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“The very first bean-to-bar chocolate I ever tried was one that I had made myself, and I’m pretty sure it was awful. But I found it to be so thrilling, so incredible, that I wanted to continue doing it as soon as possible.
-Mackenzie Rivers, Founder of Map Chocolate
Map Chocolate is an American company with its headquarters in Oregon. Mackenzie Rivers is the company’s founder, owner, and sole chocolatier. Since the beginning of the last half decade, she has been “pushing that $50 forward” in order to establish her ideal business and make progress on her many endeavors. Her most recent endeavors include chocolate making workshops, a new retail space, and craft chocolate pantry goods. Despite the fact that she only has two hands, she is bursting with a million different creative ideas.
On Instagram, Map Chocolate has garnered quite a following thanks to the stunning and candid photos it posts depicting various aspects of the chocolate-making process. The fact that Mackenzie was willing to take time out of her hectic schedule to have a conversation with me about the extraordinary path that led her to become a chocolate maker and a home-based entrepreneur is something for which I will be eternally grateful. I really hope that you all have as much fun listening to this interview as I had conducting it.
Take note that, as a result of the podcast episode for which I was interviewing Mackenzie, the subject of making chocolate at home gets a lot of attention in my inquiries.
View this post on Instagram
Mackenzie posing with her first full bag of cacao beans!
Topics We Cover
- Chocolate award procedures and protocols
- How Mackenzie got her start in the chocolate industry and why she makes a conscious effort to challenge herself in the areas of taste seasonality and creative design
- What is it that keeps her going when things are bad and keeps her motivated to keep building her business?
- While working with John Nanci, I had the opportunity to speak with a few of the hundreds of chocolate producers located all over the globe.
- The challenges of making chocolate at various levels of the business using the hashtag
- #IAmNotAFactory
- Mackenzie’s dream job
- Putting your own spin on your chocolate will make it taste better.
