INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business

INNOVATOR
PHOTO BY FRANK AYMAMI
From left: Lifestyle Revolution Group members Matt Alleman, Stephanie Mayne, Robert Leblanc, Brandon Brown, Star Hodgson, Bruce Fowler, Selena Dovovan and Holly Messa gather at Loa in the International House Hotel.
The Lifestyle Revolution Group
Key innovation: entertainment company whose goal
is to enhance New Orleans nightlife through Republic,
Le Phare and Loa bars
Biggest client: “Progressive-minded New Orleanians”
Where they’re based: New Orleans
Top executive: Robert LeBlanc, creator
Year introduced: 2005
2007 sales: $3.3 million
ROBERT LEBLANC’S PLAN is simple: Bring in people
from all sectors of life, mesh them together and see what
happens.
Simple, yet revolutionary.
LeBlanc is not conducting social psychology experiments,
per se, nor is he studying demographics or behavioral
science. Rather, LeBlanc’s social planning is about
entertainment. And as the creator of the Lifestyle
Revolution Group, a rising entertainment company,
LeBlanc has begun to set his ideas in motion.
“If you can put people in the same room and just give
them a platform to have a conversation or realize that they
have something in common, it’s just sort of powerful
what can happen from that,” said LeBlanc, whose company
owns three downtown bars — Republic, Le Phare
and Loa.
“We still don’t really think of them in the context of
bars. We do understand that we need to sell drinks obviously
to stay open, but we really try to just be places or outlets
where people can socialize with one another,” he said.
In short, LeBlanc would like his venues to be a literal
manifestation of the online networking site Facebook.
LeBlanc came up with the idea for Republic just
months after Hurricane Katrina, when returning New
Orleanians found their social networks scattered across the
country and new people were coming in to help with the
recovery. Neither group, he thought, had a very strong
sense of community. Republic opened in December 2005
with the hopes of bringing these people together.
The Lifestyle Revolution Group continues to foster
these relationships through a range of events, including
everything from fundraisers and fashion shows to nightclub
parties and indie rock concerts.
LeBlanc also strives for his spaces to feel approachable
and he encourages his staff to embody a genuine sense of
New Orleans hospitality.
“No matter how nice the space is or how nice the
drink is, it doesn’t have to cost an arm and leg and it doesn’t
have to come at the hands of a snob or an elite. That’s
genuinely a New Orleans tradition,” LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc, who attends most of the Lifestyle Revolution
Group events, tries to make himself approachable.
“Anybody who ever met me, there’s no way they could
say, ‘he’s cool.’ I’m awkward, clumsy and all that,” he said.
“It’s not just a passing observation.”•
— Leah Bartos
24A 2008 Innovator of the Year