One way or the other, if you’re in business in the 21st century, you’re selling yourself. That’s true whether you’re selling crafts or services. Social platforms like TikTok, Instagram or YouTube are basically all marketplaces of personality. 

You still need a product that people want, but that’s not really enough. You need to connect with people if you want folks to buy what you’re selling.

When it works. It works. For many entrepreneurs today, the game is about virality. But lightning in a bottle isn’t a business model. At some point, you’ve got to have structure to be sustainable. Ask Colette Bernard.

Colette first went viral in 2021 selling two thousand t-shirts on TikTok. She was living in New York at the time just after graduating from the Pratt Institute. She paid off a little bit of her student debt and got out of the city. By the time she landed back in Lafayette where she grew up, she had a burgeoning online business with hundreds of thousands of followers craving her quirky, playful designs. 

Colette now owns three businesses. A gift shop called Cocodrie, a vintage clothing shop called Retreaux and her design label, the Artist Colette. Social media is her fourth business, Colette says, and the one taking up most of her time. 

An online presence is useful, of course, if you want to reach people. But if you want to help them, you’ll need a more personal touch. Shalonda Thibeaux is a Christian Life Coach and she uses YouTube to spread her message. But most of her work is high touch. Clients book one on one sessions with her to get advice on navigating challenges and changes in their lives.

Shalonda, who grew up in New Iberia and lives in Lafayette,  got into Life Coaching after working to move past trauma and confidence problems in her own life. Helping people has been at the center of every job choice she’s made in her life. She spent eight years working in foster care for the state government and now works with a faith-based foster care service. 

Shalonda also spent years as a jail minister for incarcerated women. In 2023, she got her life coaching certification and launched her coaching business, Talks with Shay, in 2024. 

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.

One way or the other, if you’re in business in the 21st century, you’re selling yourself. That’s true whether you’re selling crafts or services. Social platforms like TikTok, Instagram or YouTube are basically all marketplaces of personality. 
You still need a product that people want, but that’s not really enough. You need to connect with people if you want folks to buy what you’re selling.
When it works. It works. For many entrepreneurs today, the game is about virality. But lightning in a bottle isn’t a business model. At some point, you’ve got to have structure to be sustainable. Ask Colette Bernard.
Colette first went viral in 2021 selling two thousand t-shirts on TikTok. She was living in New York at the time just after graduating from the Pratt Institute. She paid off a little bit of her student debt and got out of the city. By the time she landed back in Lafayette where she grew up, she had a burgeoning online business with hundreds of thousands of followers craving her quirky, playful designs. 
Colette now owns three businesses. A gift shop called <a href="https://cocodriecollective.com/">Cocodrie,</a> a vintage clothing shop called <a href="https://www.instagram.com/retreauxbycolette/">Retreaux</a> and her design label,<a href="https://artistcolette.com/"> the Artist Colette</a>. Social media is her fourth business, Colette says, and the one taking up most of her time. 
An online presence is useful, of course, if you want to reach people. But if you want to help them, you’ll need a more personal touch. Shalonda Thibeaux is a Christian Life Coach and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEWRqo-6MWNe_wY4tsN98dA?view_as=subscriber">she uses YouTube to spread her message</a>. But most of her work is high touch. Clients book one on one sessions with her to get advice on navigating challenges and changes in their lives.
Shalonda, who grew up in New Iberia and lives in Lafayette,  got into Life Coaching after working to move past trauma and confidence problems in her own life. Helping people has been at the center of every job choice she’s made in her life. She spent eight years working in foster care for the state government and now works with a faith-based foster care service. 
Shalonda also spent years as a jail minister for incarcerated women. In 2023, she got her life coaching certification and launched her coaching business, <a href="https://www.talkswithshay.org/">Talks with Shay</a>, in 2024. 
Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://lafayette.servingsushi.com/">Tsunami Sushi</a> in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by <a href="https://www.astormorgan.com/">Astor Morgan</a> at <a href="https://itsacadiana.com/2024/11/11/artrepreneur-unstuck/">itsacadiana.com</a>.

OUT TO LUNCH Business over lunch. Each week Christiaan invites guests from Acadiana's business community to join him. Beyond the foundations of the Acadiana economy - oil, cuisine, music - there is a vast network of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even some of the country's largest companies who call Acadiana home. Out to Lunch is the cafeteria of the wider Acadiana business community. You can also hear the show on KRVS 88.7FM.

OUT TO LUNCH Business over lunch. Each week Christiaan invites guests from Acadiana's business community to join him. Beyond the foundations of the Acadiana economy - oil, cuisine, music - there is a vast network of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even some of the country's largest companies who call Acadiana home. Out to Lunch is the cafeteria of the wider Acadiana business community. You can also hear the show on KRVS 88.7FM.

