Most people have a job or a profession, but only a lucky few have a mission. The difference between a job and a mission is that when unexpected things happen and you’re on a mission, you recognize that you are starting the next leg of your journey. Circularity and ESG guide Lorraine Jenks is one of the lucky few.

Lorraine is the Founder and CEO of Hotelstuff/Greenstuff, online non-profit directories of eco-friendly products. She is also a TEDx speaker and a green procurement, supply chain, and circularity specialist. Her professional journey through the sustainability movement has brought her into relationships with Vice President Al Gore, the United Nations, the Environmental Protection Agency, and more. Her personal mission is to find an ecologically friendly version of every product and service in her purchasing manual.

In this session, part of the Supply Chain Leadership Across Africa series, Lorraine joins hosts Scott Luton and Jenny Froome, Chief Operating Officer at SAPICS, to discuss:

• Having conversations about ‘green’ business in the earliest days of the movement

• Why frustration is what gives her the energy she needs to keep pushing forward

• How she connects with people in industries like hospitality, mining, banking, and more to help them understand how to operationalize the principles of sustainability and circularity

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from Those Making Global Business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:00:31):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are, Scott Luton and Jenny Froome here with you on Supply Chain. Now, welcome to today’s show, Jenny. Hey, you doing?

Jenny Froome (00:00:41):

I’m dig really well. Thanks, Scott.

Scott Luton (00:00:43):

It is so great to have you back. We love these conversations. So this is, uh, as many of our listeners know, when you join us, it means we’re continuing our supply chain leadership, uh, across Africa series in conjunction, really with a whole bunch of friends. Uh, uh, most of the time you’re with us, but you know, we’ve had some great conversations with you and Mike Griswold on some live streams as well, huh?

Jenny Froome (00:01:06):

Yeah, we have, we always have great conversations. Whoever it’s with,

Scott Luton (00:01:09):

It’s required. It must be regu in regulatory code somewhere, whenever Jenny joins us at supply chain now. But Jenny, speaking of a whole bunch of friends, you gotta get a much bigger hat rack because a lot, uh, <laugh> amongst your leadership roles that you have. Let me, lemme see here. Director of the Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards. Right. Which I think is in year two. Yeah. Awesome job last year. Yeah. Co-chair of Africa Supply Chain in Action. You’re recognized and you’re so humble, but I’m a, I’m a say it in spite football. You’re recognized as one of the top 100 women in supply chain in Africa a few months back. And of course, part of leadership team for the long running, long running Pic’s annual conference in South Africa. Not to be missed, Jenny, how are you getting sleep?

Jenny Froome (00:01:55):

Oh, I know. It’s, it’s, I keep going to these talks to learn about l white, white work life balance, and I just don’t learn, so. Mm-hmm. I’m not a good learner.

Scott Luton (00:02:07):

<laugh> none, none of us do. So, you know, none of us do learn about that. Huh. But hey, regardless, appreciate your great work and your servant leadership and making the world a better place. And I’m, I mean that every single syllable. Um, but today you’ve brought outstanding guest here today. Are you, I’m gonna introduce her. Are you ready to go?

Jenny Froome (00:02:27):

Yep. I’m really ready to

Scott Luton (00:02:28):

Go. Awesome. All right. So folks, to all of our listeners out there for a treat, our guest today is a salt after international keynote and TEDx speaker, a trusted sustainability and e s G guide, a green procurement supply chain and circularity specialist and award-winning business leader, entrepreneur and servant leader. And so, so much more. Please join me in welcoming Lorraine Jenks, founder and c e o with hotel stuff, green stuff. Lorraine, how you doing?

Lorraine Jenks (00:03:00):

I’m doing great. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you, Scott. Hello, Jenny.

Scott Luton (00:03:07):

It’s so nice. Hi,

Jenny Froome (00:03:07):

Lorraine.

Scott Luton (00:03:08):

It’s so nice to meet you. As we are sharing pre-show, Jenny, her ears have been burning a lot because I’ve heard a lot of lot about Lorraine from you, Jenny, and I’m really, uh, looking forward to diving into our chat here today and, and learn more about your, um, impressive and intriguing, uh, journey. So, Jenny, now that we have Lorraine with us, where are we starting our conversation today?

Lorraine Jenks (00:03:31):

Well,

Jenny Froome (00:03:31):

You know, in the words of the sound of Music and Julie Andrews, I think let’s start at the very beginning. Um, and the question to you, Lorraine, I remember you saying many years ago, um, talking with great fondness about your parents and your upbringing is that you were brought up in, in a farm in south, here in South Africa. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Lorraine Jenks (00:03:56):

Yeah, I think, you know, any of us who did, uh, are so blessed, you know, especially in the world that we are in, in procurement and supply chain, um, and in the world that I’m in, in climate change and sustainability and the destruction of biodiversity, when you grow up on a farm, you actually grow up with stuff and you see where stuff comes from. You see how it’s used, you see how you get rid of it. And most importantly, you think in cycles because you want something to last as possibly as long as you can because you far away from, uh, the big cities. Also, my farm was, uh, very big farm in South Africa. We had some very big farms and we had a bit of, I’m telling you everything. We had corn, sunflowers, we had cattle, we had dairy, we had sheep, we had pegs, we had chickens and turkeys.

Lorraine Jenks (00:04:48):

Uh, we grew peaches and we, you name it, and we did it. Uh, especially the dairy. Dairy was a lot of work, cuz that’s twice a day, you’ve gotta be up with the cattle. Um, 36 cats, which lived in the dairy. So if you, I think I know a little bit about everything, and we had three ancient tractors that we fixed as nail files with hammers, with anything that was around. Um, and just the, we had no electricity. That’s why this doesn’t really bother me, except I can’t get the air to go through. Uh, we had candles and we had a wood burning stove. Uh, we didn’t have running hot water. We used to have boiling water on the stove. We didn’t have an indoor toilet. We had an outside pet toilet, we call them, uh, you, I forget what you call them in America.

Lorraine Jenks (00:05:37):

Um, and you know, here in South Africa, they keep saying the children drown in this, but nobody ever drowned in upper atory because he fixed a thing. We went with a plank and a hammer and, and we fixed it. Um, and we didn’t have fridges. So here, when everybody complains that there’s no electricity and their food’s going off, there’s no need. You get a box and you put a, a sacking around the side of it. You put a couple of bits of coal and you dribble water out down the sides, and you’ve got the coolest cooler that you could possibly have. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you learn, you learn to make a plan, and you learn to survive almost anything and be 100% self-sufficient. So, to me, that is such a blessing, and I really do, I, I’ve, I try to understand the children that have never experienced anything like that, how can they possibly know? They’ve just never been there and, and seen it.

