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>.

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.

Your Big Day

"All the world's a stage," as Shakespeare famously wrote, and we are "merely players" performing roles, today as professionals or politicians or teachers in a classroom of students. or parents modeling behavior for their children. 

In an era when traditional media, social media, and ever-present modes of telecommunications determine how these roles and personas are received and perceived, crafting images, honing messages, and telling stories around them has given rise to entire industries.

Stuart Feigley is president of Feigley Communications, a Baton Rouge strategic marketing agency that specializes in creating ad campaigns across a wide spectrum of industries, including healthcare, education and government. Stewart co-founded the firm in 2006, and in the years since, Feigley Communications has handled such high profile local cleints as LSU, the La Dept of Health, and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber among others.

Stuart is a native of Baton Rouge with 36 years experience in the field. After graduating from the LSU Manship School of Communications he went off to big national firms in Dallas and Ohio, where he worked for large corporate clients. He came home in 2006 to found Wright Feigley Communciations with the late Jeff Wright, rebranding the firm as Feigley Communications in 2016. 

While Stuart is helping clients on the figurative stage, Sarah Klocke is working with people on the real stage – as in theater. Sarah is Executive Director of Theatre Baton Rouge, which has been delighting audiences in Baton rouge since 1946 with dramas, comedies and beloved Broadway musicals.

You may remember we interviewed Sarah’s predecessor Jenny Ballard on this show a while back. Sarah took her place in October 2023, as the organization was struggling to recover from the pandemic and the financial challenges it wrought on performing arts organizations across the country.

Sarah came to Baton Rouge most recently from St Mary’s College in Omaha Nebraska, where she was the program director of theater and communications.

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.

"All the world's a stage," as Shakespeare famously wrote, and we are "merely players" performing roles, today as professionals or politicians or teachers in a classroom of students. or parents modeling behavior for their children. 
In an era when traditional media, social media, and ever-present modes of telecommunications determine how these roles and personas are received and perceived, crafting images, honing messages, and telling stories around them has given rise to entire industries.
Stuart Feigley is president of <a href="https://feigleycommunications.com/">Feigley Communications</a>, a Baton Rouge strategic marketing agency that specializes in creating ad campaigns across a wide spectrum of industries, including healthcare, education and government. Stewart co-founded the firm in 2006, and in the years since, Feigley Communications has handled such high profile local cleints as LSU, the La Dept of Health, and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber among others.
Stuart is a native of Baton Rouge with 36 years experience in the field. After graduating from the <a href="https://www.lsu.edu/manship/index.php">LSU Manship School of Communications</a> he went off to big national firms in Dallas and Ohio, where he worked for large corporate clients. He came home in 2006 to found Wright Feigley Communciations with the late Jeff Wright, rebranding the firm as Feigley Communications in 2016. 
While Stuart is helping clients on the figurative stage, Sarah Klocke is working with people on the real stage – as in theater. Sarah is Executive Director of <a href="https://theatrebr.org/">Theatre Baton Rouge</a>, which has been delighting audiences in Baton rouge since 1946 with dramas, comedies and beloved Broadway musicals.
You may remember <a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2021/12/22/mermaid-theater/">we interviewed Sarah’s predecessor Jenny Ballard</a> on this show a while back. Sarah took her place in October 2023, as the organization was struggling to recover from the pandemic and the financial challenges it wrought on performing arts organizations across the country.
Sarah came to Baton Rouge most recently from St Mary’s College in Omaha Nebraska, where she was the program director of theater and communications.
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/main/home">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/2024/11/18/merely-players/">itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

Merely Players

Making a business plan is an essential part of launching a new business. But it’s not a skill an aspiring business owner necessarily has. Which is where Camille Terk comes in. Writing business plans is literally what she does for a living. Her firm, Terk Consulting, is a boutique consulting firm that specializes in business planning.

Camille founded her firm in 2005 and in the nearly two decades since has served over 700 clients, helping them draft business plans and pitch-decks to present to investors and lenders. All told, she estimates she has helped her clients raise more than $350 million.

