Strategic Coach Resources

John Lalla and Annie Babin have a wall in their office on which is written the names of three clients. But these aren’t just any clients, and this isn’t just any wall.

The wall and these names represent a new beginning for them and their company. These are the first clients they landed after Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything they had, their names written in marker on this office wall at a time when even office paper was a rare commodity. The wall reminds John and Annie every day not to forget how far they’ve come — and as far as they’re concerned, it will never be painted over.

The growth before the storm.

Responsible for more than $81 billion in damage, Katrina goes down on record as the most costly hurricane in U.S. history. It was also one of the deadliest, with a death toll of over 1,800.

Before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, New Orleans was a burgeoning city, a prime destination for business conventions, and a booming tourist town. With this influx of tourism, fine-dining establishments were opening regularly, and NATCO Foodservice, a family-run meat distribution company based in New Orleans, was reaping the benefits.
John, Annie, and two of their nine other siblings were running NATCO, expecting sales of over $45 million for 2005. The third-generation company was an undeniable success. They’d outgrown their current facility and were in the process of looking to move into another, larger space. Growth was everywhere — New Orleans, and NATCO, were primed for even bigger futures.

“When the storm hit, all that vanished,” Annie said. “Your family loses their homes, you lose over $2.5 million in inventory, and there was nothing,” she added. “We had no business, zero business.”

After Katrina decimated New Orleans on August 29, 2005, NATCO became little more than a shell of the company their grandfather had built over 80 years earlier. With no power and no storage facilities, all the meat in the plant started to rot, and with no restaurant industry left to speak of, there were no sales. Business ground to a sudden, terrifying halt.

The National Guard was positioned throughout the streets, people wandered aimlessly, homeless, looking to be rescued, and water covered what was left of the buildings and homes. The scene, as John describes it, was a “war zone.” John and his brother, despite their own misfortune, did what they could to help their community. They donated, cooked, and served about $300,000 worth of NATCO steaks in front of Harrah’s Casino three days after the hurricane.

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