The complexity of healthcare today and all the western advances that go with it – from AI generated diagnoses to online scheduling platforms to cold, impersonal clinical settings – has a lot of people – and their four-legged friends - looking for alternative, more holistic, wellness-centered approaches to healing and feeling better. 

Stephanie's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch are are experts in this segment of healthcare.

Dr. Keta Patel is owner of the Excel Wellness Center in Baton Rouge, which focuses on holistic wellness and functional healing, and is particularly focused on helping women combat hormonal imbalances from hyperthyroidism, perimenopause and menopause, insulin resistance and autominnune conditions.

Keta is a chiropractor and also offers chiropractic care at her clinic, which she opened in 2015. She is also a nutritionist and has become well known on the speaker circuit, where she talks about the relationship between holistic wellness and hormones and her approach to helping patients - especially women - feel better so they can be their best.

Dr. Alvin Jaufre is an equine chiropractor - which means he works on horses. If you didn't know horses needed chiropractors, you’re not alone! Actually, though, it’s a busy and growing field that Alvin has been involved in since 2014, when he opened Lagniappe Animal Chiro.  

Alvin grew up in south Louisiana and is one of just nine nationally certified veternirary chiropractors in the state of Louisiana.

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show  by Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez at itsbatonrouge.la.

The complexity of healthcare today and all the western advances that go with it – from AI generated diagnoses to online scheduling platforms to cold, impersonal clinical settings – has a lot of people – and their four-legged friends - looking for alternative, more holistic, wellness-centered approaches to healing and feeling better. 
Stephanie's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch are are experts in this segment of healthcare.
Dr. Keta Patel is owner of the <a href="https://www.excelwithdrketa.com/">Excel Wellness Center in Baton Rouge</a>, which focuses on holistic wellness and functional healing, and is particularly focused on helping women combat hormonal imbalances from hyperthyroidism, perimenopause and menopause, insulin resistance and autominnune conditions.
Keta is a chiropractor and also offers chiropractic care at her clinic, which she opened in 2015. She is also a nutritionist and has become well known on the speaker circuit, where she talks about the relationship between holistic wellness and hormones and her approach to helping patients - especially women - feel better so they can be their best.
Dr. Alvin Jaufre is an equine chiropractor - which means he works on horses. If you didn't know horses needed chiropractors, you’re not alone! Actually, though, it’s a busy and growing field that Alvin has been involved in since 2014, when he opened Lagniappe Animal Chiro.  
Alvin grew up in south Louisiana and is one of just nine nationally certified veternirary chiropractors in the state of Louisiana.
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  by <a href="http://albaledomedia.com/">Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez</a> at<a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2024/09/30/dem-bones/"> 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.

Dem Bones

Ask anyone in Louisiana, or any other state, and they’ll tell you that two of the greatest problems today facing the average American are access to affordable housing and access to quality affordable healthcare.

Despite billions in federal funding and policies intended to help, the need continues to grow.

On this episode of Out to Lunch, Stephanie talks with two local entrepreneurs who are taking matters into their own hands to fill the void and make things better.

Wendy Green Daniels is President and CEO of Beechwood Residential, a Baton Rouge-based real estate development and consulting firm that specializes in multifamiy affordable housing. Wendy founded the firm in 2012, with a mission to enhance the lives of residents and revitalize communities through the creation of high-quality, socially impactful housing.

Before venturing out on her own, Wendy, who grew up in Baton Rouge, spent more than a decade learning the ropes from other successful nonprofits, including Mercy Housing and Columbia Residential in Atlanta. Over the years she has overseen the development of more than 4,500 mixed-income housing units.

Sandrine Nkouga is the founder and CEO of the El Shaddai Family Clinic, a new primary care clinic in Prairieville that specializes in family medicine and also treats patients for behavioral health issues, weight management and chronic disease.

Sandrine is a native of Cameroon, Africa, who came to the US as a young child and grew up in Virginia. She received her doctorate in nursing from Touro University in Nevada, and after moving here with her family for her husband's career, opened her Louisiana clinic in 2023 to help address the demand for more primary care providers and to make it easier for uninsured or underinsured patients to receive quality care.

Wendy and Sandrine's businesses are both great examples of a recent trend in business, a kind of for-profit activism. These types of businesses combine entrepreneurship and social activism, harnessing the power of the capitalist economy for the good of all of the community, not just the wealthy, powerful, or fortunate. 

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard.

You can find photos form this show by Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez at itsbatonrouge.la.

