our story part i: who they are

ELENA THE "MOM" OF CHOKKINO

I have always told you about my products but I have not yet told you anything about myself and how this amazing adventure came about. So today we start a story that will be divided into three parts: Who I am, how the idea for Chokkino came about, and why I founded Live Better.

I recently realized something: my dream of creating good, healthy products has finally come true. It was not easy (below you will find out why), but I finally I feel happy, satisfied and accomplished, and I owe it to all of you who loved our products! THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️

ELENA THE "MOM" OF CHOKKINO

I have always told you about my products but I have not yet told you anything about myself and how this amazing adventure came about. So today we start a story that will be divided into three parts: Who I am, how the idea for Chokkino came about, and why I founded Live Better.

I recently realized something: my dream of creating good, healthy products has finally come true. It was not easy (below you will find out why), but I finally I feel happy, satisfied and accomplished, and I owe it to all of you who loved our products! THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️

WHO THEY ARE.

My name is Elena, I'm 46 years old, I don't have any children (although for me my products are kind of like my children 🥰), I live in Siusi in Südtirol (but I'm from Monza) and since I'm very little I have a big dream: change the world.

There is often something heroic associated with this phrase, as if it were an almost impossible feat. In reality. each of us changes the world 🌎 every day, through all the choices we make.

In my opinion, for the world to change in a positive direction, it is necessary that each of us live with greater awareness, taking into account the consequences generated by our choices. Doing this requires us to pay attention to our actions, and in some cases makes it necessary to have some knowledge about a particular topic (for example, nutrition). The phrase you find on our packages, which is the Live Better claim, encapsulates this very thought:

Be Aware, Be Conscious, Live Better (Be Informed, Be Aware, Live Better)

WHO THEY ARE.

My name is Elena, I'm 46 years old, I don't have any children (although for me my products are kind of like my children 🥰), I live in Siusi in Südtirol (but I'm from Monza) and since I'm very little I have a big dream: change the world.

There is often something heroic associated with this phrase, as if it were an almost impossible feat. In reality. each of us changes the world 🌎 every day, through all the choices we make.

In my opinion, for the world to change in a positive direction, it is necessary that each of us live with greater awareness, taking into account the consequences generated by our choices. Doing this requires us to pay attention to our actions, and in some cases makes it necessary to have some knowledge about a particular topic (for example, nutrition). The phrase you find on our packages, which is the Live Better claim, encapsulates this very thought:

Be Aware, Be Conscious, Live Better (Be Informed, Be Aware, Live Better)

AS THEY ARE.

I have always been a very, very curious child with a lively and quick mind. I always wondered "why" and the answers I was given were rarely enough for me, because my mind wanted to understand how exactly things worked. In America they would call me a nerd 🤓, A person obsessed with knowledge, a definition that fits me like a glove.

We meet many people in life, and some of them have a strong influence on our evolution. For me a key person was Gregory, a Canadian researcher in chemistry and computational physics, in short, a half-genius. Gregory taught me the importance of researching the sources of information, because "when you make a statement you have a duty to be sure that it is correct".

So, I was already a pain in the ass from a very young age, then life brought me Gregory and my pain in the ass was elevated to the nth degree. 😜 Therefore, today I am obsessed with the evidence. Even if everyone thinks something is true to me it is not enough, I I want to dig down to the source and verify that it is really true.

AS THEY ARE.

I have always been a very, very curious child with a lively and quick mind. I always wondered "why" and the answers I was given were rarely enough for me, because my mind wanted to understand how exactly things worked. In America they would call me a nerd 🤓, A person obsessed with knowledge, a definition that fits me like a glove.

We meet many people in life, and some of them have a strong influence on our evolution. For me a key person was Gregory, a Canadian researcher in chemistry and computational physics, in short, a half-genius. Gregory taught me the importance of researching the sources of information, because "when you make a statement you have a duty to be sure that it is correct".

So, I was already a pain in the ass from a very young age, then life brought me Gregory and my pain in the ass was elevated to the nth degree. 😜 Therefore, today I am obsessed with the evidence. Even if everyone thinks something is true to me it is not enough, I I want to dig down to the source and verify that it is really true.

WHAT'S TRUE?

