Lawren Askinosie grew up around craft chocolate, and with craft chocolate. In 2005 her father started Askinosie Chocolate, one of the first small batch chocolate factories in America. Eager to jump into the family business full-time Lawren began college early and upon graduation at 20, dove headfirst into learning the ins and outs of operating a bean to bar chocolate factory and marketing and selling craft chocolate. Now the Chief Marketing Officer of the direct trade business that Forbes recently named “One of the 25 Best Small Companies In America,” Lawren is passionate about more than creating a conversation around craft chocolate. She loves helping build sustainable relationships with smallholder cocoa farmers (especially female farmers), telling those stories, and finding innovative ways to connect the dots between the direct trade model, quality, and community. A passionate advocate for women, Lawren works to empower women through every aspect of the business from helping to seek out female-led farmer groups to facilitating girls empowerment initiatives in the Askinosie’s cocoa origin communities. Lawren has co-authored a book with her father called Meaningful Work: A Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling And Feed Your Soul published by Penguin Random House, which will be released on November 14.