JUNE 2021 ISSUE
Pho Clay to Geaux
PLANT LADY VIBES
GINGERSPROUT PLANT CO. FLOURISHES
Acadiana Mom's Drive-Thru Dreams Realized
LAFAYETTE POLICE CHIEF TRIES TO BRIDGE COMMUNITY GAPS
Small Changes for Mom's Spaces
CONTENTS
OWNERS/PUBLISHERS 337 Media Editor / Creative Director: Abby Meaux Conques Graphic Designer: Abby Meaux Conques Ad Design: Abby Meaux Conques, Heidi Roy Digital Media: Abby Meaux Conques, Heidi Roy
337 CORRESPONDENTS Abby Meaux Conques, Renee Ory, Vicky Roe, Kimberly Guillot Thibeaux
HOME + STYLE 7
7 What Mom Really Wants
WELLBEING 8 Desiring Change vs. Being Open to Change 9 Are You Able to See the Fruits of your Labor?
COMMUNITY 10 New Police Chief's Community Policing Initiative Aims to Bridge Gaps
ACADIANA BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT CONTACT US 337magazine.com Editorial: editor@337magazine.com Advertising: advertise@337magazine.com
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12 Pho Clay to Geaux 16 Gingersprout Plant Co.
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16 All pages within 337 magazine are the property of 337 magazine. No portion of the materials on the pages may be reprinted or republished in any form without the express written permission of 337 magazine ©2020. The content of 337 magazine has been checked for accuracy, but the publishers cannot be held liable for any update or change made by advertisers and/or contributors to the magazine. 337 Media, LLC is not responsible for injuries sustained by the reader while pursuing activities described or illustrated herein, nor failure of equipment depicted or illustrated herein. No liability is, or will be, assumed by 337 magazine, 337 Media or any of its owners, administration, writers or photographers for the magazine or for any of the information contained within the magazine. All rights reserved.
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What Mom Really Wants By Renee Ory
May is a time for all things beautiful: beautiful weather, beautiful blooms, and beautiful mothers. We absolutely, positively, one hundred percent LOVE spoiling mothers, and are always excited to work on projects for them. Maybe it’s because so many on our team are mothers, or because we were all raised by such amazing women, but Mother’s Day is a favorite holiday at Amazing Spaces, and we have some great ideas for spoiling your mother this year. Mothers are the epicenter of the home – they are its heart AND soul. Mothers occupy every room of the house, but so often, no room is particularly “theirs”. All of the hustle and bustle of running a home, raising a family, and often pursuing a career while doing so, means our mothers are tired and in need of some help. Some of our favorite projects have been helping women create small sacred spaces for rest in their home.
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A small prayer nook with all of her favorite iconography and religious books can help a weary soul find refreshment in her day. A reading corner with a pretty but comfortable chair, soft blankets, beautiful lamp, and her favorite books can offer respite at the end of a busy day. Setting the scene in her bathroom for long, luxurious, relaxing baths complete with scented candles and tub accessories can help a mother soak away her worries at the end of a long day. Small, beautifully curated spaces made just for her can remind a mother just how much she – and all that she does – is cherished and appreciated. All of the above suggestions are things you can do on a fairly small budget, finding repurposed items, or moving a piece of furniture from another room and putting a new throw blanket on it. 337M A GA ZIN E . CO M
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If you have the means to spend a bit on Mom, consider using a professional organizer. Why? Know what mother’s are not fans of doing after a long day? Reorganizing. Most mothers will drool over perfectly organized pantries on their Pinterest pages (because of COURSE mothers have Pinterest pages devoted to organized pantries), but the task of organizing herself is overwhelming and just not something she can complete in the small amount of time she has left at the end of any given day. That’s where we come in and make dreams come true! Our Amazing Spaces teams can come into the home during the day, and when Mom returns home from work (or, if you are extra great, a day at the spa given
to her by her spouse and children *winkwink*) her pantry is Pinterestified. Why stop there? We can make all spaces into Amazing Spaces! What is her biggest annoyance in her home? Maybe it’s a crowded foyer, an avalanching linen closet, a sloppy wardrobe, an underutilized utility room, or a garage that makes her want to puke. We can take any of these and make them Amazing Spaces! Maybe your mother has a pile of art waiting to be hung on the wall. Maybe your mother wants to move furniture but doesn’t know where to place her pieces. Maybe your mother really wants to revitalize her patio but is stuck on how to start. Our Amazing Spaces teams can help!