Throughout my life I have realized that truth is a bizarre concept and that the REAL things are very few, maybe just the laws of physics. And sometimes even those get a good shake, like when quantum physics was discovered. ⚛️

The reality is that human knowledge is constantly evolving. What we believe to be true today, perhaps even proven by scientific evidence 🔬 tomorrow may be disproved by a new discovery. So I always try to keeping an open mind And in general I abhor dogma.

This approach led me to Always question everything and to develop a very strong critical sense.

WHAT'S TRUE?

Throughout my life I have realized that truth is a bizarre concept and that the REAL things are very few, maybe just the laws of physics. And sometimes even those get a good shake, like when quantum physics was discovered. ⚛️

The reality is that human knowledge is constantly evolving. What we believe to be true today, perhaps even proven by scientific evidence 🔬 tomorrow may be disproved by a new discovery. So I always try to keeping an open mind And in general I abhor dogma.

This approach led me to Always question everything and to develop a very strong critical sense.

PROBLEMS = OPPORTUNITIES

My passion for food comes from afar: the summer of 1985. I was on vacation in Milano Marittina with grandma and little brother (of whom I was a tad jealous... 😇). At that time I got so fat That when my mom saw me again after 2 weeks, legend has it that she didn't recognize me. 🤣

This is me, in that summer of 1985, when the dieting ordeal began for me-my mom was chubby as a child and she was teased, so to prevent me from living his nightmare, he created another one for me: the diet.

In the 35 years since that summer, I've tried them ALL, but none worked and today I finally know why: Eating is my subconscious's automatic response to sadness, tiredness and boredom. I am still working on it, and someday I will find the solution to this as well. 💪🏼

For many years I held my mother's behavior against her, but today I can finally be sincerely grateful to her ❤️: what I experienced led me to study nutrition almost obsessively, Providing me with the knowledge needed to create Live Better products. 🙏🏼

My passion for food comes from afar: the summer of 1985. I was on vacation in Milano Marittina with grandma and little brother (of whom I was a tad jealous... 😇). At that time I got so fat That when my mom saw me again after 2 weeks, legend has it that she didn't recognize me. 🤣

This is me, in that summer of 1985, when the dieting ordeal began for me-my mom was chubby as a child and she was teased, so to prevent me from living his nightmare, he created another one for me: the diet.

In the 35 years since that summer, I've tried them ALL, but none worked and today I finally know why: Eating is my subconscious's automatic response to sadness, tiredness and boredom. I am still working on it, and someday I will find the solution to this as well. 💪🏼

For many years I held my mother's behavior against her, but today I can finally be sincerely grateful to her ❤️: what I experienced led me to study nutrition almost obsessively, Providing me with the knowledge needed to create Live Better products. 🙏🏼

AWARENESS

If we look at it with great honesty, we realize. Life always provides us with the experiences necessary for our highest good. The small problem is that sometimes we can't figure it out right away, and non-acceptance brings us so much suffering. Since that summer of 1985, while losing weight and gaining weight multiple times, I have read so many books 📚 on nutrition, hundreds of scientific studies, listened to dozens and dozens of interviews with doctors and nutritionists, watched countless documentaries on the subject.

My conclusion? Despite all the knowledge accumulated in recent decades, we still know very little about how the human body works. Let's say we have made a variety of assumptions, but we are still far from the "truth." 🔮

There is one thing, however, that I can state with a fair degree of certainty: we are all different, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

AWARENESS

If we look at it with great honesty, we realize. Life always provides us with the experiences necessary for our highest good. The small problem is that sometimes we can't figure it out right away, and non-acceptance brings us so much suffering. Since that summer of 1985, while losing weight and gaining weight multiple times, I have read so many books 📚 on nutrition, hundreds of scientific studies, listened to dozens and dozens of interviews with doctors and nutritionists, watched countless documentaries on the subject.

My conclusion? Despite all the knowledge accumulated in recent decades, we still know very little about how the human body works. Let's say we have made a variety of assumptions, but we are still far from the "truth." 🔮

There is one thing, however, that I can state with a fair degree of certainty: we are all different, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

PASSION = EXCELLENCE

During these years of researching nutrition, I came across "ordinary" people with no academic background on the subject, who were much better prepared than many "experts." This led me to do some reflection: what leads to excellence in a given field is passion. When you are passionate about something, it triggers an enthusiasm within you that provides you with a virtually inexhaustible energy that allows you to devote yourself body and soul to your passion. 💖

If we look at people who have achieved levels of excellence in life we will see that they have done so through a great deal of effort. Willpower in those cases is not enough, only love for what you do is able to provide you with the super powers necessary for such devotion. 🦸🏽‍♀️

There is an abysmal difference when we do something because we HAVE to or because we WANT to..