Scott Luton (00:06:29):

Mm. Jenny, that is quite a picture. I think, uh, Lorraine, you just wrote a book, <laugh>, that’s your response to the last question. You

Lorraine Jenks (00:06:40):

Want all, you can’t have all of it. You can have some of it. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:06:42):

<laugh> <laugh>. Well, uh, uh, I, I have a thousand different follow up que follow up questions. But the one beyond the, the lovely picture you paint and overcoming all of some of the challenges you shared to, to do all that you’re doing now, that, that, that should inspire a lot of folks. But I gotta go back to the ancient tractors that you mentioned mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because, uh, as you, as you spoke to, you kept, you found a, found a way to keep ’em running. And when I heard you say that, my mind instantly went to all of our underappreciated maintenance folks across industry, I crossed the globe that find a way, right. Find a way to keep things going and keep global supply chains moving, and they never get enough credit. So, uh, Lorraine, speak to that for a second, and then we’re gonna talk about your, um, your legendary sense of humor.

Lorraine Jenks (00:07:32):

Yeah. You see, that’s the, um, that’s a part of the circularity that everybody’s starting to go for now. Um, fix things, you know, I think finally the iPhone are coming out and making it modular finally. So if something breaks, you can just replace that bit that’s broken. Uh, and that’s the how I think he’s gotta change or it’s gotta be redesigned. And I think, uh, I’m in a query. Don’t let my son near that. He calls me a crystal clutching hippie if I say things like that. But the queries can see ahead. Um, and I see a split. I see people going technology, like my boy, he’s a physicist and all kinds of other stuff. And I see other people wanting to go back to the basics with a kind of old car that you could fix yourself. Those, those deja renos, remember those little things were the slidy windows. Anybody a girl could fix that. And I think there are lots of people are gonna split that way. So, um,

Scott Luton (00:08:29):

Lorraine, I love that. Um, we do need to fix more stuff and, you know, we, we mm-hmm. We see some in along those lines. We see some interesting things, Jenny, uh, of folks kind of going back to appreciate like, um, like records, you know, records like vinyl records. For the first time, I think in 20 or 30 years there were more records sold than CDs. So folks are going back. I I bet they find a way to fix those record players. Maybe, uh, Jenny and Lorraine, um, Jenny, uh, you quick respond and, and, and I’m gonna jump into Lorraine sense of humor. What do, what do you think about that, Jenny? We gotta fix more stuff. Oh,

Jenny Froome (00:09:01):

I, I think, you know, this, this age of chucking it away, it’s got to stop. It really has. You know, we, we, I can always remember my father exclaiming over, ugh, it’s made of plastic because everything else worked, but the plastic nut in the middle didn’t, and you couldn’t replace it, therefore, you had to throw the whole thing away. And I think that companies have got to become so much more responsible in, in creating, okay, things might be a bit more expensive, but if they last longer, um, and, and people have to be educated in just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s good value.

Scott Luton (00:09:39):

Mm-hmm. Well said Jenny. Well said. Um, okay man, this is gonna be a great, great chat listeners. Um, Lorraine, I wanna move along to, uh, your sense of humor. So again, your, your sought after internationally keynotes, TEDxs and the like, um, across the globe. Uh, Jenny has told me a lot about, um, your sense of humor. In fact, I think the word that Jenny used was, um, um, uh, spark plug. Was that it? Jenny <laugh>? Something like that.

Lorraine Jenks (00:10:10):

<laugh>

Scott Luton (00:10:11):

Sparky. So Lorraine, when you think about that, when you think about, um, all of those, uh, those talks you give, the keynotes you give and your sense of humor, what’s a couple of, what’s a story that comes to mind that you might still chuckle about?

Lorraine Jenks (00:10:26):

One of my earliest, earliest stories was with Debbie, um, in Cape Town. And it was very early days and they used to call me the, the little bean cream, which I hate it. Um, and I found myself standing in front of an audience of 1000 people who worked for the municipality and the government, and they were buyers. And I had to tell them about climate change sustainability. I thought to myself, you know, I’ll bet most of ’em haven’t even done science. How do they know what the atmosphere is? They wanna understand that doing weather and the difference between, um, um, climate. And then I had to explain how to turn your supply chain green. And I was gonna do the usual thing that you do, or both of you have done the training, uh, for procurement, supply chain management, where they teach you obviously the life cycle assessment.

Lorraine Jenks (00:11:23):

And then they gave us, I hope they gave you a wonderful interactive template where if you were down to having to choose between three, uh, um, suppliers, you don’t want to know who they are because you’re gonna be biased about, I wish our government would think like that. You’d be biased about which one you want to choose. So say you have supply number one, number two, number three, and then you have your key performance areas. What’s bef what’s important to you? So you, if this was in tourism, you could be a beautiful five star hotel in town, or you could be a little large on a safari, uh, uh, bush farm out in the countryside. Your key performance areas are different. Your, your, the things you are looking for, your criteria are changed. So you wait, you wait, all those key performance areas. So if you, you’ve got save a delivery, uh, service quality, price, what’s most important to you?

Lorraine Jenks (00:12:14):

So you wait that one more than the others and it does these complicated signs for you once you put in the data based on those days in honesty. And I thought, how are they gonna ever understand what I’m talking about? And it dawned on me on the stage to say to them two things. Pretend you’re holding the hand of a little child and you’re gonna have to explain the life cycle of something to that child. That’s a whole workshop in itself. And you’re going to take his little hand and look at where the stuff came from, how quite traveled, how was it manufactured, how was it packaged, how was it open during its use, how do you get rid of it? And how I go into detail about how difficult that can actually be when you’ve gotta be totally honest with that kid. And then when you’re down to two or three supplies, you’ve got to choose, I dunno what made me say, I said, it’s a fantastic way to choose a husband.

Lorraine Jenks (00:13:03):

I said, what you do your key performance area, you do the measurements, everything’s gotta happen. Measurements that actually doesn’t count. You’ve gotta look at how he drives. Imagine a lifetime, I imagine a lifetime with a man who drives badly. If he’s got a sense of humor that’s different to you, imagine that if he tells jokes that you aren’t funny, they’re just plain rude. I had them screaming laughter cause they were shouting ideas of what the key performance areas could be. I don’t think any of them ever forgot. And I think every time they need to choose a new product, they’re gonna say, hell, what did Lorraine say again? Let me just go through all of this. Yeah,

Scott Luton (00:13:40):

Love that, Lorraine. I love that. I, I can kind of picture that kinda like how you were painting the picture about, uh, how you grew up, uh, and that beautiful farm, all the things I can picture you leading that conversation and, and that audience, uh, Jenny, uh, what thought does that bring to your mind before we move into some other parts of Lorraine’s journey here?