Ask anyone in Louisiana, or any other state, and they’ll tell you that two of the greatest problems today facing the average American are access to affordable housing and access to quality affordable healthcare.
Despite billions in federal funding and policies intended to help, the need continues to grow.
On this episode of Out to Lunch, Stephanie talks with two local entrepreneurs who are taking matters into their own hands to fill the void and make things better.
Wendy Green Daniels is President and CEO of<a href="https://www.beechwoodres.com/"> Beechwood Residential</a>, a Baton Rouge-based real estate development and consulting firm that specializes in multifamiy affordable housing. Wendy founded the firm in 2012, with a mission to enhance the lives of residents and revitalize communities through the creation of high-quality, socially impactful housing.
Before venturing out on her own, Wendy, who grew up in Baton Rouge, spent more than a decade learning the ropes from other successful nonprofits, including Mercy Housing and Columbia Residential in Atlanta. Over the years she has overseen the development of more than 4,500 mixed-income housing units.
Sandrine Nkouga is the founder and CEO of the <a href="https://www.elshaddaifamilyclinic.com/">El Shaddai Family Clinic</a>, a new primary care clinic in Prairieville that specializes in family medicine and also treats patients for behavioral health issues, weight management and chronic disease.
Sandrine is a native of Cameroon, Africa, who came to the US as a young child and grew up in Virginia. She received her doctorate in nursing from Touro University in Nevada, and after moving here with her family for her husband's career, opened her Louisiana clinic in 2023 to help address the demand for more primary care providers and to make it easier for uninsured or underinsured patients to receive quality care.
Wendy and Sandrine's businesses are both great examples of a recent trend in business, a kind of for-profit activism. These types of businesses combine entrepreneurship and social activism, harnessing the power of the capitalist economy for the good of all of the community, not just the wealthy, powerful, or fortunate. 
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/">Mansurs On the Boulevard</a>.
You can find photos form this show by <a href="http://albaledomedia.com/">Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez</a> at<a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2024/09/23/your-new-affordable-home-your-good-affordable-health/"> itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

Your New (affordable) Home & Your Good (affordable) Health

For most of the 35-thousand years or so that humans have roamed the Earth, we were able to represent what we see and hear through art and music. But we were not able to capture images and sounds and replicate them until - in the grand scheme of things - relatively recently when the inventions of the industrial revolution brought us rudimentary photography and phonographic recordings.

Imagine how that changed the world. Not only the way we see and hear ourselves and others, but the way we think about reality. In the nearly two centuries since, technology has created unlimited creative opportunities for people in the audio and visual fields and given rise to some exciting new possibilities.

On the forefront of changes in the audio world for the past couple of momentous decades, Bill Kelley has been a Recording Engineer at the LSU school of Music and Dramatic Arts, a century old school on the LSU campus with more than 400 students and two dozen majors.

Bill produces 300 or so recitals a year for students and faculty, and supports them with their various creative projects. Bill also has several creative projects of his own: he's a musician and has also created an audio production tool, The Rhythm Tickler, that makes it easier to build digital loops that musicians can use to create new compositions.  

On the visual side of the ledger, Kristen Soileau Freeman is a Baton Rouge-based wedding and lifestyle photographer with an approach that is at once spontaneous and organic on one hand and artful, and studied and beautiful on the other.

Kristen hung out her shingle, Kristen Soileau Photography, in 2010, while she was still a student at LSU, where she majored in fine arts. In the years since, she has grown her business into one of the city’s most in-demand wedding photographers, which is no small thing in an era when brides must have the Insta-perfect photo from the moment of the proposal til end of the wedding reception – and everything in between. Kristen is a native of Lake Charles, who came to Baton Rouge in 2009 to attend LSU.

Both Bill and Kristen are great examples of the wisdom of the piece of advice often directed at people looking for career guidance: "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." They've both turned creative passions into careers that enable them to capture the beautiful sights and sounds of the world around us. 

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard. You can see photos from this show by Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez at itsbatonrouge.la.

For most of the 35-thousand years or so that humans have roamed the Earth, we were able to represent what we see and hear through art and music. But we were not able to capture images and sounds and replicate them until - in the grand scheme of things - relatively recently when the inventions of the industrial revolution brought us rudimentary photography and phonographic recordings.
Imagine how that changed the world. Not only the way we see and hear ourselves and others, but the way we think about reality. In the nearly two centuries since, technology has created unlimited creative opportunities for people in the audio and visual fields and given rise to some exciting new possibilities.
On the forefront of changes in the audio world for the past couple of momentous decades,<a href="https://www.lsu.edu/cmda/index.php"> Bill Kelley has been a Recording Engineer at the LSU school of Music and Dramatic Arts</a>, a century old school on the LSU campus with more than 400 students and two dozen majors.
Bill produces 300 or so recitals a year for students and faculty, and supports them with their various creative projects. Bill also has several creative projects of his own: he's a musician and has also created an audio production tool, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vvRTWvvNkQ">The Rhythm Tickler</a>, that makes it easier to build digital loops that musicians can use to create new compositions.  
On the visual side of the ledger, <a href="https://kristensoileau.com/">Kristen Soileau Freeman is a Baton Rouge-based wedding and lifestyle photographer </a>with an approach that is at once spontaneous and organic on one hand and artful, and studied and beautiful on the other.
Kristen hung out her shingle, Kristen Soileau Photography, in 2010, while she was still a student at LSU, where she majored in fine arts. In the years since, she has grown her business into one of the city’s most in-demand wedding photographers, which is no small thing in an era when brides must have the Insta-perfect photo from the moment of the proposal til end of the wedding reception – and everything in between. Kristen is a native of Lake Charles, who came to Baton Rouge in 2009 to attend LSU.
Both Bill and Kristen are great examples of the wisdom of the piece of advice often directed at people looking for career guidance: "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." They've both turned creative passions into careers that enable them to capture the beautiful sights and sounds of the world around us. 
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/">Mansurs On the Boulevard</a>. You can see photos from this show by <a href="http://albaledomedia.com/">Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez </a>at<a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2024/09/09/look-listen/"> itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

Look Listen

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>

Dem Bones

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