What’s Irene been up to?

What’s Irene been up to?

Late last year, Chef Irene launched a startup called Prepshift that was accepted into the Visible Hands incubator and earlier this month, into the MassChallenge US Early Stage 2022 startup program. She’s movin’ and shakin’ all over the place! (Btw, did you hear the news about her James Beard Leadership Award?) Read on to learn more about her latest project and the impact it’s already having on restaurant workers.

But what exactly is the deal with Prepshift? 

Launched by Irene and her co-founder Dylan Gully, Prepshift is a tech-enabled solution to improve onboarding for restaurant workers. The average annual turnover in the restaurant industry is close to 75%, making it even more expensive and difficult to train and retain restaurant staff. Restaurant employees deserve a better experience and employers are overwhelmed and understaffed. 

So what’s the big idea?

Irene’s goal has always been to transform the restaurant industry so that workers can have fulfilling and safe jobs and so that more independent operators can run a healthy, equitable business.

How does Prepshift work? 

Prepshift breaks down onboarding, orientation, and employee compliance information into bite-sized pieces that employees receive on their mobile devices, ensuring that they not only receive the information they are legally entitled to, but also establishing a welcoming and supportive workplace from the beginning. The app covers everything from the business mission, vision, and values, to legal compliance materials such as paid family medical leave (PFML) policies.

What’s the latest?

Recently the Prepshift team added their third co-founder, Carla Cornejo, who was most recently Mei Mei’s Sales and Operations Director. The team just moved into their temporary digs in the Seaport and are making the most of the awesome opportunities and resources at MassChallenge and recently launched Prepshift employee compliance in five languages, making the app more accessible than ever. 

Want to keep up with the Prepshift team’s adventures? Sign up for their newsletter here!