I had a great experience today, and I thought I would share it with you…

A confident young man named Ronald came into my store today with Chocolate Almonds!

I love chocolate, and chocolate-covered almonds are even better.

It made my day.

You see, these aren’t just any chocolate-covered almonds.

These chocolate almonds are part of a long-running program called “Youth Development Sales,” whereby youth in our community can assert themselves and sell these almonds to the public, thereby being constructive during after-school hours.  The young people work on commission and gain valuable business experience, while avoiding some less constructive alternatives.

Being young, and a teenager, is tough, and with all of the recreational drugs and issues you face when in this age group, it is great there are healthier alternatives.

I, myself, sold Chocolate Almonds on Vancouver Island over a decade ago, and the box that these almonds come in doesn’t seem to have changed!  If I do recall correctly, I helped fund my sister’s band trip by selling these almonds.

Now, while this young man was in my store, I had the opportunity to ask him some interesting questions about his job.

To sum up our conversation, this is what he mentioned about selling these Chocolate Almonds.

He said he’d been working for this company for 3-4 years now, and had originally gotten involved after finding the job posting in the newspaper.

He had been an acting student, but wanted to work on being more outspoken and outgoing.  As well, he liked the incentive factor: if he worked hard, he would earn more. While working for this company, he said that he had met many different people, and in the future, he would like to pursue an entrepreneurial career.

My last question that I asked him was if he ever had a story that stood out while he was selling these delicious chocolate almonds.

His reply: he’d been outside a liquor store, and a couple of people came out that were definitely going to have a party.  They purchased 28 boxes of chocolate almonds!

Thanks, Ronald, for stopping into our Essentia store today, and selling me a box of Chocolate Almonds with a good cause behind them.

Bottom line, it’s inspiring when young people are active in their communities and take charge of their futures.