It's Acadiana: Out to Lunch

Many of us aspire to a life in the arts. For evidence of that, you only have to look at the massive popularity of long-running shows like American Idol and The Voice. Apparently, competitive sketching does not make compelling viewing, so we don't see TV shows about visual artists. But there are many people who have dreams of being able to make a living from their painting or drawing.

Cayla Zeek is a visual artist. A designer. And illustrator. Cayla is also the owner of the store, Mattea's Hand - which you can find on Etsy and on Jefferson Street in Lafayette - where she sells her paintings, drawings and her wide range of unique and often quirky, greeting cards.

Brandy Cavitt works with small businesses to give them the advantages of marketing and presentation that bigger companies have, without the price tag that PR and social media consultancies usually charge. It's a business model that's working for Brandy and for her clients and it's a lifestyle choice that keeps Brandy grounded, focused, and most importantly, in Acadiana.

Photos over lunch at Cafe Vermilionville by Lucius Fontenot.

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The tension between town and country has been around since the Industrial Revolution. It exists in every developed nation where there are cities. The fact is, cities depend on surrounding rural regions to produce food. And rural regions depend on cities to produce manufactured goods, even as basic to their survival as tractors and shovels. But because of economics, politics, and other factors, we frequently find urban and rural populations at odds with each other.
Here in Acadiana, if you live on a farm or in a small town, you have a certain perception of Lafayette. It's too big, it's too busy, it's dangerous, and you don't go there unless you really need to. It's the same perception people in Upstate New York have of Manhattan, or people in Bakersfield have of Los Angeles. It gets even more granular here. If you live in Lafayette itself, you might have similar feelings about downtown versus your neighborhood. That's why there's an organization dedicated to keeping downtown Lafayette thriving, and making sure we all know that it's a safe and great place to live, work, eat, shop, and play. That organization is the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority.

Anita Begnaud is CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority.
Besides economics and politics, there are other factors that have come to pit urban and rural communities against each other. The biggest of these other factors is perception. Or, in many cases, misperception. Cities get the reputation of being places that are dangerous and unwelcoming. Those reputations are often the result of reports of incidents that may in themselves be true, but the way these events are presented to us gives them a weight that is often disproportionate to reality. That method of presentation of information is Television.
From the mid 20th century on, TV, and especially TV news, has had an enormous influence on how we see the world. Including how we see ourselves in Acadiana. If you're the gatekeeper of that perception, you have a big responsibility. Here in Lafayette, that role belongs to Sean Trcalek.

Sean is the General Manager of KADN-FOX15, KLAF-NBC, and MyNetwork Acadiana.

Photos over lunch at Marcello's Wine Market Cafe by Lucius Fontenot.

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One of the knocks we frequently hear about being an entertainer in Acadiana, is that if you don't play Cajun or Zydeco music, you're not going to work.
If it's true that the exception proves the rule, you're not going to find a bigger exception to that rule than Flip Orley. Flip doesn't play an accordion or fiddle. But he could make you play one. Flip Orley is a comic hypnotist.

Flip has been entertaining audiences for 30 years. Although he lives in Acadiana, it's possible you've never seen Flip's show, or even heard of him. That's because he's hardly ever home. Aileen says, "I've been trying to find a date that Flip is in town to get him to be a guest on out to Lunch for over a year. Today, I've finally pulled it off."
In her wildest imaginings, Aileen hadn't envisaged just how off-the-rails a converation about business could go with a comic hypnotist. She soon finds out. And her other guest, Johnny Blancher, the owner of Rock'n'Bowl, only adds fuel to the fire.

There are plenty of places to see Cajun and Zydeco music in Acadiana, and all kinds of other music as well - from rock to classical. But Rock'n'Bowl is the only venue in Lafayette - and only a few in the world - where you get to hear music accompanied by the sounds of ten-pins being knocked down.
Rock'n'Bowl opened in downtown Lafayette in 2018. It's a live music venue, a bowling alley, a bar, and a restaurant. All in the one place. Although on paper it sounds like these very different activities would compete, and detract from each other. But in real life it's the opposite. At Rock'n'Bowl, bowling, live music, dancing, and eating feel like they belong together, and make for a unique night out.

Flip and Johnny hadn't met before they sat down to lunch with Aileen. Amidst the stroies and one-liners you do actually get to find out something about the business side of being a comic hypnotist and running a music venue/bowling alley/restaurant - but on top of than that, you get a preview of what should become the Flip and Johny Show.

This is a unique episode of Out to Lunch Acadiana. Photos over lunch at Cafe Vermilionville by Lucius Fontenot.

