On this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Sarah Mary Toce Donlon, a speaker and consultant whose work bridges faith, wellness, leadership, human dignity, and the deeper questions that shape how we live.

Sarah Mary is a Lafayette native from a third-generation Lebanese family, rooted in the Mahtook family. She describes growing up surrounded by cousins, food, and family, swimming at her grandmother’s pool, and a deep sense of belonging. “I always just wanted to leave the world better than I found it,” she shares. “My family was so great and always supported my dreams and my big goals. I would say that they always dreamed bigger for me than I did for myself.”

Sarah Mary first studied Disaster Science and Management at LSU, a path she jokingly calls “basically a superhero degree.” Theology had always interested her, but she saw disaster response as a way to live out her faith in practical service: “I could do the work of Christianity in helping people in their most vulnerable times, caring for the hurt, the sick, and those in need.” As a young intern at the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness during the BP oil spill, she witnessed the gravity of public service in real time. “The FBI is on the phone and the helicopters are coming in. It was something to see. I could be a part of a crew that had a hand in helping people recover.”

Her path later turned toward advocacy, communications, and the dignity of women and children. Through spiritual direction, she began asking deeper questions about faith and theology. Her spiritual director eventually asked whether she had considered pursuing a degree in the subject. Sarah Mary remembered that as a child, she had written about that very dream in a journal. “I applied, I interviewed, I got in, I got a full scholarship,” she recalls of pursuing studies at Boston College. “It was unbelievable how it lined up. So I knew the path was made clear and I knew I was supposed to be there.”

At Boston College, Sarah Mary earned her Master of Divinity, a three-year program with a pastoral component. But she is quick to say that theological study did not give her neat answers. “I always say that I was seeking answers, but I didn’t get answers because I find in, at least the Christian tradition, when you get answers, you get more questions. The more you know, the more you know that you don’t know.” What she received instead was a deeper understanding: “My whole worldview was reshaped. As a person, the way I engage with people and with life and with thoughts was made so much deeper and more impactful.”

Part of her faith formation took her to Rwanda, where she completed her practicum teaching English and religion. Rwanda was then implementing English as a primary language, and Sarah Mary often used French to teach English to her students. She describes living on a school compound where “cows were roaming the grounds,” beginning mornings with dances with the children, and sharing meals with teachers. “It was such a spectacular experience,” she says. “It’s a beautiful country, more beautiful than people realize.”

A central theme of Sarah Mary’s work is that faith does not require a rejection of reason. She says, “The awakened brain is wired for spirituality. Faith elevates reason, and science can prove it.” In our conversation, she explains that this idea has shaped a retreat she calls Sacred Sight, influenced in part by Dr. Lisa Miller’s work in The Awakened Brain. Sarah Mary describes the human mind as needing both sides of the “picnic table”: logic, science, and facts on one side, and spirituality, philosophy, intuition, and the arts on the other. “In our world, we tend to think the only true way to know anything is through logic and science and facts, period,” she says. “So what Dr. Miller argues is that you’re only using half of your brain when you think that way.”

Sarah Mary’s Catholic faith informs how she understands the relationship between reason and transcendence. “Faith never contradicts reason. It just elevates it,” she explains. “Reason has a ceiling. You can reason things all the way as high as reason will let you. But then it has a ceiling. And that’s where faith comes in to elevate that ceiling.” This spiritual lens allows her to speak about suffering, meaning, and human purpose without reducing life to easy explanations. “Our suffering isn’t meaningless,” she says. “It has a larger meaning in the wider world.”

That belief also shapes her view of the human person. “As Catholics, we say we’re built in the image of God,” Sarah Mary says. “We have God’s fingerprints on our soul.” But she does not present faith as anti-intellectual or dismissive of science. Instead, she calls people to “expand the logic” and “dive into the faith.” For Sarah Mary, faith is not an escape from reality; it is a deeper engagement with it. “God’s footprints are all over the created order,” she says. “If you go into nature and you look with sacred sight, using that fully awakened brain, you can see reflections of God.”

Sarah Mary is especially compelling when she speaks about human dignity. Her theological education, she says, broke her out of “very black and white rigid notions of truth and not truth, right and wrong, and clear and not clear.” She learned to become more comfortable in “the gray,” where opposing truths can coexist in tension. She uses the example of Jesus being fully human and fully divine: “You have to hold two opposing ideas in tension, and they actually create the whole truth.” That same understanding applies to daily human relationships, leadership, communication, and conflict.

