About the Team
Chicago Chocolate Tours is brought to you by a team of Tourguides, Managers and more, all called Choc Stars!
Tara Brooks, Marketing Intern
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate
Tara joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours in April 2010 and is thrilled to be interning with us! When Tara is not at Chicago Chocolate Tours she is a student at Northwestern University double majoring in Music Performance and Business.
Heidi Holladay, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate
Heidi has been a Chicago Chocolate Tours Tourguide since July of 2008. She has a background in education so she naturally likes to teach. Chocolate is now one of her favorite subjects! She also took a year off from teaching to go to pastry school here in Chicago where she fell in love with chocolate. She has also traveled and taken lots of tours, therefore she knows how to create an enjoyable outing for guests. Heidi loves being a Chicago Chocolate Tours Tourguide because she gets to share information about chocolate and meet all of the wonderful guests. When Heidi is not serving as a Tourguide, she is teaching second grade at The Laboratory School at the University of Chicago.
Tiffany Keane, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate Truffles
Tiffany loves being a Tourguide because she loves seeing and making everyone smile. Tiffany joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in July 2010. She is the perfect Tourguide because she loves making people happy and entertained and she loves chocolate. When Tiffany is not touring, she is an intern at Lifeline Theater Company and Artistic Home.
Claire Kennedy, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate, especially with Maple!
Ever since Claire was a little girl, she has been obsessed with chocolate! Whenever she was having a bad day, her mom would sit with her and bring out a box of chocolate. Having just a little bit of chocolate would always cheer her up! Now, she does the same thing for her friends and always keeps a chocolate bar in her purse for emergencies. Claire joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in May 2010. She loves being a Chicago Chocolate Tours tourguide because she loves having the opportunity to meet a variety of amazing new people and share her love of chocolate with them! Everyone she has met has had an amazing story to tell and she loves seeing their faces light up when they taste an amazing chocolate sample. When she is not touring, Claire is a student at Northwestern University for Journalism with a minor in Theater.
Caroline King, Marketing Intern
Favorite Chocolate: Milk Chocolate
Caroline joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in May 2010 and is thrilled to be the Marketing intern in order to get more experience in the field and be around her all-time favorite food - chocolate! She is the perfect Marketing Intern because she can relate well to other chocolate fanatics. When she is not interning at Chicago Chocolate Tours she is a student at Northwestern University.
Leah Koch, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Chocolate and Raspberries
Leah was raised in Chicago and loves to show off her city. She, of course, loves chocolate and loves getting to share it with other people. Leah joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in June 2010 and she loves getting to meet interesting people, helping them have a great experience and eating lots of chocolate! When Leah is not touring, she is a student.
Alex Knell, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Fruit dipped in dark and white chocolate fondue
Alex grew up surrounded by sweets. Her grandparents owned Knell’s Bakery on Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh, her mom’s first job in high school was at a doughnut shop, and Alex's first job was at an ice cream and cake-making store. Alex joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in July 2010 and she loves meeting the guests and sharing all of the fun facts about Chicago and chocolate with them. When Alex is not touring, she is an actor, film editor, and also practices French.
Laura Kruegel, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate with walnuts, hazelnuts, or pecans
Laura is in love with Chicago and chocolate which is why she is the perfect Chicago Chocolate Tours Tourguide! Laura joined the team in June 2010. She loves sharing this magical city with people and enjoying new chocolate treats with them. People are so happy when chocolate is involved and she loves being a part of that! When Laura is not touring, she acting and exploring the outdoors.
CatieLeigh Laszewski, Tourguide and Administrative Assistant
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate
When CatieLeigh was little, her mom used to have to hide all of the chocolate in the house – otherwise she would go to bake chocolate chip cookies and there wouldn’t be any chocolate chips! CatieLeigh has been with Chicago Chocolate Tours since April 2008. She loves being a Chicago Chocolate Tours tourguide because loves meeting new people, she loves Chicago, and she loves chocolate! CatieLeigh graduated from Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts in Vocal Performance and when she is not touring, she is a working performer around the world.
