of major and mid-sized energy operators. Zach grew up in central Louisiana in a family of engineers, earned degrees in chemical engineering and business, and returned to Lafayette to build his company. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 29m 10s | ||||||
| 1/11/26 | ![]() Steel Towers, New Neighbors | When we talk about “growth,” we usually mean population, jobs, or maybe cranes on the skyline. But growth isn’t abstract — it’s physical. It’s steel. It’s dirt. It’s concrete. It’s towers you don’t notice and neighborhoods you drive past every day. Christiaan's guests on Out to Lunch are both in the business of building up — literally. One builds the infrastructure that keeps business connected. The other builds the places people call home. Different materials, different risks — but surprisingly similar challenges. Wiley Baxter is President and Owner of Custom Tower, a Louisiana-based company that designs, manufactures, and installs communication towers across the country. Wiley grew up in Pensacola, studied mechanical engineering at LSU, and spent time in corporate roles before buying Custom Tower in 2024, when its previous owners decided to retire. Custom Tower builds the steel that holds antennas in the air — cutting, welding, galvanizing, assembling, and installing towers that can stretch hundreds of feet high. Their work is often for state and parish governments, and if everything goes right, you’ll never think about them at all. Molly Creaghan is a regional manager at Dantin Bruce, a real estate development firm that handles projects from site selection all the way through leasing. Molly grew up in Baton Rouge, went to LSU, and started her career leasing apartments — discovering along the way that she really liked the puzzle of property management. At Dantin Bruce, Molly oversees operations, marketing, budgeting, staffing, and owner relations across multiple properties. Their Lafayette project, Camellia Grove, is a 136-unit “built-to-rent” townhome community near River Ranch — a development designed to feel more like a neighborhood than an apartment complex. Molly and Wiley are both examples of people in our community who are in occupations as vital as they are invisible. On Out to Lunch we love to take an oportunity to turn the spotlight on people who other media might not so readily acknowledge. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 30m 20s | ||||||
| 1/4/26 | ![]() Ton's Uncle Bob | People in Acadiana love restaurants. They love talking about them, reviewing them, arguing about them. They always seem to think they could run one. Hey, if you can cook, why not? Here’s the thing: Restaurants are famously unforgiving businesses. Margins are thin. Labor is hard to find and harder to keep. One bad weekend, one broken piece of equipment, one stretch of slow traffic — and suddenly you’re wondering why you ever thought this was a good idea. And yet, people keep opening them. Maybe that’s because a successful restaurant can be an institution, a fixture of community from generation to generation. Take Ton’s, the diner and plate-lunch place founded in 1963 by the grandparents of Christiaan's lunch guest, Hollie Girouard. Hollie grew up in the restaurant. Ton’s was her second home long before it was her responsibility. A volleyball scholarship brought her to UL, where she studied graphic design and imagined a future in the visual arts. But restaurant life always sucked her back in. In 2023, Hollie opened Ton’s Downtown in Downtown Lafayette. It’s got all the Ton’s staples people expect — gumbo, burgers, plate lunches — with a little bit of a Downtown twist. Belly up to the bar and you can grab fresh juice, vegan options, frozen coffee, cocktails, and late-night service on weekends. Between the Broussard and downtown locations, Ton’s employs about thirty people. Hollie runs both, takes a long-term view of growth, and describes her downtown strategy as a “slow burn.” Dillon Van Way is the founder of Uncle Bob’s Food Truck Roundup, a boutique food truck park in downtown Lafayette. A food truck park makes a lot of sense in Downtown Lafayette — a dense area with relatively high foot traffic and a reputation as a food destination. But Dillon will be the first tell you it’s not easy getting a no-brainer. Dillon is an architect by trade. And as you can by now guess, his name is not Uncle Bob. The food truck park grew out of a real estate project. Dillon redeveloped a building into apartments and found himself with a vacant adjacent lot. Rising construction costs and inflation made traditional development unattractive, so he tried something else: a carefully designed food truck park. Uncle Bob’s opened during Mardi Gras of 2025. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 32m 45s | ||||||