For Sarah Mary, dignity becomes practical when we ask who we have quietly decided is “other.” Reflecting on a psalm that says God prepares a banquet before one’s enemies, she observes: “What God doesn’t say is that your enemies are not invited to that banquet.” She challenges listeners to consider not only who they identify as enemies, but who they value less than themselves. “Where can we challenge ourselves to grow an understanding of that person and inevitably grow in empathy and understand that they are dignified, just like you and I, no matter their circumstance, no matter what they look like?”

That insight leads to one of the most grounded moments in the interview: how we see people experiencing homelessness. “Nobody grows up saying, I can’t wait to have to beg for food,” Sarah Mary says. “That wasn’t their dream.” She offers a simple but powerful phrase: “curiosity before judgment.” Rather than assuming we know someone’s story, she asks us to become curious first. “What if we just got curious about people’s lives before we made some all-knowing judgment when we don’t even know who they are?”

Through Sarah Mary, LLC, she now offers retreats, speaking engagements, leadership formation, corporate workshops, and spiritual conversations. Her work has included a teachers’ retreat at Cathedral Carmel, a diaconate retreat for the current deacons at the Diocese of Lafayette, a five-part Easter mission at St. Pius X Church, and corporate retreats focused on leadership and morale. She does not believe in offering canned answers. “I never like to treat symptoms,” she says. “I like to treat root causes and help people think more deeply so that they can understand. Because when we understand, then we own knowledge and knowledge can transform us.”

In corporate spaces, Sarah Mary often focuses on human flourishing, empathy, and communication. When morale is low or an organization is struggling through change, she helps people step back and see the larger picture. “Sometimes people just need to be heard and told that they’re understood,” she says. Her approach is rooted in servant leadership and the belief that people thrive when their dignity is recognized.

Sarah Mary also brings wellness into her work, not as a trendy add-on, but as part of the whole human person. Having worked as a trainer and in the health industry, she sees physical wellness as another form of healing. She has taught clients about movement, nutrition, and “adding more color in their life,” especially through fruits, vegetables, and micronutrition. In her view, faith and wellness are not separate: “God made it,” she says of the natural world. “It’s his pharmacy.”

The interview closes with practical wisdom about stillness, balance, and self-awareness. Sarah Mary says balance is often misunderstood. “I don’t think it’s giving everything equal amounts of yourself,” she explains. “Balance is knowing what your values are and making sure those are aligned with your daily priorities.” She encourages people to identify their values and then examine whether their actual days reflect those values. “We can go through a day and do 500 things and be incredibly efficient and accomplished, and then go to bed feeling like we did nothing because nothing that we did aligned with who we were and who we’re called to be.”

Sarah Mary offers a beautiful reminder about contemplation and prayer. Reflecting on silence, she references Pseudo-Dionysius and describes “a silence where you don’t quiet yourself, but the mystery and the awe of God silences you.” In that space, words fall short. “It forces you to stop saying anything and just receive.” She also reminds us that faith requires space and invitation: “God’s not going to force Himself into your life. He’s waiting for your invitation.”

This conversation with Sarah Mary Toce Donlon is ultimately about depth: deeper faith, deeper listening, deeper leadership, deeper dignity, and deeper awareness of the human being. She invites us to move beyond quick fixes, rigid categories, and surface-level solutions, and instead to ask better questions, hold mystery with humility, and see ourselves and others as created in love.

For more information, visit https://www.sarahmary.org/

Our guest today is Chad Sonnier, Director of the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (OHSEP) for Lafayette Parish.

With over four decades of service in fire protection and emergency response, Chad Sonnier brings unmatched experience to the role of coordinating disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts across federal, state, and local agencies, nonprofits, and the private sector.

“I was 18 years old, hired to be in the fire service and helping people in their time of need. It is something I’ve really become accustomed to, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I mean, people call 911 at their worst time of day or worst time in their life, and, we’re there to help them, that’s what we’re there for.”

Chad served as City of Scott’s Fire Chief before being named to his current post. He had served with the Lafayette Fire Department for years before his appointment with the City of Scott.

Over the course of his career, Chad has worked as a hazmat technician, fire engineer, fire coordinator, and hazmat chief. In 2020, he was inducted into the Louisiana Fire Chiefs Hall of Fame—a testament to his lifelong passion for public safety.

