While the men and women who serve in the military make untold sacrifices to serve their country, when they come home they face a unique set of challenges – especially when it comes tt starting a business. According to the most recent statistics, in the United States today, fewer than six percent of all businesses are owned by military veterans. And of those roughly 338-thousand veteran-owned businesses, only 10% are owned by Black veterans.  A handful of them are in Baton Rouge. 

Craig Stevens is President of Genesis 360, a Baton Rouge based company that acts like a one-stop shop providing services related to building maintenance, grounds maintenance and construction and even IT services.

Craig started the company in 2011 as a parking lot-striping company so its scope of services was limited but quickly grew as Craig began offering more and more services to a clientele that now span the country and include commercial business and the federal government.

Craig, a native of Opelousas, who now lives in Baton Rouge, is a retired Air Force officer, who served for 25 years in the U.S., Europe and Asia before retiring as captain of the 93rd bomb squadron. From there he went to serve as Director of Operations for Circle K before founding Genesis 360 in 2011.  

Xavier Hoskins is Managing Partner of DXI Health Solutions, a Baton Rouge-based company that specializes in orthotics, joint replacement implants, spinal hardware bone growth hardware and disposable medical equipment.

Xavier and his partner David Hyde founded the company in 2011, after Xavier spent a dozen years in the pharmaceutical industry. Xavier also is a veteran. He served in the U.S. Army  after graduating from Ole Miss. Xavier and Craig also know each other because they were both members of the first class in the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s Drive Minority Business Accelerator program, which was held during the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023. 

Out to Lunch is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. You can find more information including photos from this show at itsbatonrouge.la.

While the men and women who serve in the military make untold sacrifices to serve their country, when they come home they face a unique set of challenges – especially when it comes tt starting a business. According to the most recent statistics, in the United States today, fewer than six percent of all businesses are owned by military veterans. And of those roughly 338-thousand veteran-owned businesses, only 10% are owned by Black veterans.  A handful of them are in Baton Rouge. 
Craig Stevens is President of <a href="https://genesis360llc.com/">Genesis 360</a>, a Baton Rouge based company that acts like a one-stop shop providing services related to building maintenance, grounds maintenance and construction and even IT services.
Craig started the company in 2011 as a parking lot-striping company so its scope of services was limited but quickly grew as Craig began offering more and more services to a clientele that now span the country and include commercial business and the federal government.
Craig, a native of Opelousas, who now lives in Baton Rouge, is a retired Air Force officer, who served for 25 years in the U.S., Europe and Asia before retiring as captain of the 93rd bomb squadron. From there he went to serve as Director of Operations for Circle K before founding Genesis 360 in 2011.  
Xavier Hoskins is Managing Partner of <a href="http://www.dxihealthsolutions.com/">DXI Health Solutions</a>, a Baton Rouge-based company that specializes in orthotics, joint replacement implants, spinal hardware bone growth hardware and disposable medical equipment.
Xavier and his partner David Hyde founded the company in 2011, after Xavier spent a dozen years in the pharmaceutical industry. Xavier also is a veteran. He served in the U.S. Army  after graduating from Ole Miss. Xavier and Craig also know each other because they were both members of the first class in the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s Drive Minority Business Accelerator program, which was held during the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023. 
Out to Lunch is recorded over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/main/home">Mansurs on the Boulevard</a>. You can find more information including photos from this show at <a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2023/06/21/b-rs-m-v-b-minority-veteran-business/">itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

OUT TO LUNCH finds Baton Rouge Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel combining her hard news journalist skills and food background: conducting business over lunch. Baton Rouge has long had a storied history of politics being conducted over meals, now the Capital Region has an equivalent culinary home for business: Mansur's. Each week Stephanie holds court over lunch at Mansur's and invites members of the Baton Rouge business community to join her. You can also hear the show on WRKF 89.3FM.

It's Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch

OUT TO LUNCH finds The Advocate business reporter Stephanie Riegel combining her hard news journalist skills and food background: conducting business over lunch. Baton Rouge has long had a storied history of politics being conducted over meals, now the Capital Region has an equivalent culinary home for business: Mansur's on the Boulevard. Each week Stephanie holds court over lunch at Mansur's and invites members of the Baton Rouge business community to join her. You can also hear the show on WRKF 89.3FM.

OUT TO LUNCH finds The Advocate business reporter Stephanie Riegel combining her hard news journalist skills and food background: conducting business over lunch. Baton Rouge has long had a storied history of politics being conducted over meals, now the Capital Region has an equivalent culinary home for business: Mansur's on the Boulevard. Each week Stephanie holds court over lunch at Mansur's and invites members of the Baton Rouge business community to join her. You can also hear the show on WRKF 89.3FM.

B.R's M.V.B - Minority Veteran Business

For more than half a century, American educators and policymakers have been grappling with a problem that just keeps getting worse: A lot of American children don’t learn how to read, at least not very well, and despite new programs and curricula, the literacy gap keeps growing. In Louisiana, the problem is particularly acute – studies show that more than a quarter of our population has a low literacy rate.

