After reading, you may say, a little obsessed.
~ HAHAHA “Okay, just go with it.” ~
This mantra reminds me of my venture with Chocola Cafe…
A few years ago, I co-founded a chocolate brand because my partners and I loved high-quality Belgian chocolate. But passion wasn’t enough. We wanted to create a brand with meaning and impact.
In the beginning, we were just three chocolate enthusiasts driven by the dream of creating a business together. Since everyone loves chocolate, and it’s an international product, why not do something around it? But how do you create a brand and innovate in a sector where everything seems to have been invented? Could the business work just because we like chocolate? Hahaha, no way. Something was missing: a strong concept. It took us 3 weeks of intense brainstorming in a vacation spot to rethink, rethink, toast hahaha and rethink our strategy. 🍫💡
~ HAHAHA Okay, just go with it ~
One of Chocola Cafe’s signature delicates
I remember the excitement when I pitched a bold idea to my partners: “Why not create a brand that is meaningful? Why not create a brand that makes an impact?” Chocola Cafe, a chocolate paradise “from diversity to unity”, spreading happiness and promoting diversity through the joy of chocolate. I was already on togetherness, which is becoming the breadcrumb trail of my life. They were hooked, and we officially launched Chocola. 🌍❤️
Passionate or obsessed, I let you decide but I will always think “Go big or stay home”. Therefore, we dreamed big and set our sights on a Grade A shopping mall in Jakarta. Initially, we lost the space to a giant competitor and were, of course, frustrated. But honestly, three kids from nowhere who were asking for a Class A mall… Were we crazy? 🤯
~ But, HAHAHA, just go with it ~
Amazingly, we finally got the space. In fact, thanks to our passion and resilience, we convinced them that our unique concept would be a winner: Our Belgian chocolate fondue you can share, combined with a powerful social mission! This was setting us apart from any typical cafés, restaurants or bakeries. 🍫🏆
Yeay, beating the big coffee brands hahaha
Great step, I thought! But, now, how to pay the exorbitant deposit they were asking for? Still… We were only kids in their 20s! 😅
Finally, after some hesitation, we realized that we had a franchisable concept, so why not get financing from angel investors? And so we did. 👼💸
~ Oh HAHAHA, just go with it ~
Chocola Cafe, located in Tunjungan Plaza Surabaya, became the world’s first premium Belgian chocolate café with a mission to unite through diversity. We had many customers — a great success! Not just chocolate lovers or random Indonesians, but lots of ethnically diverse people from all over the world, many especially to experience the unique Chocola Cafe socialization experience. It was a mixture of hard work, high sales, happy moments and, as in any business, painful decisions. In short, routine but at a hundred miles an hour! 🚀
But ~ not HAHAHA, not just go with it ~ for the first time in my life…
Like thousands of other companies, the covid-19 train passed us by and forced us to abandon the adventure in 2020… We were still babies with no reserves to survive it. 😔
You know what, I’m not bitter, even though I do enjoy the bitterness of chocolate. 🍫 hahaha Because I’m really proud of what we did, which could have exploded in our country and probably internationally, because we paid our loyal people and knew how to minimize losses while of course learning, at least for me, valuable lessons, one of which was that I was really good at marketing and sales. That’s pretty amazing for someone with a civil engineer’s background. It seems I have the DNA of a double-sided left and right brain! Thanks, Mum and Dad, for that! 🌟 I know my mum is watching over me from above, and I’m forever grateful for the creativity, benevolence, and logic she instilled in me. 💖 From my dad, I inherited the entrepreneurial spirit that drives me every day. 🙏
~ So, HAHAHA, just go with it ~
Really determined, and rich from this last lesson, in search of a job — my savings having been spent in Chocola Cafe — I threw myself into the world of marketing and advertising, convinced that creativity and technology would redefine the future of business. Not only did I achieve remarkable results and substantial revenues for my agency, but I also, in charge of the business development, had the privilege of working with some truly extraordinary clients as I was always attracting the ones with shared values. Maybe the universe is giving back what we give, I also like to believe that I am lucky 🍀🍀🍀😁 and a happy person which can be contagious… 🌟📈
You want a confidence, in fact, I am a bit introvert 😌, but…
~ HAHAHA, just go with it ~
Today, as the founder and CEO of Breezy & Co-Founder of Agoras, I channel my passion for social neuroscience, social impact, and togetherness into reducing loneliness on a global scale with our AI-powered I&365 apps suite. I’m building a global ecosystem for curated real-life socialization. My journey with Chocola has taught me that success requires both passion and resilience. 🌐💪
And let’s not forget the importance of humor along the way! Hahaha 😄
Dear angels and potential partners, if you’re interested in learning more or joining this exciting venture, please be my guest! 💰🎉
And to all of you reading, what are your ‘HAHAHA, just go with it’ moments? Feel free to share in the comments! 💃🏻🙌🏻
More to come…
Yours devotedly,
Nadia Devita Oktarini
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