Meet Sue Williams of Dr. Sue’s Chocolate

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sue Williams.

Sue, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in West Texas and, like many, learned to cook from my mother. We owned a farm and I saw first hand the value of fresh, local, all-natural ingredients. Now this concept is a paradigm in the culinary world but at the time it was just practical living. My mother liked to cook for others and enjoyed making desserts. We would often make candy and enter it in the county fair.

After studying agriculture in college, I went to medical school but never lost my love of cooking for others. I would often have dinner parties, and created a signature chocolate bark using a blend of chocolates, dried cherries and spiced pecans. That was the first chocolate I made that had people asking for it routinely.

I found that the exacting chemical properties of chocolate suited my science background. It allowed me both a creative and scientific outlet. Eventually, I went to Chicago and took classes to learn to be a chocolatier. The classes helped me understand the basics of chocolate. Years of practice have helped me improve my craft, but you never stop learning with chocolate.

A few years ago, I began to read about the potential benefits of dark chocolate. I decided that I wanted to use chocolate as a platform to encourage people to read labels and understand what is in their food and where it comes from. The idea of using something wonderful and exciting to inspire people to a healthier lifestyle became the mission and community values of Dr. Sue’s Chocolate.

I continue to practice medicine, but the chocolate company been a great opportunity for me to establish dialogues with people in which they and I both continue to learn about health and nutrition. We are also able to use products from Dr. Sue’s to help support local organizations that promote health and wellness. Every month we have a Charity of the Month where we raise money and awareness for a specific cause.

Chocolate is such great product! It’s delicious, interesting, exciting, and challenging. It’s art and science combined!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Starting a company isn’t without obstacles. All companies, especially artisan craft companies, take a lot of time and hard work. It can definitely be frustrating to have to rework an idea over and over until you get it right. There have been plenty of times when I thought I was crazy for essentially having two jobs.

More often than you’d like, you work all night because there’s just not enough time to get everything done. You finally get that big order you’d been working so hard to attain and suddenly you’re rushing around to collect inventory and fill the order by the deadline.

My favorite memory is from the very early years of the company’s development. I’d spent two years trying to get into Central Market and finally, it happened… a week before Christmas.

My two employees and I were renting space in a commercial kitchen, tempering all the chocolate by hand over a double-broiler and already working at-capacity. Suddenly, we had our white whale, and the largest order we’d ever received, on a short deadline, at the busiest time of year. We worked all night and past dawn the next day to get the order ready for our live, in-store demo that morning. We were all exhausted as we stood in that Central Market for four hours and told shoppers about Dr. Sue’s Chocolate. The only thing we wanted was to go to bed, but that was our big break. My experience is that often your big break comes in the form of a challenge. Overcoming those obstacles is what keeps you moving forward.

There is also a pride and satisfaction I feel when my chocolate brings someone joy, and there’s a sense of accomplishment when I see my little company grow and touch people.

We make chocolate that people love. We create local jobs. We support local organizations. We’re part of a community. It makes all the work and worry worthwhile.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Dr. Sue’s Chocolate story. Tell us more about the business.
Dr. Sue’s Chocolate creates artisan dark chocolate. Our products are handmade and hand packaged. Everything is all natural. Everything is non-GMO. All of our chocolate is gluten free and almost all of it is vegan. If you see a color in our chocolate, it came from an organic vegetable powder, not a colored dye. I’m proud of the quality of our chocolates. I think you can taste the difference.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Years ago, someone told me, “the harder you work, the luckier you get”. I think that saying is true in part. For me, the support of family and friends has made all of the difference in the hard work and “luck” in my life. I have been truly blessed to be surrounded with a love and encouragement that has allowed me to see the value in both my failures and my successes. I can’t imagine that you can have success without failures.

A funny story about my background might be a good example. When I was in college, I wanted to be Agricultural County Extension Agent. I wanted to work with farmers, ranchers and 4-H kids to improve agricultural production. When I graduated from college, I had good grades, research and job experience. I thought I’d move on to the next step of becoming a County Agent, but I couldn’t get a job. As a woman, my only option was to become the Home Economics Agent.

I felt frustrated and defeated when I couldn’t find work doing what I loved just because I was a woman. Talking the situation over with my uncle, he suggested that I go to medical school. He told me that he had always felt I would make a good doctor. He encouraged me and even helped me get a loan for school.

Now, I can’t imagine not being a doctor. I’ve loved my profession and it has felt like a natural fit. Yet it almost didn’t happen. I don’t know if that was bad luck about the first job or good luck about the second, but things worked out for the best!

Pricing:

• Truffle Class – $28
• Chocolate Making Class – $60
• Artisan Chocolates – $2-$30
• Cookies – $1.50-$10
• Chocolate Pops – $3

Contact Info:

• Address: Dr. Sue’s Chocolate
  417 S. Main Street,
  Grapevine, Texas 76051
• Website: www.drsueschocolate.com
• Phone: 817-416-7667
• Email: info@drsueschocolate.com
• Instagram: @drsueschocolate
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrSuesChocolate/
• Twitter: @drsueschocolate
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dr-sues-chocolate-grapevine-2?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

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