Discover Lafayette

Wade Berzas and Jeff Benton, professional implementers with the Entrepreneurial Operating System, known as EOS Worldwide, are our guests. EOS focuses on Vision (everyone on the same page), Traction (focus and discipline), and Healthy (Leadership.)

Wade was originally a guest on Discover Lafayette in December 2021. To this day, he has been our most popular guest for all who have been inspired by his faith and journey. Wade survived a horrific plane crash in a flight that lasted just 48 seconds as it descended on the travelers’ journey to watch LSU in the Peach Bowl in December 2019.

There are six key components that EOS utilizes as it works with entrepreneurial leaders: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction. Rather than apply spot-treatment style consulting that only solves one piece of the growth puzzle – EOS is a proven holistic coaching approach that is simple to follow and transforms companies into total growth engines.

In this podcast, we hear humorous anecdotal evidence about how business leaders can hit a wall that prevents advancement to the next level of success. EOS Worldwide utilizes timeless techniques that enable entrepreneurs to reach previously unimaginable success.

To find out more about EOS Worldwide and our two guests, visit https://www.eosworldwide.com/what-is-eos. For more about Wade Berzas, visit eosworldwide and for Jeff Benton, visit https://www.eosworldwide.com/jeff-benton.

Lauren Bercier, co-founder and CEO of Something Borrowed Blooms, a rent-and-return floral boutique in Lafayette, is our guest on this rebroadcast of a show originally taped in 2019. 

Created with Lauren’s cousin and co-founder Laken Swan in 2015, Something Borrowed Blooms’ design team creates wedding floral collections using premium silk flowers.

Since we originally spoke, Something Borrowed Blooms has experienced incredible growth and recently partnered with national bridal retailer David’s Bridal to reach more customers in the wedding market.

Something Borrowed Blooms also has a line of Spring Inspired Home Decor, a collection of premium silk florals and greenery for your home which you can view here.

The 16th annual Hopefest Music Festival and 5K is being hosted by the St. Thomas More Catholic High School junior class on Saturday, April 1st, 2023 at Moncus Park. Aylin Yigiter and Ellie Bond, Junior year students at STM, joined us to discuss the fun and festivities offered by Hopefest and why they are involved.

The day begins with a 5K race benefiting the STM Options program at 9 a.m.  Participants may pre-register or make a donation here.

The music festival kicks off on the waterfront at Moncus Park with live entertainment from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.  Admission is free to the public. The Festival features the music of Dave Barnes, Brandon Heath, and Matt Wertz.

Hopefest is an outdoor festival with live music, fun family-friendly activities, and much more. All proceeds from Hopefest are directed to two recipients that care for people in need. One recipient is the STM Options Program, which enables special needs teens to receive a St. Thomas More education. The other recipient for 2023 is the RescYOU Group, whose mission is to provide financial aid for end-of-life expenses and offer emotional support for families who have suffered the loss of a child from one year of age to seventeen years old (or are currently enrolled in high school) in the Acadiana area.

Best wishes on a successful Hopefest 2023! Thanks to all involved for making a real difference in our community.

Our guest is Marie Ducote, proprietor of Cajun Food Tours. Marie exemplifies the joie de vivre or joy of life that makes our culture so special.

Marie is probably one of our region’s most enthusiastic and compelling ambassadors of Cajun history, culture, and cuisine. Her faith is also a driving force in her life as she credits God’s persistent nudging to get her to finally take the leap and do what she loves.

We had the pleasure of going on a morning Cajun Food Tour as Marie’s guest and visited five local restaurants which included Ton’s in Broussard, Nunu’s Supermarket in Youngsville, Fezzo’s, T’Coons, and Poupart’s Bakery. We can all attest that this tour is something visitors and locals alike should not miss!

A former history teacher, Marie teaches her guests about how Lafayette grew and the many other cultures that influenced our current Acadian and Creole culture.

Besides the Cajun Food Tour, Marie offers the All-Day Cajun Experience, a Breaux Bridge WalkingFood Tour, and the Around the World in Acadiana Taste Tour.