Jenny Froome (00:14:06):

It reminds me of the first time Lorraine spoke at one of our conferences with Saex and talking to the young, the student conference. And I think, I honestly think that they sort of read her bio and thought, oh, you know, here’s somebody who’s a completely different generation to me. What’s she gonna be able to tell me? And by the end of the end of the, the conversation, they were all sitting there, I dunno whether they were scared or the reality of how much Lorraine shared with them, but they certainly, I would, I would hazard a guess that that was a presentation that they would never forget.

Scott Luton (00:14:44):

Never, never. I think you’re,

Jenny Froome (00:14:46):

Thank, thank you for that, Lorraine.

Lorraine Jenks (00:14:47):

I’ll, I’ll tell you why that happens because people often then they are, it’s a grudge, a grudge, uh, duty that they have to perform to come and sit in the audience. And then they see this auntie with a white hair walk onto the stage and they all go, oh my God, here we go. You know, climbing. Anyway, so you get to my age, that’s the thing. You can do stuff at my age, so I can tell a dirty joke. Well, I can show a slightly risque picture and immediately audience goes, oh my goodness me, this old lady’s actually quite real. And then I’ve won them over. I have to do that quite early. Sometimes I even show in a dirty word, if the audience is the right time, I have to be careful. I mean, I can’t do that in Dubai or, you know, other places or if it’s very young children or whatever. But I’ll tell you, you, you’ve won them over immediately and they see you as a human with a passion. Um, yeah. And

Scott Luton (00:15:39):

And they can relate to that, right? Yeah. They can relate to that on, on a human level. I think, uh, what you’re describing, there are some universal, um, just part of humanity and, and, and, and I think you’re also describing of how speakers the most effective and unsuccessful speakers are those that can have their audience relating to them and, and, and their journey and what they’re sharing. So, um, okay, Lorraine and Jenny. Jenny, where are we going next with Lorraine? You’re so much to unpack here with Lorraine Yanks.

Jenny Froome (00:16:13):

Well, so Lorraine, you are, I guess one of the original climate change offic. I mean, you’ve, you’ve recognized the need for us all to take this seriously long, long, long before, before a lot of people even knew what climate change was all about. And you do so with such passion and such determination. It, it, it’s legendary and really as inspirational as to how long you’ve been doing this for. And it must be quite gratifying in a way that now people are finally starting to sit up and take note and listening to what you are saying and not thinking. Let’s throw back to, to the days of the hippies

Scott Luton (00:17:01):

<laugh>.

Lorraine Jenks (00:17:03):

Yeah. It’s, it’s, it hasn’t been easy, you know, and I think the, uh, I’ve been very lucky because my timing was absolutely perfect. Um, and I was born an empath. And the, I have to say, I don’t care who’s listening. I think most of the top CEOs in the world are psychopathic narcissists. They are there to make money. That’s why they’re there. And they are, I wish, I wish I could think a little bit like they do, honestly, I do envy them, but that is what they focus on. And they’ve never stopped to think about butterflies and bees and trees and the weather and floods and as if it’s gonna affect their deliveries there worried about the floods. Um, so even when I was a tiny little girl, if I, I saw an animal being maltreated, I would make my dad stop the car and get out.

Lorraine Jenks (00:17:53):

And then he said to me, if I get out, they’re gonna beat me up, my girl. And I’d say, stop the car, dad. You know? So I’ve always fought for the underdog, uh, and then took it what we call a gap year. When we finish our studies, we, many of us go over to England, or I went, took my gap year 11, late 11 years later, I was still doing my gap year and spent a most wonderful time in London in the middle of the flower power and Mary Quant era. I mean, that was magic, pure magic. And, uh, what was his name? Ginsburg And, um, in Hyde Park was his wonderful. And I went to Canada and we saw the moon landing in Canada. And then we did a typical hippie trick trick. We called them through, uh, America, right down through from Canada, the Midwest, along the coast to Los Angeles, and landed in Los Angeles, 1969, in the middle of the hippie era.

Lorraine Jenks (00:18:45):

Um, and I, I mean, I always tell people, we for boring, boring, boring accountants downtown LA and I used to take the bus, it was hardly anybody on the bus. And I had, if you excuse me, I had a muscle car. If you don’t, my I didn’t note was a muscle car. This is my car. My son, my husband drove for Chrysler. And we got given a judge Charger 68, uh, 69 Dodge. And my sons were picture the other day. I said, geez, more, more That’s a muscle car. I said, that was just my <laugh>. But anyway, the traffic was six lanes in six lanes out in Los Angeles. So I went on the bus and started working for Deloitte’s. And of course, 69, those, uh, partners was stoned every morning. Cause that’s what we did. And it wasn’t illegal. And they’d come in and when they go like, wow, man, like fork.

Lorraine Jenks (00:19:34):

We did all the tax returns for the Hollywood movie stars, and then Nixon made it illegal. So that’s, we had to great in our cupboards often. And I was doing a lot of, I’m a teacher about profession. I was scared to teach in the States because the discipline in the states, I didn’t know how to handle the children. They were far more spunky than our children. So I did secretarial work and found myself working for the Environmental Protection Agency, which had just been launched. It was brand, brand new. And we were researching the terrible smug in Los Angeles, and we thought we called it acid rain. Uh, and they did, they were learning that it was actually the emissions from the cars that were killing the trees. Uh, and that’s where my journey really started. And that’s in, California’s always been like years ahead. And they had organic, uh, restaurants, which we’d never heard of.

Lorraine Jenks (00:20:28):

Uh, and we were already aware of, um, Rachel’s book, uh, silence Spring. We read that, for example. So we were really aware of overfishing, deforestation, but it wasn’t common commonly, uh, considered. Uh, and then of course that was 50 years ago. And when I came back to South Africa was all this new idealism and all this new thinking. Um, and nobody was delinquent here, or they, honestly, they just had no idea what I was, what I was trying to say. So it’s been a very long journey. It’s been, um, they call it ankle biting. I just keep, I never stop. I just keep saying, why have you got plastic water bottles? And suddenly, suddenly, these last two years since just before Covid was pretty good for us people. That’s phenomenal. I mean, we are able to ask people, please let me speak, please let me speak now.

Lorraine Jenks (00:21:21):

I get, uh, Chanel found me on Google <laugh> because I don’t advertise. I’m terrible. And they flew me to Singapore to a summit. They fund me now because they’re looking for a speaker on especially, uh, e sg now. Um, all these, all this job and this’s being bandied about. So, I mean, it’s just so exciting. And every morning my bath, I think I really am going to retire. Now. I’m going to go and play bingo and knit baby beauties. And then I get an email if something happens, I’m going to Zambia soon to run the course. You see? So when you’re doing the right thing for the right reasons, things come to you. Don’t make any money though. I must make money. You gotta gig. Get me gigs that pay me properly. Scott family, a rich husband, you must lot

Scott Luton (00:22:13):

<laugh>, oh gosh. Um,

Lorraine Jenks (00:22:20):

Had three actually not children.

