For Food Sustainability
Candice Peytour
Cofounder, Encuentro Chocolate
France
An engineer by trade, Candice Peytour calls herself “self-taught in chocolate.” Despite a lack of formal training or experience in the cocoa industry, the French native was inspired to cofound her chocolate company with her husband after traveling to the Dominican Republic for an internship in logistics. There, she developed a love for the Caribbean island’s people and natural treasures. “I discovered that the country is [one of the] leading exporters of organic cocoa beans, but that there is almost no processing know-how locally,” she says of the region’s cocoa farmers, who she says are often exploited by large manufacturers.
(Above) Encuentro Chocolate Cofounder Candice Peytour holds a bar of her company’s sustainably-sourced chocolate
(Right) Peytour in the Dominican Republic, where she drew inspiration to support local cocoa production
“That triggered my thinking about creating a chocolate business…with the key words: taste, quality and ethics,” she says. Peytour returned to France with a dual purpose: to support organic local farmers and cooperatives like those in the Dominican Republic, and to end harmful industry practices that she says include child labor, biodiversity loss and unhealthy processing methods. In 2017, Encuentro opened its doors in Paris, specializing in artisanal chocolates made with ethically sourced, carefully refined high-quality cocoa that Peytour says is used in only 2% of all chocolate production worldwide. Since its opening, Encuentro has been recognized by the Salon du Chocolat, a yearly international chocolate industry trade fair, as the Top 25 “Best of the Best.” Besides making delicious chocolate, the company’s bean-to-bar process also ensures local producers are paid a fair price—compensating, on average, 3.5x the industry rate, she says—and its manufacturing facility produces no food waste, transforming 100% of all cocoa into chocolate products. “Use your business to create a better world,” she says, “not to make you rich.”
Below, meet three members of the Bold Open Database’s emerging global network. Each business leader’s story offers a unique answer to the question: Why does the world need more women entrepreneurs?
The Bold Opportunities For Peytour
Encuentro is self-funded, with slow and steady growth, in need of more space, more stock, more employees and more partners. Peytour hopes she can leverage the Bold Open Database to gain visibility and support to grow in an industry she describes as largely male-dominated. “It was quite late that I understood that I would not be given my place,” she says. “Registering on the Bold Open Database is one of those things you do to take your place.”
Access Across Africa
Thabile Makhoba’s entrepreneurial aspirations began when the pandemic halted her career in the events sector and she moved back to her hometown of Heidelberg, South Africa. Like in many small towns around the country, network lags and other connectivity issues were a consistent problem. “I saw an opportunity in the telco space, and I grabbed it full force,” she says. “I found it a challenge at first, but I soon realized that the only way one overcomes fear is to face it. I [also wanted to] start breaking the stigma behind women in tech.”
Thabile Makhoba
Founder and CEO,
Makhoba Professional Services
South Africa
(Above) Founder and CEO Thabile Makhoba poses in a jacket sporting her company’s logo
(Left) An aerial view of one of the network hub towers serviced by MPS
In Finance
Dembiermont is interested in meeting and supporting other women in her industry. The Bold Database’s growing list of members can help connect her with new partners, clients and employees.
“We've been growing the business with people that we trust, but they've been difficult to find in terms of hiring or bringing in partners,” she says. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to get into Bold…We’re always looking for the right people.”
The Bold Resources For Dembiermont
On the eve of her wedding in 2010, Dorothée Dembiermont learned her employer’s doors were shuttering. But that came as good news for the bride.
“It was actually exactly what I needed,” says the UK-based entrepreneur. “The company was closing down so we had clients sitting there, we had projects sitting there. So we acted and quickly picked up what was there.”
Recognizing an opportunity to capitalize on the closure, Dembiermont and a colleague launched Voltaire Financial, a real-estate advisory boutique with expertise in capital sourcing.
(Above) Voltaire Financial Cofounder Dorothée Dembiermont
(Right) Dembiermont at the site of one of Voltaire’s commercial residential projects
They quickly amassed a portfolio spanning most asset classes, from hospitality to renewable energies, and started securing deals up to €500M—which Dembiermont says are some of London’s largest. Though Voltaire’s numbers skyrocketed early, the company still maintains just half a dozen employees, with Dembiermont the only female.
“It’s not always easy to be understood as a woman, partner and mother,” she explains of working in what she describes as a male-dominated industry.
There are some things her male colleagues simply can’t understand, she says: She worked from her hospital bed just after giving birth to her second child, closing a deal the next business day. But they vocally recognize that her position brings a needed perspective, she says.
“It's good to have people to challenge,” Dembiermont notes, “and they challenge me as well.”
Dembiermont believes that her position as a woman not only offers a fresh point of view–but also helps to establish rapport with new potential clients. Instead of traditional marketing or public relations, Voltaire Financial relies on reputation and referrals to grow business.
Dorothée Dembiermont
Co-Founder, Voltaire Financial
United Kingdom
Across The Globe
The stories of Peytour, Makhoba and Dembiermont are just some of those from women across the globe who are leading change in every sector. They have broken barriers, established and scaled successful businesses and diversified yesterday’s entrepreneurial landscape.
Yet, despite their successes, female entrepreneurs rarely receive widespread recognition and acclaim. That’s why Veuve Clicquot—a brand pioneered by one of Europe’s first female entrepreneurs—built the Bold Open Database: to help them be seen, get recognized and connect with new resources.
Makhoba sees the Bold database as an opportunity to help grow MPS and its staff of skilled women, as well as a resource for future generations across Africa.
“I would encourage…youth and African women to take advantage of the Bold platform,” Makhoba says. “It is a huge talent pool… so that they can get access to opportunities not only within their community, but have an external cross-border reach.”
The Bold Possibilities For Makhoba
Click Here To Register For The Bold Open Database
After rigorous self-training to overcome a lack of industry experience, Makhoba launched Makhoba Professional Services, a 100% female-owned business providing commercial and residential high-speed broadband internet in both rural and urban areas. MPS grew more quickly than even Makhoba expected, and within months opened an office in Johannesburg.
Now, her sights are set on expansion.
“We want to provide services across the African continent because there is such a huge demand,” she says. ”We install towers, we maintain towers, and…they heavily rely on that telecommunication [infrastructure] to have connectivity.”
MPS also provides cloud computing services, cabling solutions, site surveys, installations, network support and more. “There are a lot of young girls who don't have female entrepreneurs to look up to…[We can] show them that it is possible to become a leader in an industry of which you have little knowledge,” she says. “We strive in anything that we set our mind to, so women entrepreneurs are really key to the future.”
To Rethink Strategies
To Innovate Telecom
To Foster New Trust
To Cultivate Connection