Today we’d like to introduce you to Starr Douglas.
Absolutely! It’s been a long road getting here. I think my story starts at four years old when I made my first business card, created a bunch of Play-Dough “sculptures,” and hosted an auction for friends and family to place bids on them. When I was 7, I made my first Wix website and launched “Starley Jewelry.” A handful of other pursuits took up my time throughout middle and high school, while I was counting down the days until I could legally work in a restaurant. My mother had been a bartender in college and then Catering Director for the Sheraton afterwards, so I grew up hearing stories about the industry, and I became fascinated with bartending at a very young age. At 13, I was already studying craft cocktails and taking online bartending courses in preparation.
Of course, the industry was not, and is still not, perfect by any means. There was constant turnover, managers who seemingly had no idea how to treat their staff, and a slew of other day-to-day issues that were being blatantly ignored. The odds of finding a healthy restaurant/bar job were 1,000 to 1, and at the ones where you were treated like a human, you barely made any money.
This idea evolved over the next few months, and I soon realized that my theoretical platform should not be limited to the event space. In fact, I could be solving a much, much bigger problem if I could figure out how to integrate my solution into full-service restaurants. I began formulating a strategy for how I could turn my vision into a reality.
Meeting Cherie Kloss changed everything. I was running late to my entrepreneurship class from my day job, and knowing that we only had a guest lecture that day, I almost decided to skip class so I could get more work done before heading to my bar job later that night. Going to class that day was the best decision I have ever made in my life, as our guest lecturer ended up being Cherie Kloss. Cherie was the founder and CEO of SnapNurse, a multibillion-dollar, tech-enabled, on-demand temporary staffing platform for the healthcare industry. SnapNurse was everything I wanted my company to be – just in a different industry.
One year later, after founding the company, growing a team, building the technology, testing shifts, gathering feedback, and eventually launching, Cherie became both my mentor and investor. It is an honor to work with her, and I am endlessly grateful for her trust and support.
The journey from working behind a bar to leading a team of over 20 dedicated individuals, all united by the shared purpose of enhancing the lives of hospitality workers, has been an extraordinary odyssey. As we continue to push boundaries, innovate relentlessly, and drive long-overdue change, I am filled with profound gratitude for the trust bestowed upon me by our teammates and their families. Together, we are on a mission to redefine the future of work in hospitality, committed to giving venue operators peace of mind while empowering our workforce to never settle. As we move forward, I am eager to see the continued growth and positive impact that FrontHouz will bring to the industry.
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Looking at the big picture, I would say that we have been pretty fortunate in our journey, especially when compared to other newer startups that have been struggling to raise funds in the country’s current fundraising environment, which has been particularly demanding. Overall, it has been a relatively smooth road getting to where we are now. We have dealt with the usual day-to-day challenges that every startup faces, but our business model has allowed us to stay lean and resilient so that we may persist through the difficult moments.
We do our best to be as proactive as possible. A lot of our time each day is spent testing, assuring quality, gathering user feedback, and implementing small changes to support the feedback we have received. By staying ahead of potential issues, we have saved ourselves from quite a few headaches down the line.
Please tell us more about your business or organization. What should we know? What do you do, what do you specialize in / what are you known for? What sets you apart from others? What are you most proud brand wise? What do you want our readers to know about your brand, offerings, services, etc.?
FrontHouz is a disruptive and revolutionary on-demand temporary staffing platform for the hospitality industry. We act as a technology-enabled intermediary, connecting various venues such as restaurants, bars, nightclubs, hotels, stadiums, event spaces, and catering companies with vetted, experienced hospitality professionals.
Our specialty is in front-of-house (FOH) staffing. The front-of-house in a venue consists of exclusively guest-facing roles like servers, bartenders, hosts, and other similar supporting positions.
Aside from having an extremely low fixed-cost pricing model, our biggest differentiator is our proprietary remote training technology. Our first step when we onboard a new venue is to take professional 360° photos, ultimately creating an interactive VR/AR model of the venue. This allows our FrontHouz professionals to “walk” through the venue, virtually interacting with the space to familiarize themselves with the layout, table numbers, and standard procedures. We consider our venues to be partners for the long-run, so we also offer them complimentary licensing of these virtual 360° tours for their own use, which can be helpful for planning BEOs (Banquet Event Orders) or even remodeling.
From here, additional training is optional, but venue operators may choose to upload copies of their training documents, such as menus, cocktail build sheets, steps of service, seating charts, BEO pull sheets, or even videos of their staff interacting with guests. If there is something they want our FrontHouz professionals to study before their shift, they have the ability to upload it.
Our patent-pending pre-shift training allows for our professionals to feel competent and confident when they arrive for their shift. Since most of our roles are tips-based, not only does this allow us to keep our costs as close to standard labor costs as possible, but it also reinforces the training. In order to deliver exceptional service, FOH workers must be comfortable with the training material. If they are unfamiliar, they are doing a disservice to both themselves and the venue, and their lack of tips will reflect it.
All of these features drastically set us apart from other platforms in this industry.
I am extremely proud of our internal culture, and I strongly believe that it shines through to our brand image. We genuinely care about our FrontHouz workers and venue partners. No one is treated like they are just a body or a pair of hands, unlike how it can often feel when working for a large corporate hospitality venue. Every interaction is conducted via a live agent, and we fight to make sure that compensation is fair and prompt, no one’s time is wasted or taken for granted, and everyone feels valued and respected. That’s just how it should be.
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
I tend to believe in hard work rather than luck. That being said, I feel like I was extremely lucky to have met Cherie Kloss. The timing could not have been more perfect. Starting a company is a huge risk, and just as I was feeling uncertain about taking the leap, I sat in front of one of the most successful and influential figures from the exact market I was striving to enter. Her initial validation of my idea played a part in every single accomplishment our team has made since that day. Meeting Cherie was the final push I needed, and I cannot imagine where my life would be if it hadn’t been for our “lucky” encounter.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fronthouz.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fronthouz/