During these years of researching nutrition, I came across "ordinary" people with no academic background on the subject, who were much better prepared than many "experts." This led me to do some reflection: what leads to excellence in a given field is passion. When you are passionate about something, it triggers an enthusiasm within you that provides you with a virtually inexhaustible energy that allows you to devote yourself body and soul to your passion. 💖

If we look at people who have achieved levels of excellence in life we will see that they have done so through a great deal of effort. Willpower in those cases is not enough, only love for what you do is able to provide you with the super powers necessary for such devotion. 🦸🏽‍♀️

There is an abysmal difference when we do something because we HAVE to or because we WANT to..

THE TURNING POINT.

In 2011 Cinzia, Daniela and I were working in a company that distributed photovoltaic modules ☀️. At only 33 years old, I was the sales manager of a company that made €250 million and had a fantastic salary, but I was deeply unhappy. The company was beautiful, the people I worked with also, the industry as well, the problem was me: inside I had always wanted to create products, to be an entrepreneur.

Thus, I have decided to take a sabbatical.. Which then became three... I was lucky, I could afford it: I was alone and I had put some money away 💰. I clearly had to make choices: no more new clothes, no more dinners out, no more vacations. Were they sacrifices? No. Because was what I wanted to do: to take time for me, to heal and to understand.

During that time I worked so much on myself. To get out of the severe depression where I had fallen. I believe that unhappiness, which sometimes goes as far as depression, is a signal from our soul: "Watch out, what you are living is not your life! You are here to do something else. Wake up!" ⏰

THE TURNING POINT.

In 2011 Cinzia, Daniela and I were working in a company that distributed photovoltaic modules ☀️. At only 33 years old, I was the sales manager of a company that made €250 million and had a fantastic salary, but I was deeply unhappy. The company was beautiful, the people I worked with also, the industry as well, the problem was me: inside I had always wanted to create products, to be an entrepreneur.

Thus, I have decided to take a sabbatical.. Which then became three... I was lucky, I could afford it: I was alone and I had put some money away 💰. I clearly had to make choices: no more new clothes, no more dinners out, no more vacations. Were they sacrifices? No. Because was what I wanted to do: to take time for me, to heal and to understand.

During that time I worked so much on myself. To get out of the severe depression where I had fallen. I believe that unhappiness, which sometimes goes as far as depression, is a signal from our soul: "Watch out, what you are living is not your life! You are here to do something else. Wake up!" ⏰

SERVE

I firmly believe that each of us has a gift to share with the world and put at the service of others. I am certain that if everyone could recognize that gift and dedicate their lives to it, we would be surrounded by extraordinary people who are satisfied with their lives and excel at what they do. Can you imagine what a world that would be? 😍

The fact is that we are often so busy chasing our lives that we don't even have time to listen to ourselves. For me, stopping was crucial: allowed me to be silent within myself and forced me to observe myself. 🧐

How did I spend most of my time? Reading books and studies on nutrition. That's when I realized: I want to make products that are delicious to eat and at the same time really nutritious for our bodies! And so I took courage in both hands and decided to develop an idea I had had many years before: a pure cocoa espresso, Chokkino. ☕️

But that is another story-which I will tell you in the next chapter!

SERVE

I firmly believe that each of us has a gift to share with the world and put at the service of others. I am certain that if everyone could recognize that gift and dedicate their lives to it, we would be surrounded by extraordinary people who are satisfied with their lives and excel at what they do. Can you imagine what a world that would be? 😍

The fact is that we are often so busy chasing our lives that we don't even have time to listen to ourselves. For me, stopping was crucial: allowed me to be silent within myself and forced me to observe myself. 🧐

How did I spend most of my time? Reading books and studies on nutrition. That's when I realized: I want to make products that are delicious to eat and at the same time really nutritious for our bodies! And so I took courage in both hands and decided to develop an idea I had had many years before: a pure cocoa espresso, Chokkino. ☕️

But that is another story-which I will tell you in the next chapter!