E169: Lawren Askinosie - Doing Work that Matters

Lawren Askinosie grew up around craft chocolate, and with craft
chocolate. Still in high school when her father transitioned from
courtroom to chocolate-making and started one of the first small
batch chocolate factories in America, she assisted him in almost
every facet of their new life as chocolate makers—from working
the storefront to developing marketing material. Eager to jump
into the family business full-time Lawren began college early and
upon graduation at 20, dove headfirst into learning the ins and
outs of operating a bean-to-bar chocolate factory, building a
brand, and marketing and selling craft chocolate.


Now the Chief Marketing Officer of the direct trade business that
Forbes recently named “One of the 25 Best Small Companies In
America,” Lawren is passionate about more than helping to shape
the conversation around craft chocolate. She loves assisting
Shawn to build sustainable relationships with smallholder cocoa
farmers (especially female farmers), telling those stories, and
finding innovative ways to connect the dots between the direct
trade model, quality, and community. A passionate advocate for
women, Lawren works to empower women through every aspect of the
business from helping to seek out female-led farmer groups to
facilitating girls empowerment initiatives in Askinosie’s cocoa
origin communities. Lawren’s first book, which she co-authored
with her father, called Meaningful Work: A Quest To Do Great
Business, Find Your Calling And Feed Your Soul is available here.


Lawren is based in Austin, TX with her husband and three dogs (we
lovingly call it "The Austin Annex"). Because technology, she's
able to do her job remotely but also spends tons of time at the
chocolate factory in Springfield. When she's not chocolate-ing or
traveling, she's eating her way through Austin (with particular
emphasis on tacos, BBQ and margaritas) and listening to live
music.


Lawren serves on the board of Girls Empowerment Network, a
Texas-based nonprofit that seeks to ignite the power in girls
throughout the state by teaching them self-efficacy. 


Learn more about Askinosie Chocolate:
 https://askinosie.com/


Please leave a review or send us a Voice note letting us know
what you enjoyed at:


Back2Basics reconnecting to the essence of YOU (podpage.com)


Follow us on IG and FB @Back2BasicsPodcast