The Refinishing Touch Blog

Today we’re excited to introduce Stephen Smoke as our first ever guest blogger. Stephen is an accomplished writer who has penned 28 books, the latest of which, Cathedral of the Senses, will be published this spring. He’s also written and directed feature films, including “Street Crimes,” starring Dennis Farina. Most importantly, Stephen is an old friend of our CEO and founder, Mario Insenga.

We’ve always admired Stephen because of his views on personal and corporate responsibility. His Bill of Responsibilities series of books, which includes The Corporate Bill of Responsibilities, highlights how it is important for both individuals and corporations to recognize the social, economic and environmental impacts of their actions, and provides a guide on how to act in a manner that will benefit everyone. Stephen was nice enough to compose a blog post for us in which he describes how, even early on, he and Mario believed in social responsibility and environmental commitment, and how not much has changed in three decades.

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Corporate Responsibility and the Environment…in the Real World
By Stephen Smoke

In what seemed like another incarnation, Mario Insenga and I were roommates thirty-five years ago in Toledo, Ohio. Although we hadn’t spoken since then, we had experienced some of the best times of our lives together. Recently he tracked me down via the Internet and we arranged to meet in Los Angeles. Since we’d seen each other, I’d written nearly 30 books, most of them novels, and Mario had founded The Refinishing Touch and built the business into one of the most successful and environmentally-conscious companies in the world.

A Google search revealed that Mario’s clients included the U.S. government, Hilton, Marriott and Westin, among many other well known companies. I streamed a clip of him being interviewed on the Discovery Channel about how his company refurbished existing furniture, on site, in a unique and environmentally-friendly way. Furthermore, I learned that his exclusive refurbishing method resulted in a savings of up to 80% on replacement costs, while dramatically decreasing any negative environmental impact that would result from manufacturing and shipping new furniture and disposing of the old furniture. Finally, I read an interview with him in the Wall Street Journal.

When we got together a few months after our initial phone conversation, it seemed more like three days than three decades since we had last seen each other. We laughed about old times till tears ran down our cheeks. Although we had taken different paths and our lives had been shaped by people and events we could not have anticipated so many years ago, when our paths crossed again, we were still friends.

Even back in our halcyon days we felt strongly about the importance of personal responsibility and environmental stewardship. Therefore, it was not surprising when our conversation turned to talk of the environment and personal responsibility. The difference between our college days and now was that now we spoke not from a purely ideological or theoretical point of view, but from a practical, “real world” perspective.

“I put the green in green,” said Mario one night over dinner at a sushi place in Santa Monica. “Lots of companies want to do the right thing for the environment, but then they look into it and determine that going green will hit the bottom line hard. I believe—and I’m living proof of this—that doing the right thing for the environment can also result in increased profitability and sustainability.”

I knew that Mario was “green” decades before it was fashionable to be green. And the more we talked the more I realized he was pretty much the same “save the planet” guy he was back in the day. One important difference was that he now ran a successful, environmentally-conscious business with offices in several cities, a warehouse, and employees all over the world. He was walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

“It’s not about decorating your company PR with ‘green speak,’” Mario continued. “It’s about understanding ‘sustainability’ and how to manage existing assets. Instead of automatically tossing out assets, whether they’re furniture or personnel, consider how to manage those assets or re-purpose them. Not only is it cost-effective, it makes sense for the environment and for your employees.

“I’ve actually seen people drop high-end desks out of a second-story window because they didn’t want to spend the money to dismantle them, or take the time and effort to donate them. Sometimes outdated tax regulations encourage companies to buy new ‘things’ rather than manage existing assets and recycle in a smart way.

“The current financial situation causes people to think differently. Now clients are very interested in saving 80% on replacement furniture, and at the same time they’re genuinely interested in decreasing any negative impact on the environment.

“Another existing asset that can be managed is personnel. Not long ago I needed to hire someone to do in-house marketing. Instead of looking outside the company, I chose an existing employee who already knew my business well. I believed it would be more difficult and time-consuming to train a marketing person who knew nothing about my business, than it would be to teach marketing strategies and techniques to someone who knew my business inside and out. In a relatively short time that person learned the marketing skills needed to do the job, and my expectations for that position have been exceeded.”

While my old friend continued talking about sustainability and managing existing assets, I thought about our friendship.

And about how true it was that some things were truly worth sustaining.

Labels: Corporate Bill of Responsibilities, Environment, green-speak, Hilton, Mario Insenga, Marriott, Stephen Smoke, The Refinishing Touch, Wall Street Journal, Westin