OUT TO LUNCH finds The Current Publisher and Editor Christiaan Mader conducting business Acadiana style: over lunch. Each week Aileen invites guests from Acadiana's  business community to join her. Beyond the foundations of the Acadiana economy - oil, cuisine, music - there is a vast network of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even some of the country's largest companies who call Acadiana home. Out to Lunch is the cafeteria of the wider Acadiana business community. You can also hear the show on KRVS 88.7FM.

It's Acadiana: Out to Lunch

OUT TO LUNCH Business over lunch. Each week Christiaan Mader invites guests from Acadiana's business community to join him. Beyond the foundations of the Acadiana economy - oil, cuisine, music - there is a vast network of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even some of the country's largest companies who call Acadiana home. Out to Lunch is the cafeteria of the wider Acadiana business community. You can also hear the show on KRVS 88.7FM.

OUT TO LUNCH Business over lunch. Each week Christiaan Mader invites guests from Acadiana's business community to join him. Beyond the foundations of the Acadiana economy - oil, cuisine, music - there is a vast network of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even some of the country's largest companies who call Acadiana home. Out to Lunch is the cafeteria of the wider Acadiana business community. You can also hear the show on KRVS 88.7FM.

Artrepreneur Unstuck

There’s a saying in show business: Every musician wants to be an actor. And every actor wants to be a musician. For a lot of people, either option would be a dream job. Especially if they grow up to be doctors or lawyers instead.

But do lawyers want to be doctors? Do doctors want to be lawyers?  Maybe. Maybe not. Even if you join the bar. You can still work in health care. Just ask Jack McGee.

Jack is an attorney. He got a law degree from Tulane. But he’s not practicing law so much these days. Instead, he’s running a plastic surgery clinic. McGee Plastic Surgery is the only clinic in Lafayette headed by a double board-certified surgeon. That would be Jack’s wife, Dr. Catherine Link-McGee. 

Jack runs the clinic’s business operations. And he still puts his law degree to work in contract negotiations and other office matters. And there are plenty of office matters to attend to. Unlike many plastic surgeons, the McGee’s take insurance.

The start-up challenges are daunting for starting a mom and pop surgery center, Jack says. But McGee has built a strong client base, serving 400 patients with a full-time staff of three. 

There’s plenty of lawyering in health care. For a lot of folks, medical malpractice suits might come to mind. But it’s a much bigger sector in the legal industry with a range of issues to be litigated, both literally and figuratively. 

Berryl Broussard is currently the in-house counsel for the Teche Action Clinic, a federally qualified health center. That essentially means it’s a special type of clinic designed to address health needs in places with few doctors and hospitals with services for uninsured and underinsured. 

Teche Action offers pretty much everything a patient might need. Primary care, dental care, counseling and more. The challenge here is how to make an action clinic sustainable. By definition, they receive federal funding, but it covers just a portion of the action clinic’s operating budget. 

Berryl has long career in health law and is a certified health care compliance professional. She was born and raised in Opelousas.  

Right now there are around 100,000 students in law schools around the country. Each year about 30,000 of those students graduate and become lawyers. Most of these folks start out in various types of legal positions - working in a law office – but after a few years a number of them find their way into other occupations, many in business.

It’s not necessarily that they don’t like being a lawyer, it’s because unlike other post-graduate studies - which focus in on a narrow specialty – law training ranges from a broad education in federal regulation to personnel skills required for client counseling.

A law degree is kind of the Swiss Army pocketknife of post-grad education. Berryl and Jack's individual journeys after law school have taken them down a lot of interesting paths, with further directions to come. 

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show at itsacadiana.com.