| 11/23/25 | ![]() Homey Helium | Some people make a living building things. Others make a living making those things look good. There’s more to decoration than meets the eye. Space has a tremendous impact on how we think and feel. Sometimes it really is all about appearances, and that’s true whether you’re picking out curtains for your living room or designing an arch of balloons for a wedding. Our own spaces can tell the world a lot about who we are. Take a look at my desk for instance, and you’ll know right away I’m not someone you’d hire to design your workspace. For that, you should probably call my guest Krysten Ledet Krysten is the founder and owner of Krysten Ledet Interiors, a full-service design firm that handles renovations, new construction, spec homes, commercial spaces, and hospitality builds. She grew up in New Orleans and earned her bachelor’s in interior design from UL Lafayette before pursuing a master’s degree. She’s a certified interior designer and licensed contractor—so she’s as comfortable knocking down your walls as she is selecting your wallpaper. Krysten's design philosophy is shaped by her childhood in New Orleans and by Hurricane Katrina, which put 20 feet of water in her childhood home and left a lasting impression about what "home" really means. After stints working for commercial clients, she returned to residential design and eventually launched her own firm in 2020, partly to spend more time with her family and partly to stop commuting to Baton Rouge. Bianca Russo is the owner of Louisiana Balloons Atelier, a custom balloon and event décor studio based in Sunset. Bianca grew up in Brazil, where balloon décor is serious business—and also her family business. Her mother ran a balloon shop and passed down the craft, though Bianca initially took a very different career path, attending dental school before moving to Canada and eventually becoming a dental assistant in Las Vegas. After relocating to Louisiana, Bianca opened her own balloon studio in 2025. Louisiana Balloons Atelier offers everything from simple foil balloons to fully customized installations for weddings, birthdays, graduations, divorces, sporting events—basically anywhere cake is served, balloons follow. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 29m 05s | ||||||
| 11/16/25 | ![]() Down On The Farm | Farming isn’t what it used to be. Louisiana has lost thousands of small farms over the last few decades. The average farmer is over 58. Land prices keep going up, commodity prices keep wobbling, and modern farming techniques are about scale, not stewardship of the land. The small independent farmer — the icon of the American landscape — is by and large disappearing. But not everyone is signed up for extinction. Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch are young cattle farmers who have thrown out the conventional big ag playbook, putting their sweat equity into sustainable practices that emphasize high standards of animal care and meat quality. Their meat story starts with a meet-cute in an animal science lab. Molly (Abshire) LeJeune met Hayden LeJeune while at McNeese State. She is from Little Cypress, Texas, where her family owned a big piece of land her grandfather once farmed. The land stayed in the family even after the farming stopped, which meant Molly grew up with a kind of open-ended question: What should this land be? That question followed Molly into high school, where her family started buying beef from a woman practicing sustainable agriculture. That was Molly’s lightbulb moment. “I think I could do that,” she thought. By the time she graduated, she’d decided she wanted to farm — and not just farm, but farm differently. At McNeese, Molly built her own curriculum — regenerative farming, soil biology, direct-to-consumer models. Meanwhile, about 80 miles east, Hayden LeJeune was growing up on a rice, crawfish, and cattle farm in Richard, Louisiana. Like a lot of farm kids, he wanted to stay on the land — but the math didn’t work. Most small farms can barely support one family, much less two. So Hayden went to McNeese for agribusiness, figuring he’d become a feed rep or crop consultant and farm on the side like everybody else. Then he met Molly. By the time they graduated, Hayden’s dad decided to get out of cattle — and handed his son a small starter herd. Today, Molly and Hayden run Cypress Prairie Farms, a regenerative beef operation in Richard with about 40 head of cattle on 70 acres. No pesticides, no fertilizers, no grain byproducts, no antibiotics. Their cows rotate on pasture to rebuild soil, reduce pests naturally, and create something rare these days — a farm that is building land instead of depleting it. At Cypress Prairie Farms, Molly and Hayden sell everything from steaks to marrow bones to beef shares at local farmers markets and online. Their beef is USDA processed, dry aged for flavor, and delivered with the kind of transparency you only get when you personally know the people raising your dinner. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 30m 30s | ||||||
