My Journey from Trauma to Transformation: Building Australia's First Indigenous Chocolate Social Enterprise

Reflections from my conversation with Melanie Greblo on the Humans of Purpose podcast

You know that feeling when you're living your life, doing the best you can with whatever resources you have, just putting one foot in front of the other? From the inside looking out, you can miss the real facts of what you've actually achieved. Then someone like Melanie looks from the outside in, and when you let them see the inside story, they verbalise what they observe you've accomplished. It's humbling. It's unbelievable. It's affirming.

During my recent conversation with Melanie Greblo on her Humans of Purpose podcast, I found myself sharing the journey of Chocolate On Purpose with fresh eyes. What emerged wasn't just a business story, but a reflection on how intuition, healing, and ancestral wisdom can organically create something far bigger than you initially imagined.

The Seeds of Purpose: Why I Really Started This Business

When I trace back to the beginning, Chocolate On Purpose wasn't born from a business plan or market research. It emerged from a deeply personal journey of healing and reconnection as a purpose-driven entrepreneur.

As a proud Wiradjuri woman who was removed from my father's family at age five, I grew up with hidden Aboriginality. The intergenerational trauma manifested in ways that made safety feel elusive - something my Wiradjuri language teacher explained as being like "only having as many children as you can grab and run with, because that's how dangerous it was." That foundational insecurity shaped me into someone who played it very, very safe.

But life has a way of pushing you towards your purpose. After a traumatic armed holdup at the bank where I worked, I developed PTSD and panic disorder. It was through the phytochemicals of plants that I addressed my first panic attack and never had another one. This awakening to the power of plants led me to study aromatic medicine, but I struggled to find a sustainable way to share this knowledge - people would stop their healthcare when money got tight, but they wouldn't stop self-medicating with things like alcohol.

I needed a universal language. That's when chocolate entered my world.

During a chocolate-making studies, when the teacher mentioned making dark chocolate with black pepper, something clicked. Black pepper is an essential oil. Maybe this was how I could share the power of plants in a way people wouldn't abandon when times got tough. Today, that same intuition guides my signature Finger Lime Dark Chocolate - where ancient plant wisdom meets modern chocolate craft.

But then came what I call one of those moments when the Ancestors dropped something into my consciousness. I was brainstorming Amazonian superfoods with my friend Jo when I suddenly looked at her and said, "No, I'm going to use Bush Foods, because that's what my Ancestors have used for over 60,000 years."

That was the day bush food chocolate was born. A few days later, standing in a car park saying goodbye to friends, another moment of clarity struck: "Chocolate On Purpose - because chocolate will be the vehicle to drive the mission."

Building a Social Enterprise Without Blueprints

What fascinates me now, looking back through Melanie's perspective, is how the three pillars of my social enterprise - People, Planet, and Equity - developed organically. I wasn't following a social enterprise handbook; I was following my heart and my Cultural values.

PEOPLE: Supporting Indigenous Communities and Cacao Farmers

PEOPLE became central because as I learned more about my supply chain, I discovered the complexities everywhere I looked. Cacao farmers living on subsistence wages, modern slavery, the climate effects of deforestation. I partnered with the charity Cocoa Horizons that addresses not just fair trade, but these deeper issues. Through this collaboration, I now contribute to supporting over 38,000 women in their endeavours as cacao farmers.

Then I learned about the Australian bushfood and botanical supply chain - despite being built on our intellectual and Cultural property, there's less than 2% Indigenous representation. As I studied my Wiradjuri Heritage, Culture and Language, I discovered that women are traditionally the matriarchal holders of these plant knowledge systems. This realisation led to my commitment to employ Indigenous women aged 45+, both to help them reclaim this ancestral knowledge and because this demographic represents the fastest-growing cohort of all Australian women at risk of social isolation and homelessness.

PLANET: Sustainable Chocolate Production

PLANET considerations emerged as I discovered the environmental impact of my ingredients. Learning about palm oil and how they destroy the peat moss (the cooling mantle of the earth) because the palm tree won't grow in it and, devastatingly, it never grows back, I made the decision to keep palm oil out of my chocolate entirely. My commitment to full traceability means I can track every cacao bean back to the farm and farmers' collective where it's grown, ensuring ethical sourcing, addressing deforestation, diversifying crops, and promoting carbon sequestering.

EQUITY: Fair Trade and Indigenous Representation

EQUITY became non-negotiable as I witnessed the inequalities throughout my supply chain. Ensuring cacao farmers receive fair trade and living wages, building Indigenous-led supply chains, and working to increase Indigenous representation above that shocking 2% figure - these weren't business strategies, they were moral imperatives that flowed naturally from my values.

The Moment of Recognition: Discovering I Had Built a Social Enterprise

The beautiful irony is that I didn't even realise I had created a social enterprise. It took meeting Tom Dawkins and travelling to the 2022 World Social Enterprise Forum on a bus with 50 other social entrepreneurs for someone to tell me, "You've got a social enterprise." I kept protesting, "No, it's for a profit business. I need a retirement strategy!" But Andrew from Social Traders was on that bus too, insisting I was in fact a social enterprise and told me his staff would expect my call. 🙂

That's when I began the rigorous process of certification and discovered this flourishing community of incredible humans who, like me, had built businesses that create social value and change - often without initially realising that's what we were doing.