AMAZING SPACES is an Acadiana-based Professional Organizing Company transforming homes and offices since 2003. Offering a full line of closet and storage systems. Call Renée Ory (337) 296-5506 for appointments and visit the website at AmazingSpaces.org
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Desiring Change vs. Being Open to Change By Kimberly Guillot Thibeaux
Have you ever wanted something so bad and you worked so hard to gather all the pieces of the puzzle but yet you still couldn’t seem to achieve whatever it is that you were striving for? In the realm of self-discovery and self-creation this can be very common. We can desire change all day, every day, but if we are resistant to the courageous risk of choosing to embrace change in our lives, your desires don’t have the space to actually manifest. For example, you are desiring to share your life with someone and you go on dates, create the dating profile, etc., but something inside blocks you from enjoying mingling and being authentically you on said dates. In this example you could be “doing all the right things,” yet if you don’t truly open yourself up to getting to know the person or allow them to get to know you, you won’t be able to welcome the change from single life to sharing your life with someone else. See, change in any fashion takes vulnerability and courage. With this example, the courageous choice would be to show up on the date as your authentic self rather than an edited version of yourself that you think the date may want you to be. No matter how bad you desire change in your life, if you are not willing to be vulnerable, chances are you may not embrace the change that you are saying that you want. Is there something that you are desiring in your life, yet it feels like it’s not coming together? One thing to think about is “Are you actually creating space in your life for what you desire?” Happy Healing, Holistic Nurse Kim For individualized support: kurmaholistics.net 337-534-0111
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Are You Able to See the Fruits of Your Labor? By Kimberly Guillot Thibeaux
Do you ever feel like you are working so hard at becoming a better version of yourself but yet you are unable to see the results? Are you experiencing loved ones giving you compliments like “You look happier and refreshed!” You attempt to believe them but when you look in the mirror of your life all you see is the same old you? You’ve exerted all this energy into creating a better life for yourself, but yet your self-talk and your self-image are stuck in the past. Once you create a new way of being it is important to let go of how you viewed yourself before you made lifestyle changes. Those positive patterns were embodied because you actually made different choices, but it is also therapeutic to embody the new lens in which you see yourself. This phenomenon can create more suffering even if you have created a better version of yourself. Awareness is key. Becoming aware of the persistent old self-image gifts you the opportunity to choose differently. The other side of the coin could possibly be filled with a more loving self-image and compassionate self-talk. Who doesn’t want more of that?! In short, whenever you are releasing the old patterns and negative habits, you have to remember to replace your vision of yourself as well. Ask yourself, “Is my self-talk & self-image helping me grow or hindering my progress?” For individualized support: kurmaholistics.net 337-534-0111
Thibeaux is the owner & founder of Kurma Holistics A Nursing Approach. Thibeaux is a Board Certified Holistic Registered Nurse (registered Nurse of 8 years), Therapeutic Yoga Instructor, and Certified Acupressure Practitioner. Kurma is a Health & Wellness facility with a Holistic Nurse’s twist. The vision is to facilitate your growth to become a wealthier you, by implementing simple soul-utions for the difficulties in life. JU N E 2 0 2 1
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LAFAYETTE POLICE CHIEF THOMAS GLOVER
New Police Chief's Community Policing Initiative Aims to Bridge Gaps By Vicky Roe
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t’s only been a few months since Thomas Glover became the Chief of Police for the Lafayette Police Department, but he already has big plans of change for the community. With trust hanging in the balance, Chief Glover knows he needs to build trust not only in himself as the new Police Chief, but also between the department and the general public. So, what will it take? More than words, it’s going to take action. Chief Glover’s new initiative is not aimed at building a temporary fix for high tensions, but a true change in Lafayette. Chief Glover explained, “The Lafayette Police Department is going to be practicing community policing from the top down and I’ve mandated that every sworn officer in this department has to do at least one community service event per week. That can be anything from coaching
