Meet Marianna Reynolds | Confectioner and Chocolatier

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marianna Reynolds and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marianna, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Adults deserve better candy! Children are happy with treats you buy at the gas station, but we can do better! The humble candy bar has so much potential: to be fancy, to be whimsical, to actually be delicious, to be a whole universe of flavors and textures in one bit-sized hand snack. I want my product to invoke what it felt like when you had allowance money, going to the corner store and getting yourself a well-deserved treat. Chocolate is so amazing, and I definitely have fun working with it. It starts by exploring flavor combinations and visual engagement, enhanced with quality and seasonal ingredients.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What sets Jitterbug Sweets apart from other confectioners and chocolatiers is the creative use of ingredients, the ingenuity in product design, the visual appeal, and the inspiration behind the flavors. To me, these qualities make the candy bars a form of art. Ideally, each bar is designed to make the consumer think, to invoke a sense of curiosity, and to change the way you think about chocolate and its limits. Flavors are inspired by everyday life, by emotions, and by seasonal ingredients. The bars are an experience as much as they are a treat. I want the world to know that you deserve better candy, that fancy chocolate is worth the splurge, that dessert should not be a mere afterthought.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When I visit my best friend who lives in Denver, first stop in the DAM! The Denver Art Musemum is amazing inside and out, and since she works there we get a personal curated tour! Always a trip highlight. Next up checking out Stem Cider Brewery- one of the best ciders in my humble opinion. Dinner definitely includes a hatch chili burrito experience. After a night out at Grandma’s House Brewery, a trip to the Botnical Gardens is a must. I cannot wait to visit again and check out MEOW WOLF! So exciting.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people that contribute to my success and my ability to explore entrepreneurship, its been a long journey to get here. Here, which is only the beginning of the journey. I definitely could not take the risk of being self-employed without the support, both emotionally and financially, from my husband. There is no way I could do this alone. He encourages me to not waste too much time working for other people, instead working towards the end goal. As a lifelong food service worker, a professional chef, spending countless hours working in restaurants, I don’t have the resources to not take all the paid work in the world. He reminds me of the bigger goal- that it will take time to build the empire and to have faith in myself.
I have been working for a local women-owned confectioner, Katherine Anne Confections. Katherine is my boss, my mentor, and my friend. She is endlessly supportive of Jitterbug, always giving advice, supporting my growth, and teaching me about both chocolate and running a business. It takes a community to keep a project going.
I hope to someday build a community, to create jobs where people find joy and artistic fulfillment, and of course money. I want to build a product that helps people celebrate, that makes them feel special, that invokes that sense of awed curiosity.

Website: jitterbugsweets.com

Instagram: @jitterbug.sweets

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jitterbug.sweets