William Dean Brown, founder and chief chocolate officer at William Dean Chocolates Largo, Fla., began exploring his artistic talents at an early age. In elementary school, his artistic passion was so great that teachers had to remove all paper from his desk as he would constantly draw. At one point, he was caught sketching on hand towels from the restroom and sent to the principals office to be reprimanded. He stopped drawing at this point, and it would be years before he found a new medium.
Although
trained as an educator, William became involved in the dot.com world. He
co-founded a software company and later joined an emerging technology company. After the
dot.com bubble burst, he reinvented himself by moving to Tampa Bay, Fla.
He joined a large, mature company and worked his way into upper management.
After watching an episode on "The Food
Network," he made truffles for his employees as a staff
support activity. He later saw the work of "artisan" chocolatiers and
knew he had found the perfect medium to express his creativity.
As
William learned to airbrush and paint chocolates, the artistic passion from his
youth returned. Artisan
chocolates offered a multi-dimensional palette: the opportunity to create a
beautiful, outward appearance for the shell with amazing flavor combinations
hidden within.
Although he’s officially been in the chocolate business only two
years, having opened William Dean Chocolate in 2008, Brown has captured the eye
and acclaim from many, including a slew of
gold medals from the most recent International Salon competitions in Las Vegas, Chicago and Boston. (www.williamdeanchocolates.com)
I
think the people that know me are still waiting for me to grow up. As a child I was always fascinated by
statistics. I tracked everything…how my Hot Wheel cars performed, sports
statistics etc. It was no wonder that
prior to becoming a chocolatier I had found myself in a role managing a
department of metrics/analytics. It has
helped me in chocolate as so much of what we do is science.
Name
one or some of your favorite movies.
I’m
a bit of an idealist and so my favorite is probably “It’s a Wonderful Life” with
Jimmy Stewart as well as “The Shawshank Redemption.” I also think “Seabiscuit” is a great movie
and it always makes me think of my father.
Describe
your perfect dream vacation.
I
was fortunate enough to go to France
this year and study at Valrhona, which was amazing and I would love to do
again. I would also love to do a tour of Europe.
What
book are you currently reading?
The
book I’m currently reading is “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch
of the West.” I thought it would be nice
to read something quick and easy that doesn’t have anything to do with business
or chocolate.
Aside
from a family member, whom would you most want to be stranded with on a
deserted island?
Chelsea
Handler…I think she is the funniest person in years and laughter might be good
medicine.
What's
your pet peeve?
I
think it would have to be poor customer service. It costs nothing to give great customer service,
but to repair the damage of poor customer service can be very expensive
I'd
give anything to meet:
That’s
a tough one. I didn’t have to give anything to meet my mom and dad and I can’t
really think of anyone I don’t already know that could top them.
The
best piece of advice that I've gotten:
I
love this quote….”When somebody shows you who they are…believe them”. It works for any situation, business or
personal and takes away the burden of trying to change people.
What
excites you most about your job?
Every
day I get to come in and see a picture on the wall of my dad, my grandfather
and me (the company is named after them…as am I) and it reminds me that I’m
truly living a dream and they are on the journey with me. I don’t know what the future holds for
William Dean Chocolates ,but I love that I’ve found a place where I can be
creative, work with people and everyone leaves happy (chocolate is a bit
magical).