Through Melanie's Eyes: Recognising Extraordinary Impact

What struck me most about my conversation with Melanie was how she articulated what I couldn't see from the inside. She described my journey as "remarkable" and "extraordinary," noting the resilience, tenacity, and absolute commitment to integrity that she observed. She spoke about the "visceral reaction" she had to my story and how I'd transformed disconnection into something so powerful.

When she said, "It's truly remarkable... the courage... to transform that disconnection into something so powerful that you're doing now is extraordinary," I felt seen in a way I hadn't expected. From the inside, it often feels like I just kept keeping on, going to bed crying thinking I can't do this anymore, then waking up to that voice asking, "Well, what's on the To Do List?"

Melanie helped me understand that this resilience might be "built into your DNA" - something many social entrepreneurs share. We tend to come to our work through lived experience, driven by an innate need to make a difference, making business decisions that support that vision even when we don't have the language for what we're creating.

The Power of Authentic Vulnerability in Purpose-Driven Business

What I've come to understand through this conversation is that when someone like Melanie reflects back what they see, it's a reminder that what feels like "just keeping on" from the inside might actually be something extraordinary from the outside. But here's the deeper truth - being your authentic self is what allows someone like Mel to truly see from the outside in. And perhaps that's where the real purpose lives.

When you're vulnerable enough to share your genuine story - the disconnection, the trauma, the moments of doubt alongside the moments of ancestral clarity - you create space for others to witness not just what you've built, but why you've built it. The authenticity becomes a bridge that lets people see beyond the business model to the heart of the mission.

I think this is why Melanie could see what I couldn't. When you strip away the business jargon and share the raw truth of your journey, you invite others to witness your purpose in action. They can see how every decision, every struggle, every breakthrough has been guided by something deeper than profit margins - by values, by healing, by a commitment to making things better for those who come after you.

The purpose doesn't live in the business plan; it lives in the authentic expression of who you are and what you believe the world needs. When you're brave enough to be that authentic, others can see your purpose more clearly than you can sometimes see it yourself.

The Universal Language of Chocolate: Creating Community Impact

What I've discovered through farmers markets and now through my online presence is that when I share the traditional use of native plants alongside their proven scientific benefits, people become deeply curious. We seamlessly move into conversations about greater Indigenous issues - like when I share how quandong reduces blood sugar levels while offering it in my Walking On Country plant-based chocolate bar, or explain the anti-inflammatory properties of finger lime while people taste my signature dark chocolate.

From farmers markets to corporate gifts boardrooms, I've found that every chocolate bar becomes a conversation starter about reconciliation, sustainability, and the power of Indigenous knowledge systems. We seamlessly move into conversations about greater Indigenous issues - like quandong being scientifically proven to reduce blood sugar levels, while diabetes remains endemic in Indigenous communities.

I feel that in my very small way, I'm contributing to reconciliation. In my mind's eye, reconciliation cannot happen without that first level of understanding - awareness, understanding, and acceptance of historical truths. Chocolate has become that universal language I was searching for, creating space for these important conversations while honouring the 60,000+ years of plant knowledge my ancestors have maintained.

Looking Forward: The Ngunggilanha Vision

As I scale the business through my current NSW grant project - the Ngunggilanha Native Garden & Chocolate Nexus - I'm creating something that embodies all these organically developed principles. Visitors will experience:

• Entry through a native garden planted by Indigigrow
• A yarning circle for Cultural connection
• Chocolate-making observation through viewing windows
• Chocolate-making observation through viewing windows
• Tasting workshops connecting garden plants to chocolate ingredients

If you're curious about experiencing this journey yourself before the full Ngunggilanha experience opens, you can explore our current workshops - where we already offer that same connection between Country, plants, and chocolate through guided experiences.

This isn't just business expansion; it's Cultural preservation, education, and empowerment all wrapped into one delicious experience.

The Deeper Truth: Business as a Vehicle for Healing

What Melanie helped me recognise is that Chocolate On Purpose was never really about chocolate. It was about something bigger than me and the business. It's about using business as a vehicle for healing - personal healing, community healing, and healing the broken systems in our supply chains. It's about proving that you can build something commercially viable while staying true to Cultural values and creating positive change.

The three pillars of People, Planet, and Equity weren't strategic decisions - they were the natural expression of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing. The ngunggilanha (reciprocity) and community care that's always been at the heart of how we do business as Aboriginal people simply flowed through my business model because that's who I am.

If this story resonates with you... I'd love to hear about your own journey with purpose-driven work. For those wanting to follow this continuing story, our Walumarra (Protector) Chocolate Mob newsletter shares the behind-the-scenes journey of building something meaningful - you can join us at ChocolateOnPurpose.com.au.

And for that reflection, that recognition, that affirmation - thanks, Mel. It means more than you know.

You can listen to the interview here

Fiona Harrison is the founder of Chocolate On Purpose, Australia's first Indigenous chocolate business and certified social enterprise. Based on Gundungurra Country in Moss Vale, NSW, she creates handmade chocolate featuring native botanicals sourced from Aboriginal growers, while advocating for greater Indigenous representation in the bushfood industry and employing Indigenous women aged 45+