Arlene Brockel '02
Despite 10 to 12 hour work days, Arlene Brockel '02, looks forward to her job each and every day, making and selling handmade candies at her Bethlehem shop, the Chocolate Lab. It wasn't always so for this energetic entrepreneur, who spent 19 years working on an assembly-line for a medical products company.
Now, instead of assembling IV sets, she puts her creative juices to work making unique candies, offering her customers mouth-watering treats that can't be found anywhere else. Her "inside-out peanut butter cups," with the peanut butter on the outside and rich chocolate on the inside, are known throughout the Lehigh Valley.
The 2002 NCC culinary arts graduate actually began her culinary "training" as a child. "Growing up in an Italian family, I was always allowed to pitch in and help in the kitchen," says Arlene. "My parents encouraged me to cook and bake; they even gave me money to buy the ingredients. I'm lucky – a lot of parents won't even let their kids in the kitchen."
After graduation from Liberty High School in 1982, she headed off for a factory job, ignoring her culinary talents. She made a comfortable living, but found the job to be unfulfilling. So when she heard the company might relocate her division overseas, she knew it was time to make a change. While still working 40 hours a week, she enrolled in NCC's culinary program full-time, somehow successfully juggling the two responsibilities. Her intention was to open a bakery when she graduated.
"The culinary program was inspiring. I learned so much from Chef Duncan. All of the instructors were great," says Arlene.
It was during her four-day class on chocolate tempering as part of the culinary program that Arlene found her true love. She followed this up with another course at a candy supply shop. Soon, she was making candy for her family and friends, who told her she needed to "share her chocolate with the world."
So when the lay-off became a reality, she took her severance pay and launched the Chocolate Lab, with her boyfriend, Matt Metzger, as the co-owner, in September 2002. A Bethlehem native and frequent shopper downtown, Arlene found an ideal location: a store was available on the section of Broad Street in Bethlehem that was being reopened to vehicular traffic after many years, giving it good visibility.
She says that her store has its own niche in the marketplace: while other candy-makers use mass production techniques, she makes unique home-made confections fresh everyday, combining a wide variety of ingredients. For example, she prepares her "banana splits" with white chocolate, banana liqueur, dried strawberries and bananas, peanuts and milk chocolate. Products range from chocolate-covered pretzels and potato chips to jelly-bean bark to hand-painted custom items to party favors to custom candy wrappers.
She has devoured dozens of candy-making texts in search of new recipes and she constantly experiments with ingredients to come up with her successes. She says she recently changed from using compound coating chocolate (the small wafers that can be found in many candy supply and arts & crafts stores), to tempered chocolate, which produces a higher quality product.
During holiday seasons, Arlene works 10 to 14 hours a day, producing all of the candy on the premises. "The hours are long, there can be a lot of stress, but it's all worth it because I have a job I love. What more could you ask for?" says Arlene. She says she couldn't do it without the assistance of Janet Metzger, her co-owner's mother, who works in the store. Arlene exclaims, "Janet is great. She is a cheerleader for me."
Other supporters include her father, "who taught me you can do anything"; her business manager, Dave McCormack, who decorated the shop; and a host of friends, family and loyal customers who keep coming back for more.
Arlene says her success is especially sweet because there have been others in her life who were more negative about what she could achieve. "Those people gave me just one more reason to go out and do it." Arlene says she encourages others to follow their dreams.
"Just take a step and try. It wasn't easy for me. I went to school and worked full time. But if you think you can do something you can," she says. She continues, "We limit ourselves as people. We're our own worst enemies. You just have to believe in yourself: if you have a dream, just do it. What's the worst that could happen? You can fall on your backside and start over again," she says.
"Sometimes it takes people a long time to figure out what they want. I always knew there was something out there that was better for me. Then the light bulb went on," she says.
