I was honored to be a speaker at this Regenerative Revolution Spring Talk hosted Online by Tribe Green Rising.

How has COVID affected your biz/org, what challenges have you overcome, and what adaptations are you implementing?

Roomhints is an online marketplace for remodeling professionals to connect with sustainable building suppliers, such as sustainable wood flooring, eco-friendly paint, recycled steel, and more. 

During this time, our business has been slow, people are spending more time at home, but the supply chain is insufficient. Factories are producing goods at half capacity, clients are reluctant to have a delivery person in their homes, and hospitality clients/interior designers, developers, and businesses have been put on hold.

We have created more local connections between professionals and suppliers to adapt to these changes. 

We continue to see the increased need to make the buying process more local. Like regenerative food and farms, the demand cannot meet the supply. To increase the supply of goods, we have started a “scraps/re-purposing marketplace” within Roomhints. 

Second, we have built tools online, 3D, and virtual reality to enable our clients to communicate with their partners, similar to how it is done on the job site in real-time. 

What do you see as the positive lessons we are learning right now? What potential for positive change do you see?

Running a technology startup is all about bringing new ideas and innovation to the forefront. The hardest part about building new ideas is changing consumer behaviors. We are a species that refuses to believe that the only constant changes. Adapting to new technology, software, and a new routine, pushes us outside our comfort zone – not many of us like to be in this place. 

This pandemic has made it necessary to adapt and change. The whole supply chain has been disrupted, and we see that the way we obtain resources before is inefficient. 

It has forced a rapid change in behaviors because their original behaviors are not possible or present. 

We can see this clearly by how many elders/schools/corporations are now using and understanding such platforms as Zoom. 

For example, my whole family was on a Zoom call – they were open, and they wanted to be a part of that event, so they learned the tool they needed to be present at family Zoom Easter.  

People’s behaviors are changing rapidly, and this is an opportunity to influence those behaviors with the positive change we want to see. 

In addition, the local providers can react and respond far more quickly and effectively. 

Q: How do you see this informing and transforming our future for the better? What are your thoughts on the possibility of a global paradigm shift toward regeneration/regenerative agriculture/localizing food, etc.?

Sales for this local food have increased from 300% to 1000%. In the last 6 weeks, 32% of all Americans have ordered food online. Of that 32%, 28% are first-timers, and 82% ordered meat. 42% said they would continue to buy food this way after the pandemic ceases. 

Therefore, right now is an opportune time for the behaviors that we want to see in the future, such as regenerative remodeling, to be adopted. 

For Roomhints, be localized and more community connected – create a network to connect excess supply from one job site to be re-used at another. 

In addition, the investors may see the big picture of how vital this sector, localizing food, will be and how prosperous this will be in the future. Investment funds see this as an emerging opportunity and want to invest significant dollars into building regenerative agriculture.