To learn more about Marie Ducote and Cajun Food Tours, visit https://www.cajunfoodtours.com/tours/

Warren Perrin, renowned historian of Acadian culture and a man who has dedicated his life to promoting the accurate history of the Acadians, is our guest on this special rebroadcast of Discover Lafayette.

Author of “Acadian Redemption,” a biography of Beausoleil Broussard, Perrin has worked tirelessly to reinvigorate the Acadian pride movement, most notably through his Petition for an Apology from Queen Elizabeth II for the Acadian deportation from Nova Scotia. The Queen signed a Proclamation granting such an apology on December 9, 2003. Perrin established the Acadian Museum in Erath, LA. He has been engaged in many activities on behalf of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, known as CODOFIL; he served as President of CODOFIL from 1994 to 2010.

Perrin is a partner at Perrin, Landry & deLauney in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was a member of the UL – Lafayette (then known as Southwestern Louisiana Institute) weightlifting team which won eight national championships between 1957 and 1971, and established itself as one of the nation’s most-successful collegiate lifting programs. A documentary film tentatively entitled, The Ragin 13, by filmmaker Nicholas Campbell, is currently being filmed and traces the inspirational underdog story of this exceptional team and its achievements.

CODOFIL celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018 and was featured in the Governor’s Office in the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

For more information on the Acadian Museum, please visit http://www.acadianmuseum.com. Information on CODOFIL may be accessed at https://www.crt.state.la.us/cultural-development/codofil/index.

Lafayette Parish is celebrating its Bicentennial this year with ongoing celebrations commemorating the time the Louisiana State Legislature carved off the western half of St. Martin Parish in 1823 to form a new parish named after the Marquis de Lafayette.     

Two years earlier, in 1821, Jean Mouton donated a parcel of land to the community then known as Vermilionville for a Courthouse and a Cathedral. Mouton became known as the founder of Vermilionville that in 1884 became the City of Lafayette in honor of the French marquis who fought in the American revolution.

Our guest is Sami Parbhoo who is heading up the series of events throughout 2023 that will honor the history of our parish and look to what the future holds.

Lafayette Parish enjoys a proud history of various cultures coming together, starting with the indigenous Atakapa-Ishak, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Opelousas, who were the first to inhabit the area. Acadian refugees settled in the area after Le Grand Dérangement from Canada in 1755 when Great Britain captured the land from France. The Acadians married other native, French, Spanish, and African settlers, forming the rich culture and history of Lafayette Parish.

For more information and a list of events taking place, please visit www.lafayette1823.org. 

Our guest is Dr. Thomas Bond who specializes in regenerative medicine. Dr. Bond graduated from LSU in New Orleans and served as LSU Medical Center Chief of Sports Medicine. During his three-year tenure at LSU, Dr. Bond was the Medical Program Director for the LSU Sports Medicine Fellowship Program.

He founded Total Care Health and Wellness Medical Center in 2007. In 2018, Dr. Bond opened the Regenerative Medicine Institute of Louisiana. Former athletes and local business people who have been treated by him enthusiastically tout the success of Dr. Bond’s treatment protocols in relieving them from debilitating pain without surgery.

Dr. Bond was trained in allopathic medicine, which is the traditional Western medicine that focuses on treating symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation or surgery. But, after years of playing football and racing mountain bikes, taking his fair share of tumbles and breaking bones, he experienced a final blow with a bad car accident in 2002 that led to his pain becoming unbearable. He did all the standard allopathic procedures, such as anti-inflammatory medicine and physical therapy, but nothing worked. He was then told he needed a three-level fusion which at the age of 30 did not bode well for his future health and wellness.

Thus began Dr. Bond’s research on regenerative medicine. He met other physicians he trusted that were doing international mission work in Honduras that helped hundreds of people and had his first regenerative procedure done in an open-air setting in a church there. And it was a success! Immediately. And amazingly, the doctors were all treating each other. This was called prolotherapy in 2003, using a dextrose solution invented by German physicians over one hundred years ago.

Listen and learn more about the latest techniques offered by Dr. Thomas Bond, the first physician in Louisiana to offer interventional regenerative therapy using Prolotherapy, PRP, Platelet-Lysate, and Stem-Cell procedures, which he offers along with his traditional Western medical practice for patients who experience chronic joint and musculoskeletal pain.

