Fear No Fast Fashion

Fashion is a $400 billion industry in the U.S. It includes household names with global reach and big-box scale. But in this massive market, there's room for the neighborhood shop — if you find the right niche.  That’s right. If you want to get into the clothing industry, you don’t have to be afrai…

Make Money While You Sleep

“If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you'll work until you die.”  That’s a bit of advice from Warren Buffet, "The Oracle of Omaha" and perhaps the world’s most successful investor.  For most, it’s a dream. But for Drake Bajat it’s a personal philosophy and throughline in his se…

Whiskey Gumbo

Great products start with an idea, and a lot of tinkering. Edison and his lightbulb. Jobs and Wozniak in their garage. The image is familiar—a lone inventor, obsessing over details, experimenting, failing, learning, and eventually discovering something great. South Louisiana has a pretty rich trad…

Beer Wine and Pizza

Americans love their pizza. We eat around 3 billion pizzas a year—that’s about 350 slices per second. And we wash down a good portion of it with wine: the U.S. is the world’s largest wine-consuming country, drinking nearly 1 billion gallons annually. Put that all together and you’ve got a complete…

Kids Today

Running a nonprofit might sound like a mission of the heart. But it’s also very much a business.  These organizations have to pay staff, keep the lights on, and provide services. Yes, they rely on philanthropy. But they also need to generate revenue, build partnerships, and constantly make the cas…

There's A Better Way

Email has been around since the 1970s. It’s quick, it’s convenient — and it consumes your life.  If you’ve got an office job, chances are you spend most of your working life in an inbox.  Email may be the engine of modern commerce, but it might also be the slowest way to get things done—especially…

Bigger Isn't Always Better

It was once conventional wisdom in business that bigger was better.  Economies of scale weren’t just preferable, they were inevitable, like a law of nature.  But, while big-box stores and corporate franchises do have advantages in cost and efficiency, small businesses are proving they can thrive b…

Frontierland

Frontiers aren’t just about the Wild West or outer space. They’re about discovery—whether it’s navigating a bayou or reshaping industry. Some frontiers lead us into nature, others to the grocery store aisle. For Janeene DeClouet, she seeks out frontiers for peace. She is the owner of Duc in Altum …

Lena et Lucia

In Acadiana, food has a way of carrying history with it—whether it’s a family recipe passed down for generations or a classic technique reinvented for today’s tastes. For Ryan Jannise, keeping a family tradition alive meant growing and scaling it.  Ryan owns Lena’s Cajun Seafood Dishes, a company …

The Built & Unbuilt Environment

Architecture is more than just buildings—it’s about creating spaces that inspire, connect, and serve communities. That’s something Wes Thiele understands well. Originally from Atlanta, Wes moved to Lafayette in 2009, drawn by the steady opportunities in construction.  Career prospects took Wes to …