Frustrated with work and the chaotic state of the world, Matt and Elaine Weyandt quit their jobs in 2012, and with a toddler and newborn in tow, rented a tiny house in Costa Rica’s jungle.
They lived on a shoestring budget but treated themselves every Saturday to a freshly made chocolate bar from the local farmer’s market. One night, they realized they could learn to make that chocolate and sell it back home in Atlanta.
They could "build their own world by building our own work," Elaine said. "It was a way to create our vision of the world we want to leave our kids."
Matt said “we returned basically broke, (but had) 50 pounds of cocoa beans we carried back in a duffel bag to start making chocolate in the apartment to sell at the farmer’s market."
They managed to open Xocolatl, their first micro-chocolate factory and storefront, in 2014, with no entrepreneurial experience. Their second shop opens this month.
