***PLEASE NOTE THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED***
Now you all know how much I absolutely adore chocolate, so it was with much fascination that I interviewed Lisa Reinhardt, founder of Wei of Chocolate, who spends her days surrounded by tons of it. But this entrepreneur’s chocolate is not just any old chocolate. It is virtually guilt-free, very special chocolate indeed… (PS – keep reading for details of our 3rd giveaway – some of Lisa’s chocolate!)
[Image: Ryan Nelson]
After an 11-year odyssey in Asia, where Lisa studied with some of the greatest meditators of the Himalayas, she founded an organic chocolate company called Wei of Chocolate, based on the principal of supporting wellness for the body, mind and spirit. She is a deep believer in the fact that eating chocolate can be a great way to enjoy the deliciousness of the present moment, and I couldn’t agree more.
I talked to Lisa about what actually is in her chocolate, and found out more about the ups and downs of life as a chocolate entrepreneur. I am thrilled to share this fascinating interview (and a yummy chocolate giveaway at the end!)
1. How are you leading a life ‘doing what you love’?
I’m so lucky to have found a way to do all the things that are important to me: show a path to better health, more happiness, and greater expression of our vast potential as human beings. And it doesn’t hurt being surrounded by hundreds of pounds of chocolate!
2. What did you do before this?
I grew up in a small town in western New York, in a place with more cows than people. As many of us do, I always felt out of place, and realize now that if I’d known I was actually going to have the life I have now, I would have enjoyed it much more as a child!
By a fluke, I got a fellowship to teach English in France after graduating from university, and it totally opened my world. I was so happy once I got to Europe that I couldn’t leave after my fellowship had finished, so I moved to Paris and took a job as a nanny. It was there that I met someone from Asia who told me about meditation.
Lisa with Karma Rinpoche in India
I had to go see for myself, so I went with him to the Himalayas, where I spent most of the next 11 years – living at a monastery, studying meditation and doing a retreat in a cave.
Lisa by her cave in India
3. What was your a-ha moment that pushed you to change / realise your passion in life?
When I got back from Asia, all I wanted to do was share the incredible gift I had been given by having access to masters of meditation. I looked around, and I knew we needed what they knew and experienced. But when I brought up the idea of meditation, the reaction was almost always a “No” – “I’m too busy”, “I’m not good at it”, “I don’t know how to do it”.
Then one day I realised – when we let chocolate melt in our mouths rather than chew it, we do exactly what I’d want anyone to do who was learning meditation, except that we actually do it better. We rest fully, lovingly in the present moment. And nobody says, “I’m too busy, I’m not good at it, I don’t know how to do it”!
Lisa in a yak tent in Eastern Tibet
4. How did you make it happen?
I quit my job where I was working 15 hours a day on someone else’s dream. I flew to San Francisco alone to do some soul-searching and go to a big gourmet food show, where all the chocolatiers meet. I pulled pieces of chocolate out of my purse and asked people to try it. Three weeks later I launched the company.
5. What has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
I knew that chocolate was the perfect way to give people a taste of meditation, but I was worried about the impact on health. One of the things that had amazed me the most when I returned to the US was how unhealthy people were. I had had my share of health challenges, and didn’t want to do anything that would be a detriment to anyone else.
Chocolate had a reputation of being bad for you – too sugary, makes you fat, bad for your skin – so how could I encourage people to eat chocolate? Right around that time, the first studies came out suggesting that chocolate could be good for you. I dove into the research. The more I read, the more relieved I felt: there were fundamental choices we could make that would change everything.
What I found was that in Central America where cacao is indigenous, it was known as a superfood – formerly reserved for royalty and used to give strength to warriors. Even today, the Kuna people of Panama who consume cacao daily have 18 times less heart disease and 12 times less cancer than their own people who switch to Western chocolate.
The biggest difference? In order for our bodies to absorb all the health benefits, chocolate must be dairy-free. Until recently, it was rare to find chocolate without dairy. Most people interested in health benefits look for dark, or at the percentage, but neither of these is a guarantee. For instance, even a respected brand like Green & Black’s 85% cacao bar has whole milk powder in it. I decided that every chocolate we make would be not only dairy-free, but vegan, organic, Fair trade, soy-free and gluten-free.
As a result, all of the barriers to enjoying chocolate have been removed. Now it’s guilt-free as well! Only 2 grams of carbs, 30 calories in a piece, and good for body, mind and spirit.
