We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maria Paula Garces a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maria Paula, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

To be successful, I believe you have to be true to the core. Entrepreneurship is really hard and there are a lot of twists and turns but when you’re acting from the heart and letting it guide you, you’ll keep going, always find a solution, and ultimately be successful. Reputation is also an important factor because I don’t believe in being “self-made”, rather I believe in symbiotic relationships from the ground up. Success is always a product of the community that surrounds you coming together to support you. I’m successful because of all the opportunities I have been given and because of people that took me under their wing. Ultimately, a solid reputation and a connection with your community are vital for long-lasting success.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Fungible Chocolates is an adaptogenic mushroom chocolate company. Our bars are made with functional mushrooms that help your body and mind better adapt to life’s ups and downs. The first chocolate bar in our line of Fungible Chocolates features Lion’s Mane mushrooms and is made with 3 simple ingredients; cacao, coconut sugar, and 2000mg of lion’s mane mushroom extract. Our bars are vegan, low glycemic, gluten-free, non-GMO, paleo, and 85% dark chocolate.

We’re also launching 2 new chocolate bar flavors in Fall 2022, each featuring 2000mg of Turkey Tail and Cordyceps mushrooms. We did several tastings to decide which flavors (mushrooms) to launch next, and I’m a total nerd about this so what I found to be the most interesting is that although all of our bars have the same cacao and coconut sugar base, there are so many nuances in flavors and textures that are all due to the unique properties of the mushrooms, and people were very surprised and impressed by this.

So this leads me to my next point, I created Fungible Chocolates because of my love for dark chocolate and admiration for the healing power of functional mushrooms, and what better way to inspire and introduce people to the benefits of fungi than through delicious and nutritious dark chocolate!

Personally, I have always been entrepreneurial, worked at startups, and created my first official business when I was 18. Since then, I have started over 10 projects that didn’t make it for one reason or another, mostly because I wasn’t fully aligned with what I was doing. What you create and how you do it is an extension of who you are at the core, and Fungible Chocolates is 100% me and representative of my lifestyle, ideals, overall life philosophy, and my love for nature.

Fungible Chocolates is more than healthy chocolate, it’s a philosophy. Encouraging people to embody the adaptable and resourceful nature of mushrooms to increase their quality of life. Being Fungible (“Be Fungible” is our tagline) is a mindset and a way of approaching the world with open hands, an open heart, and an open mind that’s ready to receive and make the best of what comes our way.

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

Well, it all started when I dropped out of college. That single decision entirely changed the course of my life. I was 18 years old and I dropped out to focus on my Moringa tea beverage company (another health food company). I didn’t get very far with it but most importantly it set the tone for how I was going to live my life.

I dropped out against everyone’s will. Literally, no one around me was supporting me in my decision, schoolmates were making fun of my dreams to be a business owner on social media, my roommates thought it was a risky move, and my parents were utterly devasted, but it was at that moment that I chose ME. In a world where there is so much standardization, I chose a “Divergent Path”, which to this day is the name of my company.

It was really hard and thinking back makes me think “wow that took serious moxie!” and it’s a decision that I reflect on often. I felt so much fear, so much uncertainty, it was wild and I had nothing of my own but I decided to bet on my success against many odds, and against all societal expectations. I remember many family members thinking I was such a disappointment or that I was wasting my potential but I knew that I was destined for success.

When I was 19, I was walking home from getting groceries and I decided to just stop in the middle of my path and just be present and look at the sky. I thought to myself, “enjoy and appreciate every second of your journey, embrace every struggle, and learn, because success will come sooner than you think so don’t stress, don’t rush, don’t complain, just stay the course and enjoy this bumpy road because it is equally preparing you to overcome the trials and enjoy the bliss to come”.

In the end throughout the course of the next few years, after having started several companies that didn’t make it, and working at 5 different start-ups, I went back to school and got my BSc in Global Business, and I loved it! This time I wasn’t going to school to meet anyone’s expectations but rather because I wanted to and felt like it was the next step of my journey.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Although it might sound off-topic to some, a key aspect of growing our clientele has been to focus on testing and straining our systems more than focusing on acquiring a ton of new customers. I think a lot of start-ups try to grow too big too soon and end up failing, so all we’re doing is making sure we have the systems in place to meet current and growing customer demands.

Luckily, retailers and distributors have been very receptive of our mushroom chocolate bars so I believe that if we keep having solid and dependable processes that ensure quality, customer service, and logistics, the rest will follow.

I also believe that the in-person connection that we build with our customers by knocking on doors and attending networking events is central to our success. City centers tend to be pretty tight-knit, so if you do a great job and you’re a solid and dependable person, this reflects on your business, and you’re more likely to get recommended and have an easier path to growth at every level.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fungiblechocolates.com
• Instagram: @fungiblechocolates
• Facebook: @fungiblechocolates
• Linkedin: @fungiblechocolates
• Twitter: @getfungcho

Image Credits
Maria Paula Garces, Founder of Fungible Chocolates presenting at St.Pete Pitch Night 2022 Credits: Ryan McGibbeny Photography & Films