We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charity Teague. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charity below.

Charity, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I have 25 years of wedding cake and cake sculpting experience. Upon entering culinary school, I was certain I’d have a cake shop one day. During the advanced pastry semester, we worked fast and furious through concentrated weeks of training. Week one: baguette. Week two: croissant. Week three: sugar. Week four: chocolate, and so on. I knew the chocolate was going to be an interesting week. Little did I know, that was the week the chocolate bug was going to bite me. The chocolates were colorful and shiny, and I was mesmerized by all the swirls and designs. I was hooked and I wanted to dive in deeper.

It was Winter during that semester. I drove daily to school, then 30 minutes to work each way. It was a balmy 15-degree morning when my car’s heater stopped working. There I was, scraping half an inch of ice off the windshield, and trying to unfreeze the door to get it open. The cost to repair the heater was going to be $400. I was a broke college student with exactly $400 in my account. I sighed heavily and decided I’d get it fixed sometime that week.

In class later that day, they announced there would be an upcoming chocolate sculpture competition. With only one week’s class experience in chocolate, I decided it would be a good idea to compete. There was an incredible book on the market I just had to have. It was Chocolate Matter, by Stephane Le Roux. At the time, it was $400. Knowing that my car’s heater needed to be repaired with the exact $400 I had left, I knew I needed to do the right thing. Like any other responsible and sensible human being, I made the choice I knew I needed to make. I purchased that chocolate book! I proceeded to drive in the freezing temperatures, wearing my coat, hat, two scarfs, and two pairs of gloves. Two weeks later, my heater started working again, all on its own! Proof shown from the universe that I made the right decision.

We won 2nd place in the student chocolate sculpture category that year. Years later in my career, I went on to win the competition twice. Even more exciting – I later took a chocolate master class from Stephane Le Roux at the French Pastry School in Chicago. He signed that book (now out of print) for me. An incredible full circle.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Since falling in love with the art of chocolate, I’ve had the opportunity to travel and taste so many different types of chocolates and flavor combinations. It’s amazing to experience the differences in the flavor notes amongst different growing regions. Equally amazing to learn about the happy accident that occurs when you absent-mindedly leave white chocolate in a bain-marie, resulting in caramelization and the subsequent discovery of blond chocolate!

Taking those delicious chocolates and pairing them with fruits, nuts, spices, and other inclusions is such a fun process. My favorite flavor combinations and experiences are shared through chocolate, whether it’s red chile and spices from my home state of New Mexico or sprinkling my most prized candied violets I sourced while in Paris. Sharing these combinations to recreate the experience and evoke emotion through chocolate is my most favorite thing in this world. Watching orders come in and people sharing that love with others is an incredible feeling. I’m so proud of this company I’ve started and look forward to watching it grow and flourish.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

It was February 2020, and I was just starting to feel some real movement with the business. The next big holiday was Easter, and I planned to go big! I hand painted trays upon trays of white chocolate bunnies. Then Covid happened and the world shut down. With the world in lockdown, I wasn’t sure what to do with my herd of chocolate bunnies. My dear friend, Kim Rothrock, had a brilliant idea: slap some masks on those things and rename them the Quarantine Rabbit! I feverishly sculpted baby masks out of modeling chocolate, sending her pictures back and forth until it was just right. The Quarantine Rabbit was born! I snapped a pic and posted it on social media. He sold SO fast, I couldn’t keep up! I was up all hours of the night cranking out these bunnies and making masks. My most favorite part of it were the messages of love and support that came attached to the orders. Sending those messages and bunnies out into the world was so uplifting!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I am a one woman show. I still work a corporate day job, while my early mornings, late nights, and weekends are devoted to growing my company. I don’t yet pay myself. I reinvest every single penny into the business. I went from hand tempering in a small glass bowl, to purchasing my first automated chocolate tempering machine two years ago. I now own three machines. I’ve slowly been able to use my earnings to purchase the necessary equipment and supplies to open a shop and am now actively pursuing funding for the next chapter! Stay tuned!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.charityteague.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charity_teague_confections
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charity.teague.confections
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charity-teague-418b1213b

Image Credits
All my personal photos