188: Using her Diagnosis to Help Others Eat Out Safely

Tracy Stuckrath [00:00:00]:
Hi, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Eating at a Meeting. And it is March 1. Holy moly. In 2023. And it is also March 1 also kicks off Women's History Month, which I actually love to call the Herstory Month, women's History Month because it's about her stories and today's story. And oh, I did it right. This woman's story, young woman's story here is about how she uses her diagnosis of celiac disease to help others eat out safely. And Kayla, she is the CEO and founder of My Meal, which is an app on your phone that you can utilize to filter and find restaurants currently just in Denver area in Colorado that meet your dietary restrictions. So, Kayla King, welcome to the show.

Kayla King [00:00:57]:
Yes, thank you so much for having me. I am super excited to be here and to have this conversation. It's so important.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:01:03]:
Yeah. So we met was it September of last year?

Kayla King [00:01:08]:
Yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:01:09]:
At the Fair conference. We were in Orlando for the food allergy research and education. Food allergy conference. That's a lot of words. And I think when I first met you, you had flown in early from Colorado or Oregon and to Orlando, and you were running around town finding these restaurants that you could eat at.

Kayla King [00:01:31]:
I did. I took, like, a 45 minutes Uber to a dedicated gluten free restaurant because I really wanted to try it, and I knew it was safe. So, yes, it was definitely a large undertaking to go that far out of my way, but it was super great to have a restaurant that was safe for me.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:01:51]:
Yeah. And I do the same thing. Right. I'm like, I'm going to go. I actually drove to a bakery outside of Raleigh a couple of weeks ago because it's vegan and gluten free, and I was just amazed by that, but it's a little bit out of Raleigh. It was probably two and a half hours away from me, so I'm not going to go that far all the time.

Kayla King [00:02:12]:
Yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:02:13]:
Okay, so you're in your 20s. I'm just going to say that right now you're 24. Okay. All right. Almost a quarter of a century.

Kayla King [00:02:25]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:02:26]:
And you were diagnosed with celiac disease when you were eight?

Kayla King [00:02:29]:
Yes, when I was nine years old. But yes, I was diagnosed as a kid because my brother had type one diabetes. So when I started getting sick, they thought I also had type one diabetes. But instead, when they took my panel, I got diagnosed with celiac disease.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:02:46]:
Okay. And when I was reading your story and when I asked you beforehand how did you get here? And I put it in the description of this, it's like food became such a focus in your life, and we think that food is a focus in all of our lives, but I think it's a very different approach. Can you talk about that?

Kayla King [00:03:08]:
Yeah. So I think when you have a food restriction, whether that be for celiac hashimoto's a food allergy, you have to hyper focus on what you're putting inside your body. And so that means that you can't consume anything without looking at the ingredient label or asking how it was prepared or finding out what was in it. And so food naturally becomes a really big focus in your life because, especially for people with food allergies, if you make one mistake that could be fatal for you, you could end up in the hospital. And so you're just taught to be hyper vigilant about what you're consuming. And so that became a really big focus in my life really early on because I had to stand up for and advocate for myself as a kid. And I talked to my mom about this recently, and she was saying even as a kid I was like, no, I want to ask the questions. I want to stand up for myself because I was really focused on making sure that this was a sustainable lifestyle for me. And so you just have to learn those skills to be able to do it. And so I became just obsessed and more interested in how do we make this process easier? And so I started studying nutrition on the side of my degree in college, became a nutrition coach, started working with clients. So I kind of centered my whole career around how do I dive into this issue and help others that are like me. Because it was always just such a big focus for me in life, starting really young.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:04:45]:
Well, I'm glad that you're taking that diagnosis and helping others and I'm going to get to the My meal app in a second. But I think one of the things that I also learned about you, which I thought was interesting and I kind of can relate to it, is that you overindulged and you binged eating. So can you talk about how that having celiac disease made you a binge eater and then you actually saw a therapist, right?