Baton Rouge author Susie Shepherd is working to change those statistics. She is a children’s book author, with eight titles to her name, who volunteers her time promoting reading and literacy among children.

Susie is a retired teacher from Baker with more than two decades’ experience working in special education and also has a masters in autism spectrum disorders, so is particularly keyed into the needs so many young learners have.

In addition to her children’s books, Susie also has published a collection of poems. 

Literacy is just one of our many challenges in Louisiana, and while Susie is focused on helping young people learn how to be better readers, Yolanda Robertson - better known as Yogi Rob - is focused on helping them lead healthier more well-balanced lives, because Louisiana is not exactly the healthiest state in which to live.

Yogi Rob is the founder and creator of an online platform, called variously The Yonk or OrganicMePlease, dedicated to helping customers on a journey to self-healing and well-being through a wide range of services and resources to support holistic healing, including homemade organic skincare products and holistic healing advice.  

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show at itsbatonrouge.la

For more than half a century, American educators and policymakers have been grappling with a problem that just keeps getting worse: A lot of American children don’t learn how to read, at least not very well, and despite new programs and curricula, the literacy gap keeps growing. In Louisiana, the problem is particularly acute – studies show that more than a quarter of our population has a low literacy rate.
<a href="https://susieshepherdauthor.weebly.com/">Baton Rouge author Susie Shepherd</a> is working to change those statistics. She is a children’s book author, with eight titles to her name, who volunteers her time promoting reading and literacy among children.
Susie is a retired teacher from Baker with more than two decades’ experience working in special education and also has a masters in autism spectrum disorders, so is particularly keyed into the needs so many young learners have.
In addition to her children’s books, Susie also has published <a href="https://a.co/d/54eTkfd">a collection of poems</a>. 
Literacy is just one of our many challenges in Louisiana, and while Susie is focused on helping young people learn how to be better readers, Yolanda Robertson - better known as Yogi Rob - is focused on helping them lead healthier more well-balanced lives, because Louisiana is not exactly the healthiest state in which to live.
Yogi Rob is the founder and creator of an online platform, called variously <a href="https://organicmeplease.com/">The Yonk or OrganicMePlease</a>, dedicated to helping customers on a journey to self-healing and well-being through a wide range of services and resources to support holistic healing, including homemade organic skincare products and holistic healing advice.  
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/">Mansurs On the Boulevard</a>. You can find photos from this show at <a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2024/08/20/healthy-wealthy-wise/">itsbatonrouge.la</a>

Healthy Wealthy & Wise

Despite what statistics show about fewer people getting married and more people getting divorced, Americans spent more than $50B on weddings last year, and the numbers continue to grow.

Venues, food, liquor, music, gowns, flowers, cake, photographer – and that’s not counting bachelor and bachelorette parties or what’s involved if the big day is a destination wedding in another state or country.

Call it the wedding industrial complex. Or call it good fun. Either way, local entrepreneurs know all about it and are capitalizing on the opportunities to meet ever-growing demands of couples who want more than a courthouse ceremony.

Ramsey Roberts Sims is one of Baton Rouge's wedding authorities who knows as much about brides (and probably grooms) as anyone in Louisiana. Ramsey is owner of I Do Bridal Couture, a boutique that specializes in designer bridal gowns at its two locations in Baton Rouge and Covington. Ramsey started the business in 2012, a few years after shopping for her own bridal gown and becoming frustrated with the lack of high-end inventory and personal service.

I Do Bridal Couture bills itself on offering that type of exclusive inventory and personal customer service. In recent years, Ramsey, along with her husband, has also started an online children’s boutique with her husband, somehow juggling both businesses with their three young children. Ramsey, thanks so much for joining m eon out to lunch.   

Once you've decided to get married, you need a place to hold the ceremony and celebration. Mary Skinner is CEO of Oak Park Events, a local events firm with two venues – Oak Lodge in Baton Rouge and Parc 73 in Prairieville, which specialize in wedding receptions, and also play host to a variety of other special events, parties, and gatherings.

Oak Park Events was founded by Mary’s parents and she worked with them as manager from 2009-2012, back when there was just one venue, Oak Lodge. Mary helped oversee the design, construction and eventual expansion of Parc 73 then she left the business to spend several years in commercial real estate, which is what she was trained in, rejoining in 2016 as CEO. Her parents recently retired so now Mary is running the company.

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show at itsbatonrouge.la.

