What you’ll hear in this episode:
- A consumable fashion experience
- Changing how people experience chocolate
Maggie Louise Confections is a chocolate company ran by Maggie Louise Callahan based out of Austin, TX. Maggie is building a lifestyle brand out of her chocolate and claims “chocolate is more than a candy, it’s an experience.” After attending Harvard Law and a career as an attorney, Maggie felt she needed something to express her creativity. She decided to enroll in culinary school at Le Courdon Bleu here in Austin. Maggie went into culinary school knowing she wanted to open a business and build a brand but didn’t know what to build it around until she learned to work with chocolate. After that, she learned everything she could and began sculpting it into new and unique shapes which began her business.
Since discovering her love she opened up shop and saw quick success through bringing together high design, nostalgic classic flavors, and the high service levels she learned in the corporate world. In their first year of business, they received the title of “one of Oprah’s favorite things.” One factor that helped them succeed was having an Instagramable product before it became essential to have an Instagramable product. Because of this, it began spreading organically through people taking and sharing pictures of the Pollock-esque product.
Since the beginning, Maggie’s business model has been direct to consumers with the intent of building relationships with the customer. She wanted to build connections with the people buying the product instead of letting a third party do it for her. Her business connected with people in ways that had never been done before in the more rigid culinary industry.
To hear more from Maggie about Maggie Louise Confections, building a lifestyle brand, and designing an experience, tune into the sixth installment of Founders of Fashion. If you enjoy the episode, be sure to share it with friends and family, and you can listen to more Founders of Fashion here.
Host: Jennifer E.S. Millspaugh, PhD
Guest: Maggie Louise Callahan