| 11/9/25 | ![]() It's Magic | We often think of “doing good” as the business of nonprofits. You start a foundation, apply for grants, hold gumbo cook-offs, and hope the IRS sees things your way. But what if you didn’t need tax-exempt status to make the world better? What if turning a profit and doing good weren’t opposites — but the same business plan? Turns out, a lot of small business owners in Acadiana are already doing it. No mission statements, no donor walls — just good work disguised as work. Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana both run for-profit businesses that exist for something bigger than the bottom line. One makes magic — literally. The other runs a thrift store that funds community support. And both have built businesses around something very simple: joy and generosity. If you’ve been to a library show, a school assembly, a corporate retreat, a kid’s birthday, or a surprise party gone slightly off the rails — there’s a decent chance you’ve seen this man making balloon animals. Mitch Richard is the owner of MLR Magic. He grew up in Kaplan, where he was a consummate class clown. Mitch's real stage debut came in 7th grade, when a teacher gave him the first five minutes of every class to “energize” the students — on one condition: Mitch had to keep a B average. By 16, he learned balloon art from Darcy Guidry — the legendary balloon guy at Hub City Diner — and started performing professionally a few years later. He’s now been “Mitch the Magician” for 25 years, doing more than 150 shows a year across Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Florida. Mitch's company company books not just himself, but other performers, too. And while he performs everywhere from corporate parties to kids’ camps, his favorite shows are at assisted living facilities, where he says “people need to laugh the most.” If Mitch works his magic through wonder, Lori Guillory works hers through generosity. Lori is the owner of Calvary Thrift, a faith-based thrift shop in Lafayette. Lori also runs Camp Calvary, a Christian summer camp, and Calvary Creek, an 8-acre event venue. Lori is a UL Lafayette grad, a lifelong thrifter, and — by her own admission — someone who didn’t set out to run more than one business, but kept doing it because she saw needs that weren’t being met. Calvary Thrift employs eight people, sources locally donated goods, and donates profits into groups like The Hub, The Outreach Center, church ministries, and rent-assistance programs. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 29m 20s | ||||||
| 10/19/25 | ![]() Geaux Grow | There's a temptation in business to want everything fast. Fast growth, fast profits, fast success. But the most durable things—the things that actually last—are often built slowly and with intention. My guests on this edition of Out to Lunch understand that patience is a strategy. Both came to their current work almost by accident. And both are choosing growth on their own terms. Allyson Romero is the founder of Grow Leadership Coaching. She spent eight years teaching in Lafayette public schools and later moved into management roles in the private sector. Allyson thrived as a manager, but it wasn't until she received leadership coaching as part of her own professional development that something clicked. She realized she loved coaching, she was good at it, and it aligned with who she actually was. When she was laid off in 2024, instead of looking for another management job, she took it as a sign to start Grow Leadership Coaching. Grow Leadership Coaching is a local firm that offers individualized coaching to help managers and executives maximize their performance and reach their goals. They work on skills like effective communication and time management through one-on-one sessions or team coaching. Most of Allyson's clients are already in leadership roles, and she's intentional about finding the right fit—she meets with prospective clients first to make sure it's a good match for both of them. Right now, it's a side venture for her, but one she's committed to growing with intention and a strong reputation. While Allyson is sizing up the right client, Mary Hays is getting runners into the right pair of shoes. Mary is the owner of Geaux Run by Fleet Feet in Lafayette. Mary has been active her whole life—cross-country runner in high school, swimmer, golfer, paddleboarder. But she spent her career at Teche Electric before being hired as manager of Geaux Run in 2012. She bought out the shop’s owners to become sole proprietor. When the opportunity came to join the Fleet Feet franchise in 2018, she was strategic about it — and she didn't sacrifice local control. Geaux Run is a specialty athletic shoe and apparel retailer focused on proper fit. They carry running shoes, socks, GPS watches, inserts — everything the avid runner needs. What sets them apart is their commitment to fitting. They use 3D foot scans to ensure every customer gets the right shoe for their needs. The store also hosts free demo runs when new shoes release, collaborates with podiatrists and physical therapists to offer their customers discounts, and is a major sponsor of local running clubs and youth programs like Girls on the Run. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 29m 20s | ||||||
