About Chicago Chocolate Tours founder Valerie Beck 
Valerie Beck, a native of Chicago, earned a BA from Harvard College and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Valerie is a multiple entrepreneur. She started Chicago Chocolate Tours because she loves Chicago, she loves chocolate, and she loves people.
While pondering which of her favorite chocolate shops to visit for a box of chocolates for her mother - and a few bonbons for herself - Valerie was struck by how many wonderful chocolate shops there are in Chicago, and wondered why there wasn't a chocolate tour. She had created impromptu chocolate tours for friends while living in Europe, and doing the same in her hometown of Chicago seemed like a natural step. So, when a group of Valerie's friends came to town and wanted to do something fun and different, they were delighted when she took them on the very first Chicago Chocolate Tour in November 2005. The store owners and managers - who knew Valerie as a frequent shopper - welcomed the friends warmly. Other shoppers in the stores asked if this were a tour and if they could join the next one. Valerie said yes, handed them a newly printed business card, and Chicago Chocolate Tours was up and running.
Chicago Chocolate Tours takes locals and visitors to tried-and-true Chicago chocolate shop favorites, as well as chocolate boutiques and pastry shops that are tucked-away hidden treasures. The tours appeal to groups such as client entertainment parties, networking groups, companies planning employee outings, conventioneers, bachelorette parties, family reunions, and locals in search of something new. In addition to walking tours, Valerie and her team also provide seated chocolate tastings, multi-chocolatier gift baskets, and Chocolate of the Month Club memberships. And, in 2008 Valerie began offering Cocoa Cruises in the Mediterranean and New England. Details on all of the above are at www.chicagochocolatetours.com.
Valerie is also an Independent Sales Director with Mary Kay (www.marykay.com/vbeck ), and is the author of Romance Around the Corner: 8 Steps Toward Attracting the Man of Your Dreams and Having Fun in the Process! (www.romancearoundthecorner.com ).
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Valerie practiced as a lawyer in Europe and Chicago at firms including Winston & Strawn. Today, she speaks at seminars on alternative careers for lawyers, and has been featured at events sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association, The Law Bulletin, the U.S. Department of Education’s Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Northwestern Law School, and her alma mater Harvard Law School. She also speaks to corporate and other groups on topics such as how to follow your heart and live authentically.
Valerie volunteers for organizations such as Assist Her , which provides positive programs for disadvantaged and at-risk girls in Chicago. She also supports CARE, a not-for-profit that helps women in impoverished countries start and grow businesses, and she leads other businesspeople and professionals to join her in volunteering for the annual Turner Drew Chicago Public School's fifth grade Career Day and Science Fair. Valerie is active in civic and business organizations including the Chicago Area chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, where she is the 2008-2009 President Elect, having served on the Board of Directors and as chair of the Diversity Committee, and having been recognized as the 2007-08 Member of the Year.
A Pilates junkie, Valerie also loves tennis, sailing, travel, celebrating anything from holidays to Tuesdays with family and friends, and home decoration, having had her new place in Chicago's sizzling South Loop painted her favorite shades of lime, lemon, and orange -- with touches of chocolate, of course.
Valerie can be reached at 312-929-2939 and valerie@chicagochocolatetours.com.
Uplift Through Chocolate!