Kayla King [00:05:13]:
Yes. So that is definitely a big part of my journey. So when I was a kid, I was constantly told that I needed to have portion control. And I didn't understand what was wrong with me because especially when I would go out to eat at a restaurant or an event or a birthday party, when I found something that was safe, I just could not stop myself from eating it. A lot of that was because I was putting those foods on a pedestal. Because normally if you have, let's say, chocolate in your life every single day or multiple times a week, it's something that you're used to getting. And so you don't really crave it in the same way where if you're getting a gluten free brownie that you haven't had in four years, you're now going to feel the need to overindulge in it because you don't know when you're going to ever get the opportunity to get that thing again. So my biggest trigger for me was always restaurants. And this led to kind of a whole suite of I began Bodybuilding. I definitely had disordered eating patterns and so Bodybuilding was like a way for me to almost control my intake because I started tracking my macronutrients and so it gave me this kind of false sense of control. But then when the pandemic hit, all of my shows got canceled, I had to stop Bodybuilding and I was faced with this really clear reality where my binge eating had not gone away, it had just been controlled via another form of disordered eating. And so once the pandemic hit, I was like, okay, I really need to solve this and figure out what's going on with me. So I did go to a binge eating specialist, worked with her for about three months. And at the time I thought some of the things that we were doing were so stupid. I was like, seriously? This is what I paid you for? And then as we kind of got further into our time, I was like, wow, these things are really effective. Because what she was doing was she was normalizing food for me. So she would just task me with very simple things like go to a restaurant two to three times a week and before I was probably going once a month for similar reasons that other people don't go to restaurants. It can be really difficult to find them. It's scary when you dine at them because sometimes you don't know if they have the same understanding as you. So basically she challenged me to really step outside my comfort zone and go dine out frequently and kind of build up that skill set even more and become more comfortable with it. And so just very tiny little things like that really improved my relationship with food and allowed me to stop binging and actually normalize the things that were triggers for me.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:08:15]:
That's really interesting and you would never think that that would be the approach to do it, but it makes sense because you do become more comfortable with that. You become more comfortable than especially if you're going to the same restaurants talking to the servers about celiac disease and what you can and cannot eat and then they in turn hopefully become your advocate as well.

Kayla King [00:08:37]:
Yeah, absolutely. And just through my experience of building my meal and working with so many restaurants and again, challenging myself to eat out more than I used to has really been extremely helpful for not only my relationship with food, but just my willingness to kind of be adventurous and talk to the staff and challenge myself. And so that's what I really encourage other people to do now. And I give my meal as a resource to help with that. But a big part of my marketing and how I interact with my user base is I also want to educate about that topic and how it's not as scary as we sometimes make it out to be.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:09:23]:
We as the diner who's scared, it's not as scary. Or the server, it's not as scary for them.

Kayla King [00:09:28]:
So we as the diner, it's not as scary because I think a lot of servers and restaurants are willing to accommodate. You just have to be willing to have that conversation with them. And there's definitely, like, a lot of education on the restaurant side that we help restaurants do, but it very much is a two way street. So as a consumer, you definitely have a responsibility to still ask questions and tell the server about your food allergy. But then on the restaurant side, there's also things that you can do to help make that experience safer for individuals with these conditions.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:10:03]:
Okay, so on that note, then let's jump into the app because now you're eating out a lot more. You're interacting with these servers at these restaurants. And what was the impetus for you to do the app in which everybody it is called Mymeal and you can find it online at mymeal foodallergy?

Kayla King [00:10:22]:
Yeah, so mymeal food allergy is my Instagram. My website is findmymeal. IO if you're trying to look up the app and download it. But yes. So basically during this period of time in which I was bodybuilding, I had a really restrictive diet. So not only did I have my celiac, but I also had to track all of my macronutrients. So at that point in time, I was like, wow, it's really hard to eat out. I don't know what's in my food. There's no transparency around it. A lot of times the restaurants don't even know what's in it. So I just found it really difficult. And that's when I started thinking of this idea of there needs to be more transparency within the industry. And so I started toying around with this filterable allergy menu where basically you can put in your food allergies and see exactly what's safe for you, see what's cross contaminated, learn about the modifications that you need to make to the dish. And I found there was a few other companies doing this, but consumers didn't know about them. And if a consumer doesn't know where to go, then that connection isn't there. And so I found there was, like, a really big need for not only to create these filterable allergy menus and make them more accessible for local restaurants, but also to have a way for users to find them. And be able to go to the restaurants that really do care and are making an effort to create these kinds of resources and safe space for them.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:11:51]:
Okay, that's awesome. And so it's an app that I can and I have downloaded it, downloaded it to my phone.

Kayla King [00:11:57]:
Cool.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:12:03]:
Okay, how does it work? Does the restaurant input the information? Do you input the information and then how are you not certifying them. And that's an assumption, right?