Camille has an MBA, is based in New Orleans, and is one of the few firms specifically focused on doing business plans for small business. She counts among her clients some of our previous guests on this show, including: Falaya, Marex Services, Resource Environmental Solutions and Speedy Eats. 

If somebody went to Camille and told her they wanted to open a vegan restaurant in Zachary Louisiana, I don’t know what Camille would say but she might suggest that that doesn’t immediately look like a recipe for success, right? Maybe a poboy shop or a Bar B Q restaurant, but vegan. In Zachary?

Well, Neshia Rowe opened Golden Vegan restaurant in Zachary in 2022, after launching the concept from her home in 2021. Was it a success? Sure was! And still is. In fact it’s turned out to be such a success that Neshia has since opened two more Golden Vegan restaurants – one at LSU and the other at Southern University.

Neshia will be the first to admit that Zachary was an unlikely locale for her first restaurant. She says she founded it there because the area didn't have a lot of healthy food options and the concept behind her menu is to educate her customers about healthy eating, to help them gradually transition from a diet of fast food and fatty food to plant-based options that don’t deprive and taste great.

And, talking of great tasting food, 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.

Making a business plan is an essential part of launching a new business. But it’s not a skill an aspiring business owner necessarily has. Which is where Camille Terk comes in. Writing business plans is literally what she does for a living. Her firm, <a href="https://terkconsulting.com/">Terk Consulting</a>, is a boutique consulting firm that specializes in business planning.
Camille founded her firm in 2005 and in the nearly two decades since has served over 700 clients, helping them draft business plans and pitch-decks to present to investors and lenders. All told, she estimates she has helped her clients raise more than $350 million.
Camille has an MBA, is based in New Orleans, and is one of the few firms specifically focused on doing business plans for small business. She counts among her clients some of our previous guests on this show, including: <a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2021/02/24/no-debt-no-broker/">Falaya</a>, Marex Services, Resource Environmental Solutions and <a href="https://itsbatonrouge.la/2022/02/23/super-cheesy/">Speedy Eats</a>. 
If somebody went to Camille and told her they wanted to open a vegan restaurant in Zachary Louisiana, I don’t know what Camille would say but she might suggest that that doesn’t immediately look like a recipe for success, right? Maybe a poboy shop or a Bar B Q restaurant, but vegan. In Zachary?
Well, Neshia Rowe opened<a href="https://www.goldenveganbr.com/"> Golden Vegan restaurant</a> in Zachary in 2022, after launching the concept from her home in 2021. Was it a success? Sure was! And still is. In fact it’s turned out to be such a success that Neshia has since opened two more Golden Vegan restaurants – one at LSU and the other at Southern University.
Neshia will be the first to admit that Zachary was an unlikely locale for her first restaurant. She says she founded it there because the area didn't have a lot of healthy food options and the concept behind her menu is to educate her customers about healthy eating, to help them gradually transition from a diet of fast food and fatty food to plant-based options that don’t deprive and taste great.
And, talking of great tasting food, Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at <a href="https://www.mansursontheboulevard.com/main/home">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/2024/11/11/golden-business-plan/"> itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

Golden Business Plan

Around two million people in the United states will be diagnosed this year with cancer.

Taken together, each one of these individual life-changing diagnoses forms a part of an overall cancer care industrial complex which adds to up to an annual $75 billion sector of the national economy. And, like every other business heading into the second quarter of the 21st Century, cancer treatment is changing and advancing with the implementation of technology that includes AI. 

In Baton Rouge, very few people are more familiar with the current state of cancer care than Sotirios Stathakis, Chief of Physics at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, and a radiation oncology physicist with more than two decades of experience in this highly technical field.

Sotirios came to Mary Bird in 2023, and in his role there oversees the cancer center’s physics and dosimetry teams. He also is involved in implementing new AI technology at Mary Bird to help improve internal processes, with the goal of improving both outcomes and the patient experience.

Sotirios is a native of Greece who was educated in Canada and Scotland before returning to Greece to obtain his PhD in medical physics. Prior to his current perch in Baton Rouge, he served in a similar role at the University of Texas Health San Antonio Mays Cancer Center, an NCI-designated cancer center .  