“Helping people is my passion. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Chad Sonnier shares.

A Newly Formed Office

The department was officially created in 2024 by Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet, who recognized the growing federal and state mandates in emergency management and the need to keep her community safe. It now operates independently of 911 services, with a broader scope that includes emergency responses to events such as hurricanes, mass gatherings like Mardi Gras, hazardous material accidents, and unexpected “no-notice” events such as train derailments.

This year in 2025, for the first time, Lafayette’s Emergency Operations Center partially activated its services during Mardi Gras. Agencies including fire, police, Acadian Ambulance, local hospitals, and even federal partners like the FBI and ATF, worked side by side to ensure public safety. “When you’re face to face in the same room, communications are so much better,” Chad explains.

Beyond Hurricanes: Preparedness in Action

While hurricanes are top of mind for many residents, Chad addressed the wide range of emergencies his office addresses to help those most in need:

Chad reflects, “I was taken aback by how many people are willing to help, especially in Lafayette Parish. If it wasn’t for these nonprofits, I don’t know where a lot of people would be today.”

Planning Ahead and Responding Fast

Chad contrasts his years as a firefighter—where speed and immediate action are critical—with the long-term strategic planning required in his current role.

His office scripts hurricane responses a week in advance of landfall, but also prepares in advance for sudden emergencies that occur without warning.

“No-notice events” like hazardous material spills require rapid mobilization of shelters, water, food, and safe housing, often within an hour to ninety minutes. Recreation centers, the Cajundome, and other facilities are pre-designated as shelters or reunification centers, ensuring displaced residents can quickly reconnect with loved ones.

A new IT-driven reunification system allows families to upload identifying details and photos of missing loved ones, giving hospitals and responders immediate access to information during a disaster. “Pictures make all the difference,” Chad emphasizes, noting lessons learned from past Louisiana crises.

Before Mayor-President Monique Boulet’s administration, LCG did not have designated reunification centers. In the event of a large-scale or no-notice disasters, such as major flooding, families had no single point of contact to locate or receive information about loved ones.

Today, through the leadership of OHSEP, and Mayor-President Boulet, reunification plans are in place. Multiple recreational centers throughout the parish have been pre-identified to serve as reunification centers. Within 30 minutes of an event, a site can be activated and ready to receive families.

The reunification process is supported by a new IT platform developed by Lafayette Parish. Family members can enter identifying information about missing loved ones, including distinguishing features such as tattoos. Area hospitals are connected to the system, allowing staff to search for patients using those details. This coordinated effort makes it possible to quickly identify and reunite families, with responders able to say, “Your loved one is at this location,” and ensure a safe handoff.

Tools, Technology, and Preparedness Tips

OHSEP has adopted cutting-edge technology such as geofencing, which enables targeted emergency alerts to people in specific areas.

Chad encourages all residents to plan ahead for unexpected events by doing the following:

Chad also underscored the importance of taking care of pets in family safety plans: “We’ve learned that pets are just as important as children or spouses. Our shelters provide space, food, and water for pets so families can stay together.” Shelters are equipped with spaces for your beloved pets and food to sustain them (Look up quote from download)

Volunteers and Community Resilience

Lafayette Parish’s ability to recover depends on volunteers, but Chad points out that many leave with their families during evacuations, cutting the available workforce in half. He encourages listeners to get involved through Acadiana VOAD, choosing from opportunities to assist with sheltering, food distribution, or recovery efforts.

A Personal Note

Outside of emergency management, Chad and his wife enjoy traveling in their motorhome in their free time. He recalled the rare peace of being disconnected during a cruise they took, joking that his phone “sounded like a slot machine” once it reconnected to a signal as they approached land. He jumped back in to the fray, happy to help those who reached out. Listening to this podcast, you will understand the commitment that Chad Sonnier has to public safety and his job.

Final Thoughts

Chad Sonnier’s commitment to public safety is unwavering. From planning large-scale emergency responses to ensuring Lafayette’s most vulnerable residents have access to shelter and support, his leadership ensures that the parish is prepared for both the expected and the unexpected.

For more information, visit https://www.lafayettela.gov/ohsep/home

Overview: In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Stacy Romero, Executive Director of Louisiana Economic Alliance for Development (“LEAD”), the leading organization for economic development professionals in Louisiana.