Scott Luton (00:22:26):

So I wanna pick up on this, um, ankle biting, if I heard you correctly. Notion. I think, um, I like that for a variety of reasons. Um, cause on one hand, it, it’s kinda like the bite of the elephant a little bit. If, if they’re gonna take the bite of the elephant, on the other hand, it causes just a little bit of pain, right? And eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later, they respond to the pain and address, give it conversation, discussion, and then action. So I might, I might steal this ankle biting notion from you, Lorraine, to apply it to other aspects of industry. Um, before we move to, cuz you’re a fellow entrepreneur, like Jenny and I before talk, go there, I wanna find out, and Jenny, I’m just gonna steal this question for from you. This little green queen moniker, that’s not my nickname. That’s part of your persona and your brand. Where did that begin, Lorraine?

Lorraine Jenks (00:23:24):

You know, I’m actually, uh, uh, I’m a teacher about profession. And I specialized in Montessori education. Actually, we were trained by two wonderful people from America came out training. So when I came back to South Africa, I needed to start making proper income quite quickly. And I didn’t wanna wait for teaching and stuff. I went straight into a temporary secretarial, three mornings a week. Temporary job, temporary job in a big hotel chain. Southern sun hotels in South Africa is the biggest, uh, chain in Africa. 82 hotels as a temporary part-time, almost clerical work just for some income until I found what I wanted. And I couldn’t believe having been in America, of course, how backward they are, Loades 1, 2, 3, and were perfect. Remember those days? And I said, it must be a better way, you know? So I started improving just because it was interesting to me.

Lorraine Jenks (00:24:19):

And then they said to me, why don’t you please stay every day? And I, that’s it. Why don’t you stay full-time eventually? Why don’t you do the, the full training? The full diploma for procurement and supply chain management, no, domestic and international. So I did both those diplomas and I ended up being there for 15 years. So with all this stuff I’ve learned in America and stuff already new from my, my childhood and everything, I started, it made, I made my personal mission in my, I I did the whole purchasing manual. Everything, everything. Those 82 hotels used their furniture, their food and beverage, their maintenance, their the building, the landscaping, um, the pest control, the guest amenities, every single thing, the bid and everything. I thought there must be a better way. There must be. We used to call it green in those days. There must be a greener version of everything.

Lorraine Jenks (00:25:14):

So I started visiting factories just because their interest interests me. And I started trying to persuade them, you know, if we, we built a hotel and we furnished it with tick. And then I said to him, where has anybody checked where this beautiful wood comes from? No. So I said, I’m telling you, it comes from Zimbabwe and it’s illegally logged, I promise you. Uh, and then they would, they would buy cleaning chemicals from their wife who met at somebody at a bus station, the tougher suffer. So toxic. They were supposed to wear full protective care, including goggles and a mask to clean a kitchen in a big, faster hotel. And then I would start demanding the kind of, um, well, requesting on demand, the kind of cleaning chemicals we should use. Guest amenities like what everybody’s doing now, pump action bottles, refillable, bulk deliveries, the food, organic, all the stuff.

Lorraine Jenks (00:26:07):

Um, and then in the boardroom, or if we had a mock hotel, if you were gonna build a new hotel, <laugh>, I would start saying, please, please, can we not buy water in play? And then they’d pack me on my head. Cause I’m very small. I’m only five foot in a bit. And they’d go, oh, oh, they’re little, a green clean. What you worried about the bunnies? Oh, I’m worried about trees. And you know, instead of fighting back, I would just walk away. I wish I was a big tall man, I would’ve punched them in the face. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Now of course you’d swear they invented all this new sustainable thinking. Yeah, that’s your little green queen chemical.

Scott Luton (00:26:45):

All right, Jenny, I am so glad we asked that question. I love that story. And, you know, also, um, uh, liked how Lorraine ended there with a little bit of regret, you know, that she didn’t, you know, uh, punch someone in the nose, you know, the 10th time they did that. I can relate to that now. I wish I had, uh, done the same thing on some different earlier chapters of my life. Uh, Jenny, you can maybe you might can relate to that too, but get you, uh, your take on, on how she earned the little green Queen moniker Jenny

Jenny Froome (00:27:17):

<laugh>. Well, I think it’s something, it’s a Monica that she should be very, very proud of. Um, and I’m sure you are. And I can’t imagine this day and age Lorraine not wanting to bo someone on the nose and actually doing it. Um, as you say, you know, with age comes, uh, a sense that you can get away with things. So, um, just really, I, I’m always so, uh, amazed by just where you started, where you’ve come to, and how much passion and energy you still have to keep getting this, this really important message out there. So, you know, for always so grateful to you for all that you do.

Scott Luton (00:27:58):

Yeah, agreed. Uh, will set there, Jenny. Um, okay, so we’re gonna shift gears a little bit here. Uh, Lorraine, founder and c e o with hotel stuff, green stuff amongst many other hats that you wear. Tell us, um, tell us about the work you do with the Africa nonprofit online directories.

Lorraine Jenks (00:28:19):

Yeah, you see, this is what happens when you, when you’ve got a passion and you’ve got a mission, it’s almost like a calling. Things just happen and you know that that’s what you have to do next. I don’t, none of this was planned. None of this. I never planned to be a speaker ever. It never even occurred to me. I just thought teachers stood up and spoke. Uh, but we built some really remarkable structures here. We, we converted a lot of holiday inns into garden courts. I think they were 11. We both, uh, the Monte Casino Center with a beautiful Palazzo hotel. And we built the Santon Convention Center. And I was with the development department that built these, uh, magnificent structures. Uh, and the, the Santon Convention Center was our first green development and was way ahead of its time as well. That was around the year 2000, I think.

Lorraine Jenks (00:29:08):

And I thought, you know, this is my chance. People are starting to hear this word green. And they’ve tried to make the hotel, they went very good at it, but make it as green as they could. So in my own time, I decided to set up a recycling program in the convention center itself. And they’re quite a few hotels in that suburb in that area. And that’s what happens. A young man appeared in my office one day and he said, hello, I believe you want to do recycling. So I said, yo, who are you? He said, I’ve just been returned. I’ve got nothing to do. He said, why don’t you let me pick up all the dry waste from these hotels every morning? So I said, well, I can’t pay you. He said, no. So the two of us in our own time started this recycling program and he was way ahead of him, he thinking, separating the wet and the dry.

