Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The founder of award-winning chocolatier Askinosie Chocolate shows readers how he discovered the secret to purposeful work--and how we can too, no matter what work we do.
Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award-winning chocolate manufacturer with seventeen full-time employees, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from cocoa farmers on four continents. The company is the only chocolate maker to use direct trade and to profit share with farmers in Ecuador, Honduras, the Philippines, and Tanzania. The company also feeds 1,600 children every day without any outside donations.
But twenty years ago, Shawn Askinosie was a successful defense lawyer trying his first murder death penalty case that would later go on to become a Dateline special. Burnt out in this field, he sought to emulate Trappist monks, who focused on "being" rather than "doing." In this book, Askinosie shares his hard-won insights into doing work that reflects his values. His business goals relate not to getting bigger, but getting better at staying small--a concept he calls reverse scale. He also shares his business visioning tool that he applies at every level of his company. Askinosie shows us that everyone has the capacity to find meaning in their work and be a positive force for good.
Synopsis
The founder and CEO of Askinosie Chocolate, an award-winning craft chocolate factory, shows readers how he discovered the secret to purposeful work and business - and how we can too, no matter what work we do. Askinosie Chocolate is a small-batch, award winning chocolate company widely considered to be a vanguard in the industry. Known for sourcing 100% of his cocoa beans directly from farmers across the globe, Shawn Askinosie has pioneered direct trade and profit sharing in the craft chocolate industry with farmers in Tanzania, Ecuador, and the Philippines. In addition to developing relationships with smallholder farmers, the company also partners with schools in their origin communities to provide lunch to 1,600 children every day with no outside donations. Twenty-five years ago, Shawn Askinosie was a successful criminal defense lawyer trying his first murder death penalty case that would later go on to become a Dateline special. For many years he found law satisfying, but after several high profile trials he reached a breaking point and found solace in the search for a new career.
In this inspiring guide to discovering a vocation that feeds your heart and soul, Askinosie describes his quest to discover more meaningful work - a search that led him to volunteering in the palliative care wing of a hospital, to a Trappist monastery where he became inspired by the monks focus on "being" rather than "doing," and eventually traipsing through jungles across the globe in search of excellent cocoa bean farmers to make award winning chocolate. Askinosie shares his hard-won insights into doing work that reflects one's values and purpose in life. He shares with readers visioning tools that can be used in any industry or field to create a work life that is inspired and fulfilling. Askinosie shows us that everyone has the capacity to find meaning in their work and be a positive force for good in the world.