| 10/12/25 | ![]() The Acadiana Health Path Less Traveled | Some people discover their calling by accident. Literally. An injury or an illness or divine providence can lead to a vocation. You might call each of my guests today healers. But neither started out with the idea of becoming one. They were patients first — searching for relief when the medical system didn’t always have the answers. That journey led them to very different paths. One through modern medicine and physical therapy. The other through the centuries-old practice of faith healing. Becca Begnaud is a traiteur, a Cajun faith healer. She grew up in Scott, Louisiana, in a family and community where traiteurs were part of everyday life. If you had warts, a sprained ankle, or a headache, you went to see someone with the prayer. But it wasn’t until Becca was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989 that she began to take up the practice. A nun suggested she look into healing work. She studied Reiki, trauma first aid and worked in hospice care. Eventually she embraced her role as a healer in Acadiana. For Becca, healing is community, it’s connection, it’s laughter and prayer. She’s practiced for decades as a volunteer, never charging for her services, and today she continues her work from her office in Lafayette. Philip Thibodeaux is the founder of Restore Physical Therapy and Wellness in Lafayette. Philip grew up in Monroe and followed in the footsteps of his mother, who was a physical therapist. But his own story as a patient shaped how he thinks about care. At 14, Philip suffered a severe shoulder injury that went undiagnosed for months. By the time doctors discovered a torn labrum, the damage was done. He suffered through three surgeries and countless hours of physical therapy before he turned 30. The experience made him determined to treat patients differently than he had been treated. After working for a major healthcare agency, Philip became frustrated with the corporate approach — overbooking, inconsistent and inconsiderate care. In 2025, after the birth of his son, he struck out on his own. He launched Restore, a boutique clinic that emphasizes personalized care and new techniques like SoftWave therapy. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 31m 30s | ||||||
| 10/5/25 | ![]() Cajun Salvage Broadband | Sometimes the best businesses don’t start with a big plan. They start with nothing: no money, no equipment, no idea what you’re doing. Just a problem to solve, a skill in your back pocket, and the determination to figure it out. That’s how Christiaan's two guests on this edition of Out to Lunch ended up where they are. One is making home furnishings from scraps. The other turned a pine tree into a broadband company. Both, you might say, made something from nothing. Matthew Latiolais is the owner of Cajun Salvage Company. Matthew grew up in Lafayette and got his first lesson in welding at sixteen from a boatbuilder — thanks to his grandfather, who volunteered him for the job. After college, Matthew spent his early career in the oilfield, but when the industry hit a downturn, he found himself sending out résumés to nowhere. Eventually, he decided the only thing left to do was work for himself. In 2015, Matthew founded Cajun Salvage, a shop specializing in woodworking, metal fabrication, and architectural salvage. His first jobs came from tearing down barns and reclaiming materials. Now he builds everything from custom cabinets to cypress tables to barn doors — often based on whatever clients find on Pinterest. He’s also a Master Craftsman and a member of the Louisiana Crafts Guild. Chris Disher is Managing Director of Cajun Broadband. Chris is a mechanical engineer by training, born in Ponchatoula and raised in Morgan City. He spent more than two decades in oil and gas, living and working all over the world. When Chris and his family moved to a blueberry farm in St. Martin Parish, they ran into a different kind of problem: terrible internet. Chris’s kids begged him to sell the farm and move to the city, but instead Chris and a friend stuck an antenna in a pine tree and got 60 megabits per second. That was the start of Cajun Broadband. Founded in 2017, the company now provides fiber and wireless internet to nine parishes, and employs 10 people. Cajun Broadband grew even faster through state and federal broadband grants: the company landed a $26 million grant to connect 9,000 homes. Chris says they started in a tree, and now their service is faster than some city providers. Chris and Matthew's business histories, though as different as analog wood and digital fiber, are both proof that sometimes the best way forward is to stop waiting for someone else to solve the problem, and just build the solution yourself. It doesn't get much more Cajun than that. And that's how you get Cajun Salvage and Cajun Broadband. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | 30m 30s | ||||||
Showing 25 of 383
Pitch Fit is a Pro feature
See how bookable this show is for guests, which brands already advertise, the per-episode ad value, and the best-fit guest and sponsor profile. The numbers are blurred on the free plan.
How readily this show books outside guests like you.
How proven this show is for host-read sponsorships.
For Guests
ProFor Advertisers
ProUpgrade to Pro to unlock guest cadence, sponsor categories, fit scores, and per-episode ad value for this show.

