Cacao pods [Image by Abby Reinhardt]
6. What mistake has taught you the most?
As clear as I was about how chocolate was a path to meditation, I was afraid to share it with others. For years I talked about the health benefits and the herbs and spices that we infused into the chocolate, but kept quiet about the bigger picture. I was afraid that people didn’t want to hear it. But it’s hard to pretend you’re a regular chocolate company when you’re not! Our chocolate didn’t belong in grocery stores because it’s so much more than a snack.
This year it’s become really clear to me that it’s time to get out of the way and let the real story take center stage. We’re here to shift a paradigm in consciousness, with chocolate as one of the tools, and those who understand that will connect with us.
Lisa with friends Katie Hess and Elena Brower
7. Who is your role model and why?
I get so much inspiration from my best friend, Katie Hess. We are on a parallel path of embodying our spiritual practice in our businesses, and I know I couldn’t do this alone. She created a company called Lotus Wei that makes mists, skin serums and elixirs with flower essences that catalyse transformations and help people be at their best. Her flower essences are amazing – they work through the acupuncture meridians to balance body and mind. She hand-collects them, guided by nature and what people need most. We infuse them into our chocolate, too, for the mental, emotional and spiritual benefits.
It’s essential to have a community – whether in person or online – that holds the highest vision of who you are and what you are here to contribute. Then it becomes easier to step into it. Katie does that for me, constantly.
8. What is the best advice you have received?
You know when we were kids, and we used to play on the swings at the park, there’s a moment when you change direction, going up – ahh – going down – whee! That delicious moment of weightlessness that occurs.
The same thing occurs in our minds, in between the thoughts, though it is much more elusive in the beginning. But if we identify it, nurture it, strengthen it just the tiniest bit by giving it our attention, it will grow bigger. And there is so much richness in that space. It’s like all good things hide there – our insight, our compassion; our spaciousness, perspective and a deep well of love. Look for it. You will find your sanity there!
Lisa at Bodh Gaya stupa
9. What is it about chocolate that is so special to you?
I see chocolate as a permission slip for us to take meaningful breaks in our day that support wellness of body, mind and spirit. All of us here have the intention of coming from a place of love and clarity, of advancing a bigger vision for the world. Yet, I know for myself that it’s easy to get distracted, derailed or overwhelmed; everyone I know is either working too hard, or thinking too much.
By using the chocolate as a trigger to put it all on pause for 2 minutes, we are able to rebalance body & mind and enjoy the deliciousness of the present moment. Taking meaningful breaks honours the natural rhythms of our bodies, allows us to access our insight more regularly and assists us in coming from that place of wisdom and vision that is so needed in the world right now.
[Image: Ryan Nelson]
10. What is the big dream for your business?
I would like to be in touch with a worldwide community, online and off, that proactively seek ways to up-level their game – in terms of living with more clarity, purpose, better health and more compassion – so that they can return their gifts to their families and their community.
We are on the verge of a major shift in paradigm that calls on every one of us to be at our authentic best, and help others to do the same. We have already created some tools – with the chocolate and flower essences – and soon will begin offering programs with methods for living with more freedom and clarity.
I’d like to be in touch with people who share this vision and want to catalyse those transformations first in themselves, and then others, so that we can play together to uncover our true potential.
If you are one of those people, find out more on the Wei of Chocolate website, or connect with Lisa on Facebook or Twitter @LisaReinhardt.
[All images courtesy of Lisa Reinhardt unless otherwise credited.]
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Click here to read more interviews with inspiring people doing what they love.
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Do What You Love birthday giveaway part (3): CHOCOLATE!
In today’s delicious giveaway you can win chocolate! Not just any chocolate, but very special health-giving Wei of Chocolate chocolate. To enter to win an All the Wei assorted bag + a cylinder of your favourite from the range shown above, just visit www.weiofchocolate.com and then pop back and tell us (in the comments below) which flavour best represents you and why. Please include your full name and country in your comment.
The giveaway closes at midnight GMT on Sunday 2 December 2012. THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED. The winner will be announced on this blog on Monday 3 December 2012.
Good luck (and please tell your friends about it)! (And check out our other giveaways here)
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Notes about entering:
*The prize is as outlined above
*There is no fee to enter
*The prize can be shipped anywhere in the world
*The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative
*Do What You Love’s decision on the winner is final and no correspondence will be entered into
*By entering you give permission to have your name and email address added to Do What You Love mailing list. We will never pass your data on to anyone else and you can unsubscribe at any time.
