Meet Kala Maxym | Chief Chocolate Officer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kala Maxym and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kala, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Both Dale and I have had businesses before: Dale as the owner of a production company Picture Road, and I as the owner of Five Senses Tastings, a multi-sensory tasting events company. So, entrepreneurship wasn’t exactly new to us. I, for one, knew that I didn’t want to have another business by myself. I didn’t expect that it would be with my partner, though!

We were really inspired by the vibrant sidewalk vendor-scene of Los Angeles’ hot dog, elote, fruit, and ice cream carts, and Dale, our Chief Eating Officer (CEO) wondered aloud why we couldn’t do that… but with chocolate. Insulated carts are cheap so how hard could it be? Maybe have 8 or 10 carts going around town. A few days later and we were on a walk down by the LA river when we spotted a 100 square foot space for rent: hardly bigger than a cart! A random date night soon after, we found ourselves at the legendary Thai restaurant, Jitlada, and over Pad Thai and green curry, The Chocolate Dispensary – name, tagline, mission statement, playing on cannabis language, tasting lounge, etc – downloaded to us both. We took frantic notes and, somehow, it just felt really right.

Two days later we toured a space for rent in the hipster neighborhood of Echo Park (where we are so lucky to live), fell in love with it, and were asked for a deck and business plan. We had neither.

Kala wrote pages and pages of notes and within a couple weeks, we had a deck and business plan, and were asking ourselves, “are we really going to do this?” The answer was a wholehearted, in unison, “yes!” We knew that finding, negotiating, leasing, and building out a space would take months so we decided to start with an online presence, events, partnerships, and so on. So, here we are! We launched our online store about two months ago and just signed a five-year lease on a gorgeous space in Echo Park!

What should our readers know about your business?
The Chocolate Dispensary & Tasting Room is curating the largest collection of craft chocolate in Southern California, perhaps over time, even in the entire country! We didn’t just want it to be an online platform or a retail store, however. We wanted a tasting room, modeled in a way on the experience of wine tasting. There’s no giggle-weed here, just chocolate, but we liked the play on words (“We dispense chocolate”) as well as the notion that chocolate can heal and bring joy to those who consume it.

Our values are rooted in the ethics and sustainability of cacao so we talk with all the chocolate makers and chocolatiers (they’re different, you know) whose products we carry and make sure that their sourcing and business practices align with ours.

The path hasn’t been easy but it’s also not been complicated, awful, and twisty. Dale and I both felt, from the very beginning, that this was something that would work. We felt it in our bones, and we have often said that we haven’t had one moment of doubt that The Chocolate Dispensary is not only going to “work,” but that it’s going to be huge. We feel that Los Angeles is ready and eager for something like this, and that the messaging and the vibe we’re putting out there are just right for the Echo Park neighborhood especially.

As I mentioned previously, Dale and I have both owned businesses and worked for companies in the past. We weren’t exactly “planning” to have a business together but we also were super open to it so I think that when the idea downloaded to us, we were really ready to receive it, to believe in it, and to go for it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, that is a question, isn’t it? I have to say, I’m super partial to the east side of LA, so obviously we’d need to hike up to the Observatory, get tacos at Guisados, check out a Dodgers game, and end our evening with some drinking chocolate at The Chocolate Dispensary. There are some amazing museums here so we definitely need a west side day for The Getty Museum, Venice Beach, and dinner at Manchego in Santa Monica. You’ve gotta get out of town, too, so we’d head up to Santa Ynez for some wine tasting, our east to Joshua Tree for some R&R and perhaps down to Laguna Beach for some beach time.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Gosh, that sure is a long list! We certainly wouldn’t be here without each other, that’s for sure. Although we’re partners in life, it’s different when you’re in business together, and we were worried it might put a strain on our relationship, but it’s strengthened our bond immensely. We have incredibly complimentary skills, and that’s been a huge help. Our families have been so supportive as have our neighbors and all the folks along the block where we’ll be opening our store. The response has just been overwhelmingly positive, and we’re so grateful for that. I’d also like to shout out the Expeditor Program at the LA Department of Building and Safety, our architect, and so many people along the way who have given advice, introduced us to their friends, and helped us navigate all the paperwork and rules and permits that are involved!

This might sound sappy but our two orange tabbies, Caspar and Ollie, have played a huge part in keeping me sane on this exciting journey. Sometimes I’ll put my computer down for a second to go do something else and before I know it, Caspar is plopped down on my chest purring or Ollie has curled up behind my head on the couch. They remind me to stop and take a breath, and they definitely keep me smiling!

Website: http://www.chocolatedispensary.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/chocolatedispensary

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kalamaxym

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chocolatedispensary