Stacy is dedicated to equipping professionals with the knowledge, connections, and resources needed to drive meaningful community impact through high-impact education, strategic advocacy, and collaborative networking.

Background and Experience: Stacy holds a degree from UL Lafayette and has completed multiple leadership programs, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management, the Business Leaders Fellowship Program, and the Council for a Better Louisiana’s Leadership Louisiana program. In 2024, she was honored with the Junior Achievement of Acadiana Richard E. Beaudoin Friend of Business Award.

Journey into Economic Development:

Key Topics Discussed:

Get Involved with LEAD:

Conclusion: Stacy Romero’s passion for workforce development and economic strategy shines through in her work with LEAD. By fostering collaboration and equipping economic development professionals with essential tools and knowledge, she is playing a vital role in strengthening Louisiana’s economy.

Tune in to hear Stacy’s insights on how economic development efforts impact businesses and communities across the state!

Pat Mire, who founded Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival in 2006, joins Discover Lafayette, along with his wife, Rebecca Hudsmith, to discuss his career as a filmmaker celebrated for his authentic portrayals of Cajun culture. Since his early days as a filmmaker, Pat has been able to make a living solely by directing and producing films which resonate with audiences of all backgrounds and of various cultures.

Cinema on the Bayou Festival was created in 2006 by chance, after the devastating damage wreaked by Hurricane Katrina upon New Orleans. “The National Film Board of Canada called me saying there was a US premiere of the documentary “Maroon,” by famed Quebecois filmmaker Andre Gladu that was supposed to be playing at the New Orleans Film Festival. I was living in uptown New Orleans and we all had to leave. There was nobody living in New Orleans at that time in 2006.. And so I came here to Lafayette. There was no New Orleans. It was an opportunity. I decided we were going to pay for his hotel, fly him here, and pay a stipend. I said, I’m starting a film festival. That’s how it started. I’ve worked with all the scholars here, including Barry Ancelet and Carl Brasseaux, to preserve our local culture.”

Since 2006, Cinema on the Bayou has presented hundreds of internationally acclaimed documentary, narrative fiction, animated and experimental films, with filmmakers in attendance from across the United States and around the world. The Festival is now unique among film festivals in the U.S. in that it also regularly screens a large number of French-language independent films and presents filmmakers from throughout the Francophone world. 

Pointe Noire, a film the couple co-wrote and produced together, will premier on January 22, 2025, at the St. Landry Cinema in Opelousas as a feature film of the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival. Local talent, Andrew Morgan Smith, a veteran composer from Youngsville, was the composer for the movie’s score.

Cinema On the Bayou runs from Jan. 22 – 29, 2025. For Pointe Noire’s premiere on Jan. 22, doors will open at 6 p.m. at St. Landry Cinema, 1234 Heather Dr., Opelousas, with a Red Carpet wine reception. The film will screen at 7 p.m. Following the film screening and Q&A, the after-screening reception for all attendees will be held at Cite des Arts, 109 Vine St., Lafayette. There will be a cash bar along with complimentary boudin and king cake. Tickets for the opening night film screening and reception are $20 per person and cna be purchased in advance at www.cinemaonthebayou.com. All-Access passes for the festival can be purchased at:  https://cinemaonthebayou2025.eventive.org/passes/buy

Pointe Noire, shot throughout the Acadiana area, stars Canadian film stars Roy Dupuis and Myriam Cyr, and features Michael Bienvenu and Zachary Richard.  It tells the story of filmmaker and crawfisherman Louis Leger (Roy Dupuis) and criminal defense attorney Dolores Arceneaux (Myriam Cyr), who join forces in the Cajun prairie community of Pointe Noire in an effort to save the life of Joel Richard (Michael Bienvenu), a falsely accused man on Louisiana’s Death Row. What follows is a search to find out what really happened 30 years ago when two people were killed on the night of the traditional courir de Mardi Gras. Along the way, Louis and Dolores uncover a hauntingly beautiful, isolated community suffering from secrecy and deceit, yet ultimately striving to achieve its own form of folk justice.  

Pat’s documentaries have been broadcast nationally on PBS, the Discovery Channel, and many more platforms, and have earned prestigious awards including the American Anthropological Film Festival’s Award of Excellence.

