It was scholar Joseph Campbell who, during his 1988 PBS interview series with Bill Moyers, popularized the phrase “follow your bliss.” At the time, many people misinterpreted it as a license to abandon responsibilities. They were wrong. So, then, what did Campbell mean? My lunch guests – Matthew Bolton of Blue Rabbit Bakehouse, located on Jefferson Highway, and Bobby Hoyt of Gilla Brewing Company in Gonzales – can, I think, shed some light on what it means to follow your bliss. They’re two businessmen operating companies meant to satisfy every Louisianans appetite for fresh homemade bread and craft beer. You might know Matt from M. Bolton, an industrial construction company he owned for 25 years here in Baton Rouge. Despite his success, something wasn’t quite right, especially when it came to bread. After years of complaining that Baton Rouge had plenty of places to buy doughnuts but not enough fresh bread, Matt decided to learn how to make it himself. Then, in 2021, following open-heart surgery, Matt decided he’d had enough of the construction business. So, he closed it and began devoting more time to baking, going so far as to convert part of his home, including his pool house, into a baking workspace. When it comes to baking bread, Matt describes himself as a bit of a mad scientist. What he enjoys most about operating Blue Rabbit Bakehouse is seeing familiar faces, customers he’s known since childhood, on Saturday mornings in the shop. Like Matt, Bobby Hoyt has built a career in industrial safety-related sales and procurement, working with contractors. But, unlike Matt who is retired, Bobby’s still working full-time, juggling his day job with the responsibilities of owning and operating his taproom and brewery, Gilla Brewing in Gonzales. Bobby’s story is unusual in that he didn’t follow the traditional path of a homebrewer who eventually opens a brewery. Instead, he learned the business by working alongside an experienced professional brewer at Southern Craft Brewing Company. We all strive to find satisfaction, even joy, in our lives. Given how much money we invest in education and training and the time spent at our jobs, it’s reasonable to think we’d find happiness in the workplace. But for most, our job is simply a means to an end. A paycheck we use to pay a mortgage, buy groceries and simply keep the lights on. Matt and Bobby are taking a different approach to finding happiness after years in traditional careers. When it comes to following your bliss, they are both inspirational examples of the passion and dedication required to pursue an inner calling. It’s perhaps no surprise that they both come from careers in construction where resourceful skillsmen make something out of nothing. 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.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase, “win-win.” People often use it to try and convince you that something that’s good for them is actually good for you too. In business, it’s rare to find a true win-win business model, where everybody in the supply chain, from manufacturer to distributor to customer, actually wins. But there is one business in America that has perfected the win-win. It’s not Walmart. Or Apple. Or Uber. It’s The Girl Scouts. They’ve come up with a product everybody loves: cookies. They create demand for the product using what’s called “the scarcity principle.” The cookies are not available in stores. You basically have to know somebody to buy them. The distribution, sales and marketing of the cookies are all done by people who are legally too young to employ. So all of those usual business expenses are free! There are never any labor issues: All of the young girls who are working for free are delighted to do so. And while they’re marketing and selling cookies, the members of the sales force are getting a free education in entrepreneurship and business. Oh, and one more thing. Every single expenditure, in every direction, at every level, is tax exempt or, even better, tax deductible. Here in Louisiana, the mastermind of this operation, and a whole lot more, is the CEO of Girl Scouts of Louisiana East, Dr. Rebecca Pennington. There are a whole other bunch of girls, or, rather, women, in Baton Rouge who are decidedly not interested in win-win. They’re interested in win-lose. And if they have to use a certain level of raw violence to get a win, well, that’s just the way it goes. This group of women are called Red Stick Roller Derby. If you’re not familiar with what exactly roller derby is, well, it’s basically rugby on roller skates. Two teams circle a track, one skater on each side tries to fight their way through the pack to score, and everyone else is trying to stop them or help them. It’s super physical. And it’s almost always a women-only sport. Red Stick Roller Derby, if you’ll pardon the expression, punches way above its weight. It consistently ranks in the top 25 teams in North America and has reached the top 3 in the South. One of the people responsible for this success is the team’s trainer, Cynthia Speer Sanders, whose Roller Derby name is Original Cyn. 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.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a lot of talk about staying healthy these days. Mostly, it breaks down into two areas: eating and exercise. Okay, I can already hear you groaning. But the good news is, we’re not going to talk about eating healthy today. And the even better news is, we’re not going to talk about working out, or running, or biking, or any of that. There are other ways you can keep fit, healthy, alert and even improve your mental health – that are fun and don’t require a traditional gym membership. My lunch guests - Michael Matthews of The Backpacker, an outdoors specialty store, and Alaina Ray of Refuge Aerial, an aerial arts studio – are both in the business of keeping you fit, mentally and physically, in novel ways, right here in Baton Rouge. Backpack Michael’s father started The Backpacker in the early 1970s, beginning as a ski travel company before expanding into retail. While attending LSU, Michael became interested in learning how businesses operate, and was already helping sell ski trips when his father decided to sell the business. Michael saw an opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps and continue the family business, so he bought The Backpacker from his father in 2006. Over the last 20 