Justin Zaslow
Co-Owner, Naked Chocolate
https://www.nkdchocolate.com/
I figured out early that there are two kinds of people in this world. People who eat to live and people who live to eat. I am the latter. My culinary journey began by studying holistic nutrition in NYC. I was then lucky enough to be accepted to the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York. I completed culinary school and apprenticed under my father-in-law, Tom Block as well as Swiss chocolatier Jean Pierre Meyenberg of Pierre's Chocolates. The past 12 years I have been honing my craft and developing the business plan for the evolution of Naked Chocolate. Currently, we are manufacturing all of our confections in house from scratch. I am so proud of what we have done so far in our short two years.
What motivates you professionally?
I feel like I have a unique responsibility to source and share the very best cacao in the world with our customers. Ultimately, I'd like to build a successful brand and make my wife and kids proud.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
My epiphany moment came after I was selected with 6 other chocolatiers from across the country to travel to Ecuador and witness the cacao harvest. The trip proved to be both educational and inspirational. I realized that the finished product was not the whole part of the puzzle. Responsibly sourcing the very best cacao from small family farms via direct trade became our mission. We believe that ensuring proper wages for the hard working cacao farmers is not only the right thing to do, but it is also imperative for the sustainability of cacao.
What impact do you hope to have on the community?
As a small family business, we pride ourselves on supporting local and our community. Whether through local collaborations with other like-minded businesses, donating chocolate to charity or participating in fundraisers, we always have our community in mind. Naked Chocolate is also serious about reducing our carbon footprint. Our packaging is fully recyclable or biodegradable and we aim to have the least amount of waste possible.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Never be afraid to fail.
Clifton Wilson
Founder and Creative Director, The Clifton Wilson Brand
I am the Founder and Creative Director of Clifton Wilson, a men's accessory brand. When I started my previous brand called Armstrong & Wilson I was the FedEx guy in Newtown for 11 years. I used to write or place little stickers on my FedEx deliveries with my website on them. I started receiving orders from people on my route and they had no idea that the FedEx guy delivering their Armstrong & Wilson order was actually the owner and designer of the brand.
What was the inspiration behind launching The Clifton Wilson Brand?
Covid was a blessing in disguise for me. My partner and I decided to close down the A&W brand after 10 years. My passion for creativity and designing led me to create unique luxury face masks. They were featured on the news and in magazines. That's when I decided to launch my own brand a week before Christmas 2020.
What motivates you professionally?
My family is my motivation. Honestly, there are plenty of days when I feel overwhelmed, but the thought of leaving something behind for my kids or great grandkids pushes me on my weakest days.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Getting my brand picked up by Nordstrom. Before working for FedEx, I was a sales associate at Nordstrom. To start my own brand then sell to Nordstrom department stores was a great feeling.
What impact do you hope to leave on the community?
For six years I had children from inner-city schools come to my office every Wednesday to teach them about entrepreneurship and fashion. I love to show kids in the same neighborhoods that I grew up in that you can still accomplish your dreams even in neighborhoods that don’t provide much hope.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell my younger self to not stereotype people. Treat everyone kind an as individuals until that person gives you a reason not to trust them.
What is something that few people know about you?
That I'm actually shy! Growing up i had a very bad stuttering problem and was teased a lot. My mother had me in speech therapy for years, so I never spoke to many people until my early adult life.
Kristofer Kwant
Owner, Triple Sun Spirits
https://www.triplesunspirits.com/
At Triple Sun, we pride ourselves on being a small batch distillery that crafts premium spirits using only the finest and freshest ingredients to create spirits and cocktails. Up until 2018, I led Learning and Development at a pharmaceutical company. At that time, I had been home brewing beer for nearly 20 years with hopes of opening a brewery. After experimenting with the distilling process, that ultimately became the path I pursued. The years spent mastering the perfect beer were not in vain, as most quality liquor begins with quality beer. We opened the distillery in Emmaus, PA in 2015 and the tasting room came a year later. The Newtown tasting room opened in July 2018, and in November 2020 we opened in the Mercantile at Doylestown.
What motivates you professionally?
