I’ve hosted the Off the Record podcast since September 2022. Over that time I’ve recorded dozens of interviews with scores of great guests, with episode 50 right around the corner. But I’ve never had the microphone turned on myself. Until now. This past April I was hanging out at the ACDIS conference with my colleague Jason Jobes and Dr. Robert Oubre, CDI physician advisor at St. Tammany Parish Hospital. There the three of us hit on the idea of a podcast recorded in person in Louisiana, where both Jason and Robert live. What would we talk about? Dr. Oubre decided it was time for me to go under the spotlight. On this episode we talk about my unlikely career path from odd jobs and journalism to healthcare and Director of ACDIS, and eventually here to Norwood. It’s a revealing interview that made me sweat—and not just from the Louisiana heat. So, I hope you enjoy this unconventional and very unscripted episode about my origin story, the early days of CDI and ACDIS, and some personal lessons learned along the way. Pardon the sound quality. You will hear the authentic sounds of the Bayou on this episode. We recorded in Jason’s screened porch in Pierre Part, best known as home of the reality TV show Swamp People. No guests were harmed by alligators during this recording.