While cancer care is one of the fastest growing segments of our healthcare economy, another rapidly expanding field is pet care, which is growing by 7% a year. In cold hard cash, over the past 12 months Americans spent even more on pet care than cancer care: a whopping $80 Billion.

According to numerous studies, we love our pets to the point where we'll sacrifice all sorts of other discretionary expenses to lavish our furry friends with whatever they need to be their best selves.

Locally, Lauren Swartley is a hands-on expert on the subject of pet care. Lauren is the founder and owner of Lend A Paw, a premium dog walking and pet sitting company that is bonded and Insured through Pet Sitter Associates, and Pet CPR & First Aid Certified through the American Red Cross. 

Lend A Paw is also the first and only Fear Free certified pet sitting company in Louisiana.

Lend a Paw provides in-home one-on-one care for pets, with specially curated visits and software, so you're able to view your pets in real time.  Lauren founded the business in 2018, after she adopted a heartworm positive Staffordshire terrier named Hayes and fell in love with him and the cause.

Despite advances in medical science and the onward drumbeat of AI, for reasons we probably don't totally understand, lavishing love on our pets reportedly improves our opwn health. In this win-win world Sitorios and Lauren have more in common than you might think at first glance.

Out to Lunch was 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.

Around two million people in the United states will be diagnosed this year with cancer.
Taken together, each one of these individual life-changing diagnoses forms a part of an overall cancer care industrial complex which adds to up to an annual $75 billion sector of the national economy. And, like every other business heading into the second quarter of the 21st Century, cancer treatment is changing and advancing with the implementation of technology that includes AI. 
In Baton Rouge, very few people are more familiar with the current state of cancer care than<a href="https://marybird.org/services/physics/stathakis/"> Sotirios Stathakis, Chief of Physics at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center</a>, and a radiation oncology physicist with more than two decades of experience in this highly technical field.
Sotirios came to Mary Bird in 2023, and in his role there oversees the cancer center’s physics and dosimetry teams. He also is involved in implementing new AI technology at Mary Bird to help improve internal processes, with the goal of improving both outcomes and the patient experience.
Sotirios is a native of Greece who was educated in Canada and Scotland before returning to Greece to obtain his PhD in medical physics. Prior to his current perch in Baton Rouge, he served in a similar role at the University of Texas Health San Antonio Mays Cancer Center, an NCI-designated cancer center .  
While cancer care is one of the fastest growing segments of our healthcare economy, another rapidly expanding field is pet care, which is growing by 7% a year. In cold hard cash, over the past 12 months Americans spent even more on pet care than cancer care: a whopping $80 Billion.
According to numerous studies, we love our pets to the point where we'll sacrifice all sorts of other discretionary expenses to lavish our furry friends with whatever they need to be their best selves.
Locally, Lauren Swartley is a hands-on expert on the subject of pet care. Lauren is the founder and owner of <a href="https://www.lendapawbr.com/">Lend A Paw</a>, a premium dog walking and pet sitting company that is bonded and Insured through <a href="https://www.petsitllc.com/">Pet Sitter Associates</a>, and <a href="https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/first-aid/cat-dog-first-aid">Pet CPR &amp; First Aid Certified through the American Red Cross</a>. 
Lend A Paw is also the first and only<a href="https://fearfreepets.com/"> Fear Free</a> certified pet sitting company in Louisiana.
Lend a Paw provides in-home one-on-one care for pets, with specially curated visits and software, so you're able to view your pets in real time.  Lauren founded the business in 2018, after she adopted a heartworm positive Staffordshire terrier named Hayes and fell in love with him and the cause.
Despite advances in medical science and the onward drumbeat of AI, for reasons we probably don't totally understand, lavishing love on our pets reportedly improves our opwn health. In this win-win world Sitorios and Lauren have more in common than you might think at first glance.
Out to Lunch was 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/2024/10/21/radiation-vibe/"> itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

Your Big Day

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