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a baseball team, talking to Girls Scouts, doing a security survey for an elderly citizen, all the way down to going to a convenient store, drinking a cup of coffee and chatting with the clerk about any particular problems they may be experiencing. The essence of it is to get officers in contact with the citizens without being dispatched on a 911 call. We are going to try to build trust and a stronger relationship with the community through this and it will work.” Chief Glover hopes to increase those hours over the next year or two, possibly moving to two events a week. For now he is setting his initial sights on implementing this program to get officers in a position where they’re not just in a vehicle or responding to a 911 emergency call, but rather where they’re initiating the contact, not the citizen. 337M A GA ZIN E . CO M
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As far as how Chief Glover will hold officers accountable, he explained, “I will document it and conduct random requests for what they did. I may go two weeks and not ask for any documentation and then the third week, I would say, ‘Provide me with your documentation for the past two or three weeks on what you’ve done in the community.’ We’ve already started; in fact, a few weeks ago I did my first random act for three people. They all were prepared, and they all had it... and that’s why I’m making it random so that they won’t just think that I’ll ask for it every Thursday or every Monday and feel like they have a specific day to do it. I will randomly ask so they have to stay on their p’s and q’s.” With a lot of tension currently, particularly when it comes to law enforcement and Black and Brown communities, some say community policing would be like putting a bandage on a wound the size of open-heart surgery.
In the long term, Chief Glover hopes to see community support for his goals. “We want community stakeholders to understand that we are here for them and they will join us in programs; crime-fighting programs. I want to bring out a Junior Police Academy where young people, ages 10, 11 and 12 want to become Police Officers. I’m going to be doing a Citizens Police Academy where adults will be trained on some of the things that Police Officers do, and all of these go hand in hand.” With hopes of a brighter future, Chief Glover has a clear plan of how he will measure the success of the program. “The reward and measure of success is that the crime rate goes down, community involvement goes up and we can identify people by name and face who work with us and it has to continue to multiply.”
Chief Glover says that community policing is not the bandage, it’s the cure. “It will inspire people to become involved with Police Departments. I’ve been in the business for almost 40 years, and I’ve worked in just about every facet of policing that you can, and I can tell you that one of the biggest complaints that the communities of color will have when they talk to you, is that they don’t see enough of the police department. It’s one of the top complaints that they have...is that they’d like to see more officers driving by waving at us, shaking hands, talking to us.”
With Vicky Roe, you’re getting the best of both worlds - born and raised in New York City but growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina gives her the Concrete Jungle hustle with a solid serving of Southern Hospitality! After numerous opportunities, including working for “American Idol” during their stint in Charlotte, to interning for the “Rachael Ray Show”, to becoming a Television News Reporter in Alabama, she ultimately made her way back to Charlotte where she worked as the Executive Producer for a Morning Radio Show. The experience both behind the scenes and on the mic, set her up to be the next powerhouse on Q95.5 in Lafayette, Louisiana, and now contributing writer for 337 Magazine.
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Pho Clay to Geaux Acadiana Mom's Drive-Thru Dreams Realized During Pandemic By Abby Meaux Conques
DIANE PHAK AND SON CLAYTON 12
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ike many new businesses born out of the pandemic, Pho Clay to Geaux found its inception in the midst of serendipity and happenstance while the world dealt with COVID.
said that the pho Diane made that day rivaled her Mom’s recipe. The compliments that she didn’t expect planted a seed of insight.
After deciding to leave a long run in retail, Diane Phak found a new pursuit of happiness in something that lit her up since childhood: making traditional Laotian fare.
Diane decided that she didn’t have anything to lose. She began a private facebook group of close friends and family and began taking orders for a limited menu she concocted. “The facebook group began to grow, and so did my ambition.”