Kayla King [00:12:16]:
Sure. Go through the whole process. On the consumer side, we are an app that helps you find safe restaurant meals. And so when you put in your food allergies, it gives you a curated list of restaurants. Every restaurant on the app is vetted by us, and then when you go into each restaurant, you can see exactly what in the menu is safe for you. So you can see a customized version of the menu and ordering instructions to tell your server. So if you need to remove or sub something or ask them to cook it a different way, we give that specific instruction, and all of the information is coming from partnership with the restaurant. So on the restaurant side, kind of how we vet and onboard them is we have a big list of kind of checklist items that we're looking for in a restaurant to make sure that they have procedures in place for somebody with a food allergy or restriction. And then we actually go through each menu item with them. So we'll kind of bring up a draft of their menu and what we believe the allergens to be, and then we'll sit down with the chef and go through each menu item, what the ingredients are in third party products. So we'll kind of go through all of that information to make sure that they're equipped to kind of handle food allergies. And then we also give suggestions and training if the restaurant needs it as well, because a lot of times restaurants are like, almost there, but they need a little bit more help to get to the other side. And so we'll do trainings and give suggestions on ways that they can improve it to make it a safer environment for people with food allergies.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:13:56]:
Okay, like, I have all these questions.

Kayla King [00:13:59]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:14:05]:
So one of my things with the restaurants is, what have you found to be their biggest challenges with allergens and labeling?

Kayla King [00:14:13]:
That's a great question. So I think a lot of times, because third party products change so often, it can be really hard for a restaurant to keep track of. I also have found that a lot of restaurants don't check their third party ingredient labels for allergens. So that's a big one that occurs all the time. Mayo is a really classic example. Mayo, 99% of the time, is going to contain soybean oil and egg. A lot of restaurants miss that. Soy sauce, a lot of times will contain wheat. Some restaurants miss that as well. You have to check your sauces, your rubs, all of that kind of stuff, because for the most part, that's where allergens hide. So if you're a scratch kitchen, it's going to be much easier to know your ingredients. But if you're bringing in a ton of products from your manufacturer that are bottled or sealed, you have to be checking those ingredient labels. And so best practice for that. And this is kind of part of our vetting process is do you check those labels when they come in because like really allergy friendly establishments, that's what they'll do. If they see a new product or they're ordering a new product, they'll make sure that they check the ingredient label for allergen before they put it away. And they'll notify the staff if there is an added allergen that wasn't there before. So that's kind of best practice just to get into and kind of train your staff on because where allergens are going to be hidden the most. The other thing is cross contact. I know a lot of people have really small kitchens. Cross contact can be hard. But if you set your kitchen up in mind with allergens, it can actually be pretty easy. So a really classic example is the line. A lot of restaurants will grab into bins with the same. And so if you have somebody coming in with celiac disease and you're grabbing croutons and then you're grabbing it to a tomato bin, now that tomato bin you don't know where you grab. So gluten can be sitting on anywhere in that bin. So technically in that case, you would want to grab prepped ingredients that are clean and have been untouched from under the line or from the back. Or if you just set up your line in which allergens are kind of put on last, that's also a really great solution as well. So if you have nuts for one salad, have the person put on nuts as like the last thing that goes on the salad and then immediately change their gloves. So I know a lot of restaurants that do that. We recommend that also. Another solution is putting utensils on the line. So I know that slows things down a little bit. But even if you just put utensils for common allergens like cheese and nuts and things like that, you can grab for vegetables and then just have portion scoops for the rest of them. So that helps a lot as well. And so there's kind of these little things that we recommend that restaurants can do to make it easier for them to implement these allergy procedures in. And I think a lot of restaurants get very intimidated because they feel like it's going to take so much time. But if you just train your staff and set your kitchen up, it should flow and not take up extra space. It's only going to take up that extra time when you're caught off guard. So if somebody with a food allergy comes in, you don't have a process, then it is going to take a lot of time. But if you've trained for this and you have that process in mind, it will be very seamless because I've seen tons of restaurants do it already.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:17:50]:
That's fantastic. Sometimes it's just those simple things of adding the allergen to the end of the buffet line or if you're making it from scratch. Right. It can be simple as that. You don't have to go and buy all new equipment and have a whole separate allergy section. Just think about how you're going to build your meal or build that dish so that it is doable. So the restaurants that you're working with, and I think I said it at the very beginning, they're not certified. They serve all the allergens in their restaurants.

Kayla King [00:18:31]:
Yes. Most of them definitely are not certified of any type of allergen.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:18:36]:
Right, so they've got all of these things, I mean, I'm sure not a pizza joint, right, that's making fresh pizza crust, there's wheat flying all over the place. That's not probably a place for you to go, but you can find places that actually do this. And have you found what have these restaurants that you're working with seen as a result of working with my meal?