There’s a saying in show business: Every musician wants to be an actor. And every actor wants to be a musician. For a lot of people, either option would be a dream job. Especially if they grow up to be doctors or lawyers instead.
But do lawyers want to be doctors? Do doctors want to be lawyers?  Maybe. Maybe not. Even if you join the bar. You can still work in health care. Just ask Jack McGee.
Jack is an attorney. He got a law degree from Tulane. But he’s not practicing law so much these days. Instead, he’s running a plastic surgery clinic. <a href="https://www.mcgeeplasticsurgery.com/">McGee Plastic Surgery</a> is the only clinic in Lafayette headed by a double board-certified surgeon. That would be Jack’s wife, Dr. Catherine Link-McGee. 
Jack runs the clinic’s business operations. And he still puts his law degree to work in contract negotiations and other office matters. And there are plenty of office matters to attend to. Unlike many plastic surgeons, the McGee’s take insurance.
The start-up challenges are daunting for starting a mom and pop surgery center, Jack says. But McGee has built a strong client base, serving 400 patients with a full-time staff of three. 
There’s plenty of lawyering in health care. For a lot of folks, medical malpractice suits might come to mind. But it’s a much bigger sector in the legal industry with a range of issues to be litigated, both literally and figuratively. 
Berryl Broussard is currently the in-house counsel for the <a href="https://tabhealth.org/">Teche Action Clinic</a>, a federally qualified health center. That essentially means it’s a special type of clinic designed to address health needs in places with few doctors and hospitals with services for uninsured and underinsured. 
Teche Action offers pretty much everything a patient might need. Primary care, dental care, counseling and more. The challenge here is how to make an action clinic sustainable. By definition, they receive federal funding, but it covers just a portion of the action clinic’s operating budget. 
Berryl has long career in health law and is a certified health care compliance professional. She was born and raised in Opelousas.  
Right now there are around 100,000 students in law schools around the country. Each year about 30,000 of those students graduate and become lawyers. Most of these folks start out in various types of legal positions - working in a law office – but after a few years a number of them find their way into other occupations, many in business.
It’s not necessarily that they don’t like being a lawyer, it’s because unlike other post-graduate studies - which focus in on a narrow specialty – law training ranges from a broad education in federal regulation to personnel skills required for client counseling.
A law degree is kind of the Swiss Army pocketknife of post-grad education. Berryl and Jack's individual journeys after law school have taken them down a lot of interesting paths, with further directions to come. 
Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://lafayette.servingsushi.com/">Tsunami Sushi</a> in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show at <a href="https://itsacadiana.com/2024/11/18/its-the-law/">itsacadiana.com</a>.

It's The Law

If you're looking for an optimum time to do something difficult, it's easy to find excuses to procrastinate. When you're a habitual smoker is there ever "a good time" to quit smoking? When you prefer sloth, is there ever "a good time" to start working out? The answer is, of course, it's always a good time, and it's never a good time. 

It's the same with starting a business. There’s never really a good time to start a business. The common wisdom is, life happens. Don’t let it get in the way of the opportunity you see in front of you. 

Rhonda Dalquist found her way to selling ice cream after a series of life altering disruptions.  Her husband lost a leg, and they sold their veterinary practice. She spent time caring for her parents through terminal cancer and her mother-in-law through a stroke.

Rhonda came out on the other side of it with entrepreneurial spirit intact and an idea for a business that would satisfy her love of ice cream, nostalgia and people. In April 2024, she launched Creamery Coaster — a mobile ice cream service. The concept hearkens to a time when her mom sold homemade freeze-pops for a nickel. 

Creamery Coaster sells ice cream cones, chocolate dipped cones, ice cream cups, sorbet, cookies, push-pops and more. And like her mother did it, the push-pops are homemade. 

Rhonda sells the treats out of a bicycle cart named Magnolia.

About 10 years into running a massage therapy business, Donna Wilson went back to school. She was looking for something that could balance with her home life.  Donna kept on the nursing path and became a nurse practitioner. When the opportunity came up to buy an occupational medicine practice, she jumped on it. 

in June 2024, Donna launched her own clinic, Occupational & Integrative Medicine. The practice is unique in that it offers essentially two lines of health services — conventional medical treatment like check-ups and lab work and “integrative” treatment like nutrition coaching and hydration therapy. 

Donna sees about 12-18 patients a day with a staff of three.

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.

If you're looking for an optimum time to do something difficult, it's easy to find excuses to procrastinate. When you're a habitual smoker is there ever "a good time" to quit smoking? When you prefer sloth, is there ever "a good time" to start working out? The answer is, of course, it's always a good time, and it's never a good time. 
It's the same with starting a business. There’s never really a good time to start a business. The common wisdom is, life happens. Don’t let it get in the way of the opportunity you see in front of you. 
Rhonda Dalquist found her way to selling ice cream after a series of life altering disruptions.  Her husband lost a leg, and they sold their veterinary practice. She spent time caring for her parents through terminal cancer and her mother-in-law through a stroke.
Rhonda came out on the other side of it with entrepreneurial spirit intact and an idea for a business that would satisfy her love of ice cream, nostalgia and people. In April 2024, she launched <a href="https://creamerycoaster.com/">Creamery Coaster</a> — a mobile ice cream service. The concept hearkens to a time when her mom sold homemade freeze-pops for a nickel. 
Creamery Coaster sells ice cream cones, chocolate dipped cones, ice cream cups, sorbet, cookies, push-pops and more. And like her mother did it, the push-pops are homemade. 
Rhonda sells the treats out of a bicycle cart named Magnolia.
About 10 years into running a massage therapy business, Donna Wilson went back to school. She was looking for something that could balance with her home life.  Donna kept on the nursing path and became a nurse practitioner. When the opportunity came up to buy an occupational medicine practice, she jumped on it. 
in June 2024, Donna launched her own clinic, <a href="https://oimed.org/">Occupational &amp; Integrative Medicine</a>. The practice is unique in that it offers essentially two lines of health services — conventional medical treatment like check-ups and lab work and “integrative” treatment like nutrition coaching and hydration therapy. 
Donna sees about 12-18 patients a day with a staff of three.
Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://lafayette.servingsushi.com/">Tsunami Sushi</a> in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by <a href="https://www.astormorgan.com/">Astor Morgan</a> at <a href="https://itsacadiana.com/2024/11/04/feel-good-eat-ice-cream/">itsacadiana.com</a>.

