It’s Acadiana: Out To Lunch

Hosted ByChristiaan Mader

OUT TO LUNCH finds journalist Christiaan Mader conducting business Acadiana style: over lunch. Each week Christiaan invites guests from Acadiana's business community to join him. Beyond the foundations of the Acadiana economy - oil, cuisine, music - there is a vast network of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even some of the country's largest companies who call Acadiana home. Out to Lunch is the cafeteria of the wider Acadiana business community. You can also hear the show on KRVS 88.7FM.

Spoonbill Macarons – Out to Lunch – It’s Acadiana

If everything worked out the way you thought it was going to, 10 or 20 years ago, what kind of a life would you be leading today? It’s fascinating to ponder how different the world might be if Jeff Bezos didn’t quit his job and start Amazon. Or if William Shakespeare had been content to make a living as an actor and hadn’t started writing.

We all change course. We change our minds. We fall in love, with a career or a person, and things that were quietly rolling along are suddenly off the rails and we’re going in a whole other direction. 
Heather Degeyter is a prime example.

 Heather Degeyter

Heather was, step by step, building a career as an academic. She got a masters degree in language and literature at UL. And she was teaching at LSU, when she gave it all up. To make macarons. In June of 2019, Heather turned what was a passion and a growing home-business, making macarons to order, into a full-time job, and a storefront bakery on Kaliste Saloom in Lafayette, called Bonne Vie Macarons.

Stephen Verrett 

And then there’s the story of Stephen Verrett, who dropped out of college to become a freelance web designer.  If you’re waiting for a story about how Stephen became a fabulously successful web designer… well, I could tell that story, but instead I’m going to tell you how he gave that up – to open a restaurant in Lafayette. Along with a couple of partners, Stephen took over what was the old Filling Station restaurant – which itself was originally a gas station – and turned it into Spoonbill. Today, we’re sitting a table at Spoonbill, across from its co-owner, Stephen Verrett.

Aileen tries Stephen's salad at Spoonbill