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Finally scratch that nagging itch you’ve had to open a restaurant, publish a book, lose weight, run for office, throw better parties, start a band, launch a nonprofit.

Here are five stories and a dozen tips from people who changed their lives.

Even if your own dream isn’t on our list, reading about these Baton Rougeans following their passion just might encourage you. So wake up early, stay up late, get a sitter, get off the couch, get out of the house, take a risk, lend a hand, expand your taste and smash that cubicle into tiny, easily combustible smithereens. You know you want to.

Thank us later, because you’ve got some reading to do.

Expand your taste

FRANK MCMAINS

Owner, Red Star Bar

Like many people, I get most of my ideas from the Internet. It’s a great resource to figure out what you want to do and talk about in those hours we are separated from our computers. Three Quarks Daily (3quarksdaily.com) is the paean of three family members on what they find intriguing in the science world. The Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com) is where I go to keep up with my beloved liberal media. But, Chow Hound (chowhound.com) is the site I probably spend the most time paging through. Want to find the best dumpling cart in Queens, or which New Orleans restaurants are open for business and back up to par? Go to Chow Hound and fulfill your love of obscure food.

Work from home

MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

Home freelance writer

Woo hoo! No Big Brother here, I’m thinking as I e-mail another story from my sunroom office in gym shorts with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s nearby. Yes indeedy, working from home sure is liberating.

But wait! Have I booked enough work for the next quarter? Did I claim my home office deduction? And why can’t I get rid of these blasted pop-ups?

It might seem convenient, but working from home requires cracking your own whip. Two things rule: organization and discipline. Try these strategies:

• Install systems to handle accounting, contacts, etc., and update them regularly.

• Be stingy with your equipment and supplies.

• Back up files often.

• Establish work hours.

• Get out of the office to network.

• Most importantly, like what you do.

Writer Maggie Heyn Richardson has been freelancing in various rooms at home since 1998.

Live large on a budget

JOEY CATALDIE, Entrepreneur

Law Student, Globetrotter

Resourcefulness and creativity are key. A few tricks I’ve learned: Work for trade. I’ve received everything from furniture to hotel stays through trade, and it usually works out better for both parties involved. Don’t be afraid to hit hardware stores and salvage yards and do it yourself. Getting my hands dirty keeps my wallet heavy. Set goals. I like to take a big vacation once a year, so I prioritize and budget to make it happen.”

Be funny

JEREMY WHITE, Comedian and publisher of Red Schtick magazine

Don’t try too hard. Relax and be yourself. If you try to be Robin Williams, you’ll come off as an enormous ass. Self-effacing humor is always a safe bet. Cracks about your name, appearance or hometown are good icebreakers. Avoid telling stories. That way you can be funny without hogging the conversation. Think Chandler from Friends. Always observe, observe, observe! It’s hard to make jokes about the world around you when you’re clueless. And for God’s sake, don’t laugh at your own jokes. You shouldn’t have to cue people that you just made a funny. If that doesn’t work, just tell a bunch of Boudreaux jokes.

Take better pictures

JEANNIE FREY-RHODES

Photographer

Don’t be afraid to get close, waist up, and use your zoom. In low-light situations, try the slow sync on your flash, but use a tripod or stable surface to avoid blurring. Natural light is always best, so try to go without the flash if possible. Try shooting your subject off-center. That makes for more interesting compositions. On a sunny day, shoot early or late when the sun’s angle is sharpest. Put your subject’s back to the light and use a fill flash or reflector for great results. Have fun and don’t be afraid to try new techniques.

Become a pilot

STEPHEN BABCOCK

Attorney and licensed pilot

If you are at least 16, healthy and have a minimum of $5,000 to spare, you can get a pilot’s license. My advice would be to complete the required ground school before beginning the actual flight training. You can order computer software and do it in a weekend if you don’t like sitting in classrooms. After you solo, you will be able to work on your various flight maneuvers by yourself until you and your instructor feel you are ready for the “check ride.” You will need 40 or more hours of flight time before you can “check ride” with an Federal Aviation Administration examiner, but the national average is closer to 60. Don’t sweat it. After all of those hours studying and flying, you should pass with flying colors.