Lorraine Jenks (00:29:54):

Cuz there was no time, there were no such things as recycled bins. Nobody knew there was such a thing, actually. So we just said to the hotel, separate, two, two skips, one wet, one dry. He picked up the dry every morning, took a two, uh, an abandoned lot in town. And he pulled people off the street every morning. And he said, please, you take all the styrine and charge in this big box. You take all the plastic bottles into that, you put all the paper in there, and these, these hobos, these homeless people, which sort the waste. And then he would sell it and he would give them the money. And one of the women ended up managing a huge industrial, uh, paper bailing warehouse eventually. So I did a report. Now this is all done in our spare time, weekends and early morning. Um, so I did this beautiful report and I sent it up to the executives.

Lorraine Jenks (00:30:42):

We saved them 75% in costs, 80% in volume, all those hotels. It was a fantastic report of pictures and graphs and interviews and photographs. And nobody, nobody even looked at it. So what I always say in my talks, when you are small, I used to be blonde and middle aged, you must well have a paper bag over your head. So I actually walked out, I walked out, and then I always say to the people, I walked out and I remarried, which is a very big mistake in your sixties, don’t you? Terrible mistake. Don’t just live around the corner or something. Um, and I thought, you know, my son said to me, he was 15, he said to me, mom, you know all this stuff. People phone you for advice. Why don’t we put it all on the internet? And we went, what’s the internet? It was brand new.

Lorraine Jenks (00:31:34):

And he and a friend of his started this little online and register of, uh, everything I was, all the supplies I was working with, uh, a nonprofit. It was just a, a, a register of names and connection. So if you’re buying something, you’re go into a website, you find that person and you order, we don’t get involved. I’d be a multi-millionaire if I took commission on all the sales and then our Gores co move. How, you know, I wish Al Gourd become your president. Cars. The Americans did a big mistake there. Uh, I did his training. He came out here to South Africa and I thought, hell and his movie, an inconvenience of people are going to listen now, they’re gonna understand. And the, the website we had, the direct You we had formed with my son was called Hotel stuff. So we created a second one called Green Stuff.

Lorraine Jenks (00:32:22):

And anybody on the main, uh, register that had a green product gets a free listing on the green stuff listing. And it went absolutely ballistic. The timing was perfect. Then again, my Montessori training kicked in and I would, uh, the hotel started calling me back. Now I’ve resigned. I’ve resigned frustrated. And that frustration gives me the energy I’ve got. After 15 years, they started recording me back one by one and saying, please come and tell, can’t tell us what you were talking about. And I go, geez, hello, hello. You know, I’d be 15 years of China tell you. And then I would teach. I would teach, I would teach Ha haha. And then I looked around a boardroom in a big hotel. I’d look at all the heads of department and the maintenance man would be go, he’d be going, Hmm. Interested in waste. And so the head chef would be what’s she’s talking about. Okay, the rest are going on.

Lorraine Jenks (00:33:20):

And I thought, I said to my bookkeeper, these people are hotels. They need to see, touch, and feel what I’m talking about. And I just, we were mad, absolutely mad by bookkeeper and I, I hadn’t even been to a big exhibition. We booked a hundred square meters at one of the big hospitality shows. And we said to everybody on the green stuff, website, please furnish this for us to look like a, like a hotel. We were, we had no idea what we were doing. I had four hotel students to help me. And the greenies are the most amazing people. People realized what we were trying to do. And they arrived with hammers and zip letters, and they built rooms. So we had a a, a guest suite, we had a lounge area, we had a full kitchen, fully furnished. We had a back, uh, a patio area and we had a bathroom.

Lorraine Jenks (00:34:09):

Everything in there was the greenest. Nothing’s a hundred percent green, the greenest that we could find. Uh, and that’s how it all started. And now to this, this was supposed to be a hobby for me when I remarried. And now it gets 33,000 buyers use it every month, which is if you, I’ll be so rich, somebody wants to turn it into a take a lot, Jenny. You know, we debating whether to do that or not. I dunno if I want to, but yeah. And there’s, there’s nothing like that. When I speak overseas, I say to people, have you got something like this to help? So they don’t have to go looking. I said, it’s so easy to create one, just get on your phone and create something like this. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:34:53):

Mm. Lorraine, um, that, uh, again, I think I find that very inspiring. And I’ll pick up where you, where you ended there and Jenny gets you to comment on anything there. But anyone can do, anyone can make a change, can, can make an impact, you know, can lead. But you gotta take that first step. You gotta do it, right? I love that Nike’s tagline. Just do it. Cause that’s, that’s one of the simple truths in life. Jenny, weigh in on, on, um, uh, Lorraine’s story of how she built that and, and how the finally the market and the business leaders came around and saw the big value, right?

Jenny Froome (00:35:28):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I, I think Lorraine was one of the very first people who I ever heard used the word greenwash. And it was something that, you know, really opened my eyes wide. But I know that because of her awareness around this, she’s doubly determined to make sure that the green stuff really is green stuff. And that it’s not people just paying lip service to this. So the, the amount of sort of research and backend work that goes into putting together a direct directory like this has got to be enormous because there are some really, really good fakes out there. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:36:09):

Good point. Great point. Um, all right, so for the sake of time, we wanna move us ahead into, uh, celebrating some of your many, many awards, Lorraine. Now Jenny, right before you join this pre-show, we were talking about Lorraine’s, uh, trophy case. It must take up a whole room. Cause I think we’re up to 23 awards now. I think I’ve got that count right? But I wanna talk about one in particular. Uh, actually we’re gonna talk about two, um, Lorraine, a couple years ago you won what was at the time, your 20th award as you were named Energy Innovator of the Year by the Association of Energy Engineers, <laugh>. I think I got all that right. So what was that for and what did it mean to you?

Lorraine Jenks (00:36:52):

It was, most of them have been such a surprise. And I think sometimes I’m the only person that does what I do, <laugh>. So they could, they, they give it to me, but, but it’s creating awareness. You know, I had absolutely no idea that they were following what I do. None. There’s a big, uh, branches Africa, and the other one is in states that was an American, uh, award for Sub-Saharan Africa. And I think what they’re based it on is if you, if you’re doing, if you try to build up a sustainable everything production, procurement and like your whole supply chain, energy, water, and waste are your three big things that you’ve gotta gotta look at. So energy comes, applies to absolutely everything. So, as Jenny was saying, the stuff on green stuff, nothing is a hundred percent green. So we perfectly honest, if Aga City has got a green bed because it’s got a bamboo cover, we make it perfectly clear only that bamboo cover is green. The rest is so a chemical firm, um, what was I gonna say? It’s the sign of intelligence has nothing to do with old days. Really clever people forget what did, what did you ask me?

Scott Luton (00:37:58):

Well, <laugh>, so we were talking about what the Energy Innovator of the Year award was. Cool. That’s which I think that you were speaking to and what it meant to you.

