Episodes

What if the smartest move before your liquidity event isn't talking to your banker — it's talking to a community foundation? In this episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson and co-host Scott Shea sit down with Missy Andrade, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of Acadiana (CFA), to unpack one of the most overlooked tools in middle market dealmaking: the community foundation. Missy leads a 26-year-old organization stewarding more than $253 million in assets across roughly 1...

Mark Weber made $12,000 his first year in business. He never hired an employee. Three decades later, he's built a portfolio across life insurance, real estate, and mortgage lending — all on strategic partnerships and commission-only hustle. Mark Weber is a serial entrepreneur, inventor, and CEO of Mark Weber Enterprises — a multi-layered company spanning real estate, investments, insurance, and mortgage lending. In this episode, Mark sits down with host Joshua Wilson and co-host Jude David, M...

What if the smartest growth strategy in your community wasn't being run by a private equity firm — it was being run by a charity? Kim Boudreaux and Sarah Clement of Catholic Charities of Acadiana have spent the last two decades quietly executing one of the most disciplined nonprofit roll-up strategies in Louisiana — growing from a $1.2M agency with 23 employees into a $15M, 90-person, 14-organization platform serving eight civil parishes. In this episode, host Joshua Wilson and co-host Jude D...

What if the Lord interrupted your career at the peak of the American dream? Saul Keeton walked away from 25 years in commercial real estate. Kevin Granger left nursing and music behind. Both said yes to something bigger. In this episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson sits down with Saul Keeton and Kevin Granger of Family Missions Company — the largest lay Catholic foreign missionary organization in the world — alongside co-host Jude David, JD, DCL, MBA and Managing Partner at FA Mergers...

What does it actually take to walk away from a thriving career at the top of your game — and how do you do it without leaving wreckage behind? In this special episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson and co-host Jude David, JD, DCL, MBA — Managing Partner at FA Mergers — sit down with Father Jim Brady, JCL, Pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Lafayette, Louisiana. Before entering the priesthood, Father Brady spent eleven years building a regional law practice as a litigation partner. ...

What happens when a former musician with degrees in graphic design and public relations becomes the executive director of one of Louisiana's most important startup engines? You get Destin Ortego — and a playbook that's helped founders raise $116M in venture capital and drive over $2 billion in economic impact since 2018. In this episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson and co-host Scott Shea sit down with Destin Ortego, Executive Director of Opportunity Machine, the Lafayette-based nonpro...

Mike Tarantino, President and CEO of the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation, on how to land a major manufacturing deal — the playbook behind Iberia Parish winning First Solar's $1.4B, 2.3M sq ft advanced manufacturing facility over 15+ competing communities, plus the site selector ecosystem, public-private partnerships, and the business retention work that makes a community a magnet for capital.

Steven Pivnik on four exits from the same company — licensing software to IBM and Microsoft, surviving fraud and two missed payrolls, the KPI discipline that built the second act, and bringing in a CEO for the $4B sale. Now an exit advisor at Acresis and coach at The CEO Project.

Bryan McGehee of Gatr Coolers on building a viral consumer brand from a Thibodaux, Louisiana camper — the marketing playbook, strategic partnerships, and the real cost of manufacturing in oil country.

Dominic Dupré of Tule Creek Capital on going from operator to investor — surviving the 2014 oil bust, turning around the family crude hauling division, and what disqualifies most SMB sellers.

Yarin Gaon of Fractional Partners on growth by subtraction for founders — why scaling addition kills EBITDA, how to attribute overhead by revenue stream, and what PE does post-close.

George Boudreaux and Nathan Rath on finding a business partner to grow Pelican Roofing from $9M to $19M — partnership structure, hard decisions, and why they avoided PE.

Kenny and Stacy Maggard of Azalea Health Services on building a business with your spouse — founding a senior mental health company, the management service agreement model, and what makes co-founder marriages work.

Mayor-President Monique Boulet on running government like a business — the $200M Johnson Street project, sewer policy that saved a developer $600K, and reorganizing 2,000 employees.

Taylor Davis on the buy-sell agreement for business owners — what happens when partnerships dissolve, why most high-income earners are underprotected, and the question every owner avoids.

Billy and Denny of Gingerbread Twins on scaling a family bakery business — three generations of baking, the viral king cake season, and building a nationwide brand from a Lafayette shoebox.

Dr. Jon Randall of XFA on selling a financial advisor practice — the $1M revenue ceiling, the practitioner-to-CEO shift, and what private equity buyers want in a book of business.

Wade Berzas on surviving a plane crash and rebuilding around EOS — the four pillars he now teaches entrepreneurs: Faith, Perseverance, Surrender, and Love.

Jeremy Beyt of ThreeSixtyEight on marketing strategy for business owners — data-driven creative, what really happens in an agency merger, and why he turned down PE and Shark Tank.

Scott Rainey on buying a business as a first-time owner — the deal that nearly bankrupted him, what he wishes he'd diligenced, and building Quest Safety Solutions to sell.

Lauren Bercier on raising venture capital as a female founder — bootstrapping Something Borrowed Blooms to 60,000 weddings, Series B at 26% YOY growth, and the rent-and-return model.

Mark Miller of the Hilton Family Office on how family offices invest — the Hilton Financial Network, reducing portfolio volatility, and the gap between smart money and retail.

Travis Hann of Pender & Howe on how PE firms find the right CEO — deal-contingent executive search, Top Grading methodology, and the operators willing to co-invest.

Nate Moore of Moore Consulting on building a 700-person platform by acquiring distressed childcare and home care businesses — what turnaround buyers look for, and the leadership framework behind every successful turnaround.