Feel Good, Eat Ice Cream

Sometimes in business you just need to go in a different direction. Maybe you’re a victim of your own success. Maybe your work-life balance is out of whack. Maybe you’re bored or maybe you just need a little extra cash on the side. 

Recognizing the change is probably the easy part. Changing is the hard part — especially if you like what you do. 

Rachel Sam figured out the change part the hard way. She built a successful program at UL. Got promoted. Had a daughter. But things got hard. Anxiety flared up and so did back pain. She took some time to heal and had an epiphany. She wrote it down in a book called “Hello, My Name is Happy.” 

The experience moved her in a new direction. Rachel resigned from her role at UL in 2024 and went into consulting as Dr. Rachel Sam. 

Rachel’s consulting work is broad. She helps nonprofits lead workshops for teenagers. She consults with colleges and universities on academic success for students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Some of the organizations she works with include SafeHavyn, the Lafayette Juvenile Justice Center and the Boys and Girls Club. 

Sometimes a change can be a side-hustle. Maybe things are going pretty well, but you’re looking for a little extra cash or a chance to pursue your dream. 

That can all be daunting. And adding a new business to your workload is stressful. So why not try a taste of the sweet life with a franchise? 

Kylie Roussell took that path with her husband and bought into the sweet tea life. Kylie is part-owner and operator of Lafayette’s HTeaO franchise. HTeaO is a beverage company that specializes in iced teas — and they have lots of them, 26 flavors of iced tea alone. They also sell chais, coffees and espressos, drinks and a line of snacks. And that’s before you get to the secret menu

Kylie and her husband settled on HTeaO after first considering a restaurant. The franchise option presented an attractive alternative. Plus, she figured it wouldn't be hard to find a thirsty customer in sweltering Louisiana. Kylie lives in Iowa and originally looked at starting the tea shop in Lake Charles. They opted for Lafayette instead and launched with a location in River Ranch. 

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette.

Sometimes in business you just need to go in a different direction. Maybe you’re a victim of your own success. Maybe your work-life balance is out of whack. Maybe you’re bored or maybe you just need a little extra cash on the side. 
Recognizing the change is probably the easy part. Changing is the hard part — especially if you like what you do. 
Rachel Sam figured out the change part the hard way. She built a successful program at UL. Got promoted. Had a daughter. But things got hard. Anxiety flared up and so did back pain. She took some time to heal and had an epiphany. She wrote it down in a book called “<a href="https://a.co/d/0XA0ARV">Hello, My Name is Happy</a>.” 
The experience moved her in a new direction. Rachel resigned from her role at UL in 2024 and went into consulting as <a href="https://www.doctorrachelsam.com/">Dr. Rachel Sam</a>. 
Rachel’s consulting work is broad. She helps nonprofits lead workshops for teenagers. She consults with colleges and universities on academic success for students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Some of the organizations she works with include <a href="https://safehavynn.org/">SafeHavyn</a>, the Lafayette Juvenile Justice Center and the<a href="https://www.bgca.org/"> Boys and Girls Club</a>. 
Sometimes a change can be a side-hustle. Maybe things are going pretty well, but you’re looking for a little extra cash or a chance to pursue your dream. 
That can all be daunting. And adding a new business to your workload is stressful. So why not try a taste of the sweet life with a franchise? 
Kylie Roussell took that path with her husband and bought into the sweet tea life. Kylie is part-owner and operator of <a href="https://hteao.com/">Lafayette’s HTeaO franchise</a>. HTeaO is a beverage company that specializes in iced teas — and they have lots of them, 26 flavors of iced tea alone. They also sell chais, coffees and espressos, drinks and a line of snacks. And that’s before you get to the secret menu
Kylie and her husband settled on HTeaO after first considering a restaurant. The franchise option presented an attractive alternative. Plus, she figured it wouldn't be hard to find a thirsty customer in sweltering Louisiana. Kylie lives in Iowa and originally looked at starting the tea shop in Lake Charles. They opted for Lafayette instead and launched with a location in River Ranch. 
Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://lafayette.servingsushi.com/">Tsunami Sushi</a> in downtown Lafayette.

Artrepreneur Unstuck

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