For more information, visit https://bondmedicalcenter.com/our-services.

Father Floyd Calais, known as “Flo” to his friends and family, joins Discover Lafayette to share his incredible faith journey. He is well known not only for his service as an active priest but also as a beacon of faith and hope for his many friends who visit him weekly to receive a blessing from God.

Father Calais was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest on June 3, 1950, and has served at churches in New Iberia, Melville, Richard, and Abbeville. He also served at Charity Hospital and St. Genevieve in Lafayette, with his last service being as Pastor at Holy Cross Church.

Father Calais retired in 1994 after 40 years in the priesthood. Olivia Savoie of Raconteur Life Story Writing was our conduit to meeting Father Calais and we thank you, Olivia, for your continued partnership with Discover Lafayette in helping us identify the people who define our community!

The high points in our interview relate to Father Calais’ appreciation for the mentorship of Father Braquet, the importance of Charlene Richard as being a conduit to miracles for his flock, and to be honest, the words of Father Calais as an older man who understands the importance of love for his fellow man.

Richard Zuschlag, Chairman of the Board & CEO of Acadian Companies, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his incredible life journey. Still working full-time, Richard shares his love and admiration for Acadian’s loyal employees who have made the company’s success possible.

Richard came to Lafayette from Pennsylvania in 1970 as a communications engineer for Westinghouse. In 1971, when new federal regulations caused funeral homes to discontinue using their car-based chassis for emergency transport, Richard joined with two friends, Roland Dugas and Richard Sturlese, to form Acadian Ambulance Service in Lafayette Parish. They opened for business on September 1, 1971, at 12:01 a.m., with two ambulances and eight employees. Richard is the only employee left from the early days, yet many of Acadian’s team have been with the company their entire career; the employees and management team are loyal to Acadian’s mission of delivering the highest quality emergency medical support and care.

Over 50 years later, Acadian has grown to approximately 5,000 employees in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Its six subsidiary companies include Acadian Air Med, Executive Aircraft Charter Service, Acadian Total Security, National EMS Academy, and Safety Management Systems. Last year, Acadian transported approximately 700,000 people across their four-state region.

Acadian Companies is privately owned and under Richard’s leadership, it became an Employee Stock Ownership Plan known as ESOP in 1993 to allow the employees to share in the company’s financial success.

Over the years, Richard has learned that the heart of Lafayette is one of giving, of faith, and of people helping one another. Listening to his words will inspire any young entrepreneur who is looking to help others by meeting their needs. We thank Richard for sharing his experiences of success, and also for sharing that he has made mistakes and is grateful to have learned what is important in life. It’s also interesting to hear his thoughts on being a young man moving to Lafayette from Pennsylvania in July during our typical 99-degree weather and 100% humidity, and how he quickly grew to love Lafayette, its people, and its culture, including the spicy food!

Richard’s civic work has included fundraising for worthy causes ranging from the Boy Scouts to UL-Lafayette, The World War II Museum, and local schools. Among many, many awards, he has been the recipient of the Lafayette Civic Cup, received the Distinguished Citizen Award, and has been named a “Louisiana Legend” by Louisiana Public Broadcasting. He was instrumental in setting up the first enhanced 911 system in the state which gave the operator both the address and the phone number for persons calling for emergency assistance.

For more information on Acadian Companies, please visit https://acadian.com/.

Lafayette lives for Mardi Gras! This episode is a special repeat of our interview with Rick Chappuis and John Swift who joined Discover Lafayette to discuss the history of Mardi Gras in Lafayette LA.

The first recorded Mardi Gras festivity took place on Feb. 14, 1869, at the Court House downtown. Although it was a simple party with a band, and nothing like what we experience today, it was all the community needed to see how much fun Mardi Gras could be! Today, the Greater Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association carries on the tradition and works to ensure that Mardi Gras remains a safe, family-friendly event.

Thank you for listening. This interview was the second interview Discover Lafayette recorded. We hope you have enjoyed our podcasts over the past six years; we have only scratched the surface of covering all the wonderful people and cultural activities which make Lafayette a very special place….the gateway to South Louisiana!