On this edition of Out to Lunch, Stephanie’s guests can make you look like a million bucks and feel like a million bucks. Blair Couatre, with her husband Dustin Clouatre, owns a business called Mera Salon Suite, a co-working space for aesthetic entrepreneurs. Mera rents out space in its state-of-the-art salon on a weekly basis…

In 2011, Mary Patricia Wray was a young law student at Loyola University Law School in New Orleans. Just three short years later, she found herself serving as the communications director for a longshot candidate in the Governor’s Race, a democratic state Representative from Amite named John Bel Edwards. You know what happened next: Edwards…

Stafford Wood is one of the most talented women in Baton Rouge, and the founder and owner of Covalent Logic, a full-service integrated communications firm that specializes in branding, corporate communications, graphic design, web design, public relations and crisis communications. Covalent’s clients, past and present, include hospitals, banks, state agencies, churches and nonprofit organizations. Stafford…

We talk a lot about the importance of getting in shape – especially at the beginning of a new year or before hitting the beach — but do you know what it really means to be in shape? And how, exactly, do we get healthy? It’s a question local businesses and entrepreneurs are helping their…

Thirty years ago, a young, high-energy entrepreneur left his private sector job to create the Louisiana Business and Technology Center on the LSU campus, a business incubator for small startups. In the three decades since, the LBTC has helped launch hundreds of  businesses and has spawned the creation of the much larger LSU Innovation Park,…

 Andrea Leyerle is a Baton Rouge-based entrepreneur who has created an online and retail nutraceutical business, Andi Lynn’s Pure and Custom Formulary.   Andrea started the company in 2010 in her kitchen, where she began making her own version of elderberry syrup, known for its cold- and flu-fighting properties. In the years since, Andi Lynn’s…

We’ve all heard about the Amazon Effect and how ecommerce is seriously disrupting the retail world. Savvy entrepreneurs are figuring out how to carve a niche for themselves, whether by offering unqiue products or that special personal touch you can’t get online, creating a unique shopping experience , or, by creating a whole new business…

Workplace accidents cost American companies some $60 billion every year. But, unlike the trajectory of most workplace costs, accident expenses are actually going down. The reason is better training and more proactive safety measures that come from the public and private sectors. Kathy Trahan is president and CEO of the Alliance Safety Council, a 60-year-old…

Seven out of 10 American households own a pet, generally a dog or cat. This has created a huge pet care industry and unlimited opportunity for creative, animal-loving entrepreneurs. It has also led to an unfortunate side-effect: little-loved animals, particularly cats, wandering our streets.  Angela Schifani is Development Director of Cat Haven, a non-profit cat…

“The disruption economy” refers to the fact that technology is changing the traditional constructs of our capitalist economy. Amazon is one of the most obvious examples. Uber is another. Closer to home, local companies are part of that disruption economy, changing the rules of the game for everyone. Chris Meaux is founder and CEO of…