We sat down with her recently and learned the inspiring story behind her recently-opened drive thru restaurant, Pho Clay to Geaux. Diane grew up in a family of four children with her Laotian parents, who were both from Laos and met in Shreveport. She’s one of four children, and the only girl. She grew up watching her Mom make time-honored Laotian meals for the family to enjoy. “Watching my Mom cook was therapeutic for me and watching my Grandparents cook was amazing to me as a child.” How was the idea of Pho Clay to Geaux born? Her inspiration came from cooking for her 7-year-old son, Clayton, and for her family and friends. “I always cooked for my family. One day during the early days of COVID last year, I made pho and dropped it off at my family’s house.” After she dropped off the meal and headed home, she got a phone call from her brother that would change her course of thinking about the future for her and her son. “My brother called me and asked, ‘Did you make this? This is really damn good.’” It was even said that her Mom, her inspiration for cooking,
In another serendipitous stroke, Diane came across a friend’s social media post sharing an image of cabbage rolls. “I was craving some good cabbage rolls and asked where these were from. They were made by Hungry As a Mother off Morgan Ave in Broussard.” The drive thru spot that Hungry As a Mother was utilizing hit sentimental notes for Diane. “It was the old Poppa D’s, a place I used to order from all the time when I lived in Broussard.” Diane enjoyed the cabbage rolls, and eventually befriended Hungry As a Mother owner, Amy Wellborn. She saw the drive thru building in a new light that day, making a promise to herself that she’ll have a spot like that once she gets more people to order her food. How did she achieve more orders? She got creative with getting word-of-mouth referrals. “I began to give away free meals in the Facebook group, asking one thing of people...I told them, ‘I know you’ll like it...all I ask is that when you do, post about it for me.’” Her plan worked. Eventually people began to post her meals and tag her in the photos.
CHICKEN EGGROLLS
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FRIED BULGOGI DUMPLINGS, WITH RED CURRY AIOLI. 13
In another twist of fate, Diane received a phone call from Amy Wellborn offering rental of the drive-thru spot after lunch hours when Hungry As a Mother was not operating. The space would serve Hungry As a Mother lunches by day, and Diane’s pho and appetizers at night. “Amy helped me to get to where I am today...I wish I could carry her in my pocket!” Since January of this year, Diane has served her pho bowls, various eggrolls, fried bulgogi dumplings and special offmenu treats like their popular Korean Cheese Cornogs (coated with sweet flour batter & stuffed with mozzarella cheese) from the drive-thru building at 812 S. Morgan Ave in Broussard. A few changes have happened in the recent months including Hungry As a Mother pursuing new business endeavors, which opened up lunch hours for Pho Clay to Geaux. Since its inception via drive thru, Diane also offers Eat Fit options on her menu including zoodle bowls (pho bowls made with zucchini noodles), tofu zoodle bowls and brown rice spring rolls. Diane is still enjoying cooking with her family. Clay is with her daily at the drive thru restaurant and loves to greet the customers through the drive thru window and her Mom helps her to roll the eggrolls. “I also have employees that help me and I would honestly trust them with my life,” she mentioned. She credits much of her new-found success with her ability to try something even when she was admittedly apprehensive to do so, and with befriending people in the local restaurant industry who offer advice and are eager to see others in the area succeed.
Diane’s last advice to readers included, “Don’t be afraid to expand your ideas, even at a cost.” She told us that in all honesty, the very start of her business hinged on the choice between paying her note or making her first batch of orders. She chose making her first batch of orders which eventually turned into more orders, allowing her not only eventually paying that car note, but starting a business where she could support herself and her son doing something she is passionate about. “To this day, I don’t regret my decision...I needed to do it for my son,” she said. “To date, the best feeling in the world is feeding your friends and knowing they and their kids’ bellies are full; I’ll always make sure peoples’ babies’ bellies are full.” What’s next for Diane? “My goal is to open up a dining restaurant in the next 5 years and have a booth at various area festivals.” Pho Clay to Geaux’s expanded hours are Tuesdays through Fridays 11am-2pm and 4pm-8pm and Saturdays 4pm-8pm. Follow their social media pages for popups and menu announcements.
