Top This Chocolate was the brainchild of our Founder and Chief Executive Chocolatier Shana Elson who initially began her career as an attorney. When she found that path was no longer fulfilling, Shana began taking pastry and chocolatier classes on the weekends. With dreams of opening her own dessert business, Shana returned to USC Marshall School of Business and earned an MBA in entrepreneurship. 

Having to come up with a new business idea for a class project and bored with the options for her nightly chocolate fix, Shana developed the idea of a shop where people could get what they wanted in their chocolate. She entered the idea into the Women’s New Venture Pitch Competition and won the $25,000 first place prize! The vote of confidence and startup money gave her the push she needed to do the hard work toward launching her own custom chocolate business! Shana opened the first store in 2019 by the sea in beautiful Ventura, CA. 

In her spare time she enjoys jogging on the beach, attending concerts and eating adventurously (really, there is nothing she won’t try once).