Meet Ksenia Arapova

We were lucky to catch up with Ksenia Arapova recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ksenia, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

I am incorporating ceremonial cacao drink into my self care. Making cacao with intention, taking a moment to focus on what comes forward for me, breathing in incredible rich aroma of fresh cacao, taking a mindful moment of being with myself, my goals, my emotions, sipping my cacao while processing, clearing my mind and allowing cacao to take care of me. This small ritual takes just a little bit of time and yet really supports my creativity, my confidence, my ability to connect with people and open up.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My main passion at the moment is cacao. The more I learn about this plant/fruit/product, the more excited I become to work with it and spread the word about it with the help of my small chocolate company. My mission is to tell people more about all the magic that cacao has to offer while also creating healthier way to enjoy it.

Cacao has a very rich history and tradition of use in Mesoamerica where it was used for health, healing, energy, vitality as well as spiritual guidance and a strong ritual tool. Cacao has to offer some amazing benefits for our body including steady energy levels due to high Theobromine content (the main stimulant in cacao), enhanced focus and cognition, increased creative drive, improved mood and amazing anti inflammatory properties as well as support for our cardiovascular system. Cacao offers a record amount of antioxidants and is rich in essential micro elements like magnesium and iron. Chemical content of cacao also allows our mind to change and heal too. It supports healthy nervous system, increases neuroplasticity and provides a feeling of expansion, acceptance and love. Drinking ceremonial grade cacao (which is minimally processed, ground roasted cacao beans turned into cacao paste and then blended with hot water and spices) can support both your body and mind and this is why I am offering regular cacao circles for people who would like to experience cacao effect first hand and also include that into their self care ritual and mindfulness practice.

Cacao is also magical in terms of the flavor variety it has to offer. Depending on such factors as the region where cacao is grown, the way it is fermented post harvest, the way it is roasted later, final flavor of chocolate bar will be quite different offering you a crazy wide range of notes from floral, fruity, berry, to earthy, nutty, fudgy and others. Quality cacao beans do not require much except maybe just a little bit of sweetness to open up the natural flavors and aromas. This is why in my chocolate bars I use just cacao and coconut sugar to offer you a tasting experience and spotlight amazing flavor diversity of cacao beans.

My story of connection to cacao started when I was experimenting at my own kitchen and came across the food blog post that promised that it is possible to make a chocolate bar at home. Really hesitant I got all the ingredients and began melting, mixing, tempering and filling my molds. When the chocolate came out of the mold I could not believe my eyes and the fact that my hands made that. This chocolate bar was of course really far from a fine flavor, decadent bar, it was gritty and bitter. But this episode really sparked my interest in chocolate and later developed into my desire to learn more about craft chocolate making and cacao. After learning for several years and lots of experimenting I finally was able to start my own small chocolate making company and started selling my bars online. I am now offering my chocolate bars and drinking chocolate at the local farmers’ market, seasonal markets, private events. I also facilitate Weekly Cacao Circles and Monthly Cacao 101 events to continue educating about cacao and offer cacao drink to more people.

The Weekly Cacao Circles are held every Tuesday at 9 am at 325 Main Street, Los Altos, CA. The next Cacao 101 event is scheduled for September 22nd at 12 pm. I am also partnering with other professionals to create collaborative events. One of these will be Paint n’ Sip Cacao on September 15th at Bevri Los Altos where we will start with cacao drink and then will proceed to painting personal mugs.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I am still at the beginning of my journey so definitely still learning and finding my way. I would say that things that really help me on my journey are surrounding myself with supportive people, finding mentors who are eager to share their expertise and also pushing myself to try things event when I am not confident in the final success.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

I realized that to develop my business the way I envision it I really need to find partner/partners. Finding people who are better equipped to deal with sides of business that might not necessarily be my strong suits, so that we can divide the responsibilities, shine in what we can do really well and lead our company to success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.cacaospace.com
• Instagram: Cacaospace
• Linkedin: Ksenia Arapova

Image Credits

All photos credit of Kory James of WDS Visuals