Following her heart leads woman back home to chocolate
CLINTON TWP — Valerie Cannon had “one of those days when you hate your job,” and the next thing you know, she breathed new life into her own career and a longtime community staple that had gone by the wayside.
Nowadays, Cannon is happily up to her ears in cleverly decorated and thoughtfully composed gourmet sweets as owner of the Speckled Hen Chocolate Co.
But almost exactly six years ago, the Saxonburg native was chained to a safe but unfulfilling quality assurance job in Toledo, Ohio.
“I always knew I wanted to return to Saxonburg and open a business,” she said.
Practically on a whim, Cannon inquired about the one-time Wilma's Chocolate store with a purchase price in mind.
“I got a call from the Realtor, 'They accepted your offer,'” she laughed. “I had to tell my husband that night, “Honey, I bought a candy store.'”
The two-story building wasn't exactly turnkey. Having been bank-owned, without electricity or occupants for around eight years, it had become dilapidated, overgrown and unsafe. Raccoons had moved in.
And that wasn't the only gap in Cannon's startup plan. Initially she wasn't even sure what type of business she wanted to run.
She contemplated retail, a bakery maybe … she likes to bake.“Coming from an entrepreneurial family, I knew I could do anything,” said Cannon, whose parents formerly owned Bogacz butcher shop, the Country Market and Diamond Deb's beef jerky. “Entrepreneurship wasn't new to me. I'd put myself through college making jerky. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I let the building speak to me.”Fast forward to today, and clearly Cannon followed her heart — or at least her nose.Cannon's days are filled with chocolate-covered cherries, Oreos and marshmallows shaped like hedgehogs.“I always knew I wanted to do something creative, but I never knew what that outlet would be,” she said. “Here, every day I am playing in chocolate. I get to create and re-create.”During the October-to-Mother's Day busy season, Speckled Hen produces about 200 pounds of chocolate, five days a week … and that's just milk chocolate.
The store also offers a variety of blends, dark, white, raw and dairy-free chocolates and fudge.In addition to the in-house retail store and a dozen or so wholesale customers, Speckled Hen hosts children and adult classes (May classes taught about edible flowers), Girl Scout Troops and birthday parties.As one of six people who man the retail and production area, Cannon said her quality control background still kicks in: She taste-tests all of her products.“I eat chocolate every day. I want people to have good chocolate, fresh chocolate and I want it to be consistent,” said Cannon, a self proclaimed chocolate snob. “Lately I can't keep my hands off the caramel pretzel sea salt. It's amazing. I don't even wait sometimes to get the chocolate on them.”Cannon said she has no regrets about returning to her hometown and starting the business from scratch.“My philosophy is, 'get up and go … just do it,' like the old Nike slogan,” she said. “When I worked for someone else, I watched the clock, always waiting to get out to live my life. I tell people that now that I own my own business, I only work half days … 12 out of 24 hours. I live this, and I love it.”
