A Shediac woman has made it to the finals of the 2018 Mompreneur Awards being held in Toronto later this spring.
Ginette Ahier, who operates and owns Adorable Chocolat, is one of 23 finalists from across the country, and is the only one from the Maritimes.
According to the awards’ creator, Maria Locker, the goal is to recognize the hard work and talent of busy female entrepreneurs even as they balance their time as mothers.
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Locker says over 1200 nominations were delivered to over 30,000 supporters through her online campaign.
“Not only are women coming into their own power, they are also being recognized by their peers and fellow industry leaders, and they are influencing a new generation of women to follow suit,” she said.
Ahier has developed her budding business into one that now sells half-a-million dollars in chocolate per year.
The funny part is, she actually grew up hating chocolate as a child.
She went on to become a professional chocolatier, hand-moulding chocolate in her basement while at the same time starting a family.
“Being pregnant, working 75 hours a week, giving birth and then going back to making chocolate three days after,” she said.
After her second child was born, she was burning out, so in 2014 she made an executive decision to seek support.
She joined forces with Frederic Desclos, a professional chocolatier who had immigrated to Shediac from France.
“He had 30 years experience and it all made sense for me to learn from him and we can share,” she said.
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Desclos would focus on creating a preservative-free, high quality, handmade artisan chocolate made primarily of cocoa, while she focused more on her strengths, which were marketing and growing the business.
The Mompreneur Awards are being held in Toronto in March and Ginette says she is looking forward to meeting other women in business, sharing ideas and inspirations.
She says her goal in business is to educate people about the health benefits of chocolate in a purer form, but also to be a mentor to young women.
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