Brittany Nemandoust, the visionary behind Chocbox, openly admits that she has never seen herself as a baker in the traditional sense. Unlike those who find fulfillment in the precision of culinary artistry, Nemandoust harbors little enthusiasm for the meticulous process of measuring ingredients or abiding by strict recipe instructions. In her own playful yet candid words, she confessed during an interview with Business Insider that she can scarcely manage to bake even the simplest treat — brownies. At 32, the entrepreneur laughs at her own culinary shortcomings, remarking that she despises the act of placing anything in an oven, anxiously waiting as it bakes, only to invariably burn it. This admission brings a certain irony to her current success, considering that her flourishing business would later revolve around the art of making chocolate — a craft many would associate with precision and patience.
Her journey began quite unexpectedly during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when her sister returned home one day holding a handmade chocolate bar that would unknowingly spark the inception of an entirely new career path for Brittany. Curious and intrigued, the sisters decided to attempt chocolate-making from scratch, and to her amazement, Brittany discovered that the process was far more approachable than she had imagined. What she had anticipated to be a complex and technical endeavor proved to be, as she described it, “almost foolproof.” She mused that one would naturally assume creating chocolate to be complicated, yet it turned out surprisingly forgiving.
With the pandemic keeping much of the world indoors, Brittany suddenly found herself with ample time and few obligations. Having lost her position as a dental hygienist, she had temporarily moved back into her parents’ home in Los Angeles. This return to her childhood environment unexpectedly provided her the space and comfort to experiment. With a mixture of curiosity and creative energy, she began refining her homemade chocolate recipes, capturing photographs of her results, and sharing them online. Her Instagram posts quickly drew attention — friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers began sending her messages wanting to know exactly how she was making such appealing confections. Questions poured in about the recipes, the ingredients, and her techniques.
Encouraged by the growing interest, Brittany began to entertain the idea of transforming her newfound hobby into a viable business. Initially, she considered offering ready-made chocolate bars on a small, local scale — perhaps dropping them off at customers’ homes. However, she soon recognized that such an approach would overlook what she saw as the true magic of the process: the joy and freshness of creating one’s own chocolate. She concluded that the real beauty was not merely in the end product but in the tactile, sensory experience of making it. That insight gave birth to Chocbox — a company that would deliver carefully packaged chocolate-making kits directly to customers, complete with ingredients and clear, comprehensive step-by-step instructions.
The concept mirrored the convenience of meal kit delivery services such as Blue Apron or HelloFresh but with a sweet, indulgent twist. Just as those meal kits simplify home cooking by providing pre-measured ingredients, Brittany envisioned Chocbox as a way to empower anyone, from skilled cooks to novices, to craft gourmet chocolate at home without intimidation. Upon researching online, she realized to her astonishment that no similar product existed. The market had a void — and she intended to fill it. Reflecting on that discovery, Brittany recalled thinking that her idea’s novelty could be either a promising sign or a warning, but she chose optimism: she would move forward regardless and see where it led.
Her first iteration of Chocbox was modest but full of potential: a neatly packaged assortment containing cocoa powder, cocoa butter, a natural agave-based sweetener, and optional flavor additions, paired with a reusable mold and printed instructions. She transformed a small office space in her parents’ home into her fledgling headquarters, carefully labeling jars, weighing ingredients, and assembling boxes by hand. Supported initially by her social circle, Brittany launched the product in 2020, listing it both on her website and Etsy. The early response was encouraging — family and friends helped spread the word, and soon companies began contacting her to lead virtual chocolate-making classes for employees as an engaging pandemic-era team-building activity. These classes not only generated revenue but exponentially expanded her visibility, as each session introduced her kits into hundreds of new hands.
However, as global restrictions eased and people’s interest in at-home projects waned around 2022, her sales reflected the broader cultural shift. Nemandoust found herself struggling to maintain steady revenue. While holiday seasons brought a welcome spike in orders, the quieter months of spring and summer often brought sharp declines. To sustain Chocbox, she resumed part-time work as a dental hygienist, diligently funneling those earnings into her business. By the spring of 2024, newly married to her husband Kevin, the couple faced an uncomfortable truth: sales were no longer sufficient to cover expenses such as rent for their office space and the wages of a part-time employee. They even discussed the painful possibility of closing Chocbox altogether.
Then, almost serendipitously, opportunity arrived in the form of a viral social media trend. TikTok users around the world were captivated by the so-called Dubai chocolate — decadent chocolate bars filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and crunchy kataifi pastry. The Nemandousts, both children of Iranian immigrants who valued traditional Middle Eastern flavors, found the trend familiar and inspiring. As interest spiked, Brittany noticed a curious surge in orders for her chocolate molds listed on Etsy — a product that had barely sold before. This sudden flurry of purchases was a clear sign that a wave was forming. Seeing her chance, Brittany acted quickly.
She sourced authentic ingredients from a local Middle Eastern market, crafted her own version of the viral dessert, and introduced a pistachio knafeh–stuffed chocolate kit, designed specifically for customers eager to replicate the sensation at home. Although she had previously struggled to gain traction on TikTok, this time her content struck gold. When she uploaded a lighthearted video of herself and Kevin sampling their creation, the response was immediate and overwhelming. Within minutes, views climbed into the hundreds, then thousands, and soon her phone began chiming with the unmistakable sound of new orders. What started as a single sale quickly snowballed into hundreds.
By the end of that first day, Chocbox had reached the platform’s new-seller daily order limit — one hundred kits sold. The following day brought another hundred. Suddenly, the couple faced a logistical scramble: they had achieved viral success without yet having an inventory ready to meet the deluge of demand. Together with their small team, they worked tirelessly to source, assemble, and ship every box. Kevin later reflected that their ability to deliver on this sudden surge hinged on three essential factors: they already had a functional workspace; they had an experienced assistant familiar with their operations; and, by pure luck, they possessed molds slightly thicker than average — precisely what was needed for crafting the sturdy Dubai-style chocolate bars that customers craved. Ironically, those larger molds had originally been designed simply so that Brittany could offer people what she called “more chocolate.”
In the aftermath of their TikTok breakthrough, Chocbox’s growth was meteoric. Kevin, who had built a career in real estate and later transitioned into mental healthcare, decided to leave his job at the beginning of 2025 to dedicate himself full-time to the booming enterprise. Both he and Brittany set aside their previous professions to nurture the brand together. Chocbox now generates seven-figure annual revenues, a testament to how a single viral moment, leveraged with quick thinking and entrepreneurial courage, can completely transform a business. Though the couple described their income as comfortable rather than extravagant, they emphasized the immense satisfaction of building something sustainable that allows them to live independently while reinvesting profits for continued expansion.
Looking back on the tumultuous path from near closure to resounding success, Brittany speaks with conviction about the lessons she has learned. She believes that aspiring entrepreneurs need not wait for perfection before launching an idea. The essence of progress, she insists, lies in taking the first step — in presenting a concept to the world, gauging the response, and refining it through real experience. Her journey exemplifies the resilience and adaptability that often distinguish successful innovators: an individual who once disliked baking now thrives in the sweet business of empowering others to create their own confections, proving that passion and flexibility can turn even the most unexpected beginning into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-chocolate-bar-trend-side-hustle-entrepreneur-7-figure-business-2025-10
