Building a business is not just a game of investment. It often comes with financial pressure, doubtful decisions, failed plans, and moments when starting again feels difficult. Regardless of these challenges, individuals with passion in their minds open doors to new opportunities and fulfill their business vision.
Elena Zakharova’s story follows a similar kind of journey, from building businesses in Russia to starting again in the United States and finding a new opportunity in the hospitality industry. Her resilience to challenges and dedication to hard work eventually became the foundation of two prominent business ventures: High Touch Catering & Tersus AI. Let’s uncover the lessons behind her entrepreneurial journey.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your business?
My name is Elena “Lena” Zakharova, and I am the founder of High Touch Catering and Tersus AI. My career path is not that predictable, as I have created businesses in different countries and have had to reinvent myself multiple times. I started my working life very early, at the age of 14, and worked all my way up in the hospitality industry, starting as a waiter and bartender, kitchen prep, manager, and in sales. Later, I built a coaching and training business in Russia, working with around 6,000 clients.
When I came to the United States, I entered the hospitality industry and created High Touch Catering. When I was building this business, I started seeing how many event and hospitality businesses are still relying on Excel spreadsheets, manual communication, and disconnected systems. This experience was the starting point for me when I decided to build Tersus AI with the goal of bringing a reasonable intellect to hospitality businesses while keeping the human element of the hospitality field.
What inspired you to start a business?
In my opinion, entrepreneurship discovered me before I had a proper understanding of what this word means. When I was approximately 8 years old, my schoolmates became very interested in a certain collectable cap game. I managed to learn which caps are the most valuable and which the children are willing to pay for. So I decided to sell the caps.
It turned out that I was already using the principle that is still the basis of my work: discovering which things hold value to people, learning what they are ready to pay for, and figuring out how to create something which people would want to buy. That approach eventually led me to build my coaching and training business in Russia, where I worked with more than 6,000 clients, and later to High Touch Catering and Tersus AI in the United States.
I got my first job at the age of 12, so making something and taking on responsibility came naturally for me.
What challenges come with being a founder that people often overlook?
In my opinion, being an entrepreneur implies that people will doubt your qualifications before they hear what you really achieved.
However, for me, the main challenge was to start the process of reconstruction as soon as something changes. When the war started, I expressed my position openly, and the need to leave Russia occurred sooner than I expected. I had to take two suitcases and go to the United States, where I had to start everything from scratch. I had already gained some business experience, but I had to restore my social network, my credibility, my finances, and my understanding of a new market.
What’s one stereotype about millennial entrepreneurs that you want to break?
Age is not a significant factor in determining an individual’s ability.
In the entrepreneurial world, individuals bring with them different backgrounds in life. Some individuals grow up in families of entrepreneurs, with access to capital, mentors, and networks; others may have to figure out their own way
In my opinion, life events are more critical than age. Achieving a goal at age 20 does not make one more capable than achieving it at age 40; the circumstances in life are important.
It would be more useful to ask questions such as, “What did you learn and what have you done?”
What was your biggest fear when you launched your idea publicly?
One of my biggest challenges was when I was launching High Touch Catering; I doubted whether my business needed more time to succeed, and I could not afford to invest personally.
Already having experienced a considerable change in my life due to war-driven migration from Russia to the USA and starting a new life from scratch without financial resources and an established network in the new country, I took a really big risk.
Although I knew a lot in the fields of hospitality, sales, and business construction, knowing principles and having cash to wait for your company to grow are two completely different things. I was worried about my financial sustainability before the business could deliver. Still, I focused on building High Touch Catering with the same dedication.
Did social media or online communities play a role in your growth? How?
The most significant reason for my success is not a big marketing budget. High Touch Catering has earned over $100,000 in the initial months while spending about $500 on marketing.
In my case, the best growth has always come from the experience we offer. I learned from my previous experience that if customers appreciate your work, they will spread the word for your business.
Thus, digital channels might help potential customers find you, but the product must be impressive enough that people will do the promotion themselves.
What does success mean to you at this stage of your life?
Being 37 years old has redefined success for me.
Success is no longer reaching a certain point or checking a number off the list. For me now, success is all about being confident in my abilities to figure things out so that temporary failure does not feel permanent.
One constant may work but fail the next day. A plan that seemed solid may not be right. That does not mean the project is doomed. It may just need a new approach.
So, success now is being assured in my ability to see the real world as it is and take appropriate action.
Have you faced age bias from investors, partners, or customers? How did you handle it?
I believe there is age discrimination, but I learned from my experience that age should not be the main subject in conversation. I have established companies, worked in the hospitality and sales industries, led teams, and dealt with a large number of clients.
Therefore, I always try to let my impressive experience and results speak for themselves. Additionally, people start from different positions, which I always remind myself of because instead of proving I am experienced enough, it is much better to concentrate on solving the current problem and being ready to learn from those around me.
How has being a millennial founder shaped the way you build your company?
Being a founder among millennials has helped me get used to change and being skeptical about established traditions’ relevance.
I believe that strongly applies to my current businesses. Coming back to the hospitality sector in San Francisco, I was amazed to discover how many tasks in the field still depend on spreadsheets, walkie-talkies, uncoordinated devices, and human brains.
I took a different approach and thought: “Why should it be this hard?”
Focusing on this question played a significant role in founding the Tersus AI company. I aim to develop technologies that simplify work processes and keep the human aspect in hospitality.
What’s one small win that meant a lot to you in the beginning?
Seeing High Touch Catering generate more than $100,000 in sales in its first months was one of the first victories I experienced, especially since I began the company without any funding.
Another milestone I am proud to share is that I helped run the Human Tech Week, a four-day event that drew in nearly 800 attendees.
For me, these are not simply figures related to sales or events but rather evidence that the business model works in real terms.
What motivates you on days when things aren’t going as planned?
I trust in my abilities.
This might sound simple, but it comes from experience. I have had to reinvent my life a number of times already, and I have already created companies out of nothing several times.
So when something goes wrong, I remind myself of all that I have already accomplished. If something does not yield results despite being tried a number of times, there is no reason to try it forever.
Sometimes persistence just means changing the product, the strategy, the environment, or the assumptions. The goal is not to do the same thing. The goal is to keep moving.
What excites you the most about the future of your industry?
What excites me most is the possibility of making hospitality much more intelligent without making it less human.
Hospitality is something related to people. People will always flock together to celebrate, to meet, to build communities, and to share experiences.
However, technology that supports those experiences is still lagging behind.
I think that in the future, AI, better interfaces, new gadgets, and perhaps robots will play an important role. However, the key opportunity here is not to introduce more technology but to make sure that the right information is delivered to a particular person at the right time.
How do you see your generation changing the broader startup ecosystem in the next 5–10 years?
I believe that the generation I belong to will keep challenging the social order that exists, only because social order has always existed.
We feel quite free to ask ourselves why certain things are done in certain ways and if technology may help make it simpler, faster, or more human.
Besides, I think we are becoming more open-minded regarding non-linear career paths. Nobody says that you have to stick to one career path throughout all of your life.
As for entrepreneurship, I think that it becomes less about implementing the “perfect plan” and more about quick learning, adapting, and remaking things.
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