Lorraine Jenks (00:38:06):

When we, when I first created the two websites and remarried and moved to Capetown, it was gonna be a hobby for something for me to do. Um, and I was so bad with money, I until was money up to this day. So I’ve got a bookkeeper to help me just with the money, with people paying on the website and stuff like that. Uh, and then how does the Blue Isk are our big energy suppliers in South Africa? It’s a monopoly. They supply all our electricity, all our power, uh, and they used to be sort of half, okay, they’re just total disaster now. And they had a stand near me at one of the pictures, and they had a little early light, and they had a low flow shower on this big stand. And I went up to her and said, what are you, what are you trying to tell the public yet?

Lorraine Jenks (00:38:48):

Are we trying to get them to save energy with the f with the, the this faucet and the, and the l e d light? So I said, but look at my stand. Look at all this, and next thing I’ve got Aun call, can we come? Six of them came to my house, to my house and sat on our dining room bookkeeper, me, and they said to us, what do you do? And we said, well, we, we actually don’t really know what we do. We’ve got this, this directory, and we not, you know, and they said, will you run a roadshow for us? 14 workshops around the country? We’d never done anything like that. So we organized 14 workshops for Escu. And there are very, we also crossed with Escu now, but I have to say, there are some really nice people in Escu. There aren’t all mafia criminals.

Lorraine Jenks (00:39:36):

Um, and what we did, it, it was a twofold, uh, exercise. I spoke, it was new thinking. This is long ago. This is 20 11, 12 round about there. I would speak about greening then, and, and I would do, uh, we, we focused on hospitality starters, then we went into, uh, agriculture, and then we went into a restaurant, and then they ran out money. But in the hospitality where I went in and I did a, um, a walkabout through a hotel with a hotel you there and saying, now look, this is to save energy in your, to start at the front door in your lobby. Where can you save energy back of house? Where in your bedroom, in your, the whole way through. And then also the water, also the waste, and also the, um, the, the, all the operating equipment as well. And then eskin in those days, and people have forgotten this, Jenny, they were offering a massive discount if you put up a solar panel, even a solar giza massive discount. And what they were doing was teaching people how to play with the, the spikes in energy use and, and use energy when it was at its lowest and obviously at its cheapest for you to buy. And that was, they were very well received. Um, uh, we used to fill every, every venue we ever booked, we used to fill it. Uh, and that’s, that’s why one, the energy, specifically the energy side of the award,

Scott Luton (00:41:01):

What I love about that story is, um, is how you’re helping make other folks aware and Right. And, and Jenny, we talk a lot about this and we all have blind spots and, and plenty of stuff. I think I’ve got the Guinness Broke Award records, biggest blind spot. I think I was in there <laugh> as of last year. But I love how a part, a big part of, of Lorraine’s journey illustrated with that story and many others that she talked about, is helping other folks uncover what’s in their blind spot. And man, blessed other folks to do that. Jenny, get you to respond to that. And then, then I’m gonna talk about an award that both of y’all were honored and recognized. Whistle. Jenny, your response?

Jenny Froome (00:41:39):

Yeah, just, um, kind of gobsmacked really, that we’ve been talking about this for so, so, so long and that we are in this situation where we have this electricity crisis, and yet there were people who were already looking, someone said to me the other day in South Africa, you should all be swimming in solar energy. And it’s, and it’s just so true. We really, we really should be. Mm-hmm. And hopefully people like Lorraine keep on educating and talking about it. Um, and, and I think people are becoming more and more aware, but it’s that initial education, Lorraine, that you’ve kind of, you got the, you got the story going, you got it started. Mm. Let’s hope it has a happy ending.

Scott Luton (00:42:23):

Yes. Your point. Lorraine, go ahead.

Lorraine Jenks (00:42:27):

Quickly to add on, you said, um, when I worked for the EPA in, that was in, uh, 1971, um, they did an exercise of where solar would be the most effective. And we were what we were, I think we were number two for US Northwest and, and Libe. And that was what, 50 years ago. And they still love listening. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:42:49):

Well, you know, collectively, um, to steal Lorraine’s term, we all gotta do a lot more ankle biting, right? And maybe we gotta move our, maybe we gotta move to other, other <laugh> aspects of, uh, they get more pain, more attention. Um, and I should say too, to level set with our audience, and I think I’m okay to say this, Lorraine and Jenny, we can always, uh, take it out. But, you know, we’ve learned a lot about load shedding, speaking of energy and electricity through this series here. And, you know, we’ve lost guests at times based on, you know, the ups and downs of that. So it’s such a tremendous, um, challenge amongst others that, um, that parts of the world have to deal with. So, um, Lorraine and Jenny, thanks so much for sharing and to you both, we’re really excited about this next segment of our chat. You both were named 100 top supply chain women in Africa. That is outstanding. There were powerhouses on that list, and I didn’t get a chance to talk two of ’em here. So I want to talk about what that meant to you, Lorraine. That was just one, one more. In your trophy case, what did that recognition mean to you though?

Lorraine Jenks (00:43:55):

What the, the energy one you say, or which one you’re talking about

Scott Luton (00:43:58):

The, um, the top 100, 100 top supply chain women in Africa that, uh, you’re recognized on that list. What did that mean to you, Lorraine?

Lorraine Jenks (00:44:07):

Yeah, I think what I, I think they always saw some me included supply chain managers as little clerical people that sit in the dark room at the back and place orders. That’s how they saw the, until I got injured. And I realized how huge it was. And most importantly, our areas, how incredibly powerful that position is. What I used to do, I used to pretend, I mean, don’t ever, I used to pretend that the Tinder arrived late if it had toxins in the, in the cleaning stuff. And I’d say, I’m sorry. I’m sorry it’s late. I can’t take, that was the only way I could control. I had that power as a purchasing manager and supply chain to say, yes, you’re doing this right. No, I’m not going to let you, uh, by a sel my company because you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Uh, and to be recognized as, uh, as a career option, um, as a profession, as a profession, I think that’s what that award meant to me.

Scott Luton (00:45:06):

So good, Lorraine, we’re gonna have to get a couple more hours with Lorraine. Uh, jinx here, Jenny. But what about <laugh>? What about you, Jenny? Um, you know, we’ve been touting, you’ve been on our list for years and years. We were an early adopter, early member of the Jenny Froom fan club, so we were all really excited, uh, to see you finally get some recognition that you deserve, Jenny, your thoughts.

