{"id":454,"date":"2016-03-14T01:43:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T01:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fatherville.com\/wordpress\/?p=454"},"modified":"2016-03-14T01:43:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T01:43:35","slug":"fatherville-interview-iris-shamus-founder-of-allermates-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/14\/fatherville-interview-iris-shamus-founder-of-allermates-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Fatherville Interview: Iris Shamus, Founder of Allermates.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Allermates\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are visting with\u00a0Iris\u00a0Shamus, Founder of Allermates.com. The AllerMates website (www.allermates.com<\/a>) offers both parents and children easy to read and understand tips, facts and general information about allergies as well as lots of fun games and activities based on the line of AllerMates characters.<\/p>\n

Iris, welcome!
\n
\nFatherville:<\/strong> What motivated you to create Allermates? In other words tell us a little bit about your vision.
\nAllermates:<\/strong> By the time my son Benjamin was 2 we had already identified several of his food allergies. There was an incident in his preschool in which his teacher gave another food allergic child a snack that he wasn\u2019t supposed to have.\u00a0 It resulted in that child having a severe allergic reaction. It didn\u2019t seem to matter that allergy awareness posters were hung in the classroom, all the right forms were filled out and the teacher was a 20 year veteran. It created quite the ruckus and left me personally feel even more insecure about leaving my son in the care of others in regards to his food allergies.\u00a0 Following that incident, I looked for an accessory of some sort that I could place on my son to serve as a personal and constant reminder of his allergies.\u00a0 I wanted to purchase something that would not only protect him but also make him feel good about himself.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t find anything and got frustrated.\u00a0 Now there are many times in life when you get frustrated over a matter that is important to you and don\u2019t know how or what to do about it but in this particular case I made a decision- I was going to create something for my son and for other children to alert adults to\u00a0 their allergies.\u00a0 And thank God I was totally na\u00efve about it!\u00a0\u00a0 Had I known how difficult of a process it was to manufacture products and start a business, I may never of had the guts to go for it!\u00a0\u00a0 Anyhow, I began to develop these fun allergen characters, the core of all things AllerMates, – late at night when my kids were sleeping. And so AllerMates was born.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> How long has your site been online? Do you plan on selling other kids safety related products
\nAllermates:<\/strong> AllerMates.com\u00a0<\/a>came into existence in 2009.\u00a0 We started taking orders before we even had any inventory!\u00a0 We had brought a handful of our first factory samples to an allergist convention and when we returned the phone did not stop ringing.\u00a0 I knew then we had a business.\u00a0 We started out offering dog tags and then went on to develop wristbands.\u00a0 Now we offer lunch bags and are developing a whole line of allergy alert products including apparel, medicine carrying bags, smart phone apps and a line of children\u2019s books. We just created our first asthma band which will be available in August.\u00a0 Diabetes will be available in the fall.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> In a perfect world what would be the ultimate outcome of your website? Would it become a full-time undertaking? Is it only a hobby? What would you consider to be
\nAllermates:<\/strong> Perhaps in the beginning it was more of a hobby but with a hopeful goal. Now it has very much grown into a serious business and yes \u2013 a full, full time undertaking.\u00a0\u00a0 My goal is to make AllerMates a household name.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> Who are you targeting as your main audience?
\nAllermates:<\/strong> Parents and caregivers are the ones that purchase AllerMates products but it\u2019s really about the kids. Our goal is not only to safeguard children with allergies but also to help foster their self esteem.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing better than receiving an email from a child thanking us and letting us know that AllerMates characters and products have made them feel good about themselves relating to their allergy, possibly for the first time. We work really hard at making the products bright, fun and kid friendly.\u00a0 If the kids don\u2019t want to wear them, they\u2019re not going to offer the safety and security the parents need and want.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> In your opinion what are some of the biggest challenges that parents face today?