“A film is told three ways. There are three films in one film. It’s what you write, what you shoot and what you edit… post production That’s, to me, the lace and embellishment. The negligee you put on the film at the end is so important.”

His first film, Dirty Rice, premiered at the 1997 New Orleans Film Festival, and was an official selection of the 1998 London Film Festival where it received critical acclaim. The film debuted at the United Artists Theatre on Kaliste Saloom Road and set a record in Lafayette for the longest running movie, held for over five consecutive months.

Pat’s story is intriguing, as he didn’t study film, but he always was drawn to the magic of filmmaking. “It started when I was a child, when I was in the Liberty Theater in Eunice with my older brother Louis. We were watching a black and white picture and all of a sudden I felt like my seat was unbolted, like I was just pulled into the crowd. I turned to my brother and said, ‘Lou, how did they do that? He said what? I said, how did they do that? He said what? I said, you know, how did they do that? He said, shut up and watch the show. It was a tracking shot. All of a sudden, without being able to explain it, I felt like I was manipulated. There was something going on behind the story, and it was the camera. It was a dolly shot, a tracking shot that was going on. I’ve always wanted to recreate that feel.”

On Pat’s first film, Dirty Rice: “It was an unpretentious little film I made for $10,400 from a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The Discovery Channel ran it 22 times, and I was paid $5,000 every time it ran. Back then, I lived off of it for a couple of years. I said, I’m not going to be crawfishing anymore. I’m making movies. and so that’s how it started.”

“Dance for a Chicken” was played so many times on PBS and it was back in the day when PBS was buying films at $1,000 a minute, and it was a 58 minute film. It was an hour film. 56 because you had to run it and you had four minutes of commercial at the end. Back then, I’m from Eunice and I could live on that. I knew I would make it. I was rocking and rolling. I really was.”

Attorney Rebecca Hudsmith met Pat in 2006 back at the first Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival, and they have been together ever since. Melissa Bonin, the renowned artist who Rebecca showcased in her Bisteneau Shreveport art gallery, introduced them. Without saying more, when you meet them you can feel the love and support they offer each other.

Pointe Noire was originally premiered at the 38th edition of FICFA (“The Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie”) in late 2024. Pat said, “The film is bilingual, maybe 20% French. It has English subtitles. You take a chance doing a bilingual movie, but it’s more and more accepted. The screenplay appeals to an intellectual audience.”

Pointe Noire was financed by Rebecca’s brother, Scotty. Rebecca said, “Scotty has done really well for himself. One day we went on his private jet to my nephew and niece’s wedding. I said, Scotty, let me tell you about the screenplay Pat and I have written, and we talked about it on the plane. He said, ‘This may be the happiest I’ve ever seen you, talking about this story. What do you need?’ I said, I just happen to have a budget right here. And then before you knew it, we were in production.”

The film was created anamorphically, a technique that intentionally distorts an image to create a wider field of view or a three-dimensional effect. Pat says, ” I wanted that look, that gritty look like True Detectives has. I wanted that 70s and 80s film look.”

Interestingly, the Canadian actors had to work on a Cajun dialect as they prepared for filming. “Roy Dupuis is from from Quebec. To sound like a Cajun was really important. Linguistically, it’s harder for Canadian actors to speak in “English Cajun.”

Pat knew the actors he wanted for Pointe Noire and wrote the script for them. Miriam Cyr (who was a 32-year old actress in Dirty Rice in 1997) and Roy Dupuis, the biggest film star in Canada, along with Zachary Richard, had worked with Pat before. As had Michael Bienvenu, Catherine Smith, Carolyn McGee, and several other actors.

In closing, may we point out how rich our region is with local talent. Please support Cinema on the Bayou and this year’s entries. Even more importantly, please lift up our local talent and pay to experience their works. They toil year round, and only survive by our contributions to their efforts. Thank you!

Discover Lafayette’s sound engineer, Jason Sikora, has a voice many of you are familiar with, as he’s participated in our interviews over the past seven years, ensuring a finely-tuned, professional podcast.

But many of you may not know his interesting back story, or how he came to live and work in Lafayette LA. A native of Detroit, Michigan and graduate of the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Jason has a rich collection of memories to share and insights into how rock concerts are orchestrated.