Jenny Froome (00:45:28):

Yeah, thank you for that. And thank you always for the constant support. I was, there were different lists, and that is something that for me, is huge because finally, people from not, not just from from South Africa, but on the continent of recognizing the amount of talent that there is in supply chain management in Africa. And that’s where I always have to give you guys a really big thank you because you are helping us to shine that spotlight on, on people like Lorraine who are working away and have been for years and years. And yet people don’t really know what great talent we have on this continent. So for me, it was wonderful to see these lists happen and these incredible women being recognized. And also, it’s obviously always really nice to get recognition. Uh, it sort of does help to banish the imposter syndrome that creeps in every now and again,

Scott Luton (00:46:30):

<laugh>. And hey, I, I appreciate that candor, uh, Jenny cuz everyone feels that, right? Everyone feels that at some part of their journey. Um, and but congratulations to you both Lorraina. We’re, uh, we’re new friends, but man, I can really appreciate where you’re coming from and your journey. And Jenny, congratulations to you as a longtime friend. Uh, all the great work you do, uh, for so many others as two. Um, okay. So along those lines, uh, and it’s, and we’re recording this during, uh, women’s History month, um, here in the States. Uh, of course we celebrate women’s extraordinary contributions year round, but I do like the, the, uh, one month year where you kind of put a little more deliberate, um, attention and focus on us’, important for a number of reasons. Um, so with that said, Lorraine and Jenny, what’s one w uh, woman business leader that inspired you and impacted your journey? Lorraine,

Lorraine Jenks (00:47:27):

Everybody. Rachel Carson. Uh, in her book Silence Being and two People, it would be, um, I’ll just, her name always forget her name. Annie Leonard. Annie Leonard who wrote the story of stuff was her first cartoon. And that’s really, it dawned on me that this horrible topic, it’s cuz it’s a horrible topic. It’s serious, you know, and people don’t want to hear it. You can make it Latin fun and entertaining. I just went crazy for her cartoons and I thought there’s a different way to approach this. Uh, and, and when you said it’s Women’s Day, women’s Mouth, I think women are much better at that. So

Scott Luton (00:48:03):

What was that Lorraine Women are what

Lorraine Jenks (00:48:05):

Better at understanding sustainability and why you have to do these things. Um, and people are starting to listen to us. Where’s things like these awards you’ve just spoken about?

Scott Luton (00:48:17):

Yeah, well said Lorraine, I tend to agree with you. Um, Jenny, same question. What’s one or or two, uh, female business leaders, um, that really impacted your journey?

Jenny Froome (00:48:31):

Yeah, so both of mine are, are directly from the world of supply chain and indirectly through Saex. Um, one is Carol Patak, who I am I think is well known to most people in the supply chain space. She really, because the stories she told about being a woman in supply chain, a woman in business early on in her, in her career when there weren’t really very many women working in this profession. And just her sheer, you know, I’ll use the word tenacity again, but her tenacity and her, her business sort of acumen and constantly evolving and being relevant so that 50 years later she’s still discovering things and she’s still putting new processes and things in place. That for me is really, and then the other one is Tracy Cheatham, who is maybe not that well known to, to many people in this, in this space, but she was the volunteer president of Saex at a time when I got more involved and she helped me to discover this passion for the supply chain community and the, and why it’s so important to keep building the community however you can do it. And you know, again, Scott, you and supply chain now do such a great job in helping to keep that and build that global community and, and give us all the opportunity to talk about the bits we love the most. Mm.

Scott Luton (00:49:56):

Yeah, thank you Jenny. Um, but, but to your earlier point, uh, Lorraine and Jenny, we gotta keep building, gotta keep building, gotta keep biting, gotta keep, uh, keep growing. We gotta keep, uh, applying what we learned, right? Which are big themes here of this conversation. Uh, so thank y’all both for sharing. Um, we’re gonna wrap today on a really big topic. Um, Lorraine, we were talking pre-show a little bit. Um, e s g, we love our acronyms across supply chain, in particular, environmental, social governance. Um, now I would argue there’s a, there’s a lot of action, um, in this aspect of global business, but there’s also a lot of lip service right, uh, in this area. So, um, Lorraine, what’s one or two things about E S G that you wish more of? Our anyone but more of our listeners, uh, might, should know?

Lorraine Jenks (00:50:49):

I think they’ve got to, we’ve got to help people to take a step back and look at the big picture and see how absolutely everything is interconnected. And anywhere where you remove a brick, the whole lot is eventually going to come tumbling down. And, um, like you absolutely hate acronyms. People, there’s some people with fancy docs as they speak in acronyms and you can see the audience’s eyes crossing and saying, what the hell is this person carrying on about? Um, and, and jargon. There’s so much jargon. So interestingly, having done our course course and to, I’ve done courses with the United Nations on green labeling, I’ve done courses on, uh, measuring energy on carbon footprints. I’ve done the training and all that stuff and presented on it. It’s moved away from that. Very, very interesting cuz as I was saying earlier, the CEOs, uh, and the big decision makers don’t understand.

Lorraine Jenks (00:51:44):

So what I’m doing now, I’m being asked to do, I’ve just spoken to the banking industry, uh, insurance industry, some mining people, they want to know the fundamental principles is what they’re not understanding. So if we don’t explain, so the word sustainability means keep things the way they are, it’s not working, so it’s not the right word. The second word is circularity. So we used to buy something, use it straight away, then we had recycling buy something straight away. What they wanted to do is buy something, keep it going. As long as you pause it, you can, you throw it away. And then the other word that’s being banded about is regeneration, which started in farming, uh, where when you’ve been, when you arrive at somewhere, when you leave, it should actually be better than you found it. So those are the main three areas of, uh, of the jargon.

Lorraine Jenks (00:52:33):

They’re all actually been pretty much the same thing. And e ESG itself has been around forever. We’ve been, especially in South Africa, we’re quite good with the s the social surprisingly, and are aware on our awareness of conservation. The, the, um, uh, the governance is where the power is, where we’ve got to really start nagging. But the environmental is very, very badly neglected. And a lot of the big companies, unfortunately, but it’s better than nothing, are doing it. Not because they’re altruistic, not because they’re goodie tissue and stuff, because they’re worried about reputational damage. And the big banks that are still funding, uh, fossil industries, they are losing custom. Their clients are walking away. So esg, and as you said, unfortunately, they did this terrible phrase of net, net zero and carbon. It, it means nothing. It means it, you’re supposed to get rid of as much of your emissions as you can and anything you can’t get rid of, you’re supposed to offset ostensibly by planting some trees or protecting a forest or putting up solar panels.

Lorraine Jenks (00:53:39):

Uh, and a lot of it, the, the, um, where you can bury the carbon into the ground, it’s, it’s not just technology that’s been proven yet. So there’s much too much of that. And the EU is way ahead. The EU is starting to set some specific standards so that they can, they, they, they have to stop the greenwashing that we call it. Um, but you know, it, it, it’s exploded it every day there’s a summit or there’s something somewhere that I keep thinking I must sit in, I must sit this. And it’s always the same over and over again. But the awareness and the action is absolutely phenomenal.