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KOREAN CHEESE CORNDOG 337M A GA ZIN E . CO M
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Plant Lady Paradise GingerSprout Plant Co. Prospers from Personal Growth By Abby Meaux Conques
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e just can’t get enough of all these stories of prosperity during the time of a pandemic, so here’s another one! Read on about how Acadiana native, Amber Wolfe, grew her pop-up plant business, GingerSprout Plant Co., during the early days of the uncertain times of COVID. Amber’s plant business grew out of necessity coupled with a passion for plants. Her profession change followed her career as an administrator in the healthcare sector, leaving only to help care for her ailing grandfather. Like so many during the time of COVID, Amber suffered many losses in a short amount of time including the loss of her beloved grandfather, the course of what she thought was her career, and a long-term relationship. In the span of all this newness for her, she moved into a new apartment in the Downtown area of St. Martinville which happened to have noteworthy, grand windows. “Oddly enough, my time there allowed me to be the most ‘me’ I felt I had ever been,” Amber mentioned when we sat with her recently. In a space where her heart was ready for some healing, Amber decided to utilize the gorgeous natural light of her new place and searched for plants to care for. Excited to add to her new location, she bought plants...admittingly lots of plants. “I bought wayyyy too many!” she laughed. The variety of plants and sheer amount of them gave Amber the drive to research how to care for them properly and learn all aspects of them. “Out of my heartbreak, I got to give love to all these plants and to watch them grow and thrive,” she explained. After months of self-work, throwing herself into careful plant research, and watching all of the plants that adorned her home grow, things began to thrive for her too. She was embarking on a new, exciting adventure into the vast plant world and her relationship rekindled. “I was at a point where people began to ask my advice about plants, and I began to plant buy for friends and family, showing them how to care for them,” she explained. Amber needed a source of income and toyed with the idea of making her now-established passion for everything plants into a profession. A move to central Lafayette and a fateful jump into her new role as being known as the “Plant Lady” served as a springboard for GingerSprout Plant Co. She began selling online and shipping to other states before she made a move to central Lafayette where customers could pick up their new plants and get to know the plant lady on a personal level. She eventually found a great working relationship with a wholesaler and began curating lists of beautiful houseplants including rare species to offer to her loyal customers.
PICTURED LEFT: GINGERSPROUT PLANT CO. OWNER, AMBER WOLFE PORTRAITS BY SOUTHERN WANDER PHOTOGRAPHY JU N E 2 0 2 1
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Meeting Amber is a testament to her devoted customer base. We know they go to her for plant knowledge, but her outgoing and witty personality is a major plus. Amber lets her genuine, authentic nature shine, which is refreshing in times of “best face forward” social media. “I am the Plant Lady...plant puns and Dad jokes...I’m here for it! Everything is just really straight chaos,” she laughed, “I just learned to go with the ebbs and flows of life.” Being a plant lady seems like it could be an easy job to the naive, but Amber explained to us the rigorous steps it takes to get a plant in hand for potential clients. “When choosing plants, we inspect, clean, barcode and tag every single plant in the greenhouse. It’s very meticulous and time-consuming. I take the inspection job very seriously because I want my clients to have the best product available.” Amber’s online store branched out to pop-up events. A recent pop-up in front of Genterie Supply Co. on Jefferson Street Downtown Lafayette for an artwalk served as a catalyst for the company. “I really enjoyed it...meeting people and talking plants,” Amber mentioned. Her calendar is filled with upcoming pop up events and she’s curating her inventory to allow for a good variety at these events. She carefully chooses a 18
wide assortment for an array of customer desires such as great plants for beginners, small succulents, pet-friendly plants, large plants... the list goes on. We asked her what plants she advises for beginners. “I’d advise ZZ plants or snake plants... they’re pretty much indestructible,” she laughed. What about a level above beginners? “Let’s say these are a level up from beginners... easy, but rewarding. The beginner plants I mentioned may take a little while before you see the reward. Heartleaf Philodendrons and vining Monsteras grow fast and allow you to reap the reward faster. They make you feel like the best plant parent!” she said. Does she have plants at her house? A resounding “YES!” “My favorite plants are in my living room so I can see them. At one point I had 350 houseplants!” she exclaimed. With future pop up events on the calendar and more being added regularly, you’ll want to follow her on social media...for the calendar and for the witty jokes. Meeting with Amber made this black thumb aspire to be a green thumb after all. We think we’ll start with a Philodendron.
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MONSTERA DELICIOSA
FICUS ELASTICA (THE RUBBER TREE)
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RED MARANTA
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Classical & Distinctly Christian Education
We are excited to offer a part-time enrollment option for homeschool students in the Acadiana area (7th & 8th grade).Spots are limited.
