Five years ago this month, I formed Queer Chocolatier.

Five weeks ago, I didn’t think I'd hit five years for QC.

But I have struggled these last several weeks to learn that the way forward is to slow down, pivot (again), and look back in such a way as to nearly start over, this time with a whole bunch of knowledge gained over this time.

Doing this has been the key to my mental, emotional, physical health. Not only for me as a human but absolutely for my business.

It hasn’t come without a fair share of pain and discomfort.

I broke my lease to the space I’d hoped to occupy in Downtown Muncie. Physical space matters so much to my business as it brings community together in a magical way. I can work back to this, though. It doesn’t have to be today.

That is growth, friends. My acknowledging this is growth. I do hate to brag…

Growth has not just been emotional these days, but also relationships have grown for me and the business.

I’m beginning to partner with places in Indianapolis and I’m hoping to strengthen these relationships and build more opportunities in this area of the state. I’m delivering on my first batch of chocolate bars and truffles to my friends at The Smoking Goose Meatery this week and, next week, I will be one of the several vendors present at their open house for their Public Smokehouse!

I’m getting a better handle on my bean-to-bar chocolate making process and finding things that work well and things that need to be left on the proverbial cutting room floor.

But on this back to the future journey, I'm returning to the roots of how my business began: as a market vendor!

You’ll be able to find me at Minnetrista Farmers Market again on Saturday mornings!

I’ll be a vendor at every opportunity with Muncie Makers Market, including two large downtown Muncie events coming later this summer and fall!

I’ll be a proud vendor at Muncie Pride!

And I'll have my first time vending at the Old Washington St. Festival in mid-September!

Being back in the public again is really f*cking good for my soul. I love meeting people where they are, hearing their stories, slinging chocolate, people-watching all day long. I’m excited to hit the rewind button with a whole bunch of gained experience. I’m also glad to be rid of a whole lot of pressure and stress I've placed on myself over the last couple of years.

I wanted things to be perfect when I really should just be proud that I've survived. I’ve wanted others to come and carry the load with me when I really just needed to set some of the heavy stuff down and walk away.

I'd resigned myself to struggle when I should be committing to queer joy.

Wanna know what queer joy looks like for me? It looks a little like coming back to the start, five years later, without any expectations that I'd even be sticking around this long.

Welcome back to Queer Chocolatier!

Here's how you can support QC!

You can place your online orders between now and Labor Day for local pickup at Minnetrista Farmers Market on Saturdays or you can simply shop from me during the Market hours!

You can patron The Public Smokehouse down in Indianapolis and pick up your favorite bars and truffles off their shelves!

And you can keep an eye out for when online orders for shipping will resume, on the other side of Labor Day!