When we talk about “growth,” we usually mean population, jobs, or maybe cranes on the skyline. But growth isn’t abstract — it’s physical. It’s steel. It’s dirt. It’s concrete. It’s towers you don’t notice and neighborhoods you drive past every day.

Christiaan's guests on Out to Lunch are both in the business of building up — literally. One builds the infrastructure that keeps business connected. The other builds the places people call home. Different materials, different risks — but surprisingly similar challenges.

Wiley Baxter is President and Owner of Custom Tower, a Louisiana-based company that designs, manufactures, and installs communication towers across the country. Wiley grew up in Pensacola, studied mechanical engineering at LSU, and spent time in corporate roles before buying Custom Tower in 2024, when its previous owners decided to retire.

Custom Tower builds the steel that holds antennas in the air — cutting, welding, galvanizing, assembling, and installing towers that can stretch hundreds of feet high. Their work is often for state and parish governments, and if everything goes right, you’ll never think about them at all.

Molly Creaghan is a regional manager at Dantin Bruce, a real estate development firm that handles projects from site selection all the way through leasing. 

Molly grew up in Baton Rouge, went to LSU, and started her career leasing apartments — discovering along the way that she really liked the puzzle of property management.

At Dantin Bruce, Molly oversees operations, marketing, budgeting, staffing, and owner relations across multiple properties. Their Lafayette project, Camellia Grove, is a 136-unit “built-to-rent” townhome community near River Ranch — a development designed to feel more like a neighborhood than an apartment complex.

Molly and Wiley are both examples of people in our community who are in occupations as vital as they are invisible. On Out to Lunch we love to take an oportunity to turn the spotlight on people who other media might not so readily acknowledge.

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.