Interview: Julia Choi-Rodriguez & Roger Rodriguez, Cofounders of Vesta Chocolate

06/30/21 • 46 min

Julia & Roger Rodriguez opened the doors to their shop in February 2020, less than a month after their wedding ceremony. Nearly a year in the making, and their official grand opening was waylaid by covid. And then waylaid again. And eventually it was cancelled altogether, plans were scrapped, and big changes had to be made to keep Vesta alive— they went full bare bones. Working just outside of New York City, at the height of the pandemic, the couple hustled to drum up interest through Easter, and then Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. But not only did they survive the worst of it, but they’ve thrived, doing well from the start thanks to good advertising. In this interview, we dig into the early days of Vesta, as well as bootstrapped marketing and the future of social media. So without further ado, here’s my interview with Roger and Julia. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ch (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)ocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/) Show Notes: https://damecacao.com/interview-julia-choi-roger-rodriguez-vesta-chocolate (interview-julia-choi-roger-rodriguez-vesta-chocolate)

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INTERVIEW: Gillian Goddard, Activist Chocolate Maker at Sun Eaters Organics

Gillian Goddard puts her money where her intention is, carefully choosing how her business spends its resources in order to have the greatest positive impact. She’s a self-proclaimed “disruptor” in the chocolate industry, and I’ve seen no evidence to dispute that; her systems bring to life the concept of entrepreneurship as activism. Over the last few decades, Gillian has built up a number of businesses in Trinidad & Tobago, each rippling into and often overlapping with or absorbing the last, but all having to do with challenging existing systems which get our favorite chocolate bars onto shelves and into our hands. Whether you’ve tried her chocolates or not, you’ll certainly connect with her message— everyone deserves to earn a decent living. If you work hard every single day, you deserve to be able to afford the basic necessities plus a bit more. Yet most of the world’s farmers live in poverty. In this interview, Gillian & I dig into topics like diversification of income, bullying, and empowerment through creation. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ch (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)ocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/) Show Notes: https://damecacao.com/interview-gillian-goddard-sun-eaters (https://damecacao.com/interview-gillian-goddard-sun-eaters)

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INTERVIEW: Kjartan Gíslason, Co-founder of OmNom Chocolate

OmNom Chocolate has become semi-famous over the last year, thanks to a Zac Efron show (https://www.netflix.com/title/80230601) on Netflix. But even before that overnight explosion, OmNom had been quite famous within the craft chocolate (https://damecacao.com/what-is-craft-chocolate-bean-to-bar/) industry in its own right. From their rainbow-hued wolf icon to their bold Icelandic flavors— like sea salt and licorice or burnt barley— they’re memorable, to say the least. And as co-founder, Kjartan has been there for all of it. Over the course of the pandemic, he’s learned to roll with the punches more than ever, first depending upon the Icelandic public to keep them in business, and then manically trying to keep up with demand. In this interview, we dig into topics like production capacity, craft chocolate ice cream, and the tourist attractions in Reykjavik. So without further ado, here’s my interview with Kjartan. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ch (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)ocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/) Show Notes: https://damecacao.com/interview-kjartan-gislason-omnom-chocolate (https://damecacao.com/interview-kjartan-gislason-omnom-chocolate)