The Deal Podcast

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 ...

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 eig...

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 — a...

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 B...

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,...

What does it actually take to land a $1.4 billion manufacturing deal in a parish of 70,000 people? Mike Tarantino has the playbook — and he's running it in real time.

In this episode, Joshua Wilson and co-host Scott Shea sit down with Mike Tarantino, President and CEO of the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation, to break down the mechanics of modern economic development dealmaking. Mike walks through how Iberia Parish, Lou...

What if the same company could give you four bites of the apple? Steven Pivnik did exactly that — and nearly lost it all in between.

In this episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson sits down with Steven Pivnik, serial founder, endurance athlete, and exit advisor who built and monetized the same software company four separate times before finally selling to a $4 billion competitor. Steven shares the real story behind th...

What does it take to turn a text message into a viral brand? Bryan McGehee, founder of Gatr Coolers, did exactly that — starting from a camper with his wife and kids, betting his house on a cooler company, and going full-time the same month COVID shut the world down.

Bryan McGehee is the founder of Gatr Coolers, a premium customizable cooler and drinkware brand built out of Thibodaux, Louisiana. Bryan spent years working pipel...

What if the biggest mistake you're making isn't a bad deal or a wrong hire — but spending your life doing things you're capable of instead of things you were made for?

Dominic Dupré grew up watching four cousins build successful companies in Louisiana's energy corridor. He graduated into the shale boom, swung sledgehammers on a workover rig, and had his entrepreneurial dreams derailed by the 2014 oil bust — only to be ca...

What if the thing slowing your growth isn't what's missing — it's what you refuse to cut?

Yarin Gaon sold his fourth company at 28, ran turnarounds as an Entrepreneur in Residence at a venture capital firm, mentored 400+ founders through the University of Chicago and SCORE, and has earned an MBA along the way. Today he runs Fractional Partners, where he applies a private equity-style operating playbook to lower middle market b...

He was drowning in investor debt, swinging a hammer in Houston just to make payroll — and still found a way to build something worth fighting for. This is a story about grit, partnership, and what it really takes to grow a trade business from the inside out.

George Boudreaux founded Pelican Roofing Company in Lafayette, Louisiana on July 4th, 2014 — not from a place of momentum, but from a burning need to survive. After ...

She thought it was total BS. Then they built a company together — and haven't looked back since. Kenny and Stacy Maggard turned a margarita-fueled conversation into Azalea Health Services, a mission-driven mental health company serving seniors in long-term care settings across Louisiana and Texas.

Kenny Maggard spent 15 years as a middle market banker at Capital One before stepping into private equity and ultimately taking the...

What happens when you hand the keys to an $850 million government operation to someone who thinks like an operator? You get fewer barriers, faster decisions, and a city that starts acting like it has a balance sheet to protect.

In this episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson and co-host Jude David, JD, DCL, MBA and Managing Partner at FA Mergers, sit down with Mayor-President Monique Boulet of Lafayette, Louisiana. Monique w...

What happens to your business if you don't make it home today?

Taylor Davis watched his father — a top vascular surgeon making great money — die at 48 with almost no coverage after a business partnership dissolved and the insurance went with it. His mother sold her dream home and went back to work. That experience became his life's mission.

Taylor Davis is a Wealth Management Advisor with Northwestern Mutual, approaching ...

What does it take to turn a family baking legacy into a viral sensation? Billy and Denny, aka "The Gingerbread Twins", have been proving that faith, hard work, and butter cookies can build something extraordinary.

Billy and Denny are the identical twin founders of Gingerbread Twins, a Lafayette, Louisiana bakery rooted in three generations of baking tradition. In this episode, they share one of the most inspiring entrepreneurial sto...

Most financial advisors are sitting on their biggest asset and don't even know it. Dr. Jon Randall breaks down exactly what your practice is worth — and how to build it so buyers are lined up when you're ready.

In this episode, Joshua Wilson sits down with Dr. Jon Randall, founder of eXtraordinary Financial Advisors (XFA) and author of The Extraordinary Financial Advisor Practice. With over 25 years of experience coaching fina...

He was the only survivor of a plane crash that killed five people — burned on 80% of his body, pulled from a coma, and given little chance of a full recovery. What Wade Berzas discovered in that hospital room became the foundation for everything he now teaches entrepreneurs.

Wade Berzas is an EOS Implementer, business coach, and speaker who works with privately held entrepreneurial companies of 10 to 250 employees. After a dec...

Most companies are spending money on marketing without knowing if it's working. Jeremy Beyt has built a career proving there's a better way — and it starts long before you run a single ad.

Jeremy Beyt is the CEO and Co-Founder of ThreeSixtyEight, a full-service creative agency based in Louisiana known as the Challenger Agency. In this episode, Jeremy joins hosts Joshua Wilson and Scott Shea for a wide-ranging conversation on w...

Before Scott Rainey owned a safety consulting company, he was getting bit by dogs in North Louisiana — knocking on doors as a landman, trying to convince hostile landowners to let oil companies onto their property. That pivot into entrepreneurship wasn't clean. It nearly ended in bankruptcy. Here's how he got out, started over, and built something worth selling.

Scott Rainey is the founder and President of Quest Safety Solutio...