"Ask for help" with Shandee Chernow

Shandee Chernow founded CertiStar in 2017, a restaurant and hospitality industry software that allows for food-allergic guests to be able to dine out in a safer and easier way. As someone who personally suffers from severe food allergies, Chernow was frustrated by years of anxiety dining out and wanted to provide a solution to fix this problem for both restaurants and the millions of men, women, and children who also suffer from food allergies. You can learn more about CertiStar at www.certistar.com.

Can you tell our readers about your background? 

My degree is in Computer Science and Mathematics, which has served me very well in a career in both designing and selling software. I’ve been in roles on many sides of the software industry, all of which prepared me for running a software company. I started out designing software, but I’ve also done customer service, beta testing, technical sales, and account relationship sales.

What inspired you to start your business? 

I have food allergies myself and I was doing a lot of business travel and dining out in my last role. It was very burdensome to deal with food allergies and try to not have it affect my business conversations at the same time. I became convinced that there must be a better and easier way for the hospitality industry to handle their patrons who are food allergic.

Where is your business based?

We’re based in Phoenix, AZ.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

We actually started as an educational consultancy rather than as a software company. I created the prototype of the software as an idea, but then I showed the prototype to one of the educational customers we had. He absolutely loved it and said that it would really impact the way they were able to care for guests with food allergies significantly more than any training we could offer. And that day we became a software company.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business? 

I think the most effective thing we’ve done to get the word out in the restaurant and hospitality industries has been through trade shows and then through business social media, like LinkedIn. We need to improve our connection with the food allergy community so that they expect a higher standard of food allergy safety when they’re dining out.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? 

Our single biggest challenge is that the food industry truly believes they’re very skilled at handling food allergies. I believe they’re taking it very seriously and putting effort behind doing their absolute best, but broadly they aren’t using the tools available to them in order to provide the most accurate and complete answers to their customers.

How do you stay focused?

I have always worked from home, so there have always been distractions about. If I find myself with a lack of focus, I’ll either work out or switch to something else on my to-do list. Also, I like to have a tv show or a movie playing the background when I’m working on something that doesn’t require being on the phone. When I am on the phone I tend to walk around my house so that I can focus on the conversation and not get pulled away by something on the computer.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition? 

There are a few other companies that have solutions in our space, however, none of them really match what it is that we provide. We take into account cross-contamination in the kitchen and we also provide modifications for dishes where it’s possible to do so. Both the cross-contamination and modification information is always chef-driven so that it’s both plausible and accurate. Also, we don’t only handle the top X allergens, but rather will provide individualized menus for any combination of any allergens.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business? 

Without a doubt, the best information we can use to convince our prospective customers to join the CertiStar family is testimonials from other customers. Our customers find very quickly how much more efficient they become with regard to food-allergic guests.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs? 

Ask for help! When you start a business there are just so many things that you realize you don’t know. It’s important to remember that no one knows all of the things, but that there are always people that you can ask and rely on for the things that are unfamiliar to you.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

My favorite app is probably the Peloton app – it’s where I get my bike, treadmill, yoga, and meditation. It has some gamification and such a variety of available workouts! I have two little boys, and the blog I’ve been following the longest and that I go to as an escape has got to be The Honest Toddler. The author makes me laugh and her stories and honesty are just so relatable and endearing. It’s nearly impossible to choose a favorite book; my entire office is library walls and is filled to the brim with books. I do love Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy if I had to choose one (or three). It’s a fictional story based in an environment that is historically accurate, which I find fascinating and it makes the entire story feel incredibly plausible and enticing.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Honestly, my favorite resource is probably Google. As I mentioned earlier, there’s so much that you encounter that you don’t know in running a small business that I find myself looking up questions and answers all the time on different topics. The breadth of resources that people have put out there is incredible and it would be very difficult to choose just one.

Who is your business role model? Why? 

I think I’d choose Richard Branson as my role model. The variety of things he’s able to accomplish and the positivity that I read from him is inspiring. He’s tackled so many projects and has seemingly done so much good in the world, I don’t know where he finds the time to do all that he does.

How do you balance work and life? 

I’m not entirely sure that I do succeed at the balance particularly well, but I try. I generally turn work off in the evenings, but if something comes up my kids understand and give me the space to be able to get that thing done. In the same way, if there’s something for them that comes up during the day, I do my best to focus on that and take care of them.

What’s your favorite way to decompress? 

I do a lot of yoga, which is always helpful. I also love playing cards and board games or swimming with my two sons. They’re so much fun and it’s such a joy to see them smile and laugh.

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

We’re working on helping our existing and prospective customers work through this new and crazy normal. The expansion into a new area is very exciting and serves the dual purpose of spreading the word about CertiStar more into both the foodservice industry as well as the food allergic community.

How can our readers connect with you?

On our website at certistar.com or on any of the social media channels @certistar.