10 Years

Around this time 10 years ago, I was deep into the “37 chocolates” challenge. Over the course of 5 months, I reviewed 37 chocolate bars made in the US in honor of my 37th birthday on Halloween 2015.

I didn’t know it then, but this endeavor would change my life and career.

At the time, I’d just left a corporate job and had no idea what my next professional move would be. All I knew is I loved food, writing, and building community. I’d witnessed the burgeoning of the bean-to-bar movement and was curious about cacao origins. I remember going to Philter Coffee in Kennett Square and wondering what “Belize” or “Madagascar” meant in terms of flavor.

“If I eat the whole shelf,” I thought, “I’ll find out”.

And that’s exactly what I did.

Before I knew it, I was scouting the chocolate shelves of specialty food stores. When I ran out of sources locally, I started buying chocolate online.  didn’t fall in love with craft chocolate right away. In fact, it wasn’t until the 8th review (Acalli’s milk & nibs bar) that I knew I’d remain in this world forever.

It’s hard to summarize the following decade in one neat paragraph. All I can say is I now have a chocolate tasting & education business called 37 Chocolates.

This endeavor made my life richer, bigger, and oh-so delicious.

Running a chocolate business opened the doors of some of the coolest places around, from cacao farms in Colombia to chocolate festivals in Dallas, DC, and San Francisco. It connected me to the wine and beer industries and allowed me to make the most wonderful friends.

Chocolate also got me through the doors of prestigious country clubs and allowed me to serve the president of an NFL team and the executive leadership of the ACLU.

It took a wild amount of work, patience, and persistence to get there. I had to have the faith that I was on the right path, despite staring at the financial evidence I may have been mistaken at times. But in the hardest days, I’ve always asked myself: “OK, what’s the alternative?” I never found an answer, so I kept going.

10 years ago, I chose to follow my curiosity. I stopped looking for someone to see some hidden talent in me and started mining for it myself. And that’s when the magic happened. Here’s to another magical, chocolate-filled decade.