Open a restaurant…and a bar

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL

There are two things to understand about Jack Warner and Brandon Landry: They don’t take no for an answer, and they truly believe anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

These are guys, after all, who walked onto the LSU basketball team and managed to stay on the squad for all four years of their college careers—pretty impressive considering some of their highly-recruited teammates didn’t stick it out that long.

So it’s not surprising that while fresh out of college they convinced a bank to lend them money to open a sports bar. Four years later Walk-Ons Bistreaux & Bar has established itself as a quintessential LSU hotspot.

“Our mindset is, if you really believe in it, it’s going to happen,” says Landry, 27, who grew up in White Castle and attended Catholic High in Baton Rouge.

That may sound like the kind of pithy advice you find on inspirational posters, but Warner and Landry (pictured left to right) live by that motto. It kept them going when their marketing professor gave them a C for the sports bar concept he said would never work, and also when five banks refused to lend them money because they had neither collateral nor experience.

“We were really frustrated but we never gave up,” Landry says. “If you really believe something can work, you’re going to be able to sell it because no one can sell it better than yourself.”

Warner and Landry eventually found a bank willing to take a chance on them. Walk-Ons opened in 2003 on the weekend of the LSU-Georgia game. They felt confident the crowds would take to their nearly on-campus location and their eclectic menu, with its blend of typical sports bar fare and uniquely Louisiana seafood dishes.

They weren’t so certain, however, how much alcohol to order, so they played it safe with a case of each liquor their bar stocked, plus 50 kegs and 350 cases of beer.

“If you run out of Bud Light, you look like a moron,” Warner says.

Needless to say, they didn’t. And these days the pair is a little more confident in their abilities to make inventory judgments and buying decisions at their downtown establishments, The Roux House and Happy’s Irish Pub.

Warner and Landry are already scouting locations for a fourth venture in Lafayette, and loving every minute of it. “You have to find something you love,” Warner says. “For me, this isn’t work. This is my passion.”

Get Your Book Published

RONLYN DOMINGUE

Author of The Mercy of Thin Air (Simon & Schuster)

Remember this: talent helps, but luck is far more important. Have critical readers comment on your drafts. Finish and polish your novel. Identify, then send queries and excerpts to reputable agents with documented sales to major publishers. Sign with a great agent, and hope a major house’s editor and its marketing teams fall in love with your book. For specifics, visit ronlyndomingue.com/writers.htm.

Plant a church

BY JEFF ROEDEL

It’s a parachute drop. That’s how Pastor J. Scott Lindsay describes planting a new church in South Baton Rouge, the Presbyterian Church of America’s first in the area, in 2001. Though an LSU alumnus, Lindsay had spent more than a decade leading a church in Prattville, Ala., and founding another in Melbourne, Australia. A Slidell native, he had no real ties to Baton Rouge.

But the Presbyterian Church of America wanted a church near the LSU campus to support the Reformed University Fellowship ministry already underway, and Lindsay was a top candidate. He and his wife, Lisa, first declined the offer, but ultimately decided they were equipped for the challenge.

The PCA required that Lindsay secure 90% of the funding the church would need for its first three years of operation. So he sought financial support from other churches before starting a Bible study with three Baton Rouge couples. Through word-of-mouth the group reached 25, quickly outgrowing the Lindsay’s home. He began looking for a location.

“PCA’s group, Mission to North America, likes you to have at least 50 people before you start holding services, but we thought, ‘Whatever,’” Lindsay says. The young church began renting Sunday morning space on the practice floor of Elite Gymnastics, then moved to O’Neill’s House of Music, and since 2004 has met at Tari’s School of Dance on Perkins Road.

Lindsay is tall, soft-spoken and introspective. Now 46, he preaches not because he is a natural orator or charismatic extrovert, but because of his passion for the Gospel. His sermons have a challenging, academic tone without any of the dramatic flare of Baton Rouge’s more recognizable evangelists.

“It’s not by my great personality or anything like that,” Lindsay says smiling. “Ultimately, it’s the fact that God works through you. If I’m faithful, God will draw people to him.”