Despite what statistics show about fewer people getting married and more people getting divorced, Americans spent more than $50B on weddings last year, and the numbers continue to grow.
Venues, food, liquor, music, gowns, flowers, cake, photographer – and that’s not counting bachelor and bachelorette parties or what’s involved if the big day is a destination wedding in another state or country.
Call it the wedding industrial complex. Or call it good fun. Either way, local entrepreneurs know all about it and are capitalizing on the opportunities to meet ever-growing demands of couples who want more than a courthouse ceremony.
Ramsey Roberts Sims is one of Baton Rouge's wedding authorities who knows as much about brides (and probably grooms) as anyone in Louisiana. Ramsey is owner of<a href="https://idobridalcouture.com/"> I Do Bridal Couture</a>, a boutique that specializes in designer bridal gowns at its two locations in Baton Rouge and Covington. Ramsey started the business in 2012, a few years after shopping for her own bridal gown and becoming frustrated with the lack of high-end inventory and personal service.
I Do Bridal Couture bills itself on offering that type of exclusive inventory and personal customer service. In recent years, Ramsey, along with her husband, has also started an online children’s boutique with her husband, somehow juggling both businesses with their three young children. Ramsey, thanks so much for joining m eon out to lunch.   
Once you've decided to get married, you need a place to hold the ceremony and celebration. Mary Skinner is CEO of <a href="https://oakparcevents.com/">Oak Park Events</a>, a local events firm with two venues – <a href="https://oakparcevents.com/oak-lodge/">Oak Lodge in Baton Rouge</a> and <a href="https://oakparcevents.com/parc-73/">Parc 73 in Prairieville</a>, which specialize in wedding receptions, and also play host to a variety of other special events, parties, and gatherings.
Oak Park Events was founded by Mary’s parents and she worked with them as manager from 2009-2012, back when there was just one venue, Oak Lodge. Mary helped oversee the design, construction and eventual expansion of Parc 73 then she left the business to spend several years in commercial real estate, which is what she was trained in, rejoining in 2016 as CEO. Her parents recently retired so now Mary is running the company.
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/">Mansurs On the Boulevard</a>. You can find photos from this show at<a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2024/07/29/your-big-day/"> itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

Your Big Day

For as long as humans and pre-human ancestors have been on the planet -- roughly 2.6 million years or so, we have been eating meat. In fact, recent studies have suggested that had it not been for our carnivorous consumption, humans would not have evolved the way that we did.

Over the millennia our tastes have changed but not our love of meat. These days consumers - who spent more than $122B in 2023 on meat - are seeking out high quality, artisanal, organic and sustainable meats. Which is good news for local entrepreneurs cashing in on the craze.  

Ross Brown's company, Bougie Bologna, specializes in making an all natural bologna using smoked pork shoulder – and if like a lot of Ross’s customers you grew up thinking of bologna as a luncheon meat from Oscar Mayer think again. Ross describes his meat product as Cajun smoked sausage in sandwich form.

Ross founded the company in 2022, after nearly two decades in the oil business, because he believed in the product and wanted to be his own boss. Bougie Bologna has proven to be a hit. There are currently three varieties sold in grocery stores from Lafayette to New Orleans, including a deal with Rouses Supermarkets that will put the products in 70 locations across south Louisiana.

Ross, aka The Bougie Man, is a native of Lafayette, who is still getting used to running a demanding business that is growing faster than he could have imagined. 

Derek Stuart is co-owner of The Meatatory, as in meat and laboratory, a craft butcher in Prairieville that specializes in craft burgers and sausage recipes, high end Wagyu and specialty beef cuts, as well as local staples like Boudin balls and barbecue.

Derek and his wife, Laura, opened the Meatatory in 2022. It is both a retail storefront and a catering business with a menu that includes charcuterie boards, sides and desserts.

Like Ross, Derek grew up in south Louisiana, Ascension Parish, specifically, and developed a  passion for food and cooking meat early on. 

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show at itsbatonrouge.la.

For as long as humans and pre-human ancestors have been on the planet -- roughly 2.6 million years or so, we have been eating meat. In fact, recent studies have suggested that had it not been for our carnivorous consumption, humans would not have evolved the way that we did.
Over the millennia our tastes have changed but not our love of meat. These days consumers - who spent more than $122B in 2023 on meat - are seeking out high quality, artisanal, organic and sustainable meats. Which is good news for local entrepreneurs cashing in on the craze.  
Ross Brown's company, <a href="https://www.bougiebologna.com/">Bougie Bologna</a>, specializes in making an all natural bologna using smoked pork shoulder – and if like a lot of Ross’s customers you grew up thinking of bologna as a luncheon meat from Oscar Mayer think again. Ross describes his meat product as Cajun smoked sausage in sandwich form.
Ross founded the company in 2022, after nearly two decades in the oil business, because he believed in the product and wanted to be his own boss. Bougie Bologna has proven to be a hit. There are currently three varieties sold in grocery stores from Lafayette to New Orleans, including a deal with Rouses Supermarkets that will put the products in 70 locations across south Louisiana.
Ross, aka The Bougie Man, is a native of Lafayette, who is still getting used to running a demanding business that is growing faster than he could have imagined. 
Derek Stuart is co-owner of <a href="https://www.themeatatory.com/">The Meatatory</a>, as in meat and laboratory, a craft butcher in Prairieville that specializes in craft burgers and sausage recipes, high end Wagyu and specialty beef cuts, as well as local staples like Boudin balls and barbecue.
Derek and his wife, Laura, opened the Meatatory in 2022. It is both a retail storefront and a catering business with a menu that includes charcuterie boards, sides and desserts.
Like Ross, Derek grew up in south Louisiana, Ascension Parish, specifically, and developed a  passion for food and cooking meat early on. 
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/">Mansurs On the Boulevard</a>. You can find photos from this show at itsbatonrouge.la.

B.R's M.V.B - Minority Veteran Business

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