diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst
index aec57ff..dd1d873 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@
 Quickstart
 ----------
 
+First, set your app's secret key as an environment variable. For example, example add the following to ``.bashrc`` or ``.bash_profile``.
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    export {{cookiecutter.app_name | upper}}_SECRET = 'something-really-secret'
+
+
+Then run the following commands to bootstrap your environment.
+
+
 ::
 
     git clone https://github.com/{{cookiecutter.github_username}}/{{ cookiecutter.app_name }}
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/settings.py b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/settings.py
index 650a5dc..fe57c51 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/settings.py
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/settings.py
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 import os
 
+os_env = os.environ
 
 class Config(object):
-    SECRET_KEY = 'shhhh'  # TODO: Change me
+    SECRET_KEY = os_env['{{cookiecutter.app_name | upper}}_SECRET']  # TODO: Change me
     APP_DIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))  # This directory
     PROJECT_ROOT = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(APP_DIR, os.pardir))
     BCRYPT_LOG_ROUNDS = 13