Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jen Caines, founder of Moksha Chocolate, located in Boulder, CO.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Moksha Chocolate is small-batch fine and CBD chocolate made farm to bar in Boulder, Colorado. We handcraft our fine bars and squares from single-origin cacao sourced directly from the Rio Mayo Valley in Peru and the Maya Mopan village in Belize. This ensures cacao profits return to the farmers in Peru that grow the exact beans that go into Moksha Chocolate. Our chocolate is available in classic dark and inclusion bar combinations such as, matcha and raspberry coconut. Moksha's commitment to quality, transparency and unmistakable taste makes Moksha Colorado's premier artisan chocolate.
Tell us about yourself
I started Moksha Chocolate after I realized my husband's passion project of making chocolate in our kitchen, was more than a passing hobby. We purchased a cacao farm in Peru in 2015. At the time I was teaching and had two children. In 2019 I was inspired to pursue my own journey as a female entrepreneur and leave my career in teaching. I created a new line of CBD bean-to-bar chocolate: Moksha. As a lifelong athlete, I had been using full-spectrum CBD for pain management and better sleep and noticed first hand its healing benefits. I instinctively knew that the combination of cacao and CBD would be a perfect wellness product.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is building a business without a business degree or training. I don't have an MBA, and I have never attended a business class in my life, but I think being an entrepreneur is not something you can learn. We about to sign on Woodhouse Day Spas which is a huge accomplishment.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Like most business owners, I work all of the time. At the moment, I wear many hats, (sales, social media, accounting, etc.) I can't wait until we we can hire more employees and I'll have less on my plate.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
1. Your our brand story is incredibly important and needs to be authentic. Customers want authenticity.
2. Your mission needs to give back. Consumers care more than ever about sustainability and transparency.
3. The best form of advertising is free. Have something to say and get journalists to write about your brand.
Anything else you'd like to share?
The chocolate industry is much like the fashion industry, and suffers from green-washing. 99% of commercial chocolate is sourced from Africa, and the farmers are paid poverty wages. If you can afford to purchase craft chocolate, please do. It's better for your health, better for the environment, and better for cacao farmers.
Where can people find you and your business?
https://www.instagram.com/mokshachocolate/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-caines-39025516b
https://twitter.com/chocolatemoksha
https://www.facebook.com/mokshachocolate/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.
