We caught up with the brilliant and insightful MaryAnne Hoekstra a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, MaryAnne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I think the biggest risk I’ve taken was starting my my own chocolate company. This was a dream that I’d had for a long time, but never thought I would be able to make it happen, or at best it could be a quaint thing that I do post-retirement some day.
It all started back in the spring of 2008 when I finished graduate school with a degree in international relations. Well, that fall the financial crash happened, so despite a ton of trying, I just couldn’t find a job in my field. I ended up taking a job as a full-time nanny for a wonderful family to make ends meet, but I kept looking for a job for the next 2 years.
By the fall of 2010, I decided that it was time to take a risk and start my own business. I interned at a few local chocolate companies in NYC and learned about workflow, recipe testing, and the importance of marketing. I then spent 6 months writing up my business plan, creating recipes, and brainstorming branding ideas. I launched my chocolate company, H.S. Chocolate Co., in the fall of 2011, and was one of the first small businesses accepted into Hot Bread Kitchen’s incubator program. By the end of 2012, I was selling my chocolates at Whole Foods, teaching chocolate classes at local stores, and was written up in Food & Wine magazine.
I realized that running a small food business is a TON of work with very tight margins, and if I wanted to grow my business, I would need to start finding investors, etc., and I just wasn’t interested in that. Despite being very proud of my success, I decided to close my business in the spring of 2013. It was really hard to walk away from my business after putting so much effort into it, but it was a very rewarding experience and I’m glad I took the risk! When I look back at that time now, I don’t know how I did it!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Growing up in Minnesota, I had no interest in learning how to cook, but I had a fondness for baking (and eating!) at an early age. In my early 20’s, I started taking cooking classes, baking classes, and candy-making classes, and I found that I really enjoyed spending time in the kitchen and trying new recipes.
I also discovered that the art of cooking and baking felt therapeutic and relaxing. It helped me to get out of my head and focus on sensory pleasures – the way it feels to knead bread dough, the smell of warm spices wafting through my house, or the taste of fresh berries in the summer.
After closing my chocolate company in 2013, I spent the next several years working as a bakery manager in NYC. My husband and I moved to Southern California in the fall of 2020, and I started Gastronotherapy (a portmanteau of “gastronomy” and “therapy”) at the beginning of 2021.
Gastronotherapy is where I share recipes that are mainly vegetarian and vegan, and with plenty of desserts, too! The recipes contain step-by-step instructions, detailed photos, and the best tips and tricks for achieving success in your own kitchen. My goal is to enable you to recreate all the recipes on my site, while having fun and learning a few shortcuts.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I am really driven by wanting to teach and demonstrate to people how easy and enjoyable cooking (and even baking!) can be. It doesn’t have to be fussy or time-consuming, and it can actually be quite empowering. Learning just a few basic cooking tips can go a long way in understanding how to season dishes and balance flavors.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I really enjoy hearing from folks who’ve tried my recipes! Similarly, it’s very rewarding to hear from people who are inspired to try a recipe after reading my detailed instructions or helpful tips. They feel more confident knowing that I’ve tried to think of how to troubleshoot mistakes they could potentially make along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gastronotherapy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gastronotherapy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gastronotherapy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryanne-hoekstra-shekar-6a15516/
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/maryannehoekstra/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gastronotherapy