Kayla King [00:19:00]:
Yeah, so we definitely have a very strong brand and so a lot of people trust us. And so something that I'll hear from our users very frequently is we'll just go to a restaurant that you recommend because we know that you're going through the necessary steps and vetting process to help us feel safe. And so there's definitely this very high level of trust that we have with our users and so that reflects upon the restaurant. So we're definitely sending them more business. And then with the filterable allergy menus, specifically, we also have restaurants that are using those inside their restaurant, and we've heard some great results with that. Some of our restaurants are getting upwards of like 1500 scans on their allergy menus per month, and that's just in store. And servers are all about it. Servers love it because it helps reduce table turn time. They can get people in and out faster, which means servers are going to get higher tips. They don't have to go back and forth between the kitchen a lot of times. So on average, a conversation that you're going to have with a server is going to take around like five to ten minutes and it could be even longer if they have to go back and forth. And a lot of times that's what happens with food allergies. And so having our filterable allergy menu in store, it takes out all of that because you can just see all that information from the chef on the menu without having to kind of have that back and forth conversation. So the restaurants that are actually implementing it in their store are definitely seeing the greatest results with it because it's making the lives of their staff so much easier and decreasing the amount of mistakes that they're seeing as well.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:20:40]:
Okay, and explain to me what you mean implementing it in their store, they have it on their purchase system or.

Kayla King [00:20:48]:
Are they doing we basically provide like QR codes and so they'll put QR codes either at the table or the servers or the hosts will hand it out. And so it just acts like a QR code menu that we're kind of used to seeing post COVID, where you can scan it and then it will pull up this customized Allergy menu so that you can use it like you would use the normal menu, except it's completely customized to you, so you're only seeing items that are going to be safe.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:21:14]:
Oh, that's fantastic. Okay, this is so exciting. And right now it's just in Colorado, correct?

Kayla King [00:21:22]:
Yeah. Right now we are just in Colorado. We're just kind of trying to make sure that we have a really good footing here. We have about 55 restaurants on board.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:21:30]:
Wow, that's good.

Kayla King [00:21:32]:
Yeah. Trying to just expand into some other areas in Colorado, build up our following there. We only launched the first version of the app last November, so the app is still even really new in Colorado, so we're just trying to build up our following and our user base there before going into a second city. Well.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:21:52]:
And I know you worked at Just Be Kitchen, which is hello, Jen. If you're watching us, my niece used to work there as well, but she's a dedicated gluten free restaurant.

Kayla King [00:22:04]:
Yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:05]:
And so I love that. And actually paleo, right?

Kayla King [00:22:09]:
Yes, they are paleo, refined, sugar free, gluten free, 99% dairy free. Yeah. Jesse kitchen is great. We work with them. They're definitely on the app. They use our Allergy menu in store. Jen was like she actually helps with part of the development of the menus. So I have loved working with Jesse Kitchen. It was an amazing experience to be a part of that team at one point. So definitely a huge fan of the restaurant. Always.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:37]:
Yeah, exactly. Okay, so you're 24.

Kayla King [00:22:41]:
Yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:42]:
And we're going to see a lot from you going forward. I know we are, but has anybody mother, grandmother given you some sage advice on launching your own company and going forward?

Kayla King [00:22:58]:
Yeah, absolutely. So my dad is actually a musician, so he is an entrepreneur as well. And then my mom is very high up in the corporate world, so I kind of get two really great perspectives from my parents, and I'm very grateful for that. So I think the one thing that has just always stuck with me from honestly, both of them, is the importance and weight on relationships and communication. So since I was really young, my mom was making me send my own emails and call and make all of my appointments and just do everything for myself. And I think those were really important because they taught me how to properly communicate with people. And that's something I've taken throughout my whole life, is just building relationships is going to be at the core of everything that you do. And then I know this is like a very typical one as a child, but be nice to everyone that is so important. It is so important in the business world, and I don't think it's talked about enough because you don't know where a relationship is going to take you. And so just being kind and helping people where you can if somebody wants to take a meeting with me or talk to me, no matter who they are, I will always talk to them, unless I literally can't or don't have the space to do it. And then I'll try and find another way to help them because I think it's so important to help people out. And if you can be a part of their life and help grow them as a human being, they'll turn back and do the same thing to you and help you grow. So that's something I've just always taken with me throughout life. And I think it's really important for personal and professional relationships.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:24:49]:
I wholeheartedly agree with you. And I think also in the field that we are dietary restrictions, I think it really does lend itself even more so as well, because it can be very frustrating, not only for us as diners, but for the servers and the chefs who are like, oh, my God, I made this for you. Why is it wrong? Right? And this is one of the stories that I say all the time. You didn't go to the store and buy celiac disease. Right. And your mom's not going to let you your mom can't send you back to the store and return it. Right. But if you don't have celiac disease or you don't have a food allergy, you don't understand the challenges of living with that.