Jason’s dad worked for Ford Motor Company in Detroit, but when Jason and his two brothers were young, the family moved to Hartland, Michigan to be able to escape the city life and its accompanying declining socio-economic factors in the 1980s. Describing Hartland as “basically a truck stop,” it was much more. Jason graduated from Hartland High School, playing drums in its marching band and eventually serving as the Hartland Eagles’ mascot.

Sadly, Jason’s younger brother, Kris, died when he was 11 years old, from a blood disorder. Kris’ life and death had great meaning, however, as researchers were able to study his condition. Jason stated that today, people with Kris’ condition would survive.

Upon graduation from high school, Jason hightailed it to Hollywood, California to attend the Musicians Institute (“MI”), a college that was known as a ‘player’s school,’ meaning that students were taught the skills to make a sustainable career in the music industry. While many young people could qualify to be a guitar tech based upon their self-taught abilities, Jason credited MI for a valuable education and teaching him guitar repair and cable management.

” I started playing guitar in 6th grade, so I had six to seven years of experience with signal flow, how to solder microphones back together. I learned a lot in high school with my band, messing with pedals and guitars and amplifiers. I did learn guitar repair, cable management and how to get tone while in college at MI.”

Andy Brauer hired Jason right after graduation from MI, to work at his shop that specialized in instrument and musical gear rentals. Jason had the good fortune to work with Faith Hill in his very first gig, being hired to work at Skywalker Ranch to assist in recording track sessions. “I got to hang out with the best musicians in the world for a week: Mike Landau, Dean Parks, Paul Bushnell, and Vinnie Calaiuta are monster players!” Jason also got to witness the regular lives of performers such as Faith Hill, her husband, Tim McGraw, and their children, and realized how fortunate he was to be a part of this experience in the ordinary lives of superstars as the album was being cut.

Jason then met Michael Lockwood, a guitarist who hired him to be a touring guitar tech for Aimee Mann, who he worked for as a touring guitar tech. He performed sound checks and restrung guitars, ensuring that all would go well during concerts. Jason would continue this type of work for several years, working with greats such as Lisa Marie Presley, Britney Spears, and the Goo Goo Dolls, as well as other acts during what he calls his ‘lost years from 2004 to 2006’, such as Hanson, Gerard McMahon, Puddle of Mudd, and the recording of “A Mighty Wind,” an album accompanying a movie of the same name, featuring Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Jennifer Coolidge and many other staples of comedy culture of the time.

“The work ethic is very different when you’re on the road. You’re not allowed to be sick. The show must go on. If there is a half million dollar guarantee and there are 10,000 people out there, your rig has to work. There was always a doctor out there with water, vitamins, and oxygen. You have to do the show. There’s no back-up. No one else would know my rig,” says Jason Sikora.

Asked if he missed traveling on the road for months as a time as a guitar tech, Jason says, “It is not so much about the job but the people you get to work with. I do miss putting on a show, but not all the other things such as pushing heavy equipment, the long days, or the stress.”

Jason Sikora remembers with fondness the time he worked with the principals behind “A Mighty Wind,” a mockumentary comedy film starring Christopher Guest who according to Wikipedia, “co-stars and reunites many of Guest’s company of actors from This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and Best in Show, including Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, and Parker Posey. “The album accompanied the movie of the same name,

Jason moved to Lafayette in 2010 after meeting Lafayette native Scott Olivier, another music technician, who had been working for Michael Jackson before the musician’s untimely death. Jason had been working for the Goo Goo Dolls, and would work in a warehouse where other musicians such as Scott Olivier, as well as Credence Clearwater Revival, Van Halen, and others had space. “Touring was so far behind technology with no technical data backup, no security, no central management of data.” So Scott and Jason saw the opportunity to create Laptop Roadie, and they headquartered in Lafayette LA where Scott hailed from. Jason says, “I knew I didn’t want to live in a forty-foot bus at that point in my life. And I knew I didn’t want to live in a big town like New Orleans.”

While Laptop Roadie didn’t survive as a company, many good things came from the endeavor. Jason met Chris Rader, through Chris’ banker, Craig Duplechin. Chris ended up hiring Jason, along with others who had been a part of Laptop Roadie. Jason says, “I was the number 6 employee of RADER, along with numbers 7 and 8, John and Joseph, (who came along from Laptop).”