\nAllermates:<\/strong> I am a mother of three and I think parents are overwhelmed by the scheduling demands when it comes to their children\u2019s.\u00a0 I feel like my children\u2019s secretary and chauffeur half the time!\u00a0\u00a0 Parents have got to plan, sign up, schedule, entertain, transport and support our children all the time.\u00a0 When my son wears his AllerMates wristband on a play date or to an activity it\u2019s one less phone call that I have to make to remind that other parent, coach, babysitter etc. about his allergies.\u00a0 Now if I could just figure out how to make a wristband that gets him to soccer practice the same time my daughter needs to be at tennis \u2026 on the other side of town.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> Who were your childhood heroes?
\nAllermates:<\/strong> My childhood heroes were probably authors of the many great books that I loved.\u00a0 Till this day I\u2019m constantly amazed when I read a great novel and ponder how someone working through all the details of the story line and character development.\u00a0 AllerMates has 14 characters, representing 14 of the most popular allergens, and each of those characters took months of development\u2026 and they don\u2019t go anywhere or talk to anyone!<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> Who are your heroes today?
\nAllermates:<\/strong> My hero today is my husband.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what I would do without him.\u00a0 He is my best friend as well as the most amazing father to our children.\u00a0 He has been completely supportive of me in this wonderful venture.\u00a0 I could not have done it without him.\u00a0 If only he\u2019d pick up after himself more often.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> Iris, would you say you are living your dream? Do you have another profession?
\nAllermates:<\/strong> AllerMates has become my full time profession.\u00a0\u00a0 That and raising three children.\u00a0 Yes I am living my dream but not the dream that I had anticipated as a young woman.\u00a0 When I was in my 20\u2019s, I considered myself to be primarily a \u201ccreative\u201d type and sought a career in acting and filmmaking.\u00a0\u00a0 Never in million years did I ever think that I\u2019d become an entrepreneur and a serious business owner one day.\u00a0 What\u2019s great is that I have been able to parlay my love of characters and storytelling into a business that I enjoy tremendously.\u00a0 I get to be creative in many different ways.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> Tell us a little bit about yourself. Your passions, hobbies, goals for the future.
\nAllermates:<\/strong> I absolutely love books. I love films.\u00a0 Wait a second \u2026 who am I kidding?\u00a0\u00a0 Long gone are the days where I could spend an afternoon reading a book.\u00a0 I get to go to the movies (grown up ones anyway) maybe six times a year!\u00a0 Between running a business and raising three children, including a two year old, having a hobby is a luxury. I just got a bike from my husband for Mother\u2019s Day so hopefully I\u2019ll find some time to enjoy that.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> Is there anything you would like to share about your product\/site or your long term vision for the site?
\nAllermates:<\/strong> We just added a whole new social media community to our website that I am so excited about.\u00a0 It\u2019s still in its infancy and a lot more work is being done to it.\u00a0 Also we will be adding some amazing interactive features in 2013.\u00a0 Our wristbands will come with codes which will enable children and parents to access fun, educational and interactive content on our website.\u00a0 Some more really exciting news is that our AllerMates wristbands will be available in 6600 Walgreens locations this September for a fall promotion.\u00a0 Hooray!\u00a0 Many amazing retailers will be carrying our products in the near future.<\/p>\n

FV:<\/strong> Do you have children of your own? How have they changed your life in a positive way?
\nAllermates:<\/strong> I have three wonderful, amazing, absolutely delicious children.\u00a0 I feel so blessed to be their parent.\u00a0 Talk about living your dream. They are and always will always be\u2026 my greatest accomplishments.<\/p>\n

\n

Iris Shamus is Founder and CEO of Allermates. The AllerMates website (www.allermates.com<\/a>) offers both parents and children easy to read and understand tips, facts and general information about allergies as well as lots of fun games and activities based on the line of AllerMates characters.\u00a0 The website also has a fully functional social community allowing its members free and easy interaction and sharing of the latest blogs, news, videos and information within the allergy community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are visting with\u00a0Iris\u00a0Shamus, Founder of Allermates.com. The AllerMates website (www.allermates.com) offers both parents and children easy to read and understand tips, facts and general information about allergies as well as lots of fun games and activities based on the line of AllerMates characters. Iris, welcome! Fatherville: What motivated you to create Allermates? In other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fatherville-interviews","tag-news-and-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":455,"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions\/455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fatherville.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}