This article will not just talk abou moonlightng. It is going to discuss people who is running two completely different businesses, and what it takes to have such a second job.
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Just as fascinating as how they came to own two disparate businesses is how they manage to sustain this double life. Whether it means keeping a suit at the factory or calling on friends in a pinch, these entrepreneurs share how they make it work.
From the Courtroom to the Rainforest
Criminal defense attorney Shawn Askinosie has made a name for himself with headline felony cases that have been featured on Dateline NBC and Court TV. But these days, chocolate is his top priority
After two back-to-back murder cases in the late '90s, Askinosie began cooking to relieve the stress of the courtroom. He graduated from outdoor grilling to pies and finally to cupcakes and desserts using premium chocolate. In 2005, he had an epiphany and realized that he wanted to make chocolate--even though he knew nothing about the business. "At that time, I didn't have any idea where chocolate came from. I thought it just appeared in stores," says Askinosie. "So I did what I do, and that's research and find things out. Within a few months, I was in the Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador studying cocoa harvest techniques."
He contacted people in the chocolate industry, both farmers and manufacturers, but found it wasn't easy to learn the business, as most chocolate makers keep their recipes and processes a secret. Askinosie worked in an Ecuadorian chocolate factory, sourced cocoa beans from farmers in South America and Mexico, and began acquiring equipment from Columbia, Scotland, Italy and Germany, some of it more than 100 years old.
