Ep. 122 - On Remote Work and Serial Starting Up Julie Wilson, Managing Director at FreshCheq

Julie Wilson is a serial entrepreneur who’s started multiple businesses in the comfort of her home. As many know, this is the dream! You see it all the time on facebook and youtube, right?

Julie and I dispel the fictions on starting an online business and also talk about the best steps to start your own.

But more importantly, Julie is the marketing arm of FreshCheq, a really innovative software that allows restaurants to operate more safely and efficiently. FreshCheq can measure temperature logs, checklist staff tasks, and now recently, can monitor how much food a restaurant is wasting.

Learn from Julie’s experience the amazing opportunity in the online space.

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Shownotes

What do you do for a living?: I create businesses that solve problems. I love remote work because I’m not bound to anything How did you get into the online business space?: I was reprimanded for going to my son’s game and realized it wasn’t worth it. I started my first business at 2006. I bought a foreclosure business and managed it remote. I sold my business then, started an online business There are a lot of scams out there. For someone who wants to start an online business: Do a lot of research and find a mentor FreshCheq: Me and my 4 partners make up FreshCheq. Scott manages restaurants for 20 years. He noticed that recording food safety parameters in restaurants suck. So he digitized it. What did they hire you on as in FreshCheq? The marketing arm of the business. When you were on board, did you have an app?: it was an idea. Our co-founders are great coders How did you build an app?: We did market research, found out what people wanted in the beginning, then they develop a wireframe, and then we start testing things as a team. It took a lot of communication. The first version was created in 6 months. What questions have you asked to refine the app?: We ask our people a lot of questions and we almost have 400 restaurants under freshcheqs. Thanks to Scott’s network, we get really good feedback. Some questions are about accountability when people are busy. Our users said that they need text alerts What do your customers see the results on your app?: We can see how they’re using the data such as food temperature logs. Owners can see immediately who does their texts. Gamification: Using streaks (like snapchat) Rollout of food waste logs: Restaurant owners will be able to log how much food they will waste Ken Burgin Why does your food job rock?: Every day, I make life easier for restaurant owners. With the new food waste rollout, it’s even better. Notable people: Kristin Rainey – Food Acquisition for Google. She sources all the food at Google cafes. She focuses a lot of food waste and plant based diets What products are really exciting you right now?: Making food careers cool (thanks!) What is something you’d like to know more about: Food waste and plant-based diets. Expo West Daiya Ice Cream Popsicle – Coconut Based Beyond Meat Sausage Allysa Cowen – Living on live food Raw Diet Clean Meat by Paul Shapiro Why did the FreshCheq team interest you?: I was really excited about FreshCheq’s mission. It solves a problem in all the fields I’m interested in. How do you communicate remote work?:

We do an Uber Conference at least once a week. We can screen share We also use Asana We’ve been fortunate with the people we work with What’s your favorite type of food?: Fondue Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to start their own business?: Find a mentor and talk to someone that you trust. What about your mentors?: Mine were serendipitous. People should ask to be mentored though. My old boss did all sorts of crazy side hustles. I watched him and took notes.  I kind of figured out a lot of things on my own, which is something I wouldn’t recommend. What would you say to someone who has an idea but doesn’t know how to start: I don’t think it’s possible to research too much Where can we find you for advice?: Julie@freshcheq.com. I’m very active on Linkedin.  Our goal for freshcheqs is to be involved in the food industry

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