A Post Popeyes Utopia

Who among us wouldn’t like to do something to make the world a better place? Maybe seeing homeless people on the street breaks your heart. Maybe you’ve got a great idea that would keep at-risk kids in school through graduation… or an idea that could help elderly people who are lonely and struggling. You can have all the will in the world, but even if you had the greatest idea ever for a non-profit organization that could really make a difference, how would you make it happen? How do you raise funds? How do you get people to know you exist? How do you get in front of the right people in power to make change happen? With apologies to Morris Bart, you could do it by making one call. That’s all. That call goes to a company called Acceleraise, a New Orleans based for-profit company with around 20 employees that builds, markets, consults, and helps operate Black-and Brown-led non-profit organizations. The Interim CEO of Acceleraise is Sarah Stickney Murphy. You’ve probably heard people refer to “the New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem.” If you’re not exactly sure what that is, well, we have four business incubators here these days – they’re organizations that help build startup businesses. We have two groups of angel investors who put money into homegrown startups. And we’ve had startup companies become successful enough to sell for millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, and in one case over a billion dollars. But - if you go back a few years to the pre-entrepreneurial ecosystem days – say, from the 1960’s through the late 1990’s - if you had an entrepreneurial business in New Orleans you were probably a plumber, a contractor, or had an HVAC company. Or, you were Al Copeland. Al Copeland was the first, and for a long time the only, self-made, charismatic, visionary, larger than life entrepreneur we’d ever seen here in New Orleans. He was the founder of a single fried chicken outlet that he grew into the nationwide Popeye’s chain and brand. He opened chains of restaurants, founded a seasonings company, and owned several hotels. Copeland was generous with his success. He sponsored local events, did a lot for the community, and he was happy to splash cash around on things like fast cars, speedboats, and an annual neighborhood Christmas lights spectacular. In 2008, at the age of 64, Al Copeland died from a rare form of cancer. Today, his family keep his legacy, his legend and his businesses alive through the company he founded in 1983, Al Copeland Investments. Al’s grand daughter, Allison Copeland Donnelly, is President of the Restaurant Division. It’s kind of a default position to think that the motivation for people in business is making money. Yes, obviously, bringing in more money than you’re spending to run a business is essential to keeping the lights on. But you’d be surprised how many people who have made a lot of money in business actually set out to do just one simple thing. Like fry chicken. Al Copeland Senior is an example of a person who, more than money, fame or success, loved life. His natural passion coincided with a vision and intelligence that created a business empire -- and his grand daughter Allison has inherited more from him than just a slice of his business. Sarah Stickney Murphy spends every single workday helping people develop skills to make the world a better place. That’s devotion to a business that’s about anything but profit. Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.