Renata Stoica

About Renata Stoica

Love may be the universal language-but chocolate is a close second! Everyone…

Experience

1. Chief Executive Officer

   Tinyb

   Sep 2014 — Present · San Francisco, CA, US

   I make a traditional and delicious handmade chocolate called Brigadeiro.My mother came from a poor family and lived in a small town in the middle of Brazil in a male-centric society. At age 22, she decided to leave my father and took my two sisters and I with her. She did everything she could to support us: clean houses, sell clothes door-to-door and any small jobs that came her way.She heard about a course to make chocolate and soon decided to earn a living making chocolate. Being the oldest sister, for over 10 years I was her right hand. We would work at night because the days were too hot and we had no air conditioning. We would produce over pounds every season – by hand.Years later, I went off to study and become a nurse in São Paulo, and I vowed never to live in a small town or make chocolate again. After a decade, I still wasn\'t making enough to support myself. I had a broken heart and a broken dream, and decided to make a fresh start in San Francisco. I had no connections and limited English, but I was determined to find a way.Along the way, I found new jobs, studied English, met an American man that I fell in love with, and found my way back to Brigadeiros by making them and sharing them with him and new friends. The more I made them, the more I realized I wanted to return to making chocolate.Now, over 5 years later, we have our own dedicated facility with a Braizilian-themed event space that’s beautiful and has great energy. Practically everyone on our team grew up with brigadeiros.Our mission is to bring people together through the magic of Brazilian chocolate.

Skills

• Photography
• Confectionery