Lindsay’s congregation has grown slowly but steadily—a pace he sees as positive for a church that is, as he puts it, building for distance and not speed. It’s bursting at the seams of Tari’s, and now Lindsay is considering a land purchase for a permanent church home.

“To someone thinking about planting a church, I would say if you don’t have other people in your life telling you you ought to do it, that should be a red flag,” Lindsay says. “Don’t do it based solely on your own conviction. You need friends who will ask you the hard questions like, ‘What are your real motivations for starting a church?’ You also should proceed with an organized church that can walk you through the process, and obviously there needs to be a lot of prayer.”

What he needed: Approval from the Presbyterian Church of America’s Southeast Louisiana Presbytery, completion of the PCA’s five-day Church Planter Assessment training in Atlanta, recommendation by the Assessment Center, fund-raising support from other churches, Christian organizations, family and friends.

Paperwork required: Articles of church incorporation and a filing with the IRS for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

How long it took: Four years of study for a dual master’s degree in Divinity and Missions from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., and nine months from being called as PCA Church Planter for the region to the first Sunday service of South Baton Rouge Presbyterian Church.

Total startup cost: $250,000 for staff salary, rental of worship space and insurance for the first three years, purchase of sound and music equipment, chairs, media production, study materials, computer, photocopier and other office equipment.

Open a boutique

BY SARAH YOUNG

Lorren Rhea had “skinny jeans” in her boutique before style-savvy Baton Rougeans were ready for the reemergence of the 1980s fashion blast from the past. But for more than six months customers at Rhea’s upscale shop, Rocks N Knots, ignored the trendy denim, instead opting for the more boot-cut variety.

“They were in the store, but they weren’t moving, so I finally had to put them on sale,” she says. “I had skinny jeans on sale when everyone was ranting and raving and paying hundreds for skinny jeans. It’s just one of the many lessons I’ve learned, I guess, trial and error.”

Rhea (pictured) is now open to more varying tastes and styles when it comes to choosing the apparel and accessories she stocks in her store; selling only the things you like is an unwise business move. For Rhea, a former fifth-grade teacher, the leap from educator to boutique owner has all been one big learning experience. Parlaying a love of shopping into a career is not as easy as it looks. Her parents and grandparents were all educators, but her mother and father operated a dairy farm on the side, and her grandparents owned a malt shop—so growing up in a family of entrepreneurs gave Rhea a good head for business.

She opened Rocks N Knots four years ago in the Goodwood Village Shopping Center, operating for only a year before closing for another year to wait for construction to wrap up at their current spot in Towne Center. During the first year of business and the year the store closed, Rhea continued to teach, but after she set up shop in the new location she said adios to the classroom, deciding to focus her creative energy on her store.

Her husband, a 7th-grade science teacher, is her business partner. The two realized early on that in order to be successful they would have to start out small and grow their business.

“We knew we couldn’t start out huge because we didn’t have the money for that, and we wanted to do this ourselves,” she says. “We didn’t go to our family members or to the bank, and we’ve managed to grow gradually without owing a whole lot of people money.”

In the four years since they first opened, the business has grown from one full-time employee to six part-time employees, and Rhea makes a point to be in her store everyday. As she looks to the future, she wants to see her business continue to grow, not in the sense of expanding the physical store or creating multiple locations, but through an increasing loyal customer base, creating a fun and relaxing place where more and more people want to shop.

“One of the reasons I want to be in the store is because I want to know my customers. It’s fine for the girls to know them and work with them, but when it’s all said and done, it’s my store,” she says. “And I truly want my customers to know that I appreciate the loyalty they have shown towards me and the store.”

Rocks N Knots

7539 Corporate Blvd. No. 130

248-6342

rocksnknots.com

What she needed: A business plan, a limited liability corporation (LLC) distinction, a retail license, commercial insurance, a location, fixtures, a building permit, computer, a photocopier, a fax machine and a cash register.

How long it took: About a year

Total startup costs: A couple hundred thousand dollars.

