Cheri Redgrave

Cheri Redgrave has a lifetime of experience in the performing arts as a classically musician, musical theater director, writer and composer. She has been an active member of Toastmasters International for over 30 years, twice earning their highest honor of Distinguished Toastmaster. She has given hundreds of speeches, training sessions, and webinars on a variety of topics. Cheri is also a member of the Women's Speaker's Association.

For the past three years, Cheri has focused on living and thriving with allergies, choosing to look at her allergies as an adventure rather than a curse.

If you are what you eat, then Cheri was a cheeseball. At the age of 62, after a lifetime of eating anything she wanted, she was diagnosed with four food allergies: wheat, dairy, eggs and peas.
Cheri had suffered a lifetime with auto-immune disorders. It turned out that some of her symptoms were being made worse by the foods she ate. Ugh! Everything she knew about cooking was out. She had to start over.

Learning to cook in entirely new ways and figuring out how to read the fine print on labels became a full-time job. The early months were difficult, with many failures and frustrations. As time went on, Cheri became more confident and developed new versions of old favorite recipes using substitutes that came close to the original ingredients except for one: Milk

Oh yes, there were milk substitutes for coffee - but making gravy was a hot mess. Realizing that most milk substitutes on the market were mostly water, had artificial ingredients, or too much sweetness for cooking, she began a quest for a better solution. With the help of her engineer husband they set on a two-year journey to create something better.

Now, Cheri uses her speaking expertise to tell anyone who is facing an allergy challenge that they can learn how to be in control of their allergies, from setting up the kitchen to traveling safely. With the right mindset, it really can be an adventure.