Meet Chef Paul Joachim
Chef Paul’s Story
From the time I was a child, chocolate had a mysterious pull on me. If my parents happened to have cocoa powder in the house, I would sneak into the cupboard and eat it straight, smacking my lips at its barely tolerable bitterness yet somehow obsessed with its power. On Halloween, while others fought over candy corn and lollipops, I dug through my bag for one prize alone: Hershey’s Dark. I collected every last piece, hiding them away from my sister, my friends, and even my dad. Chocolate was my secret joy, my safe space, and my first love.
As I grew older, my love of creativity expanded alongside my love of chocolate. In high school I attended a magnet school for the visual arts, which eventually led me to pursue a BFA in Studio Art at Florida State University. My art degree taught me to communicate and create from nothing. I learned how to take a blank canvas and transform it into self-reflection, into hope, inquiry, and new insights that had not been available before. That practice gave me the mindset to explore, discover, and eventually carve out one of the most unique careers on earth.
In 2006, I made my first sculpted cake. I remember calling a friend from art school and saying, “Someday I’m going to make actual sculpture from cake.” For the next four years I pushed myself, creating as many sculpted cakes as I could for friends and colleagues, and even getting paid well for some.
Back then I was a huge Food Network junkie. I would watch Food Network Challenge and armchair quarterback, critiquing the chef’s techniques. I told my wife, “If I was on the show, I’d win.” In 2010, the call came. I was asked to compete on Food Network Challenge, which aired in October 2011.
For me, it was more than a competition. It was about confronting my deepest fears: public speaking, being seen, and breaking free of that painfully shy kid I used to be. I stepped onto that stage, I gave it everything I had, and I won. That moment changed everything.
My secret weapon was chocolate itself. While the other contestants struggled with buttercream, I used chocolate ganache as my icing. It gave me a huge advantage because it set perfectly, held strong, and never slowed me down. That choice not only helped me win the challenge, it reinforced to me that chocolate was the true medium I wanted to work with.
After winning Food Network Challenge, I began to transition out of cakes and into sculpting chocolate itself. I discovered the power and elegance of chocolate as a sculptural medium and started pairing it with immersive experiences like wine and chocolate tastings. Without ever taking a culinary class, I threw myself into the craft, experimenting relentlessly, and soon I was recognized as one of the top master chocolatiers in the world. My skills came not from formal training, but from passion, obsession, and an unshakable belief in the power of food to create safe spaces, comfort, and joy for individuals, families, and communities. The same unlimited mindset I brought to life, I brought to my art.
Through much hard work, vulnerability, and bold action I began traveling internationally, appearing on national and international TV shows, sometimes even live. I found myself giving opening keynotes, sculpting, and hosting tastings at parties for billionaires and VIP events. The world of chocolate had become my world, and my career accelerated into something beyond what I ever imagined.
And yet, as exciting as the fame and opportunities were, what I discovered along the way was far deeper. My journey began with chocolate as art and performance, but over time it opened me to chocolate as something much more: a source of wellness, energy, and emotional connection. This evolution further awakened me to the discovery of wild harvested cacao from the Amazon, gathered by Indigenous communities in harmony with the rainforest. Experiencing this cacao was unlike anything else I had ever tasted, pure, powerful, medicinal, and profoundly moving. It revealed the sacred dimension of chocolate and deepened my commitment to sharing it as a force for connection and transformation.
Chocolate has also awakened something spiritual in me through my live chocolate speed sculpting. I enter a state of flow that is effortless and intuitive, where accuracy becomes pristine without thought and everything feels interconnected. At first the flow belonged only to the sculpture in front of me. Over time I discovered it could expand into conversations, into shared laughter with guests, and into the collective energy of a room and beyond. Chocolate revealed to me the seamless interconnectedness of life itself.
After winning Food Network Challenge, I began to transition out of cakes and into sculpting chocolate itself. I discovered the power and elegance of chocolate as a sculptural medium and started pairing it with immersive experiences like wine and chocolate tastings. Without ever taking a culinary class, I threw myself into the craft, experimenting relentlessly, and soon I was recognized as one of the top master chocolatiers in the world. My skills came not from formal training, but from passion, obsession, and an unshakable belief in the power of food to create safe spaces, comfort, and joy for individuals, families, and communities. The same unlimited mindset I brought to life, I brought to my art.
As Vice President of the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund, my journey has deepened even further. In building relationships with cacao farmers, I have been invited into conversations and connections that neither they nor I could have imagined. Across cultures and continents we discovered openings of trust, resonance, and shared spirit. Through these exchanges we found something extraordinary: that at our core, we are not separate at all, we are one.
Now I am transforming my relationship with chocolate from personal passion to intentional practice. Chocolate is no longer just food or art. It is a tool of wellness, a path of reconnection. Through sacred tastings, sculpting experiences, sound, breath, and spoken intention, I invite others to rediscover their wholeness. To realign with joy, with the Earth, and with the truth that we are inseparable from one another.
Chocolate began as my secret treasure. Today it is my gift to the world.