Kayla King [00:25:37]:
Yeah. And one of the things that I definitely talk about a lot is having empathy on both sides of the puzzle. So if you're a diner, like, having empathy for the server and understanding that they're not trying to make your life hard, they just either aren't educated on it or don't know or are scared. A lot of times, they're just genuinely have anxiety around making you sick. And that's totally fair because nobody wants to be responsible or have it on their heart of making somebody sick. And so I think having empathy for the other party is so important because when you're in that situation, it can be really difficult. And high anxiety where you're like, I don't understand why they can't just make this for me, or, I don't understand why they can't just cook it in a pan. And it can be really frustrating. And I've seen myself in these situations as well. And so it's nice to rope back around to like, okay, well, that server doesn't know what celiac is, or, this is the first time they're ever handling this, or Maybe I just need to help educate them a little bit. And so having empathy for the other side, I think is so important. And then same thing for the restaurant side of things. These people are coming in with very real conditions that affect their daily lives. And so having empathy for them as well is important. And I understand that it definitely throws things for a loop. It maybe takes more time. It's something that's not super easy. There are things that can make it easier, but it's definitely something where you have to stop what you're doing and make sure everything is going to be safe for that individual. And yeah, it can suck to do that sometimes, but also you're making that person's day. Not only are you making that person's day, but also you're gaining a loyal customer. There are very clear stats around this. One of the most alarming ones is 92% of people that have a good experience at a restaurant with a food allergy, they end up coming back to that establishment. I use that all the time. Yeah, like crazy high loyal customers because people really care. If you show them just an ounce of empathy, they will be so grateful. And so I think that's important to remember on both sides that empathy is so important.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:04]:
I wholeheartedly agree. And something you just said there. And then also I'm going to tie it back to something that you said is like checking the labels, right? Manufacturers change their labels all the time. And right now with sesame coming into play this year, people are purposely adding allergens into their food so they don't have to make the changes. And so reading a label, it could be your favorite salsa today, and then tomorrow they've added something in it that now you can't eat it. Right? And so, unfortunately, every time you get a new product into your restaurant or into your hotel kitchen or catering kitchen, you need to read the label and update your database on what allergens it does or does not contain.

Kayla King [00:28:52]:
Yeah, and I think that's why it's so important to keep a resource of ingredients and recipes. And you'll see that the really organized restaurants are definitely doing that. And a lot of times their processes are more efficient, their training is more efficient because of it, because they have that information documented. Now, I understand for smaller restaurants that might seem like a nuisance to keep that information because it's just another thing to update. But also think about how much of a headache it will save you. Because there are people, when I worked at Jesse kitchen, people came in all the time being like, I have a garlic allergy and an onion allergy and an avocado allergy. Like random things. And unless I had that ingredient booklet organized or some kind of filterable allergy menu that we make for restaurants, how am I going to know that information? I would have to go back and read all the ingredient labels in the middle of service, which is going to end up taking more time than it would take just to put those ingredient lists together. So it's like. Whether you want to take time during the middle of service when it's stressful and you're running around, or you just want to do the work to put that information together so that when you come into that occurrence, you're prepared for it, you're ready for it, and it's easy.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:30:16]:
Yeah, 100% agree. You said earlier, too. It's like doing that during the middle of service. The server is going to lose credibility. They're going to lose tip. You're not going to turn over, you're not going to get an extra table in there. You're wasting time by not having that information documented.

Kayla King [00:30:37]:
Yeah. And the chef is sometimes yelling at you because they're like, I don't know why you're asking me this question in the middle of service. I'm doing a million things, and the service just like, I don't know, there's this person with an allergy, and the chef's like, just tell them that they can't eat here. That happens all the time. And so you're losing on customers, potential customers that not only could come once, but could come multiple times and bring all their friends and family, because people with food allergies, there's a huge halo effect. A lot of times, they're the ones picking the restaurant and bringing the Party of Ten with them.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:31:09]:
Yes. I use that stat all the time, too. Okay, so I'm going to give you two questions in one. What is your greatest joy about what you're doing, but what has been also your biggest obstacle in what you're doing?