years, Michael has opened two more locations, in Lafayette and in Mandeville. Michael says that The Backpacker is more than a place where customers simply come to buy gear. His larger goal is to build an ecosystem around outdoor recreation: inspire someone to take an adventure, help them plan it, provide information about what they’ll encounter, and then outfit them with the gear they’ll need. Aerial When it comes to learning a new hobby, maybe your interests lean towards indoor activities, things like yoga, pole, and circus arts. Alaina Ray discovered aerial arts almost 10 years ago, when a friend invited her to take a class in Baton Rouge. She was immediately drawn to both the physical challenge and the combination of strength and grace. Alaina had always dreamed of owning a business, though her career initially took her into corporate work. Then, an opportunity to take over the ownership of Above Ground Aerial, where Alaina and her eventual co-founder were teaching, presented itself. They created Refuge Aerial and, within roughly two weeks, were renting space at CheerForce. Refuge Aerial opened in 2021. A few things have changed since then — Alaina bought her business partner out, and she’s added additional classes and performances. What has never changed is a sense of community. 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.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The self-help industry is a multi-billion-dollar global market encompassing books, digital courses, personal coaching, seminars, and wellness apps aimed at personal optimization. Scottish author Samuel Smiles introduced the concept in 1859 with his publication Self Help, which emphasized thrift, discipline, and individual perseverance over societal change. Today, we can turn to Oprah Winfrey’s self help bestsellers, life coach Tony Robbins, and apps like Headspace, Noom, and Calm to help us meditate, diet, and sleep. My two lunch guests today — Katherine Wilks and Margaret Wilkinson — are building their own self-help empires right here in Baton Rouge. Katherine Wilks’ path to becoming a self-help author began first as a nurse. The profession runs in her family, she says: her grandmother served as chief nursing officer at Bogalusa Medical Center and became one of Katherine’s biggest inspirations. Katherine has been a nurse for 20 years. She began her career in quality control and spent about eight years on the business side before eventually finding her way back to clinical work. Today, Katherine runs an urgent care center serving children and adults. But, wait! There’s more! Katherine is also the author of some 30 books, spanning family history, children’s literature, and self-help. She’s written extensively on narcissism, self-publishing a series of books informed by her experience in a difficult marriage to someone she says was clinically diagnosed. Two titles that caught my attention are Meeting the Narcissist: Love at First Lie and Leaving the Narcissist: The Most Dangerous Moment. Self-help isn’t limited to books or apps. If you need more immediate relief, why not turn to alternative medicines? One option here in Baton Rouge is Rad Dad Alternative Wellness. The casual, customer-friendly store specializes in functional mushroom, kava, non-alcoholic, and alternative wellness products. Margaret Wilkinson and her husband Paul opened Rad Dad on Government Street in their Mid City neighborhood in 2023. Neighbors embraced it wholeheartedly, and now three years later, they’ve added a second location on Jefferson Highway. We’re all striving to be our best selves each and every day. Yet, the discipline and individual perseverance required to fully succeed at self help is often in short supply. Our Baton Rouge community is fortunate that Katherine and Margaret are doing their best at their respective businesses to offer guidance and services that make the job of self help a bit easier. 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.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are an estimated 31 - 34 million entrepreneurs and small businesses in the United States, and we’ve interviewed more than a few over the years here on Out to Lunch. If you’ve been listening or are an entrepreneur or small business owner yourself, then you know there are numerous routes to entrepreneurship. Many entrepreneurs purchase an existing operation, take over a family business, or buy into a franchise that provides an established customer base and proven operational framework. Neither of my lunch guests today followed those routes: Cameron Motsenbock and Russell Jones started their respective businesses from scratch. Cameron Motsenbock, owner of Hands Over Hearts, describes her move into entrepreneurship as a 2 a.m. business decision. After years of attending nursing school and working as a medical assistant, Cameron literally woke up in the middle of the night and decided she wanted to become a businesswoman. Today, Cameron operates Hands Over Hearts, a locally-owned and operated business providing CPR training to elementary, middle, and high school students, university students, construction companies and many other workplaces that need employees certified in CPR, first aid and AED use. What started as a vision to make CPR training more affordable, accessible, and engaging has grown into a mission far beyond the classroom. Her company's catchy slogan is, "The CPR company you can't live without." Cardiac arrest in sports is rare but if you’re competing against or training with my next guest Russell Jones, you might want to know CPR. Russell Jones is the Owner of Russell Jones Kickboxing. He grew up in Gentilly in New Orleans during the 1970s when learning to fight felt like a necessity for young boys. He began learning kung fu in high school and, in 1978, began training under Grandmaster Karl Marx (yes, that's his real name) who introduced Russell to a system combining Japanese karate, judo, jiu-jitsu and weapons training. At 18, Russell began teaching martial arts through BREC at Forest Community Park, opened his own location a few years later, and turned professional in 1983 at age 22. Today, at 65, Russell’s proudest later-career fight came against an undefeated 27-year-old with a 22-0 record. Russel knocked him out with a head kick in the second round! 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.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.