Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liane Pensack-Rinehart. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Liane, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

I, Liane PR started Colorado Cocoa Pod 6 years ago in March 2019 in the kitchen of my home. I bought my first polycarbonate chocolate molds off Amazon, along with a few bags of chocolate, a scraper, and some sheet trays. This wasn’t my first time working with chocolate, as I had taken a chocolates & confections course while in pastry school and also interned at a local chocolate shop, but it was the first steps I took into making chocolate bonbons on my own with the intention to sell them as a small business.

With the few tools I had, I was able to make a few hundred bonbons a week, slowly taking over all the countertop space in my kitchen, as well as half the refrigerator space. My chocolate supplies slowly started growing as I realized I needed not just molds and chocolate, but packaging to store my finished products, labels, business cards, and more to make it look professional and marketable.

It took me about 2 years to establish my business and grow it from selling to family and friends, to starting to have repeat customers. Between 2019 and the end of 2020, my business was on the back burner while I practiced in my spare time, creating and reformulating recipes and designs while the world was trying to survive the pandemic. During those two years, I managed to create a brand that people have begun to recognize and remember. I was able to grow my business’ social media presence online, create a website, design and get custom made boxes, create a signature chocolate collection, and grow Colorado Cocoa Pod.

In 2020, my husband and I decided to dig out the crawl spaces in our basement as well as finish it. We hired contractors who came and dug out all the dirt, laid foundation, and helped me move a giant 3-compartment sink into our basement through a hole in our garage floor. My husband, with the help of a certified electrician, and plumber put in water lines, a bathroom, power, and finished our basement creating a separate chocolate lab space for me in 2021. Everything inside my 10×11 foot space is furnished with commercial appliances, tables, and equipment needed for me to make bonbons and other confections.

It has taken me 6 years to build my small business from my kitchen to the chocolate lab I have today. I started out with a few chocolate molds and now have over 500+ molds I use throughout the year. I used to have a small tabletop chocolate tempering machine that would take 2-3 hours to melt and temper chocolate, and I’ve been fortunate enough to reinvest money I’ve made by selling my products into getting 3 automatic chocolate tempering machines that take 15 minutes to temper, which has significantly helped me in being able to produce many more bonbons (from 100 to 1500-2000 per week).

I no longer need to use my kitchen refrigerator, and am able to store my creations in 1 of the 7 commercial freezers I have found off Craigslist that are also in my basement. The past 6 years have been amazing, and I have been able to grow and expand so much with production, my product offerings, and also my reach of clients who are looking for an amazing gift, delicious & ethically sourced chocolate, or Asian inspired chocolate treats!

Liane, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I, Liane PR, am originally from Cerritos, California and moved to Denver, Colorado in 2011 as a software engineer. I always loved desserts and baking, so during my free time I would bake and make treats for my co-workers. They loved them and always told me I should think about opening my own bakery. However, I did run into some problems while baking, not realizing that altitude made a difference, so after meeting my husband (another software engineer) and getting married, I told him I wanted to go to pastry school to learn more about baking at altitude.

I looked up schools, and there happened to be a pastry school Johnson & Wales University that offered continuing eduction classes to people who wanted to go back to school, but worked full time during the week. Classes were offered on the weekends, and 4 weekends made up one class. My very first course was Chocolates & Confections, where I learned about real chocolate. My chef was amazing and he saw something in me, because he encouraged me to join his other chocolate classes so I could practice more, and gave me extra tips on working in the chocolate industry.

After completing the program, I interned at a local chocolate shop where I learned how to make molded bonbons and also had a first-hand experience in what it took to run a small business, as well as what you shouldn’t do when trying to run a small business. I ended up leaving my job as a software engineer while still in school, working as a pastry plater and froster, before working for the chocolate shop full time after interning. Unfortunately, they ended up going out of business and had to let me go, so in 2019 I started my own chocolate business Colorado Cocoa Pod.

Colorado Cocoa Pod is based in Denver, Colorado. I currently do not have a brick and mortar, but I sell online for people to do Porch Pick-up, Local Delivery, Pop-Up Pick-Up, or Shipping. I also pop-up (set up a mini shop) all around Colorado in coffee shops & breweries, do markets, and local events, so make sure to check out our website for where to find me for chocolate!

Our Signature Zodiac Animal Bonbon Collection is the 12pc set of bonbons that started Colorado Cocoa Pod. After winning an online chocolate competition by Barry Callebaut with this collection, I decided to make it available all year online. This set represents my heritage of being half-Chinese & half-Japanese American. It includes Asian flavors I grew up eating in desserts like matcha, black sesame, and lychee, but also traditional chocolate flavors like sea salt caramel, cookies ‘n cream, and peanut butter. I am super proud of this collection and love hearing customers who have received it as a gift tell me their favorite flavors and design.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe my transparency and commitment to creating not only beautiful, but also delicious, well balanced, and not-too-sweet flavors, along with being genuine with all of my customers has helped build my reputation within the chocolate market. The higher quality, ethically sourced chocolate also plays an important role in the taste and quality of my products that my customers know they are paying for. Being consistent with my products in flavor and texture is also something my customers can rely on and trust, knowing that if they gift my products, it’ll be exactly the same as the product they tried and fell in love with.

Online I am very open with my customers and I believe that know that it is a human behind the products made at Colorado Cocoa Pod. I will always try to accommodate to the best of my ability, and I have to say, it has attracted so many kind and wonderful people to my business.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Many of my customers come see me in person at my pop-up events, so I have come to recognize their faces and names or favorite flavors or confections. I believe having this more personal connection to my customers has helped me build a reputation of amazing products and customer service, which is why they keep supporting Colorado Cocoa Pod. I’ve been able to change people’s minds about dark chocolate because I offer quality chocolate that isn’t filled with wax, fats, or fillers, that actually has a taste that is flavorful but not over or underwhelming. My customers recognize quality and are willing to pay for quality, artisan chocolates. I know my products aren’t for everyone, but many of those who do try my creations, are generous and share my chocolates with others, which leads them to falling in love with what I make.

Whenever I am communicating with customers, I genuinely listen and strive to connect with them. I think people feel this and appreciate my sincerity in wanting to bring them joy through chocolate treats!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://coloradococoapod.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coloradococoapod/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoCocoaPod/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/colorado-cocoa-pod-denver
• Other: Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DgUkzp8LxTsKJQ53A

  TikTok: @ColoradoCocoaPod

Image Credits

Kendra V Photo – for headshot