“I certainly don’t miss unloading a 53’ truck every morning at 7 a.m. or loading it back up at 11 p.m. that night. I do miss the amazing people. After 10 years of working with artists like Faith Hill and Britney Spears, I swapped my job, music, with my hobby — computers. I moved to Lafayette with my girlfriend, jumped into the computer business and ended up at Rader. It’s tough and it’s full of great people, who like me, played with computers as a hobby and liked it enough to make it their job of choice.” Pictured is Jason Sikora with Chubby Carrier, at a recording of Discover Lafayette podcast.

Jason is now a Technology Specialist with RADER’s project team. “I take on onboarding, offboarding, special projects. I work with domain names and email integration, as in merging information from one platform to another. You have to know how to trouble shoot. Things change daily so you have to keep up. Just as when I was on the road handling things daily.” Jason is a valued member of the RADER team, and takes his profession seriously, while thanking Chris Rader for the opportunity he provided him.

“I always wanted to do something in music. I’ve always enjoyed music and wanted to be surrounded by music somehow. Whether its working in a studio, working for an artist, or playing. I knew I would always play. I always have a guitar here in the podcast room. Anywhere I go there is always my guitar and gear around. But only one in a million make a living playing music. It wasn’t in the cards for me. I basically switched my hobby and my job in working at RADER. On the road, I was the guy who could fix computers. Now my job is fixing computers and my hobby is music. I still play guitar. Here at RADER, Brandon Daigle and I got together in 2014 to write music. Two hours per week, every Thursday night. After five years, we finally had 10 songs!

Happily, Jason is still pursuing his love of music, and has published a double EP with his band, “Cancel the Sun.” His coworker, Brandon Daigle, and Jason, can be listened to on Spotify, where you can enjoy beautiful extended play music as “Zero Point” and “Neutrality.”

Enjoy music by Jason Sikora’s Cancel the Sun band at Spotify, which he created with RADER team member Brandon Daigle.

In closing, we’d like to include Jason Sikora’s comments about his boss, Chris Rader. “Chris is very smart in his mindset. He asks, ‘What does the user need to get their job done and make their life less of a headache? Let’s do that thing.’ We are as proactive as possible. If your internet goes out or if you get hacked, we probably know it before you do.”

We cannot thank Jason Sikora enough….for his professionalism, his commitment to Discover Lafayette, or the joy he brings to each podcast interview. Thank you, Jason! And thanks to Chris Rader and the team at RADER for supporting our podcast for the past seven years. What a gift, what an opportunity to share stories such as that which Jason Sikora shared with us on this episode.

Dr Jason Cormier, a Lafayette neurosurgeon, joins us for his second interview, this time to focus on traumatic brain injuries, in athletes of all ages who are engaged in high-impact sports.

Dr. Cormier actively assists the NCAA and the NFL in working to prevent brain injuries. We reached out to him after Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills collapsed suddenly during a Monday Night football game after rising from a hit. And sadly, just two weeks after Hamlin’s injury, Russell Gage was injured late in the 4th quarter in the Tampa Bay/Dallas Cowboys game after a rough hit to the head rendered him unable to get up. After being transported off the field on a cart, Gage was diagnosed with a concussion and possible neck injuries. With high-profile NFL injuries making the news, some wonder if football will always be a part of our lives.

While NFL Football seems to be one of the roughest and toughest of all sports, Dr. Cormier provides insight into the dangers of all sports’ activities. Basketball players routinely suffer from concussive head injuries. Death rates in the NFL are 6 per million; in equestrian activities, the death rate is 20 per million, and in girls’ soccer, the death rate is 15 per million.

In the U. S., 1.6 to 3.8 million concussive injuries occur each and every year, and these are only the ones that are reported so the figure may be much higher. 300,000 of these injuries are from football and Dr. Cormier reports that 62,000 of these take place in high school-age players. All in all, there is a 19% likelihood that you will sustain a concussion or head injury if you participate in any high contact sports. And if you have had a concussion, it is likely that you also sustained some type of neck injury.

Gladiator sports have been appealing to spectators going back to the Roman Empire time period. It is unlikely that we will see a diminished interest in today’s exciting, but dangerous sporting activity. So, Dr. Cormier recommends that parents get as much information as they can for their children as to how to protect them with current technology and best practices. And above, emphasize a reliable and time-tested way to survive in the world: an education!

Dr. Cormier is an engaging guest and full of information on the latest protective technologies to protect our most precious commodity: our brain. We thank Jason Cormier for his contributions to the medical community here in Lafayette and across the U. S.!