Grow your own

MILA BERHANE

Research associate of plant and soil science, Southern University

Select herbs that you like and ones that grow well in Baton Rouge—rosemary, dill, basil and chives. Learn when each grows best and grow them during the proper season. Choose a well-drained area. Do a soil test to determine fertilizer and liming needs. Choose good, quality seeds and plants. Inspect your plants regularly for diseases and insects, and try to avoid using pesticides. Some alternatives to pesticides include soap, hot pepper and garlic sprays.

Start a band

LEE BARBIER

Booking agent for Terminal Booking, guitarist for the Myrtles and 2CV

Be brilliant, hip and touched by the hand of greatness. Find others who share your predicament and tastes. Technical proficiency is only so important. A beginner beats an expert whose favorite bands you hate. Write songs and practice. If you have none, play your favorite songs backwards. Choose a name that sets you apart but signifies something to those you wish to attract. Bonus points awarded for potential lawsuits. Book a show. Casually mention it to everyone, but don’t hype yourself, let others do it. Play well, but claim you can do better. Genius is never satisfied. Repeat the last step, but not so often locally that you burn out the crowd.

Run for office

Money: As a rule of thumb, it takes about $3 to $4 per constituent to run a campaign, according what Jay Augustine learned a few years ago at the LSU Academy of Politics. (You might want to adjust that figure for inflation).

Paperwork: Candidates for elected office must submit a notice of candidacy, also known as a candidate qualifying form, to the clerk of court to run for local office or to the secretary of state to run for a statewide position.

Support staff: At a minimum, you’ll probably need a campaign manager (you can use your brother-in-law, but don’t expect to win unless he happens to be James Carville), a fund-raiser, a treasurer (to handle all the money your fund-raiser collects), maybe a political consultant, and as many volunteers as you can muster.

Jay Augustine’s secret weapon: A good pair of walking shoes.

BY CHUCK HUSTMYRE

Jay Augustine is not your typical Baton Rouge politician. He grew up in New Orleans, graduated from Brown University in Washington, D.C., then came back and earned his law degree at Tulane.

He also spent four years in the Army as an infantry officer. So it’s not surprising that when he decided to challenge the incumbent holding the District 5 seat on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, Augustine launched a ground campaign.

“The first thing I did was re-sole an old pair of shoes,” he said. “And I wore them out.”

Armed with nothing but a map and a smile, the ex-G.I. hit the street. He walked his district block by block and knocked at door after door.

“Our effort was very, very grass roots,” Augustine explained.

His message was as simple as his strategy. It was positively Patton-esque, as in General George S. Patton Jr., who once summed up his war fighting strategy with three words: Attack! Attack! Attack!

Augustine’s attack was launched not at his opponent, however, but rather at the school system’s status quo. His three-pronged message was clear: Get parents more involved in their children’s education, expose children to more art and art education and reduce the number of students in each classroom.

In addition to going house to house, Augustine also made it a point to talk to church congregations, civic groups, and neighborhood associations.

People need to know for whom they’re voting. “You’ve really got to be accessible to the public,” Augustine said.

His strategy and his message worked. In his first run at public office, Augustine, who ran his campaign on a shoestring, unseated his incumbent opponent by a margin of 51% to 49%.

“I made up what I lacked in revenue with foot power,” he said.

Lose weight

RANDY ROUSSEL

Phelps Dunbar Law Firm

The best two words of advice to stay fit are diet and exercise. Your diet should count protein, carbs and fat, not calories. Keep protein from lean sources high on the list. Plan to “cheat” once a week. Exercise should be a balance between weights and cardio. You will be more successful and it will be easier if your exercise is an activity you enjoy. Try to change the activity with the seasons. Spinning in the winter, swimming in the summer, tennis or yoga in the spring.

At 50, Roussel weighs 174 with a 32-inch waist, the same as when he was 30 years old. Between 30 and 38, he weighed 225 with a 36-inch waist. His birthday resolution at 40: lose the “decade weight gain.”

Quit smoking

CURT EYSINK

Corporate director of communications, Louisiana Health Care Review

I quit the only way I knew how: cold turkey. A few days into it, I stopped feeling bad. Then I started feeling energetic. Two weeks later, I jogged nearly three miles and wasn’t out of breath. I can’t claim a perfect record since, and I imagine I’ll think of smoking from time to time forever, but it’s not a distraction any more. For me, stress is the only thing that triggers thoughts of smoking. But I have made a commitment to my wife to try to stay healthy, and that commitment is stronger than the urge to light up. For the first week or so you should try to avoid all of the situations in which you would usually smoke. You also should stay busy with activities that preclude you from smoking and keep a bottle of water handy to sip from when you do feel the urge.

