Animals. For most people animals are a part of their everyday life. Maybe it’s your dog that loves it so much when you come home from work. Maybe there’s a duck in the park you go to that remembers you because you feed him every time you see him.

Regardless of where you run into them or what your relationship is with them, animals affect all of us. But some deal with animals you don’t see every day.

One of those people is T-Mike Kliebert, Head Tour Guide at Kliebert & Sons Gator Tours.

T-Mike Kliebert, as the torch-bearer for the next generation he’s changing the game at Kliebert Gator Tours. T-Mike trains gators to obey commands and entertain like the dolphins at Sea World. His favorite gator sits on the couch and watches TV with him

T-Mike grew up working on an alligator farm with his grandfather. He helped with the alligator and turtle business. As he grew older, though, and regulations started to change for things like distribution of turtle eggs, the business switched to more of a sanctuary for the animals.

After T-Mike’s grandfather passed in 2018, and after taking over the company, T-Mike moved Kliebert & Sons Gator Tours to a temporary two-acre property in Ponchatoula. He’s currently working on expanding and making the gator’s “forever homes”.

Not all of us have alligators, but a lot of us do have tame everyday pets. Whether it’s a dog, cat, rabbit or bird, 66% of American households have some sort of pet. And those pets need vaccines, check-ups and doctor’s visits just like we do. What we might not think about when we bring our pets to the vet is how much work goes into a business like that.

Just like any doctor’s office, the vet needs meticulous record keeping and a place for online bookings to be kept. Most vets use a variety of tools for these tasks. Elliott Greenwood is looking to change that through his new application, Chckvet, not to be confused his company name Chckup.

Elliott Greenwood, co-founder of Chckup, the one-stop-shop software application for veterinary practices that’s as adoptable as a puppy but easier to train

Chckvet aims to be a home for all of the services a vet needs: an automated online booking system, a client portal for pet records, newsletter templates and more.

Oscar Tickle, sharing Out to Lunch hosting duties with Stephanie Riegel, Oscar lucked out on this one, breaking the story about T-Mike and his loveable gator

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. Photos by Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez.