Today we’d like to introduce you to Asper Hegwood.
Hi Asper, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My love affair with chocolate started as a teenager and college student working in a chocolate shop as a part-time job. I became fascinated with making caramel, toffee, and truffles, and all kinds of delicious confections. As time passed, my passion for chocolate strengthened and I became fascinated with the discovery that quality food ingredients combined with fine chocolates can be transformed into amazing and unique chocolate products. After earning multiple degrees and working in the healthcare administration field for ten years, my love for chocolate never diminished. So in 2016, I turned my hobby into a small business and launched Asper’s Chocolates!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing worth having comes easy! Running a chocolate business without our own dedicated storefront has been interesting to say the least, but we’ve been so blessed to have some great partnerships with local businesses and our online site! I am no website guru so that was definitely a learning curve, but it’s all been fun to take on the new challenges. Covid also affected business in 2020 and we had to pivot quickly to keep up with the ever-changing environment. The holidays are huge for our industry and we were worried that the lack of parties and gatherings would really affect us, but people still wanted to send gifts so that really helped us toward the end of the year.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Fine chocolates have always been a fascination of mine. I didn’t want to just make chocolate, I wanted to make it with the best ingredients and really expand my skillset to make the fancy chocolates I’ve seen in European chocolate shops. I became a certified Professional Chocolatier and have thrown myself into learning everything I can about chocolate. There’s so many subtleties to learn and it’s my mission to continue to master this food that the world has come to love.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Persistence! Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart and everyday you have to get up, get out and put your business out there! When I first started, sales and clients didn’t come everyday. There may be financial struggles and you may be tempted to close up shop and stick to nine-to-five job. The best way to keep going is to celebrate the small successes and use those as motivation to move forward.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@asperschocolate.com
- Website: www.asperschocolate.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/asperschocolate/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/asperschocolate
Image Credits
Marscel HP Photography, Stefani Lynn Photography
