How This Bootstrapper Left Her 9-to-5 to Revolutionize NYC’s Food Scene

Alisha Chranya didn’t wait for the “perfect moment” to start her business. 

Instead, she made the leap when most people would’ve hesitated—leaving behind a steady job in New York with nothing but a big idea and a belief that it could work. “I didn’t have investors or a huge budget. I just had an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone, and I knew I had to try,” she says. 

Society Unlocked, her micro-influencer marketing agency, was born out of that belief in herself. She didn’t wait for everything to line up. She just jumped in and figured it out as she went.

“I was terrified. But I knew I had to do it. There’s never a perfect moment to take the leap,” Alisha says, looking back on the days when she left her corporate 9 to 5 in New York. “I’d rather fail trying to build something I’m passionate about than live with the regret of never trying.”

For Alisha, starting her company was the culmination of years of watching her family lead the way. Her dad and uncle, who built a successful jewelry business from the ground up, showed her firsthand what it took to create something from nothing. 

What Alisha learned from her dad and uncle was something that most aspiring bootstrappers never get access to—a hands-on view of what it actually takes to grow a company that runs on revenue. Hard work, focus, and resilience—that’s what she learned through seeing her dad in the drivers seat of his business. “I saw what it took to build something from nothing, and that made me believe that I could do the same.”

But unlike her family's journey in the jewelry business, Alisha’s path was about creating something that hadn’t ever been built. Which is a bit harder—and doesn’t come highly recommended (she’s proving that narrative wrong though). Society Unlocked connects micro-influencers—those with smaller but loyal followings—to local venues in the hospitality industry. 

For restaurants and bars trying to stand out in 2024…. good luck. Traditional advertising, like print or online ads, almost always fails to capture the attention of consumers who are overwhelmed by promotional content (especially in crowded markets like NYC).

Personal recommendations are what actually sells. If your friend suggests trying out a new bar they just discovered in their neighborhood, you’re much more likely to give it a go than you’d be if you’d randomly selected one based on the photos on apple maps (do people still use that?).

The same is true for people you trust (even if that relationship is strictly online)—you take their word seriously because  you know you can count on it.

The concept for Alisha’s business was simple: influencers share their experiences at restaurants and bars on social media in exchange for free food and drinks. It’s authentic, word-of-mouth marketing that resonates far more than any ad ever could.

The idea was solid. But getting it off the ground was anything but easy. Like most bootstrappers, Alisha couldn’t put a single dollar into a marketing budget. There quite literally was no budget.  She had to do it all herself. “I started by sending cold emails, making phone calls to venues, offering free trials. I wasn’t making money—I was just trying to prove that the idea worked,” she recalls. 

In the early days, it wasn’t just the lack of money that made things tough. It was the skepticism she faced from restaurant owners who were stuck in their old ways. “A lot of them had been doing traditional advertising for decades. They didn’t see the value in social media influencers, especially smaller ones,” Alisha explains. “But I believed in the idea. I knew it was the future of marketing.”

What kept her going wasn’t just the idea itself—it was the belief that authenticity would win out. “I knew that if I could show them that real people—people like their customers—were the best ambassadors for their brand, they’d get it,” Alisha says. “And I had to prove that over and over.”

After months of reaching out to venues and offering free trials, things began to turn around. The restaurants started seeing results. More foot traffic. Better reviews. Real conversations happening online about their venues. It was working—and word spread.

“Once I showed them it worked, they were hooked,” Alisha says. “That’s when I realized: you don’t need a big budget to start something. You just need the right idea and the guts to make it happen.”

The only validation Alisha sought came from her customers themselves—the ones who not only believed in her idea but were willing to pay for it. “The best validation I could ask for was seeing those venues keep coming back, rebooking with us after their free trial,” she says. “It was the ultimate proof that this concept worked.”

And grow it did. Society Unlocked is thriving (pun definitely intended), with Alisha’s next big move already in the works: expanding to more cities in 2025. But—it’s important to her that she doesn’t lose the magic that landed her those first customers. “We’re scaling, but I never want to lose that personal touch,” she says. “It’s about being real. It’s about creating genuine connections.”

Unlike many tech entrepreneurs who embrace the “growth at all costs” mentality, those connections aren’t something that Alisha is willing to sacrifice. “I know we’re going to grow, but I don’t ever want to become just another agency that loses its authenticity in the process,” she says. “That’s the thing that makes us different.”

But scaling a business is never easy, and Alisha admits that it’s been a challenge to keep the original vibe of the company while expanding. “You face growing pains. You have to bring in new people, new systems, and keep the ball rolling,” she says. “And with scaling, there’s always that fear of losing the essence of what made it great in the first place.”

But going slow, and on her own terms, is a superpower here. “I’m a control freak,” Alisha laughs. “Bootstrapping was my only option. I needed to be in charge of every decision, and I wanted to grow at my own pace.”

Bootstrapping isn’t a financial decision, it’s a lifestyle choice. It forces entrepreneurs like Alisha to put their focus on early revenue and customer feedback rather than building an impressive pitch deck to ask for a check from someone who has no idea what it’s like to be in her shoes. 

For Alisha—it’s always been about the restaurant and venue owners. 

“Success is about getting it right for the customer from day one,” Alisha says. “If you don’t do that, you’re going to lose what made people trust you in the first place.”

Alisha’s proud of what she’s accomplished since launching in May, and she should be. 

“Starting this business wasn’t easy, but every tough moment was worth it,” she says. “It’s easy to get caught up in the fear of failure, but I’ve learned that failure is part of the process. It’s all about pushing through the hard stuff and trusting that you’ll come out the other side stronger.”

Alisha bet on herself, started a profitable business, and obsessed with getting it right for the customer on day one. 

 She’s the epitome of what it means to be a bootstrapper—and she’s just getting started.

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