In this episode, John Ray sat down with Kevin Carter, one of the attorneys at Standard Title. Of course they talked about Kevin and how he got into real estate law. They also talked about what title work is and why it is important. Kevin share about some creative things he is seeing in this market to move transactions forward despite heightened interest rates. We hope you enjoy this episode. Let us know what you think. Like us and follow us. Share us with a friend!

In this episode, John Ray sat down with Jesica Hauerwas, the president of the DLU (Downtown Lafayette Unlimted). Before diving into the nonprofit and its function, Jess shared her rainey day part hacks - Michelangelo on their back, bubbles in the house and glow sticks in the tub. DLU serves its members, raises awareness and hosts programming. Downtown alive, lunch and learns and coffees withs. Stay tuned for her favorite downtown party - their annual crawfish boil. She believes that the downtown area of any city is like a stamp of what the city is like. She is passionate about downtown and has a vision for what it could be. Find out more at https://downtownlafayette.org/

In this week's BONUS episode, John Ray sat down with Lance Kelehan, the CFO of Keller Williams Realty of Acadiana. Lance has been in the real estate industry fro over a decade. Part of his role is to analyze the market data and help our agents understand what's happening in the market. With all the hype in the media about whether or not the market is crashing, hopefully this episode will give you a good understanding about what we are actually seeing in the Acadiana area real estate market. We also discussed whether or not its a good time to be a buyer and/or a seller in today's market.

Favorite thing about Acadian:  The musical talent we have in this area

Favorite Cajun Dish: Chicken Cracklings
Business Advice: Do something you're passionate about. Make sure you're WHY is exponentially

bigger than the what you started your business for.

In this episode, John Ray sat down with Matt Davis, owner and head coach of Louisiana Judo. Matt and John Ray met in college in the early 2000’s when they both played Judo for UL. Both trained by Connie Lavergne who was the coach for UL Judo, which at the time was one of the largest Judo clubs in the country. Matt opened Louisiana Judo to pass on the love of the sport. Today, Louisiana Judo is training international athletes. Find out more information by checking out their website and their Facebook.

Louisiana Judo: https://www.facebook.com/Shinkai.Judo

Favorite thing about Acadian:  The Food

Favorite Cajun Dish: Crawfish
Business Advice: Find something you’re passionate about and take a leap of faith.

In this episode, I had the opportunity to sit down with Marie Ducote-Comeaux, owner of Cajun Food Tours. She grew up down the bayou and would move to Lafayette to get a degree in public relations. When she graduated, she became a restaurant manager for Pizza Hut. That would lead her to a 14 year career of teaching and eventually becoming an assistant principal.

Her faith has guided her throughout her life. She tells the story about how at every change, she would bring her next step to God and allow him to “fire up her passion.” This prayer about the next would ultimately lead her finding food tours on a trip. Her two favorite things, tours and food. So every time she would travel, she would seek out these food tours.

Eventually she would end up on a bus food tour and that night the Lord set it on her heart to do this in Lafayette. Buying a bus and being a business owner was not on her list. Every detail, from the inside of the bus to the color of the logo was set on her heart.

Cajun Food Tours: https://www.cajunfoodtours.com/

Favorite thing about Acadian: The People

In this episode, I had the opportunity to sit down with Austin Shumaker, a local business owner in Lafayette. We talked about his journey from Oil and Gas to mortgage ordination. He stepped out of Oil and Gas and into the lending world, and that journey would awaken his entrepreneurial world. Coming from a long line of entrepreneurs, Austin instinctively saw an opportunity to shape the mortgage world in the way he wanted to. Simply put, he saw a different way. 

He began that journey by founding Louisiana Home Lending, which today is rebranded into Neighborly Home Lending - "Welcome to the Neighborhood!" He and his staff of 13 have recently been named by Inc 5000 the number 1034th fastest growing companies in American - 5th in Louisiana, 40th in Real Estate and 1st in Lafayette. 

He and I would go on to talk about today's Real Estate Market. Interest Rates, Inventory and why now is still a good time to be both and buyer and a seller. We hope you enjoy this episode! Like us and follow us on your podcast listener of choice.

Neighborly Home Lending: https://neighborlyhomelending.com

Favorite Cajun Dish: Catfish Courtbouillon

#MovinAcadiana #LetsGetMovin #heyheyitsjohnray #theorchard #local #acadiana #greatpeople #greatfood #greatmusic

In this episode, I sat down with Todd Citron, the General Manager of Hub City Ford. His family has been in the car business since the early 1900's. His grandfather, after attempting to teach the people of Honduras how to farm sugar cane, came up the Mississippi River and saw a plant in New Orleans. It was 1918 and he needed a job. So he followed the smoke to the plant and began sweeping floors for the Ford Motor Company. After serving them for years, they awarded him the Lafayette Franchise in 1943. 

Todd shared about the success of Hub City Ford and he feels sets them apart. He talked about the changes in the car industry and where he feels the industry is heading.

Todd is also a fellow podcaster. You can find his podcast - Cajun Catholics on Catholic Radio KLFT 90.5 here in Lafayette, LA. He has recorded over 200 episodes since 2019. Check it out on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/6g1Ibo2mbdy7jRf6awLeyB?si=68cb629807a7468a

Hub City Ford: https://www.hubcityford.net

Favorite Cajun Dish: His Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

In this episode, John Ray sits down with Tyler Racca. Tyler is an local entrepreneur who began in sales career when he was handed a stack of business cards and told to go find some business. He would be invited to join the team at the Orchard where he would eventually become the owner and CEO. Tyler tells us a bit about his story and journey. He also goes into great detail about the Orchard's story, which really started inside and Apple forum and has now grown into multiple locations in the Acadiana area and in the state. 

In addition to the Orchard, Tyler is also the owner of Nexus Consulting. Nexus focuses on helping to enhance the vision of business owners and enhance it with systems and operations. He helps free up business owners to be able to do what they do best, by finding the right people and designing the right systems.

The Orchard Store - https://www.theorchardstores.com

Nexus Consulting Solutions - https://www.nexuscosolutions.com

Favorite Cajun Dish: Meatball Stew

Favorite Festival: Festival Acadien et Creoles

Business Advice: Just start! Don't over analyze. Reach out for help!

In this episode we sit down with Ben Broussard of Catholic Charities of Acadian. Ben explains to us the impact Catholic Charities has in the Acadiana area and all the services they provide. The reason we sit down is that we are nearing the end of our bi-annual food drive. We have set a goal to collect and donate 20,000 lbs of food to FoodNet Food Bank, a division of Catholic Charities. It just so happened that 20,000 lbs is the amount of food needed to serve the people that FoodNet serves each month.

If you would like get involved or become a monthly donor of Catholic Charities, you can find out more information on their website https://catholiccharitiesacadiana.org

In this episode, John Ray and Ben talk about the importance of how you volunteer. What volunteering under VOAD does to ensure that people don't fall through the cracks. And how important it is to build awareness in the first two weeks, cause the cameras are going to go away and this is a recovery that will take years. Get involved at xhttp://catholiccharitiesacadiana.org/