Say Something Sweet - Noteworthy Chocolates

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jennifer Sauvageau, CEO of Noteworthy Chocolates, located in Bethel, CT, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

The Noteworthy Chocolates mission is to help make life sweeter with beautiful, thoughtful, and delicious personalized chocolate gifts that are a joy to both give and receive. We are the first and only fine chocolatier to laser engrave personalized messages directly into the chocolate. We are proud to create an elevated gift experience that is always memorable. My co-founder (and husband), Michael, and I came up with the idea in 2015 and couldn’t find anyone else doing this.

We thought it was a cool idea, so we set out to see if it could be done. Once we figured it out, we launched and successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign in May 2016 to help propel the business. We purchased a laser, new molds, plenty of chocolate and created gift packaging and a website with that money. In October 2016, Noteworthy Chocolates moved out of our dining room and into an office with a commercial kitchen and a chocolate laser lab, and we’ve been growing ever since!

Our purely delicious chocolate is Fair Trade, free of peanuts, tree nuts, soy, corn, and gluten; the dark chocolate is vegan. Every Golden Dark and Smooth Milk Chocolate Card has a touch of golden shimmer dust to give your message that extra special shine. We create gifts for every occasion, including business gifting for employees, referrals, and appreciation personal gifting like birthdays and anniversaries and special events like weddings and bridal showers. Our customers know that it’s only a few simple steps to engrave their unique message into chocolate and create personalized, one-of-a-kind chocolate gifts for the people who matter the most to them.

Tell us about yourself

I’m really motivated by our mission to help make life sweeter! We started working on Noteworthy Chocolates because we came up with a crazy idea to try engraving into chocolate by using a laser. It was something that no one else was doing. We thought that if we could make it into a sustainably packaged and beautiful personalized gift that could help people connect and create sweet memories, then we’d be adding something lovely into the world. I’m super passionate about how we help make life sweeter with our gifts, our relationships, and our company as we grow.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Building a company, a product, and an experience that exists to change the way people think about gifting. Our goal has always been to help people give gifts that are thoughtful in every way and don’t give the recipient and the planet the burden of more stuff. We call it Eco-Elegant™ gifting - from the chocolate to the cellulose wrappers and the gift packaging; the entire experience is 99% zero waste.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

I love what I do, and it’s so hard to stop working at the end of the day a lot of times! I definitely had to learn to set boundaries for myself because I love spending time with my family and also needed time for myself.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Be prepared to be flexible. Your plan might not work, but sometimes that’s when you learn the most.
Take time off to rest, rejuvenate and play. Cultivate your interests outside of work, even if it’s hard to do.
Create relationships based on trust and mutual respect in everything you do. Things don’t end badly; they start badly. So if you have doubts or a nagging feeling about someone or something, listen to it.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.noteworthychocolates.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noteworthychocolates/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noteworthychocolates/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noteworthychoco
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-sauvageau/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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