I’m realistic, most of the time. I know first hand what it is like to eat out with a food allergy. But, I also know it is simply not possible for all establishments to accommodate all dietary restrictions. However, knowing whether they can or not rests on us being able understand each other. If we are speaking two different languages I might get the wrong information or the wrong impression. Neither of which is good for me or staff or the company.Better to teach foodservice how to speak my (food allergy) language so we can properly communicate and then decide together if it is ok to order.The Dine Aware™ language helps food allergy guests make great decisions and connect with foodservice in a meaningful way.I created Dine Aware to be easy for the whole team and the whole industry to speak because the more people who speak a language the more impact it will make. I live by a personal code, leave a place better than you found it. By giving foodservice teams the tools to communicate with co-workers and food allergy guests in a relevant way, then I’ve succeeded.

I sometimes get the question, “What did you do before Dine Aware”? This the answer to that question.I have been in the education industry for over 20 years. During that time I held many roles ranging from College Director to Regulatory Consultant (and founder).By far the most important aspect of my background is my expertise with creating courses for adult learners.Adult learners come from many educational backgrounds and languages. My years of experience in course creation for adults have taught me some important lessons. Lessons like:- Build programs that speak to someone, not over someone, it's patronizing and boring. Courses, even those designed for a wide variety of learners, must meet learners where they are, on their level. - How learners learn changes over time (e.g. internet, technology). It’s important to adapt to their needs and not expect them to tolerate an unwillingness change.- You have to 'see' your learner. You need to see them for who they are and where they are are coming from. When learners are acquiring new skills/knowledge they need to be able relate to the material, understand it from their point of view. Being able to ‘see’ your learner will make content more familiar to them, more engaging and easier to remember.So, when you hear us say, “we speak foodservice so can employees can speak food allergy”, it simply means that we have taken all the lessons about adult learners I’ve learned over the years and developed training that will resonate with staff using content that they will understand and more importantly, be able to apply.