New Orleans’ Business Community Embraces You
Lindsay Fox, Vice President Sales and Brand Strategy, LookFar: Lindsay Fox knew she was bonded to New Orleans forever in September 2005. She traveled to the city to film a documentary about New Orleans musicians in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
She had visited New Orleans twice before that disaster struck, including a trip six months before the storm, and experienced local adventures like a swamp tour, crawfish boil and beignets. Fox says she loved New Orleans then, but filming the documentary changed her life.
“I had just graduated from college (UC-Santa Barbara), and my dad said, ‘Why don’t you go down there and make a documentary; find out what’s really going on, and help people through film?’” she says. “It seemed like a ridiculous statement at first, but not even three weeks after Katrina, we were on a flight to Houston, where we found our story.
“There were loads of musicians in Houston giving their gigs to New Orleans musicians. We checked out a show with Glen Andrews and New Birth Brass Band, and we knew that musicians had to be the subjects of our film.”
Fox and her small team premiered the film called “Swing Low: Hope and Music Helping New Orleans Rise” during Jazz Fest in 2007. Shortly afterward, Fox met her husband, a Tulane alumnus who also adored the city, so it was no surprise they moved to New Orleans together in 2013.
“We have experienced such a warm embrace from the business community in New Orleans,” Fox says. “When I was on a job hunt, people I didn’t even know that well were willing to make introductions for me. They seemed to want to make sure that we would grow roots here. My husband was able to get involved with Idea Village as a way to connect with resources, advisors and other entrepreneurs in the community as well.”
Fox joined the team at LookFar, a software development studio that builds and launches digital products for New Orleans startups, and they have worked with more than 50 startups in the past two years. She says she loves the creation process of entrepreneurship.
“Chris Reade, the CEO of LookFar, had a vision for working with more startups, and I was determined to help figure out how to do that,” Fox says. “In addition to creating a documentary, I had also started and run a small business, so I was thrilled to have an opportunity to help other entrepreneurs. I think it was actually rather kismet.”