Scott Luton (00:54:16):

So you’re pointing out, uh, Loraine is pointing out, Jenny did not only do we love our acronyms, we love our misnomers as well. And I, and a lot of those make a lot of sense now, Jen, Lorraine, that you shared that particularly going back to someone, one, the first ones sustainability, you know, keeping things the same, that we, we got <laugh>, we need to change that phrase. And perhaps, um, Jenny, I’m gonna get you to respond to that. What are some of your thoughts around what Lorraine just shared? And then we’re gonna make sure folks know how to connect with Lorraine Jinx and all the cool things that she’s doing to make the world and our industry a better place. Jenny,

Jenny Froome (00:54:50):

I think we have to be so pleased that conscious, what is it? Conscious consumerism is, is a real thing and that the kids of today are thinking twice about before buying things. I keep getting lectures from my son about not buying cheap, buy something that’s quality and that you can actually track its past organizations like Bank, you using blockchain. For us to be able to know the source of, of, of, and the origin of items. It’s more accessible, but we also have to keep questioning, keep questioning, and don’t just accept that what you are told is true. You know, especially with things like chat, g p t that you can put something in and it comes out with a beautiful story in less than one second. How true do you know the information is that it’s giving you? Hmm. Question. Everything, I guess is, is the moral of that story.

Scott Luton (00:55:48):

All right. So, uh, um, Lorraine and Jenny, um, there’s a phrase that’s out. There’s been out there for, for generations, perhaps, uh, ignorance is bliss. So while it may be bliss, it is not an excuse for not driving action in some of the thi some of the areas, uh, that bo that we’ve talked through for, for the last, you know, throughout the last hour. Um, cause it’s, it’s our responsibility, right? So, um, Lorraine and Jenny, uh, Lorraine, thank you so much for joining us here today. I know an hour never does folks justice, it doesn’t do your, your journey, uh, justice, but I’ve really enjoyed, uh, parts of your story you’ve shared here and, and, um, you know, challenging us to, to bite those ankles. Uh, and, and not just as it relates to, uh, climate change and other things, but really just as it relates to being a leader, right? Because, um, everyone’s a leader, number one, and number two, leaders are often ignored, right? And no matter where you are in your journey, you gotta bite them ankles, right? And bite them ankles and get up next morning and bite them, bite them ankles, and every so often, Lorraine, punch someone in the nose, right? Otherwise you’re gonna regret it later. Is that right, Lorraine?

Lorraine Jenks (00:57:02):

Oh, I know. I can never do it. <laugh>,

Scott Luton (00:57:05):

<laugh>. Well, so let’s do this. Um, how can folks, Lorraine jinx, um, you’ve got so much going on, uh, in this award-winning journey. Um, if folks wanna, you know, reach out and compare notes or have you come in and speak to their team or their event or, or do business with you, whatever, um, how can folks connect with you, Lorraine?

Lorraine Jenks (00:57:26):

Um, hey, just remember when you, when you buy something, find out where it comes from. Ask, ask it. Say, please tell me where you come from and all the people who the supplier supply that supplier supply desk club. What is their e s G? Um, they can LinkedIn. Just look for Loraine. Jinx. J e n K S on LinkedIn. There’re two. The other one is an American murderous. So that’s not me. I’m the, I’m the, the, the speaker one, sir, you’ll find me on LinkedIn, <laugh> and Facebook’s full of nonsense if you want some fun there. Stuff, stuff on Facebook.

Scott Luton (00:58:00):

<laugh>, Lorraine Jinx, thanks so much for your time here today. Founder and c e o hotel stuff, green stuff, and so much more. Lorraine, thanks for joining us. We’ll have to have you back on maybe later in the year.

Lorraine Jenks (00:58:16):

Can I, Jenny, what we gotta do is keep this real. Let’s keep this human. And the beauty of people like Jenny and her team and her husband. Honestly, when you work with them, it’s like working with family immediately. You are comfortable, you are looked after, everybody’s relaxed. There’s no ears and graces, nobody’s showing off. That’s the secret of, of being real and authentic. Thank you Jenny, for introducing me to this lovely man.

Scott Luton (00:58:44):

Thank you so much Lorraine. And I agree with you by the way, um, about, uh, Jenny and, and her family and her approach. Jenny, I’ll get you to respond to that. And let’s talk about, um, let’s talk about a big event coming up. But first, uh, your thoughts on what Lorraine just shared,

Jenny Froome (00:59:00):

Uh, always, it’s always magic and it always just makes you think that one little bit more about what can I do differently? And, you know, there is this great sort of cliched saying that it starts with me and actually it does. And sometimes you look and you think, well, what difference on earth can I possibly make? But there is, there are so many little things that we can change our habits, we can change the way in which we do the recycling or we do our purchasing or all those things. And I, you know, if everybody just made one change, it would make a big difference to the world.

Scott Luton (00:59:38):

So true. Um, man, that, that, that’s listeners, that’s your call to action right there. It’s that butterfly effect, the ripple effect, whatever you wanna call it, man. That one, one little change. If you can make a big one that’s even better. But man, all those collectively, that’s how you move mountains and uh, you, you change society, right? Um, okay, so Jenny, the 45th, yes, the 45th SAP’s annual conference is coming up. Um, you’re part of the leadership team. Really appreciate all of your work you’ve done for many of those. How can folks learn more about that annual event? That’s gonna be a must, must attend.

Jenny Froome (01:00:21):

Yeah, it really, it’s going to be terrific. And last year was great cuz we are back in person, but we definitely missed the two years. We, we kept it going online, but there’s just nothing beats being together. And I think especially when you are dealing in an industry where so many people are in different time zones and different countries, just the sheer fact that, you know, we can all be together for three days and, and talking about a subject that, that we’re all passionate about. So, um, you can find more information on LinkedIn and also via the saex website, which is the www dot saex sap i c s org. And it’s all there. Everything’s there and it’s in June and it’s just gonna be mega

Scott Luton (01:01:09):

Mega, mega mega. Love that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Well, uh, Jenny, we look forward to seeing you there. Um, Lorraine, we hope to maybe connect with you there as well. I bet you’ll be speaking at the event among if we can fit it on your schedule. Um, but hey <laugh> folks really have enjoyed this conversation here. I want to thank again, Lorraine Jinx. I wanna thank again Jenny Froom, uh, so much good stuff here over the last hour. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have, but hey, gotta challenge you, right? Gotta challenge all of, you know, uh, no point in fingers we’re challenge ourselves, challenging all of our listeners. Hey, take that action, act on something you heard here today from Lorraine and Jenny. You know, that little change that can, that when you add it all up and it can make a huge impact, but deeds not words, deeds not words. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, as we sign off here today, Scott Luton wishing and encouraging all of y’all out there to do good, to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:02:14):

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