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Meet Our Parent with a Purpose

April 8, 2017

One of my favorite things about publishing Macaroni Kid Chicago Midtown is the chance to connect with other parents in our community. Often times these connections inspire us and remind us of the ability of one person to make a difference. It is with this in mind that I have launched a new article series called Parent with a Purpose. My hope is to introduce you to some amazing parents living right in our community who not only are doing unique and wonderful things but also deserve to have some attention brought to their mission.

Katherine Duncan is a local mom who owns Katherine Anne Confections. I’m so excited to share Katherine's purpose with everyone!

Please get to know this local mom a little better and find out how you can be a part of her purpose!



What is your MISSION/PURPOSE?
What do you want to accomplish? The end goal is to make people happy, and we accomplish that via delicious chocolate :) The goal is to make delightful confections in a sustainable manner. We use the term sustainability broadly - from paying our staff a living wage and offering health insurance, to using local ingredients that haven’t traveled far and also keeping our money in the local economy. We also compost our food waste, and use fair-trade cacao which ensures well above market wages for cacao farmers. And, of course, we put a lot of work in to making the best truffles, caramels, marshmallows and drinking chocolate we possibly can!

What inspired/encouraged you towards this mission? Is there one specific moment when you knew this was what you wanted to do? I knew I wanted to start my own business when I was 22 and looking at a promotion at my current job. I had always thought about it, but was waiting for a booming voice to tell me it was time. That didn’t quite happen, of course - I just did it, and made a ton of mistakes/learned a LOT in those first few years. The mistakes have slowed down somewhat, thank goodness, though I’m still learning every day. The mission started off as just wanting to make chocolate, and slowly morphed into the sustainable model we have today. It’s our way of making the world a little bit of a better place.

How did your life before children influence the parent you are today? (Work, experiences)  What part do your children play in your current mission? I work a lot on the business, and my husband/partner and I make our daughter, Gwyneth, part of that. At 2, she “washes dishes” (we make sure to have a spare outfit, of course) and she asks to help all the time. We’ve always had this idea that she would spend time with us at the business, and that’s surely come to fruition. 

What lessons/values are you learning through this process? What lessons/values do you hope your kids are learning? One of the many goals is for our children (baby boy is due April 1) is to value work and experience the satisfaction that comes at the end of a productive day. That’s one of many basic values such a kindness, respect, politeness, etc. We’ve all heard the saying “work smart, not hard” - we teach working smart AND hard.

What do you do to take care of yourself and how do you make time to do it? I prioritize sleeping and eating well over many things, so that takes priority. If it means we don’t get to see folks for long dinners, so be it. We cook in large batches so we have leftovers, incorporating lots of veggies. I don’t stress out when we have to eat out occasionally - we’ve got enough things to stress about as it is, right?? We also get a good deal of family time, and always sit down to eat dinner together - that’s incredibly rewarding to me! Gwyneth has also started on “the basics” at 2, like putting her shoes away, or her dishes in the dishwasher at the end of a meal.

What can we do to support you and your purpose? We always enjoy meeting like-minded people. We’re hoping to open a patio this spring, so come enjoy a drinking chocolate (hot or iced) in this bipolar weather.

So inspiring to learn more about this local business woman and mom! And I'll definitely be stopping by Katherine Anne Confections soon for a yummy treat!

Macaroni Kid isn't the only one impressed by these local parents. I'm excited to be able to offer (non-edible) treats from other Chicago local businesses to Katherine to thank her for our work in the community. Thank you to these awesome sponsors for helping me recognize Katherine and all of our Parents with a Purpose!

Do you know someone who fits the Parent with a Purpose bill? Maybe it's your neighbor, friend, child's teacher - send them our way! All you have to do is email me their name, email and why you think they're perfect for a Parent with a Purpose feature and I'll take it from there!

saray@macaronikid.com