Cheryl Chiasson

I attribute my success to being comfortable with the unusual and having the ability to serve people on potentially the worst day in their life. Coming from marketing and public relations at a hospital, I was used to dealing with the media and unusual situations, so I was comfortable with all the crazy stuff. When I saw this business opportunity, I knew this was for me because it was a fit - I could make a living while serving people and making a difference in the community. It's physically and emotionally taxing, and it does affect my mental health, but I've learned to be comfortable with the emotional side of this business. I've learned to be comfortable with silence on the phone when someone is grieving, to ask questions so they don't have to say a lot of information, and to handle situations so it's easier for families when they call. I empathize too much, and I've chosen to adjust that and realize I need to draw some boundaries there and not take that on too much. But being compassionate and understanding with families and dealing with them gently is core to who I am and how we operate.

The best advice I received came from a woman who was Vice President of the Chamber. She had confidence in me and mentored me, and she's the one who really got me to where I realized that I had the potential. When I was asked to chair Women in Business, I thought, oh my gosh, this was a big chamber, I was intimidated. She helped grow my confidence and help me see my potential. We are still close today - she's now president at another chamber - and I didn't realize how much I meant to her, and she didn't realize she meant to me, so we were just talking last night about it. She helped me turn that corner several years ago. I used to have a hard time talking about my accomplishments, and I learned from other women that I need to do that. Having somebody ask me about this, I forget what I do until someone sits down and says, tell me what you're doing, and it's a good reminder that I am accomplishing things and doing things that aren't in my job description.

I would tell women that if nothing else, if this was not modeled for you, you might not be doing what you could be doing now. I will tell you, I used to have a hard time talking about my accomplishments, and I learned from other women that I need to do that. Having somebody ask you about what you're doing is a good reminder that you are accomplishing things and doing things that make a difference outside of your daily business. Women helping women is a gift. I founded a women's mastermind group, a women's business support group, and we are very close. It's all about helping each other solve problems and grow our businesses, and it's almost like therapy every time we get together. I'm so supportive of women connecting because we get down and we get real, unlike the men. Other women are watching you until they come up and say thank you for inviting me to join this leadership team, and if it weren't for you, my business wouldn't be where it is. I was blown away when this particular gal said that to me. Leading and mentoring women with my experience in business is just something I thrive on, because other women have mentored me.

The biggest opportunity in my field right now is around drug testing and mitigation. The need is so significant in our community - it's huge in the Denver area and along the Front Range and the mountains. We're really focused on becoming a forensic drug cleanup mitigation business, and I'm working towards becoming the expert drug remediation and education person in the area, providing education. A big piece of what I do is educating the community about biohazards, particularly the drug mitigation piece, educating property managers and realtors, the real estate community, the housing community, housing authorities, about the dangers of biohazards, especially the drug contamination piece. Most drug contamination is invisible - fentanyl too, unless it's in the white powder form. I provide the education at no cost about the dangers of biohazards. If you know the geographics at all, I-25 comes down, the drugs come in from Mexico to Arizona and then up, they run up I-25, so they come up north and then go east and west. We're a major area for this. Our goal is to have the majority of our business be the drug testing and mitigation.

The values most important to me are compassion and integrity. When I interview people for positions, I work to talk them out of the job, and if they're attracted to it because it's crime scene cleanup, I vet them out. I'm really looking to get deep enough to screen as best as we can for a culture fit, for compassion and integrity. I can teach technique all day long, but I cannot teach compassion and integrity. We are compassionate and understanding with the families and deal with them gently. I've learned to be comfortable with the emotional side of this business, to be okay with silence on the phone when we're talking with someone dealing with a death. I empathize too much, and I've chosen to adjust that and realize I need to draw some boundaries there. The mental health component is huge for me - it's the big piece for me in making a difference. Behind the majority of what we do, there is trauma and mental health, whether it's death, hoarding, homeless encampment, or the drug situation. That's what drives my interest in supporting mental health initiatives and organizations.