Make an indie movie

KEVIN WHITE

Film and theatre director

All you really need to make a good movie is a great idea, a digital video camera—I like the Panasonic DVX 200A—and Microsoft’s Windows Movie Maker. A good script (Clerks, El Mariachi), interesting characters and creative editing will garner just as much attention as a million-dollar movie. With a million dollars I could make three movies and reduce the investor’s risk enormously. As director Robert Rodriguez says, “If you want to make movies, do it, but make them cheap,” and I agree 100%.

Launch a nonprofit

BY MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

It happens all the time. We hear a heartbreaking story about people in desperate need of help and it makes us want to run out and change the world.

But who actually follows through?

People like Fred and Shannon Cerise (pictured). Determined to make life better for Baton Rouge families in poverty, they created Boys Hope and Girls Hope of Baton Rouge.

The idea came in 1993 when Fred, a physician, treated indigent patients at Earl K. Long Memorial Hospital. Simultaneously, Shannon was completing a graduate degree in social work. They stewed on how to help—really help—struggling families. “We felt if you wanted to make systemic change,” Shannon says, “you had to start with the kids. And education seemed a real gateway.”

They learned about a national nonprofit called Boys Hope, which helped at-risk youth with drive and academic potential make it to college by living in a nurturing residential facility. The Cerises wondered if the time was right to launch Boys Hope in Baton Rouge.

The first step, said Shannon, was assessing the field. “Everyone is fighting for the same dollars,” she said. They also wanted to make sure other charities weren’t providing similar services. She met with nonprofit executives, community leaders and potential donors. “I talked to anyone who’d listen,” she says.

It was a go, so with help from the Boys Hope national office, they filed legal documents with the state of Louisiana and the IRS to set up the new nonprofit. A group of local volunteers helped raise a year’s worth of operating funds. They began construction on the first Boys Hope home, hired residential staff and secured scholarships from local Catholic schools. Shannon agreed to serve as executive director for the first five years without pay. By August 1994, two boys had enrolled.

Today, the program is thriving and set to expand. Every one of its high school graduates have gone on to college. This year, girls will join the program in a separate facility. Shannon has moved on from an official role, but Fred, appointed secretary of the state Department of Health and Hospitals in 2004, remains chair of its board of directors.

Their best advice? “You have to be really clear about your mission,” Shannon says, “and expect to make a lot of personal sacrifices.”

What they needed: Committed volunteers, partner nonprofits (to help with referrals and services), a residence for the participants, furniture, equipment and supplies, scholarships, liability insurance and ongoing donations and grants.

Paperwork required: Articles of Incorporation, filed with the Louisiana Secretary of State; by-laws, adapted by their board of directors; IRS Form 1023, which allowed for tax-exempt status (a requirement for grants and donations).

How long it took: A year and a half from idea to helping their first client.

Total startup cost: A year’s worth of operating funds, around $150,000, plus thousands more in in-kind donations.

Additional resources: The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations, 343-5266 or lano.org.

Network

LEAH SIMON

Owner, Tsunami

Networking requires you to do your research to build a social community around your field of interest. Identify relevant people (the players in your field, the people you want to be when you grow up). Try to contact these people individually, or meet them face-to-face. And follow up. Think of it as shopping for colleagues.

Throw better parties

BECKY SUAREZ HENDRY

Corporate Gift Sales, Lee Michaels

The keys to successful events can be summed up quite simply: details, details, details! Always hand-address invitations. Don’t we all open hand-addressed mail first? Music is a must. Whether it’s a band, pianist or simple mix of music, make sure your selections fit the desired mood. Food presentation and decorations continue your theme. Give tables dimension by using compotes and cake stands of different heights. As Southerners, we always like to send off our guests with a little lagniappe, perhaps a sweet treat or tiny sachet to say thanks for sharing in the festivities.