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>.

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

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>.

Radiation Vibe

There are cose to 3 milllion apps available today – nearly 3 times as many as there were a decade ago – and they are designed to do everything imaginable, whether it’s helping us buy a house, track a hurricane, rent a car or remember to breathe. In other words, there is nothing that cannot be digitized and commodified with the right software and a creative entrepreneur.

One of the popular fields of app by numbers downloaded are apps that marry the worlds of music and tech. You've no doubt heard of Spotify and Pandora, but you are less likely to have heard of music industry apps Tipzy and Bloom.

Brandon Harris is founder and CEO of Bloom, a booking app that bills itself as an Airbnb for the music industry by centralizing the live event booking process. 

Users – principally performers and venues - communicate, schedule and organize upcoming events, negotiate payment terms, and execute transactions through the app. And they can use app to discover each other.

Brandon also has another tech company,  Hareseca, that is focused on serving the space industry, specifically NASA, with software and AI products.

Brandon is a native of Baton Rouge with a passion for space exploration and music; seemingly diverse interests that inspire his tech driven initiatives. 

Tenley Gorman is cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of Tipzy, a Baton Rouge startup that also operates at the intersection of music and tech.

Tipzy uses AI to curate the perfect playlist of background music to set the desired vibe for bars and nightclubs. It’s a niche service but an important one: music plays a key role in shaping a bar’s bottom line and patrons' overall satisfaction and Tipzy makes it easier for establishments to excel at both.

Tenley has firsthand experience in this area: she worked as a bartender and also has a background in mathematics and data science.

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.

There are cose to 3 milllion apps available today – nearly 3 times as many as there were a decade ago – and they are designed to do everything imaginable, whether it’s helping us buy a house, track a hurricane, rent a car or remember to breathe. In other words, there is nothing that cannot be digitized and commodified with the right software and a creative entrepreneur.
One of the popular fields of app by numbers downloaded are apps that marry the worlds of music and tech. You've no doubt heard of Spotify and Pandora, but you are less likely to have heard of music industry apps <a href="https://www.tipzy.app/">Tipzy</a> and <a href="https://bookbloom.app/">Bloom</a>.
Brandon Harris is founder and CEO of <a href="https://bookbloom.app/">Bloom</a>, a booking app that bills itself as an Airbnb for the music industry by centralizing the live event booking process. 
Users – principally performers and venues - communicate, schedule and organize upcoming events, negotiate payment terms, and execute transactions through the app. And they can use app to discover each other.
Brandon also has another tech company,  Hareseca, that is focused on serving the space industry, specifically NASA, with software and AI products.
Brandon is a native of Baton Rouge with a passion for space exploration and music; seemingly diverse interests that inspire his tech driven initiatives. 
Tenley Gorman is cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of <a href="https://www.tipzy.app/">Tipzy</a>, a Baton Rouge startup that also operates at the intersection of music and tech.
Tipzy uses AI to curate the perfect playlist of background music to set the desired vibe for bars and nightclubs. It’s a niche service but an important one: music plays a key role in shaping a bar’s bottom line and patrons' overall satisfaction and Tipzy makes it easier for establishments to excel at both.
Tenley has firsthand experience in this area: she worked as a bartender and also has a background in mathematics and data science.
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/2024/10/14/bloom-tipzy/">itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

Bloom & Tipzy

When is the last time you heard someone say, “I love email?”

I would bet, probably never.

Every day it seems like we’re swamped with more spam. And when we do actually rely on email for something important, well, you know how that goes. You send someone an email and ask them three questions. They reply to one. You reply with a comment about their reply and re-ask your other two questions. They reply with a comment on a whole other subject and before you know it you’ve got a long list of back and forward messages you’re scrolling through looking for who said what, when.

It's just so totally inefficient.

Now, imagine that you’re an architect and you have to rely on this kind of communication with multiple contractors and sub-contractors to manage a construction project. This is what actually happens in the real world. It’s crazy. And that’s why Chuck Perret created a company called Centerline. Chuck says the goal of the company is, “to kill email.”

Centerline is cloud-based data management for architects that pulls all of their project-related information out of their inbox and puts it into what’s called a Project Information Model.

Chuck launched Centerline in 2021, began taking clients in 2022, saw 350% growth in 2023, and today the company has architectural firm clients across the country.

If  Centerline is a software solution that solves a problem for a specific industry, imagine a company that solves any kind of problem, by simplifying any kind of task with software solutions, for any industry. Oil and gas. Maritime. Healthcare. Even sports, and local government.

You might be thinking, “That sounds a bit ambitious.” Well, sometimes shooting for the stars works, because that’s what Kellen Francis’s company, Codegig, does.

One of Codegig’s major clients is Shell. Not a local Shell gas station, but 30 different departments of Shell Oil, including the entire Gulf Coast. They also work with another couple of companies you may have heard of: Dow Chemical and Valero.

Anyone who’s ever had a job has had "one of those days" at work. One of those days where whatever we’re doing is so tedious, or the opposite – so mind-bogglingly difficult – that you just stop in your tracks and think, “Theres’ got to be a better way.”

What happens after that, typically, is that we suck it up and get on with it. But every once in a while, guys like Chuck and Kellen come along and actually invent a better way.

Ann Edelman sits in for Stephanei Riegel on this edition of Out to Lunch which 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.

When is the last time you heard someone say, “I love email?”
I would bet, probably never.
Every day it seems like we’re swamped with more spam. And when we do actually rely on email for something important, well, you know how that goes. You send someone an email and ask them three questions. They reply to one. You reply with a comment about their reply and re-ask your other two questions. They reply with a comment on a whole other subject and before you know it you’ve got a long list of back and forward messages you’re scrolling through looking for who said what, when.
It's just so totally inefficient.
Now, imagine that you’re an architect and you have to rely on this kind of communication with multiple contractors and sub-contractors to manage a construction project. This is what actually happens in the real world. It’s crazy. And that’s why Chuck Perret created a company called <a href="https://getcenterline.com/">Centerline</a>. Chuck says the goal of the company is, “to kill email.”
Centerline is cloud-based data management for architects that pulls all of their project-related information out of their inbox and puts it into what’s called a Project Information Model.
Chuck launched Centerline in 2021, began taking clients in 2022, saw 350% growth in 2023, and today the company has architectural firm clients across the country.
If  Centerline is a software solution that solves a problem for a specific industry, imagine a company that solves any kind of problem, by simplifying any kind of task with software solutions, for any industry. Oil and gas. Maritime. Healthcare. Even sports, and local government.
You might be thinking, “That sounds a bit ambitious.” Well, sometimes shooting for the stars works, because that’s what Kellen Francis’s company, <a href="https://www.codegig.co/">Codegig</a>, does.
One of Codegig’s major clients is Shell. Not a local Shell gas station, but 30 different departments of Shell Oil, including the entire Gulf Coast. They also work with another couple of companies you may have heard of: Dow Chemical and Valero.
Anyone who’s ever had a job has had "one of those days" at work. One of those days where whatever we’re doing is so tedious, or the opposite – so mind-bogglingly difficult – that you just stop in your tracks and think, “Theres’ got to be a better way.”
What happens after that, typically, is that we suck it up and get on with it. But every once in a while, guys like Chuck and Kellen come along and actually invent a better way.
Ann Edelman sits in for Stephanei Riegel on this edition of Out to Lunch which 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/2024/10/07/theres-got-to-be-a-better-way/">itsbatonrouge.la</a>.

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

It's Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch

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