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In 1994, a guy called Jeff Bezos was working in banking when he decided to start up his own business, selling books online. Most people thought that was a stupid idea, for two reasons. One, nobody would want to give a total stranger their credit card number. And, two, if you wanted to buy a book, why wouldn't you just go down to the bookstore?
In the face of withering criticism, and years of phenomenal financial losses, Bezos persisted with his online shopping idea. Today his company, Amazon, drives global commerce. And Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Following in Bezos' logic-defying footsteps, other entrepreneurs were emboldened to launch startups based on what seemed like crazy ideas. Ideas that turned into like Facebook, Uber, Tinder, Tesla, and thousands of others - some successful, some not.

Local business person Laurel Hess has a startup business, called Hampr. That spelling might remind you of another local startup with a missing vowel, Waitr. The similarity is not insignificant. You can think of Hampr as the Waitr of laundry. Hampr is an app that will have someone show up at your house, pick up your dirty laundry, take it back to their house, and deliver back to you, clean. Is this a crazy idea that's going to crash and burn? Or is it the next big thing that will make Laurel Hess a billionaire?

Traci Pecot had a crazy idea too. She made a connection between lonely pets and lonely people. Specifically, pets whose owners need someone to look after them while the owners are away from home, and elderly people who are still active but forced to spend long hours alone. In May 2017, Traci launched her elder-people pet care business under the name, Paws and Paw Paws.
Today, business is booming and - like Amazon's progression from selling books to selling everything - the affectionate Paw Paws are a part of an expanding doggie pet care service that includes boarding and grooming.

Photos over lunch at Cafe vermilionville by Lucius Fontenot.

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You're probably familiar with the saying, "Nothing personal, it's just business." People use it as a justification for doing something that's going to advantage them, to the detriment of someone else. The underlying assumption is that wise-business-decisions and personal feelings are opposites.
There's nothing more personal than taste. So, how wise is it, when launching a business, to base the whole company on your personal taste? That's exactly what both of Aileen's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch have done.

Scott Shea and his two partners launched Cousin's Smokehouse because they wanted to eat better tasting jerky. They wanted jerky that tasted like it was made in Acadiana, not like the generic stuff you buy at the gas station. In this case, Scott's bet on personal taste paid off. Today, you can get Cousins Smokehouse jerky at 600 locations, including all of the Rouses's supermarkets in Louisiana.

Kim White launched her business, Bulldog Pepper Jelly, because she couldn't find pepper jelly that was spicy enough for her taste. So she started making her own pepper jelly. Spicy. The way she liked it. The next thing you know, Kim was making 250 jars of pepper jelly - a day. Kim's sister, Cindy, liked the taste of Kim's spicy pepper jelly and joined her in making it in commercial quantities. Today, you can find Bulldog Pepper Jelly at all of the Rouse's supermarkets as well as high-end food markets in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Photos at Marcello's Wine Market Cafe by Gwen Aucoin.

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The difference between men and women is a subject that s been examined from perhaps the beginning of time. Whether you believe the conversation starts with Adam and Eve, or a couple of organisms crawling out of the primordial soup, commentary about what sets genders apart is the province of everyone from archaeologists to comedians. You d be forgiven for wondering what we could contribute to this conversation on a radio show and podcast about Acadiana business. Well, here goes. Let s start with Emily Degan. Emily is the owner and CEO of a company called Saint Hugh. Saint Hugh makes clothes for women. Women who are involved in an activity that, for the most part, is the province of men. Hunting. Emily discovered when she was a young girl who liked to go hunting with her dad, that there were no hunting clothes that fit her properly. And the ones that did fit, didn t look good. Saint Hugh solves that problem by making outdoor apparel specifically designed for women. Saint Hugh designs look good, and they take into account the different demands of women s bodies out in the marsh or woods. Ross Fontenot started out his business in 2011 by dressing men. Ross and his business partner, John Peterson, opened a fashion forward menswear store in Lafayette, called Genterie. John left Genterie to start up the soft drink company, Swamp Pop. Ross stayed at Genterie, expanding the store and its market, to include women s fashion. Photos over lunch at Cafe Vermilionvilleby Gwen Aucoin.

