Before Kassidy Allen ’25 moved 1,200 miles from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Fort Worth to attend Texas Christian University, every meal came with careful planning. With 10 life-threatening food allergies, she rarely traveled. Moving across the country meant leaving behind the routines and people who had helped her navigate food safely for most of her life. 

Four years later, Allen graduated from TCU as the co-founder of a startup designed to help others with severe food allergies.

When a Dining Hall Feels Like Home 

As a new student, Allen met the staff at Magnolias Zero7, TCU’s dedicated allergen-friendly dining location. 

They learned her allergies, wrote down her name so they would remember her and even asked about meals she missed from home so they could recreate them when she was homesick. 

Growing up, Allen says having a traditional birthday cake was difficult because of her allergies. At TCU, Mae Wilder — known to students as Miss Mae — made her a full birthday cake in a different favorite flavor every year. “It became our tradition, and it is something I will remember for the rest of my life,” Allen says.

“I wasn’t treated like someone whose allergies were an inconvenience they had to accommodate,” Allen says. “I was treated like someone whose experience and opinion genuinely mattered.”

How TCU Supports Students With Dietary Needs 

Magnolias is one part of a broader support system for students navigating food allergies and dietary restrictions at TCU. 

Students who need a dietary accommodation related to a food allergy or another medical condition can apply through TCU Student Access & Accommodation. Requests are reviewed after students submit an application and supporting documentation, and students can meet with a Disability Specialist to discuss their needs. 

TCU Dining also offers a campus dietitian who can help students navigate dining options and nutrition needs. Magnolias Zero7 operates dedicated allergen-friendly spaces in the King Family Commons Building and East End Dining at Gutierrez Hall. Its kitchen, coolers, equipment and uniforms are specific to the space to help reduce cross-contact, and its current menu is made without wheat/gluten, milk, eggs, soy, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame. 

Those resources sit alongside TCU Dining’s broader network of dining halls and retail locations across campus, giving students multiple ways to find meals that fit their routines and needs. 

The Freedom to Say Yes 

With daily concerns about food no longer consuming her attention, she became involved with the Neeley School of Business, including the BNSF Neeley Leadership Program, the TCU Sales Center and entrepreneurship opportunities. She graduated with a dual degree in entrepreneurship and innovation and marketing. 

Each experience developed a different part of the entrepreneur she would eventually become. The Leadership Program helped her think about the kind of leader she wanted to be. The Sales Center strengthened her communication skills and confidence. Entrepreneurship experiences challenged her to believe a personal problem could become the starting point for a real business. 

“Entrepreneurship requires you to wear so many different hats, and Neeley gave me opportunities to practice wearing them long before I ever became a founder,” Allen says.

Turning an Idea into Impact

Allen's entrepreneurial journey started with one simple question: How could she people with food allergies easily access safe meals?

That question became Krescent, an allergen-friendly meal prep business she developed while at TCU. In 2024, the Texas Business Hall of Fame recognized Allen with its Future Texas Business Legend Award for Krescent. 

As the concept evolved, Allen realized the biggest challenge wasn't only finding safe meals. She wanted to help people confidently navigate everyday life with food allergies. That insight led her to pivot Krescent into Asteryx, where she now serves as co-founder and president. The company combines coaching, technology and resources to help people live more confidently with food allergies.

The name comes from an experience Allen knows well. For much of her life, she felt like the asterisk — the person requiring the extra note on a menu or the exception to a plan. Asteryx is built around changing what that asterisk means. 

“People with food allergies deserve more than resources that simply teach them how to stay safe,” Allen says. “They deserve the tools and confidence to build a life they’re excited about.”

Her experience at TCU became part of that mission. 

Building the Person Behind the Business 

Allen credits TCU faculty and mentors with helping shape both the entrepreneur and the person she has become, including Lance Bettencourt, professor of professional practice and chair of Neeley’s Marketing Department, who taught her to lead herself before leading others. Corey Hutchison, chair of the TCU Sales Center Executive Advisory Board, and Zachary Hall, associate professor of marketing and director of the TCU Sales Center, taught her to remain curious and look for ways to create value. 

Annie Cowden, then director of the BNSF Neeley Leadership Program during Allen’s time at TCU, modeled servant leadership. Michael Sherrod, instructor III and William M. Dickey Entrepreneur in Residence, taught her the courage to take risks and bet on herself. Timothy Kirchner, an instructor in Neeley’s Management & Leadership Department, gave her a line she still repeats as a founder: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” 

One piece of advice from Raelynn Mears, director of corporate relations and adjunct professor in the TCU Sales Center, became especially meaningful after graduation: “Find the quiet moments.” As Allen began building a company, the reminder helped her recognize the importance of finding life outside of work, too. 

“The faculty and staff weren’t just preparing us to become better students or more successful businesspeople,” Allen says. “They cared about who we were becoming as people.”

A Bigger Future

Today, Allen continues building Asteryx in Fort Worth. Looking back, she sees TCU as the place where a personal challenge became a meaningful opportunity.

The support she found from TCU Dining and Neeley faculty allowed her to focus less on limitations and more on possibilities.

If she could offer advice to incoming students, it would be simple: say yes. Say yes to opportunities that feel intimidating, to relationships that stretch you and to experiences that help you grow.

She arrived at TCU wondering whether her world might become smaller because of her allergies. Instead, she discovered a community that helped expand it.