Rebecca Knights built a boutique chocolate company and the Sydney Chocolate School by sticking to her dream of producing all hand-made, artisanal chocolates, tempered on marble, using the finest ethically sourced ingredients from both here and overseas. After leaving home at the tender age of 16, she knew she would have to build a life, and she hoped a business, for herself. While she was neither a trained chef, nor a food technician, she put in the hard yards washing dishes and then waiting on tables in restaurants, before finally getting an education. How she then translated her creativity into training in the age-old European tradition to become a chocolatier in France, then creating a product -- a finely crafted chocolate product at that -- designing the beautiful packaging and selling her wares in the UK, including to prestigious Harvey Nicholls department stores, and achieving that all by herself, is a story of determination and chutzpah. She's even innovated to produce completely sugar-free chocolate! Yes, sugar-free. And despite intense competition in the chocolate industry Rebecca never allowed the mass-produced sweet stuff on supermarket shelves that dominates sales in the industry to snuff out her entrepreneurial dream.  But her journey is not without salutary lessons, given considerable business high's and low's. But how she deals with them is a lesson in smarts, leadership and plain grit. Hope you enjoy Rebecca Knights!

<p>Rebecca Knights built a boutique chocolate company and the Sydney Chocolate School by sticking to her dream of producing all hand-made, artisanal chocolates, tempered on marble, using the finest ethically sourced ingredients from both here and overseas. After leaving home at the tender age of 16, she knew she would have to build a life, and she hoped a business, for herself. While she was neither a trained chef, nor a food technician, she put in the hard yards washing dishes and then waiting on tables in restaurants, before finally getting an education. How she then translated her creativity into training in the age-old European tradition to become a chocolatier in France, then creating a product -- a finely crafted chocolate product at that -- designing the beautiful packaging and selling her wares in the UK, including to prestigious Harvey Nicholls department stores, and achieving that all by herself, is a story of determination and chutzpah. She's even innovated to produce completely sugar-free chocolate! Yes, sugar-free. And despite intense competition in the chocolate industry Rebecca never allowed the mass-produced sweet stuff on supermarket shelves that dominates sales in the industry to snuff out her entrepreneurial dream.&nbsp; But her journey is not without salutary lessons, given considerable business high's and low's. But how she deals with them is a lesson in smarts, leadership and plain grit. Hope you enjoy Rebecca Knights!</p>

Candid interviews with successful Self-starters. On Build It. They'll Come, you'll hear from some amazing Australian entrepreneurs who bet big to build great businesses. Journalist Helen Dalley interviews business innovators and visionaries on how they turned their lightbulb idea into a viable, sustainable enterprise. 

This podcast is about the human face behind taking a simple idea and turning it into a business or movement. It's the beating heart behind what it takes to build an empire, from concept to execution, and how they actually achieve it. Fuelled by blind faith and hard slog, how they transform their dream idea into concrete reality.

Journalist Helen Dalley interviews business innovators and visionaries on how they turned their lightbulb idea into a viable, sustainable enterprise.

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