Kayla King [00:31:24]:
Great question. So my biggest joy has definitely been the people that are like, I haven't eaten out in ten years, and I finally got the courage to go to one of the restaurants you're working with. And I had an awesome experience that makes everything I do worth it because I'm like, I just help that person be able to get to the next step in their journey and actually be able to enjoy an experience outside the home that they haven't had for years because they've been so paralyzed and scared to do it. So that's one thing that just, like, I love to do. And then on the flip side of that, with restaurants, it's amazing to connect with people that truly care about this community. And so I am always like, I want to do whatever I can to help people find you, because what you're doing is so amazing. I met with a woman the other day who owned a restaurant, and she's allergic to MSG and food coloring. So she is somebody who definitely checks every label that comes into her restaurant. If somebody comes in with literally any kind of food restriction, she tries to make something that's going to be safe for them. She has dedicated fryers. She just is crushing it. And she was so passionate about what she did, and it just let this fire inside me where I was like, I just feel like more people need to benefit from what you're doing. And right now, there's not that connection there. People are not finding these places. And so that's what we really tried to do is make it accessible for people. And then on the flip side of obstacle, while I talk about these restaurants that are amazing, there's definitely a barrier to entry with restaurants in general. They're either really awesome and totally understand because either their wife or sister or they have food allergies or celiac and they've had a personal experience with it. But then there is also, on the flip side, a lot of individuals that just don't care, no matter what I say, I've literally been like, hey, there are some clear stats around catering to this market. It can increase your profit margin by 20. There are some very clear things that are like, catering to this market is good for your bottom line. It will help in every aspect of your business. And I have had people that are just like, I don't care how much business this brings me, I will not serve people with food allergies.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:34:05]:
Wow.

Kayla King [00:34:07]:
Yeah. And so it just happens and it's frustrating because food allergies aren't going anywhere and you're only going to get more and more requests. And by not caring about it at all, like not giving an ounce of care, you're just going to drive away so much business. And if that's what you want to do, that's totally fine, but I want to help give exposure to and reward the restaurant that are doing a good job and you care about it. And so that's kind of one of the largest obstacles is there are just certain people where you're not going to change their mind. Right. But that's okay. You just have to find the ones that do care about it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:34:52]:
Right? Yeah, I agree. And we'll always find somebody that doesn't agree with us and doesn't want to do that, but it's taking that and like, okay, well, I'm going to go over here to restaurant B and we're going to see their business grow.

Kayla King [00:35:07]:
Right.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:35:11]:
Okay. So being a female in the food business, what is important to you as a woman in food and beverage industry?

Kayla King [00:35:23]:
Yeah, so I think what I found interesting in particular about some of these things that we're talking about in terms of inclusivity, and I know, like, you work on sustainability as well. I do find that a lot of females care about it more sometimes. And so I do work with a lot of female owned businesses because of that. And it's been super helpful to have that community to kind of turn to. But then also on the flip side of that, I feel like as a young female in particular, there are a lot of individuals that don't take me as seriously just because I am younger. I do look really young and so they're definitely going to give more validity to a male twice my age in my field than somebody like me. And so you do have to do a bit more of, like, proving myself, and that's okay. I am always up for the challenge of proving myself and becoming more of an expert in what I do. I think that's only going to advantage me, but that is definitely something that is an obstacle, and a challenge is just getting over that stigma of being a young female and showing people that I am an expert and I do know what I'm talking about. And I can help improve your business.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:36:51]:
I need to introduce you to my guest next Wednesday, randy, look up Fab in Charleston. I'll send it to you. And LaDame's Legacy Awards. I'll send you that, too. Awesome. Some fabulous female mentors that you can rely on, too, and help you grow. Okay. What did you want to be when you grew up? Was it this?

Kayla King [00:37:23]:
No, it was, but yeah, when I was a kid, I actually wanted to own my own dance studio, so I always wanted to be a business owner. But yeah, I was a dancer my whole life, actually, when I was ten years old. So very shortly after my Celiac diagnosis, I got into a professional show. So I was like a professional actress when I was ten. So that definitely helped with my development and kind of pushed my brain in a direction of having that entrepreneurial spirit because I was working at such a young age. But that was kind of always my dream, was grow up on my own dance studio, and then as I grew up, I kind of navigated away from dance. I still love dancing. It's such a big part of who I am. But I navigated away from it and really got more interested in fitness and food for some of the other reasons that we talked about previously.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:38:24]:
Awesome. Okay, so then I'm going to lean that into that because my niece was also in theater. What was your greatest accomplishment at 24 years of age? You've got a whole bunch more coming to you, but what has been your greatest accomplishment?