My work in Learning and Development was about helping people. Triple Sun Spirits is about helping to bring people together. The tasting rooms were created to provide a positive space for community members to gather, network, socialize, and interact.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I am most proud of being a father to my three sons, hence the business name “Triple Sun Spirits”. I am also proud to have built this business from scratch. As with anything worthwhile, it was not an easy task. I worked both jobs for years before being able to solely focus on Triple Sun Spirits. There were definitely times I thought of walking away, but with a combination of perseverance and tenacity, Triple Sun Spirits is here today.
What impact do you hope to have on the community?
Once Covid is behind us, my hope is for our tasting rooms to, once again, become a place where people gather to enjoy each other’s company; a place where relationships strengthen. All of us at Triple Sun Spirits are about giving back to the community. We have hosted numerous community events and fundraisers. Last year, when the pandemic hit, our team worked tirelessly to successfully produced 600 gallons of hand sanitizer which we sold at cost as a way of doing our part during a crazy time.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Never underestimate your worth, never overestimate your value.
Mike Green
Owner and Director, Briarwood Day Camp
I got into the camp business because camp was always such a big and meaningful part of my life when I was younger. I loved going to camp as a kid and had an amazing experience. Some of my best friends to this day are friends from camp. In fact, in 2009, I bought Briarwood with my friend Matt Frankel who was my bunkmate at Camp Saginaw.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I was working as a lawyer in Center City. I started my own firm in 2001 and was doing well. However, as my practice began to grow, I was working 60-70 hours per week, with three very young kids at home. I hired more people, but the workload never seemed to change for me. It’s not that I was unhappy being a lawyer, but I thought the work pace might be unsustainable in the long run. I looked around and said, “What’s changing?” And then I asked myself, “What am I working for?” If the point of working is to earn money and give yourself options, I wanted to see what other options I had. I knew – or thought I knew – about the camp business. I wanted to be part of a business where I could be part of something positive and be able to watch my kids grow up. So when the opportunity to buy Briarwood Day Camp came up, I gave it a shot.
What motivates you professionally?
I – and everyone at Briarwood – take a lot of pride in working hard to get things right so we can help give kids unforgettable experiences and the summers of their lives like we had when we were kids.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I’m biased, but I’d say that I’m proudest of having a nice family.
What impact do you hope to have on the community through your work?
Christa McAuliffe – the teacher who died on the Space Shuttle in the 1980s – said, “I touch the future – I teach.” At Briarwood, we are working with generations of young kids, trying to help them be well rounded and, more importantly, nice people.
What is something that few people know about you?
I was a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Tim Amoroso
Executive Chef, Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar
https://harvestseasonal.com/newtown-restaurant/
Working in the restaurant industry has always been a passion of mine. It started when I was very little; I remember working in the kitchen with my great grandmother from Sicily - that’s where my love of food started. I’ve been with Harvest for 5 years and opened the Newtown location in 2017.
What led you to your position at Harvest?
Six years ago, I took a position in Philadelphia that was less demanding on my schedule. My wife Danielle and I had our first child, and I wanted to make sure I was home for the first year of my daughter’s life. My sacrifice was giving up on food that I was passionate about. A year went by and I missed creating amazing food and using fresh local ingredients. That’s when I found Harvest. I grew up in Langhorne I knew this would pose an amazing opportunity to open a restaurant and provide great food for people I know.
What motivates you professionally?
My family is number 1: I do everything for my wife and daughter. Over the last year, dealing with the tough restrictions on the restaurant industry I have found a new motivation: my employees. Seeing their resilience after being laid off for months at a time is more than enough motivation to push forward to provide a great atmosphere for them to work. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in the last year.
What impact do you hope to have on the community?
I want our community to have a restaurant they can call home and that feels like family. I believe our food makes everyone feel great about themselves. I do that by providing healthier options and also featuring and creating partnerships with our local farms in the community. There are so many amazing farms right in our backyard. It’s an honor to be able to source these products and feature them in my kitchen.
Something that few people know about you?
My wife and I went to high school together but we weren’t actually friends. In her yearbook I wrote how my mom’s sauce is better than her mom’s, so we must have talked about food at some point. We reconnected almost 10 years later over our love for corvettes. We Immediately fell in love and haven’t left each other’s side since.