In 2015, Louisiana lawmakers joined their counterparts in a growing number of states to legalize medical marijuana for a long list of diseases and disorders, including cancer, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, epilepsy and muscular dystrophy. Today, therapeutic cannabis is opening up all sorts of new and promising business opportunities for physicians, pharmacies that can dispense…

Health and wellness is big business today—between 2013 and 2015, the global wellness industry grew nearly 11 percent —from 3-point-3 trillion to more than 3-point-7 TRILLION dollars. And it is continuing to grow. For local entrepreneurs, that is creating a lot of opportunities – but that also means there’s a lot of competition.   Nicole…

Local Baton Rouge companies are carving out an amazing space in the tech sector. They’re designing impressive software platforms and tools that are attracting worldwide attention.   Steve McKinney  is the Chief Operating Officer of Cell Control, a Baton Rouge company that, in 2009, came up with technology to help eliminate distracted driving. In the…

One of the chief goals of technology is to improve efficiency—to make it quicker and easier to do our jobs and to make money. Baton Rouge is home to a growing number of tech companies that are coming up with software products and services that increase efficiency in a variety of sectors.  Joel Costonis is…

South Louisiana doesn’t usually get much recognition for being home to IT and biotech talent, but there are impressive start-up businesses you may never have heard of that are turning heads around the country. And beyond. Casey Roussel is Executive Vice President of Cloud Gavel, a company that is revolutionizing the way law enforcement officers…

Ann Connelly is a legend in the art world. Ann is founder and owner of Ann Connelly Fine Art where she is a curator, interior designer, and consultant to homeowners and businesses. Over the past 25 years, Ann has grown her business into a gallery that today carries the works of more than 40 creatives,…

Every place has a history and a past, but preserving the best of it and keeping it relevant doesn’t just happen, you have to work at it, through education, and preservation. Which is exactly what Stephanie’s guests on Out to Lunch do every single day. Michael Desmond is an architect and scholar in the LSU…

Andi Holliday is a professional home stager with a local firm called Stage Presence. Andi’s been dubbed the “House Doctor,” writing out design prescriptions that can sell the unsellable. Her firm offers a range of services, from full staging to less expensive walk-through and written consultations, as well as “redesign” services – that’s where Andi…

As the tech industry evolves and matures, all sorts of new opportunities are created for entrepreneurs, who see where existing technologies don’t meet a need or don’t go far enough to deliver what customers demand. But taking a good idea and developing it into the latest app – one that works – and then getting…

We talk a lot about business on this show, and what it takes to be successful in business. On this edition of Out to Lunch Stephanie focuses on an aspect of business that doesn’t typically get so much attention: ethics. Aaron Beam is a former executive who travels around the country lecturing on ethics in…