Doug Renfro President Renfro Foods
Not many people get to play with food – and get paid to do it, as Doug Renfro does. Which explains his desk, a dark cherry beauty where something edible or something that looks edible can be found. On this day, Renfro’s desk is organized and somewhat bare, except for trinkets lurking about. Oh, and that dinosaur (his words) of an adding machine. Classic. Here’s what else was on his desk:
1. Chasing Chilies: Hot Spots Along Pepper Trail: His current hot book read. “I’m always picking up something to see what’s out there.”
2. USS Fort Worth commemorative coin: “My cousin Becky brought it back for me. A really nice keepsake.”Coke frig: “I grew up a Dr Pepper guy and after I got sedentary and a little overweight I started drinking Diet Coke. After, like, six months, I developed a taste for it. Took a while. It was brutal.”
5. Red stick: Tabasco gives it to the workers picking peppers in the field to know when peppers are ripe. “It’s a low tech solution, but so cool. I keep it laying around.”
3. Kokopelli coasters: All over his desk. His criteria are that they be Southwestern in nature. Keeps those Coke stains off the desk.
4. Armadillo stapler: “Once again, something to remind you that you’re not in Minneapolis.” And it actually works. 8. Stack of trade magazines: Dumps them in a bucket on the side of his desk. “I feel guilty flipping through them at my desk so every time I travel, I will gather up 20 or 30 and put them in a backpack and look at them at the airport.”
6. Adding machine: “It’s old-fashioned but works. Just a little hard to find the paper. Not many places sell it anymore.”
Quote: “If [my desk] is too clean, that means no projects are going on, and that’s not good. You want 10 to 20 projects outstanding so if any one of them craters, you’re not as worried or upset.”