Kayla King [00:38:39]:
Yeah, so I think building honestly, like, my online community has been a huge accomplishment for me. I have a very engaged following, particularly on Instagram, and I have people message me all the time, being like, your page has changed my life. I was scared to eat out before, and now I've gone to try it, or you've completely changed my outlook on how I approach my Celiac, and so that's been really rewarding for me. And that's why I say it has been my biggest accomplishment because just through simply talking about my journey online and sharing my knowledge in the field, I have been able to make a really big difference in a lot of people's lives. And so I want to obviously continue to grow that community. And I love how engaged everybody is already, and I'm excited to have more of that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:39:38]:
That's awesome. Sorry I wasn't disengaged with you. But no, I am excited about that because it is really important. And speaking of that, I just logged into LinkedIn to make sure that everybody had your Instagram handle because those comments are not showing up on my feed here. So Nancy has asked, she's like, I'm listening and thinking about this from the planner side, event planner side. Wondering if you've been in contact with anyone at the convention and visitors bureau, considering planners look for restaurant space where they have majority of attendees who need to be allergy safe. Do these restaurants have private space, take larger reservations who can appeal to provide safe allergen meals without trying to make a less familiar unprepared restaurant work?

Kayla King [00:40:24]:
Yeah, that was a long thing. Great question. Yeah, so I personally have not been in contact with them, but that's a great idea. There is a ton of restaurants that we work with that have large event spaces actually might be doing gluten free food event at one of our restaurants this summer. One of the restaurants we work with has like a massive outdoor beer garden, so I know they run a ton of events during the summer. We also do some stuff with Holiday, which is also like a beer company and they have a large space where they do events. I've personally done meetups and events at our restaurant. So just last week I did a meet up at one of our restaurants called Blue Bonnet and there was 30 people and they put us in their back dining room. So yes, absolutely people like a lot of restaurants that we work with can either rent out their entire space, rent out their back room, lots of options for different kinds of events and parties and obviously all of them have worked with us, so they're far more equipped to handle food allergies than your average Joe.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:41:34]:
Yes, and I think that looking at the app, that might be actually a really cool thing to add on there saying, hey, they've got space for parties because that adds a whole nother level of income for them as well. Nancy also just commented or added question, are more women gluten free than men? Do we know the stat of that?

Kayla King [00:41:59]:
I don't know the exact stat, but there is definitely far more females that are vocal about their food. A lot of people with digestive conditions or an autoimmune disease like celiac. I have found that males don't seek answers as much. So it's way more common for a male to just stay sick and not go try and find out why. Or maybe they've been diagnosed and their outlook on it is like, hey, whatever. I'm just going to not say anything or take a bite and deal with the consequences later. Because I'm a man and I don't care if I get sick. So there is definitely a large population of those people that kind of have that outlook and that's why I think there is a differentiation and a lot of times there are more females that are far more vocalized about it. I don't know the exact stat in terms of diagnoses numbers, but again, I do feel like generally a lot of men don't go out of their way to seek answers as much as females.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:43:11]:
Yeah, and I think I'll reach out to Ruchi Gupta on the allergy aspect of it too to find out because her stats that said that 32 million Americans have food allergies, she's probably got the demographics of breakdown of women and versus men.

Kayla King [00:43:27]:
I would assume with food allergies it's probably more of an evenly distributed population because with food allergies you have the potential of dying or like being in the hospital. So that's something that you can ignore, that you can't ignore where maybe if you have Celiac, you're not going to be dying, you're just going to be really sick over time. And so getting sick is a little bit easier to ignore than ending up in the hospital.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:43:59]:
Very true. Okay, so two final questions for you. What does a safe, sustainable and inclusive food and beverage experience mean to you?

