I started thinking about Venn diagrams as an illustration for a post to try and capture some of the events and ways that I am able to learn new skills, new relationships etc to help me learn and shape my business. As I played with them, I realised that they could also illustrate how the business has brought together different aspects of my life - work, education, interests.
There is a lot of work in making chocolate and running a small business and to be honest most of it is repetitive, laborious and more than a little dull! What keeps me going is learning and experimenting - with flavours (new plants and new ways of processing them), with new chocolates that I meet and grow to know and love, with meeting new people in the foraging and chocolate making worlds, as well as other small businesses who inspire me. These three worlds are on the whole completely separate and I often wonder if I alone occupy that large overlap in the above Venn diagram! All three worlds are full of amazing people, all very generous with their knowledge and support and I take as many opportunities as I am able to take part in any to engage with them. Over the last few months I have been involved in a couple of amazing events that have nurtured me in different ways.
In May, I joined a wonderful group of foragers in a very beautiful rewooding field in the Lake District (Oak Howe run by the lovely Deborah and Rob of Wild Human), at the Association of Foragers gathering. Three days that passed in a relaxed fug of cooking, talking, laughing, eating, cooking some more, laughing some more. I even roasted cocoa beans in a wood fired pizza oven, and we cracked and peeled them and ground them into a paste in a stone pestle and mortar (but once introduced to a a freshly roasted cocoa bean - most of them just got consumed!) We even tempered chocolate in the field kitchen and dipped amazing wild goodies in them (apologies - had so much fun I did not even take any photos!).
And in July, my chocolate itch for learning took me (virtually) to Amsterdam and Chocoa. I have been to Chocoa and it was fantastic to dip into chocolate conversations, meet cocoa growers and chocolate makers from around the world and TASTE amazing chocolates (I wrote a blog post about it here). During COVID they ran an entirely online conference which was fabulous and during those disconnected days a real joy to spend three days in a virtual world. This year, it was a hybrid event and although I would have loved to have been there and have warm, real conversations with people - I could not spare time or budget to travel. However, I utterly loved the opportunity to listen in to presentations, discussions, and this is a really interesting time in the cocoa and chocolate making worlds. Time for another Venn diagram I think.....
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