Asking for help isn’t always easy, but sometimes, it’s the smartest thing you can do, especially when it comes to learning. Amanda Martin learned that firsthand as a parent. When her kids hit middle school, she started looking for academic support — something beyond worksheets and flashcards. She found that the tutoring landscape felt outdated and uninspired. So Amanda decided to build the kind of place she wished existed: Studyville — a modern, membership-based tutoring lounge where students can get expert help with homework, test prep, college admissions and more, all in a space that makes learning feel engaging. Some people join an organization just looking for a job. They’re in and out. Others stay long enough to build a career. And in rare cases, they end up shaping the future of that organization from the top. That’s exactly the story of Alicia Vidrine. She started at the Tiger Athletic Foundation as an intern during her last semester at LSU, and over the years, she climbed the ladder step by step. Today, she’s the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Under Alicia’s leadership, TAF has expanded beyond funding facilities. Today, it helps power scholarships, operations and long-term support for student-athletes, all while adapting to a changing landscape in college sports. Working your way up the ladder in your career is never easy. It doesn’t matter if you can see the rungs of it from the start, or if you have to build your own ladder as you climb it. Both Amanda and Alicia exemplify this journey of growth and perseverance. Alicia climbed her ladder all while adapting to the ever-evolving world of college athletics. And Amanda built hers when looking for a better way to support her kid's education. Both of them saw opportunities to make a difference in their fields and took the bold steps necessary to bring your visions to life. 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.la.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Food is culture. It’s memory and identity. But turning tradition into innovation takes more than a good recipe. It takes creativity, grit, and a deep understanding of what people crave. Yvette Bonanno knows that well. She grew up in the Baton Rouge restaurant scene and that early exposure sparked a lifelong love for food. Today, she’s combining that experience with cutting-edge food production as the founder of Crave-a-Ball, a Baton Rouge-based company turning classic Louisiana dishes into hand-held, deep-fried, ready-to-serve balls. Yvette’s aiming to build Crave-a-ball into the next great Louisiana food brand. In business, longevity is no accident. It’s the result of resilience, reinvention, and often, a strong sense of purpose passed from one generation to the next. Darren Pizzolato grew up in the heart of a legacy: Tony’s Seafood. Darren was born into the business—literally—and has never worked anywhere else. Over the years, he and his family expanded Tony’s Seafood into one of the largest seafood markets in the region, known for its live catfish, award-winning boiled crawfish. Darren's family was also a driving force behind the launch of Louisiana Fish Fry, a brand that went on to become a national staple before the family sold it in 2018. Today, he’s helping shape the next chapter of that legacy in collaboration with Yvette’s company Crave-a-ball. Food has always been more than just fuel here — it’s a connector, a tradition, and a way to bring people together. And once a tradition is started, it’s easy to follow along and stick with it. From Tony’s Seafood, a Baton Rouge staple that has kept the community coming back for decades, to Crave-a-ball, a new venture that is pushing the boundaries of boudin ball flavors, both companies are continuing the legacy of their families while adding to decades-old recipes. 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.la.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Entrepreneurship can start in a lot of different ways. Sometimes it starts with a tiny idea that just grows alongside a community. Other times, it comes from a personal need—something you realize just isn’t out there yet, and you decide to build it yourself. That’s exactly what happened with Abbey Lovett. She’s a mom of two who saw something missing in the Baton Rouge business scene: a flexible, supportive workspace built with women in mind. So, she created Pathos Collective—a space that gives members 24/7 access to: a coworking area, a fitness center, professional development events, and is even working on bringing in in-house childcare. Since launching in November 2024, Pathos has hosted multiple sold-out events and has already grown to over 30 members. Some entrepreneurs start by spotting a gap in the market and figuring out how to fill it. Others follow a passion that ends up turning into something much bigger. Jenni Peters is definitely in that second group. She fell in love with running back in grad school, and that passion eventually led her to open Varsity Sports, a specialty running store in Baton Rouge. What started as a shop for serious runners has grown into a welcoming hub for the whole fitness community—offering everything from shoes and gait analysis to group runs for people at all levels. Now with locations in Baton Rouge, Mandeville, and New Orleans, Jenni hasn’t just built a business—she’s built a community. At the core of any great business is the ability to really connect with people. Whether it’s through a product, a service, or just creating a space where folks feel seen and supported—those connections are what make businesses thrive. And that’s definitely true for both Abbey and Jenni's businesses: they've both built something that goes way beyond business. Whether it’s a coworking space or a running store, when you create a sense of belonging, you’re building something that lasts. 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.la.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baton Rouge is a city known for its strong sense of community. But it’s also a city that’s becoming more aware of the need to protect and enhance its natural environment. In a region where development has often meant the loss of green spaces, there’s a growing movement to restore and care for what’s left—especially its trees. Sage Roberts Foley is Executive Director of Baton Rouge Green, an organization she’s been involved with since 2010. Baton Rouge Green is a nonprofit dedicated to planting trees, maintaining green spaces, and improving the urban landscape. Sage is passionate about making a tangible impact, and under her leadership Baton Rouge Green has taken on some ambitious projects that are already transforming the region. Trees are great to plant, but they’re not something that gives you an immediate return on your investment. Trees are, more than anything, an investment in our future. But a beautiful tree-canopy future for Baton Rouge isn’t going to be worth much if the future citizens of the city don’t have roots here. And that’s where the Baton Roots Community Farm comes in. Baton Roots is an urban farm. And a collection of agricultural projects that provide an opportunity for community members to learn best practices in sustainable agriculture. It’s an initiative that falls under the umbrella of a Baton Rouge organization we’ve talked about before on this show, The Walls Project. The Associate Director of Baton Roots Community Farm is S.K. Groll. Every year when June 1st rolls around we start talking about hurricanes. If this does anything - besides inducing a community-wide sense of anxiety - it makes us confront the fact that we’re living in a precarious place. Whether you believe climate change is man-made or simply the result of a natural cycle, we have to do whatever we can to make Baton Rouge resilient enough to withstand whatever nature and the future throws at us. While most of us do what we can by thinking positive thoughts and staying upbeat about life here, folks like Sage and SK are getting up every day and actually doing something to help ensure city life is not just sustainable, but better for future generations. 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.la.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We love to divide things into categories of two. Tall or short. Hot or cold. Liberal or conservative. And then there’s creative, or not. That one’s simply not true. Everyone has something they want to see come to life. Everyone has a vision of something they’d love to create that doesn’t exist… yet. 18 years ago, Chris Dykes started tracking his habits on an Excel spreadsheet. In the course of the next 18 years, Chris quit his job and co-founded an app-building business, Clear Blue Design. With this new company at his disposal, Chris looked at his spreadsheet - which he was still using every day - and came to the conclusion there had to be a better way. That’s when Chris and his team created the app, Ever Better. Subscribers choose what they want to improve - fitness, finances, or whatever they want - and the app gives them a way to measure their personal growth. When it comes to being creative, not everyone gets their foot in the door right away. Claudine Diamond, owner of Blue Lotus Visions, didn’t find her passion until a little later in life. In 2010, she started teaching herself how to paint with acrylics, then oils, then watercolor and now, 15 years later, she’s landed on mixed media. Claudine works with botanical materials, some found in her own garden, that she transfers onto paper using a gel plate and acrylic paint. Through her company, Claudine is building a community of artists. Together they host call-to-artist parties where they collaborate on singular pieces of art with upwards of six artists creating one piece. In a world where art can provoke several emotions, Claudine prides herself on making art that makes people happy. 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.la.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.