Meet Dade County’s Cajun, A Friend To Local Businesses

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Regulars at local attractions, eateries, and events around the county might recognize the familiar face and distinctive New Orleans accent of Lloyd “The Cajun” Kenney III. While Cajun’s smile is now often seen around town (sometimes with a camera in hand), there was a time when he’d never heard of Dade County or Trenton.

Born and raised on the eastern edge of New Orleans in Chalmette, La., Cajun and his parents’ path to Trenton began with Hurricane Katrina. Cajun explained, “Hurricanes were like a vacation. We’d pick a place we wanted to visit and plan to be there for a week because we anticipated power outages.” When Katrina was about to hit in 2005, they decided to drive north, and the first hotel with availability was a Days Inn in Chattanooga.

With disaster relief aid from the Red Cross and the government, Cajun and his parents, Lloyd and Jerilynn Kenney, spent six and a half months living in the hotel with their three dogs. The family’s homes in New Orleans were mostly intact, but the flooding from broken levees and contamination from an oil spill resulted in mold problems that prevented them from returning. Cajun explained, “Because of Dad’s health issues, the doctors said the mold would be a death sentence for him.”

Making the best of the unusual circumstances, Cajun and his father visited GT Distributors in Rossville, Ga. because of their interest in tactical gear and firearms. Another customer asked about a particular product, and Cajun helped the customer. Back h

ome, he had volunteered with the police department for 17.5 years and worked at a store that sold guns and ammunition.

GT Distributors noticed his expertise and asked him if he wanted a job, which is how Cajun met Dade County’s retired sheriff, Phillip Street, the store’s general manager. “We became the best of friends,” Cajun said. “We’d drive to work together, go to police shows together, eat together. He introduced me to the Depot Diner, Ted Rumley, Monda Wooten, and all the people in Dade County. We’d be somewhere together, and he’d say, ‘Hey Cajun Man, come meet this person!’ That’s how I became The Cajun.”

The now-closed Depot Diner in Rising Fawn became a favorite spot for Cajun. He recalled meeting Rumley who was performing at an open mic night at the diner. “I wish it was still open. I miss those times. Everyone had open arms. I thought, ‘Man, everybody cares. This is so cool.’”

Meanwhile, his parents began looking for a house. One day, Street told Cajun, “Tell your daddy to tell that real estate agent to take them to Trenton. You can leave the lights on and doors unlocked, and ain’t nobody gonna mess with you.”

In spring 2006, the Kenneys relocated to Trenton. Today, Cajun often covers Dade County happenings on his YouTube channels. He also highlights local businesses that he believes in. His interest in small businesses and customer service began at age 14 while working at a local New Orleans grocery store.

Cajun’s friendly personality lent itself to customer service, and his career included many learning opportunities with different companies, including driving a delivery truck, overseeing a company’s warehouse and team of drivers, and helping a store transition to its first POS (point of sale) system.

Coming full circle, he returned to the first grocery store in a management position. He explained that the company kept prices low in order to take care of the locals. “Even back then, it was an impoverished area. By doing that, you build loyalty and relationship with your customer. You take care of the person who comes in the door.”

After working with GT Distributors, Cajun joined a B2B (business-to-business) hunting and fishing wholesale company. In fact, Hoppy’s Outfitters in Gross Shopping Center just became a customer of the company.

Cajun enjoys meeting all kinds of people through his sales job, and he believes that a good salesman is honest, understanding, and solves problems for customers. “The trick to selling is just being yourself. If a person doesn’t like you for who you are, that’s okay. If it don’t work, you move on. Sometimes the relationship comes later after you’ve earned it.”

He knows that many people hear “sales” and picture a used car or snake oil salesman stereotype. However, for Cajun, “It’s about telling the truth, just like being friends with people: Don’t lie. If you don’t know something, be honest with the customer and tell them you’ll look it up and call them back.”

He also sees sales as finding a solution to customers’ needs. “Anyone can sell them something, but who can provide answers and solutions or help maintenance their department when you’re visiting them?”

While Cajun has long enjoyed photography as a hobby, it eventually tied into his job when he began taking product photos. Years ago, he practiced by taking photos of pelicans in New Orleans, one of which was selected for the cover of a phone book.

Photography eventually led into videography, and after setting up a deer cam so his father (whose health was failing) could see the nearby wildlife, he started his first YouTube channel: Live Deer Cam by Cajun.

From there, he became interested in talking to his viewers. “I was thinking, ‘What can I offer to people?’ and thought, Cajun and Creole cooking. I’m just gonna talk about how my family cooked, what we ate. I’m just going to be me and help people increase their ability to cook. Cooking’s simple: It’s temperature and timing and preserving the flavor and quality of the food.”

This led to his second YouTube channel: Cooking With The Cajun. He also began filming things like product and restaurant reviews and clips at Dade County attractions. These didn’t fit either channel, so he started Cajun’s YouTube Channel.

Positivity is important to Cajun. He explained, “My mamma always said, ‘If you don’t have anything good to say about somebody, you don’t say anything at all.’ I’ll tell people the truth in person because friendships are built on honesty, but I’m not going to blast something I don’t like all over the internet. But, if I like something and believe in what somebody’s doing, I’m going to share it with everybody.”

Some of his favorite spots in Dade are Corner Coffee, Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm, Hope House Cafe, the Lookout Mountain Flight Park, and Cloudland Canyon because of the friendly owners and locals, but also because people visit these attractions from all over the world. He said, “For a while, I was meeting people from New Orleans every Saturday at the alpaca farm. I love sharing family-oriented places like these.”

The Kenneys found Trenton to be a breath of fresh air after living in Chattanooga. Cajun fondly remembered his parents’ trusting (although sometimes naive) nature and kindness toward others. “They loved everybody. I used to tell Mom and Dad, ‘We’re in Chattanooga. This ain’t like back home. We don’t know these people.’”

The family fit in well in Dade. “Back home, family values were big,” Cajun explained. “In Louisiana, you take care of your own.”

Cajun experienced the Dade community in another way when his parents died within 14 months of each other. It was a tough season for him, but the Ryan family of Ryan Funeral Home handled the funeral arrangements and befriended him. “They treated me so well and invited me to come have coffee one morning at the funeral home. They had internet, so I would work from the funeral home. I got to know the whole family, and they took me under their wing.”

Summarizing the Dade County community, Cajun said, “Where else can you find a beautiful place to live, surrounded by mountains, surrounded by good people, with family values, a sheriff who does his job, limited crime, and fiber internet so anyone can work remotely? Who wouldn’t want to live here?”