Home Sweet Homes

Home Sweet Homes

From It's Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch by ItsBatonRouge.la

April 19, 2026 · 29 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of homebuilding and features insights from industry professionals.

How many companies do you think are involved in building a single house? Take a guess. Five? Ten? Maybe twenty? Fifty-three. On average, fifty-three different companies touch a single home before anyone moves in — foundation crews, electricians, plumbers, pest control, lighting specialists, insurers.  Karen Profita represents all of them. She runs the Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge , the largest homebuilders association in Louisiana and the 25th largest in the country. Karen came to the homebuilding industry through a side door. After COVID disrupted her work at Audubon Nature Institute, she briefly pursued an idea for a seafood industry incubator — extracting collagen from crab shells, that kind of thing — that never quite got off the ground. A conversation at the Parade of Homes led her to an open position at HBA GBR. She says it was the rare job that combined everything she actually cares about: real estate, business advocacy and supporting local entrepreneurs. HBA GBR has more than 800 members across every corner of the residential construction industry. Sara Landry West, owner of South Coast Organizers , helps people figure out where…

People in this episode

Guests: Karen Profita, Sara Landry West

Topics covered

  • homebuilding
  • construction industry
  • real estate
  • business advocacy

Keywords

  • Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge
  • residential construction
  • local entrepreneurs

Mentioned in this episode

Products: South Coast Organizers

Books & works: Out to Lunch

Places: Louisiana

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