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When we talk about a successful business, we usually talk about the idea behind it. We tend to do that because a single moment of inspiration is more exciting to talk about than the years of hard work it takes to build a business. But there s also another quality that s vital in making the leap from inspiration to action courage. You can have the best idea in the world for a business, but if you don t have the courage to take the leap and turn your idea into a reality and the courage to keep going through the tough times then you simply won t have a successful business. Maria Ducote had the courage to walk away from a safe career, to start up a business she knew little to nothing about. Maria was a teacher for 14 years. And an assistant principal for nine years. In 2010 she was at an education conference in Baltimore, and went on a food tour. That s when the inspiration hit a food tour would be a business that would work in Lafayette. Maria thought, "Somebody ought to do that". The somebody, it turned out, was going to be Maria herself. For over 7 years now, Maria s company, Cajun Food Tours, has been running daily food tours, in Lafayette and around Acadiana. Jaida McGee was born and raised in Kaplan, Louisiana. When she was 17, Jaida started designing, sewing, and selling children s clothing. She sold her clothes at farmer s markets, and used the money to help support herself through college. Then Jaida opened a store Blush Boutique, in Abbeville. Blush Boutique eventually left children s clothes behind and specialized in women s fashion. But by 2017, like lots of retail in America, business at Blush Boutique had slowed down. Jaida was thinking that, after 10 years, she would have to close. But she didn t want to do that. So, instead knowing nothing about web design or social media marketing Jaida decided to build her own website and create a marketing campaign based on video driven social media. The strategy worked. Blush Boutique in Abbeville bounced back and today is a booming business. Photos pover lunch at Cafe Vermilionville by Gwen Aucoin.

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You re probably familiar with the saying, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." At the same time that saying was coined in England, here in the United States, the sentiment was quite different. In 1790 the Federal Government passed the first Copyright Act, which made imitation illegal. We re still in the process of working out exactly what is imitation and what, legally, isn t. For example, George Rodrigue s famous Blue Dog. Rodrigue s Blue Dog is based on the Cajun folk tale of the Loup Garou. If you grew up in Acadiana and you paint a blue dog, are you expressing your Cajun culture Or are you ripping off George Rodrigue That s the kind of question that is not just theoretical to George Rodrigue s son, Jacques. As an attorney, Jacques Rodrigue is a specialist in Intellectual Property. He s also Executive Director of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts. The law firm Jones Walker is a major sponsor of Out to Lunch. So, Aileen thought she d take advantage of that relationship and invite Michael Leachman to lunch. Michael is a partner at Jones Walker. He s a specialist patent attorney. Michael works with clients on patents and trademarks. He represents clients in federal and state courts in the areas of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and all kinds of trademark and intellectual property disputes in a wide range of all fields, including science and technology. Photos at Marcello s Wine Market Cafe by Lucius Fontenot.

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You might remember a guy called Zach Barker. Zach used to be the director of the startup business incubator, Opportunity Machine. Zach had a basic business philosophy which he summed up in three words, "Get stuff done." It sounds simple. But in reality, in business, the difference between success and something less is the ability to execute. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Talk is cheap. To succeed you have to get stuff done. Both of Aileen s lunch guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana are unwitting disciples of this Zach Barker philosophy. Tiffany DeLeon Steward is an Executive Concierge and Personal Project Manager. Through her company, The Good Steward, Tiffany offers small businesses, non profits, and individual professionals short term, task based assistance. Tiffany s company s self described mission is "to help people grow their business so that they can enjoy the life they ve earned." Tiffany is also the chief Ice Cream Maker and CEO of Sugar Momma s Secret Confections. Brent Henley is an industrial psychologist. He s the founder and CEO of a company called The Pyramid Group. And author of a book called The Nexus Initiative. The Pyramid Group are consultants who work with businesses to improve everything about them from performance to sales, including diversity, team building, leadership, and more. The Nexus Initiative, describes a whole new approach to business in which you get what you want, based on a philosophy of giving. Photos over lunch at Cafe Vermilionville by Lucius A. Fontenot.

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In Acadiana there are a lot of things that differentiate us from the rest of the country. The biggest of all of them is music.
You can live in Kansas and learn to make a gumbo. You can live in California and row a pirogue. But there's no way in the wide world that you can convincingly play Jolie Blond on the accordion or Bosco Stomp on the fiddle, unless you're born and raised here.
Typically, in a Western capitalist economy, a rare resource is worth a lot of money. However, when it comes to our treasured musicians, we tend to under value them. Most Cajun and Zydeco musicians are working a second job to subsidize their music career.

Wilson Savoy plays in the Grammy Award winning band Courtbouillon, and crowd favorite Pineleaf Boys. He's also a carpenter, building and renovating homes.

Danny Devillier is a musician. And he's come up with a new angle on a traditional way musicians often subsidize their careers: giving music lessons. Danny is a drummer. He plays in the Grammy nominated band Bonsoir Catin, and he's played with everybody who's anybody in Cajun and Zydeco from Michael Doucet to Roddie Romero. But Danny doesn't just give drum lessons. He teaches people to play all kinds of instruments, including guitar and fiddle, at his music school, The Music Room, in Lafayette.

Photos over lunch at Cafe Vermilionville by Lucius A Fontenot.

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