River Forest chocolatier tastes sweet success, earns Wall of Fame nod from Triton College
But, as it happened, a little over 15 years ago when she tried to enroll in a baking course at Triton College in River Grove, that class was full. She took a course on making chocolate instead.
She wanted to try something fun. She'd graduated from Triton with a degree in marketing and accounting and had a career in sales but, as her daughter considered colleges, Slepicka said she was interested in showing her daughter what was available close by and figured a fun cooking course would be an opportunity to show off her alma mater.
Her daughter decided to go elsewhere but at age 50, Slepicka ended up with skills that changed her life, switched her career path, inspired a store opening and earlier this month led her to be inducted into the Triton Alumni Wall of Fame.
'While I did like chocolate, I didn't know everything about chocolate until the first day which was in a classroom setting and not in a kitchen,' she said. 'Chef Uzma put up the chemistry and crystallization process of chocolate. She taught me everything about where it's grown, what affects its growth, how it's processed, what to do with it, all the ways to present it and packaging and marketing. That's where I got the passion to go home everyday and do it until I nailed it.'
Years later, on a recent warm spring Saturday morning, her store, River Forest Chocolates, was humming — filled with a stream of customers buying treats and staff operating chocolate machines in back and ringing up patrons out front. A sweet chocolate aroma hung in the bright morning sunlight.
All because that bread class was full.
Slepicka is quick to point out, her business and marketing skills aren't quite retired.
'All those tools I use today,' she said recently, between customers. 'I use the accounting; I use the marketing; I use the sales; I use the culinary experience. (The store) all brings this all together.'
She bought her current location in River Forest in 2017, having already spent nearly a decade in the chocolate business, though now with a dedicated brick and mortar location. The years went fast, but early on she faced some of the toughest times for small food stores, with a global pandemic shutting down almost everything in early 2020. Nobody had been through anything like it and the pandemic closed restaurants and small businesses across the country — in some cases forever.
'I had no staff,' she said. 'It was Easter, my biggest retail season. We quickly pivoted to an online shop. We set up a tent out back for contactless pickups and we did contactless door drops.'
She moved all her inventory to the front window so people could stand outside and point to what they wanted to buy. And people came. Neighbors. Her community. They kept buying chocolate.
'We got through it,' she said.
Her customers, she knows their names. Some have been coming for years.
'I like everything,' said Claudia Saran. 'The selection, their service. And I live in the neighborhood.'
Casey Goldberg, who stopped by with her daughter, added, 'we come here for all our special occasions. We always come for our gifts.'
The store seems to have something for just about everyone, with a selection of popcorn, fudge, chocolates, vegan chocolate, coffee and other odds and ends — including custom work.
Her store isn't on the busiest corner of Lake Street. Down the road in Oak Park, Lake Street turns into a pretty popular shopping district with heavy foot traffic all day long. Slepicka's stretch is a bit quieter, but she said River Forest is a very tight little community — they support their local businesses and she does very well where she is. Once people stop in once, Slepicka said, she's got them for life.
'I'm very grateful for the support of the village and from the Village Hall,' she said. 'The village really supports their business.'
Through it all, she's become a mainstay in River Forest and somewhere along the way she snagged the attention of Triton College, looking for graduates to recognize.
'Donna's journey from a retail manager to a successful chocolatier and entrepreneur highlights her remarkable leadership and dedication to her community, embodying the core values of Triton College,' said Tina Lilly, a college spokesperson.
Slepicka didn't start her chocolate journey at Triton expecting to make the college's wall of fame, but she said it's a flattering honor.
'That was very surprising,' Slepicka said. 'You're nominated initially. You have to give them a whole resume. And that was an interesting process to reflect back on everything. I thought just being nominated was enough. But then, I went to Triton and I looked at the past recipients and I thought 'Wow.' I mean, some of these people have two pages of accomplishments. Then, when they said I was accepted I was really overwhelmed.'
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