When Chris Kadow-Dougherty was 3 years old, she packed a little pink suitcase and tried to move to a candy store a block away from her childhood home. Unfortunately, she wasn’t allowed to cross the street alone, so her plan never quite came to fruition.

Fast forward a baker’s dozen (plus some) years, and Chris had built a successful career in non-profit development. But “fundraising is… fundraising,” as she says, and so Chris decided to enroll in The French Pastry School and pursue her dream of opening a candy store of her own.

Fifteen months after graduation, Chris had founded her own company, Whimsical Candy, and trademarked a signature small-batch candy: the La-Dee-Dah. “I love candy. I’ve always loved candy. I wanted to create something with its own identity. Not just a bon-bon.”

The La-Dee-Dah is white-chocolate nougat and sea-salt caramel pinwheel dipped in dark chocolate. “It’s a fancy name for something that’s not fancy. Three syllables, three ingredients.”

It’s an intricate six-step process to create La-Dee-Dahs (300 in each batch!) and prepare them for shipment to candy stores across the country.

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