Kayla King [00:44:11]:
Yeah, so that's definitely similarly to you. What I'm trying to promote is helping people feel safe and confident in that food and beverage experience. And I think a big part of that is putting in the effort and showing that you're willing to listen and understand and have a process around it. And so for example, I'll use my own personal experiences when I come into a restaurant and somebody's like, we can't guarantee anything, we're not sure that we can serve you. They're super nervous and anxious about it. I immediately am very on edge and I don't feel comfortable in that environment. And so my tendency is to literally fight or flight. I'm either going to sit down and try and educate them or I'm going to say I don't want to do this today and just leave the establishment. And so I think as a restaurant, if you can help a customer feel a normalized experience and an inclusive and normalized experience, everything is just going to go so much smoother. And so I say normalized because when I was a kid I was used to going to birthday parties and always being the odd one out, not having something to eat. Somebody was like, oh, why aren't you eating the cake? And so just like kind of being called out in a group can give a lot of anxiety for people. And so my mission has always been to help promote inclusion, particularly in the food environment, because that's what I was most affected by and kind of normalizing some of those experiences. So that when you come in, you're not making somebody feel special, you're actually making them feel like a part of the group and having the same experience. And so I think that is something that a lot of restaurants miss the mark on is they'll either have a manager come over or they'll make this grand dose thing where they'll be like, oh, here's all the things that you can have on the menu. And from somebody who experiences that, that can be really embarrassing, especially if you're in a big group, because now as soon as that server leaves the table, everyone's going to ask you about your Celiac. Everyone's going to be like, oh, why did you have to do that? Or Why did they come over? It just brings so much attention to you. And so I think, like, a safe and inclusive experience means you're having the same experience as everyone else. I love that as a restaurant, you can help somebody do that. That's really, I think, the point that is important. And so that's why we have these filterable allergy menus, because it helps somebody have the same experience as looking at a normal menu, but with all of the information that you need to feel safe and confident. And so I think that's the biggest thing is just really normalizing that experience and feeling that inclusion.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:47:08]:
Well, I love how you said that because it is one of the things that gets me with the meetings industry, is like, oh, how many special meals do we need? I don't want a special meal. I want a customized meal that meets my needs, but I don't want to, again, be called out or I'm waiting for 20 minutes after everyone else is served to get my special meal. It's not a McDonald's, the little kitty box, whatever that's called.

Kayla King [00:47:42]:
Yeah, event space in general, there is so much improvement that could be made there. And I love that you're working in that space because, yeah, when I have gone to weddings or just different corporate events, I always have to end up trying to chase around the catering people be like, hey, does anybody have time to talk? Can you get me a plate from the back? Because now all the buffet stuff is contaminated. There are so many steps and hoops that I have to go through. And so it's not that I can't eat there and that it's not that they're making it impossible for me to eat. It's that now I'm not spending time enjoying the event, I'm spending time worrying about how am I going to get food? And so if you can deliver that meal in a way where it doesn't bring attention to that guest, that is what I think is the most impactful.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:48:44]:
I wholeheartedly agree with you, ma'am. Yes. Okay, so my last question to you is because this is Women's History Month, how do you want to be remembered in history?

Kayla King [00:48:55]:
Yeah, great question. So kind of like what I was talking about with people telling me that they haven't eaten out in ten years and they finally tried it. I genuinely just want to help people feel this sense of inclusion and be able to live their best life and not have their disability stop them from being able to do that. And so the way that I want to be remembered is just as somebody that did everything in their power to help other people live their best life. So I have no interest in being the center of attention. I only put myself out there on the Internet because I know that it's going to help other people. And so I want to be remembered by the impact that I made on somebody's life, not on me as an individual.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:47]:
That's awesome. You're going to go places, ma'am.

Kayla King [00:49:55]:
You're welcome.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:56]:
I'm very proud of you. I'm not your mom. I could be your mom, but I am not your mom. But no, you make me very proud. So, everybody, this is Kayla King. She is the CEO of my meal. And Kayla, let everybody know how they can get a hold of you and I'm going to post your links again.

Kayla King [00:50:13]:
Awesome. Yeah, definitely go. Follow me on LinkedIn. I like to post on there, especially about restaurant stuff. And then my Instagram is mymeal foodology, so that is more of like my consumer space where I talk about the app and I talk about different ways that you can eat out safely. My website is findmymeal. IO so that's where you can learn more about what we do, download our app, sign up for our waitlist, and then if you want to reach out to me directly, like if you're a restaurant that wants to become more involved, my email is Kayla at findmymeal. IO. So definitely reach out.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:50:45]:
Okay, awesome. Well, thank you for helping me kick off Women's History Month. And like I said, you are going to make history. So I really appreciate everything that you do for the celiac and food allergy community. It's definitely going to make a difference.

Kayla King [00:51:01]:
Yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:51:01]:
Thank you for diners and for restauranteurs.

Kayla King [00:51:05]:
Yeah, I appreciate it. Tracy, it was so nice to come on here and have this conversation. I think it's so important to talk about these topics.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:51:12]:
It very much is. So thank you for your time, everybody. We are going to be here. I'm going to highlight nine other women. Actually, it'll probably be a little bit more than nine because I've got some teams that I'm highlighting this month. But throughout the month of March, I am doing Women's Her stream month and introducing two women that are just like Kayla in doing some amazing work behind the scenes in food and beverage. So next week we actually have two, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday and check social media for when those are happening. So until next time, stay safe and eat well. Thanks, everybody. Thanks.