Samantha McDonald, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate with Raspberries
Samantha joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team of Choc Stars in February 2010. She loves being a Chicago Chocolate Tours Tourguide because she loves to talk with people and tell stories! She also loves chocolate and has a huge sweet tooth. But don't worry she will share! She feels grateful that she gets the chance to share amazing chocolate knowledge with amazing people! When she is not touring Samantha is busy being an actor, sword fighter and dog walker.
Blake McKay, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Milk Chocolate covered Strawberries
Blake joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in June of 2010 and loves meeting new people from all over. She is the perfect Tourguide because she enjoys sharing her love of chocolate and engaging guests with new and fascinating flavors. When Blake is not touring, she is dancing, acting, writing poetry, practicing yoga, and spending time with loved ones.
Kerri Morrison, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter
Kerri loves chocolate and performing and working at Chicago Chocolate Tours she gets to combine those two worlds into one! Could it get any better? Kerri has been working with Chicago Chocolate Tours since May 2010 and loes being a Chicago Chocolate Tours tourguide because she is able to share hidden treasures of the city and her love of chocolate with new people. When Kerri is not touring, she is an actress and improviser around Chicago.
Jenny Nelson, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate
Jenny joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in July 2010. She loves being a Chicago Chocolate Tours Tourguide because she loves to entertain people and finds its even more fun to entertain people when the subject is chocolate! When she is not touring, she is a performing artist and dancer in the Chicago area.
Carrie Patrick, Virtual Assistant
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate
Carrie started working for Chicago Chocolate Tours as a Tourguide in 2007. She was promoted to Schedule Manager in 2008 and now serves as the company’s Virtual Assistant. Carrie loves being a part of the Chicago Chocolate Tours team. She loves the wonderful people that she gets to interact with and of course the chocolate! When she is not serving as a Virtual Assistant, she coordinates the Columbus Marathon and the Second Sole Racing events in Columbus, Ohio. During track season, she is an Assistant Track Coach at an area High School.
Valerie Querns, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Milk Chocolate with mint or peanut butter
Valerie joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in July 2010 and loves exploring Chicago! She also cannot go through a day without having a delicious chocolate treat! Her favorite part about being a Tourguide is getting to sample all of the scrumptious chocolate specialties. When she is not touring, she is an actress here in Chicago.
Kelly Rhyne, Talent and Training Director, Photo Manager, and Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: I love it all plain or with fruit, nuts, ganache, etc!
Kelly lived in Hershey, PA for part of her life where her elementary school was right next to the original chocolate factory. Recess was absolute torture for a chocoholic like Kelly! Kelly joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in April 2009. She loves getting to meet happy and interesting people and eat chocolate all the time! She also loves Chicago and being able to show people all over the city. In addition to Chicago Chocolate Tours, she is a student at Columbia College Chicago studying Musical Theater and serves as Director of Special Events at Saint Sebastian Players.
Rachel Servi, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate with Almonds
Rachel joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in July 2010 and loves sharing Chicago's hidden treasures and secrets with chocolate lovers. She has found that everyone has a special chocolate memory that they want to share and she loves being able to create a new chocolate memory with guests. When Rachel is not touring, she is an art consultant and curator for a small art consulting firm here in Chicago.
Kristen Smiley, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Any Chocolate with Peanut Butter
Kristen became a Choc Star in February 2010. She thinks that she got her love of chocolate through genetics – from her grandmother to her mother to her. She grew up in a house in where chocolate was always available. Having grown up in Pennsylvania, she has made many visits to the Hershey’s Chocolate Plant. She loves being a Chicago Chocolate Tours tourguide because she likes to share the “gems” that people might not otherwise find in Chicago – whether it be the chocolate or the architecture – and to have fun doing it! When she's not touring, Kristen is an actress and teaching artist specializing in theatre.
Bee Talmadge, General Manager
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate
Bee joined the Chicago Chocolate Tours team in July 2010. She previously worked at a cupcake shop and ever since then her sweet tooth has been insatiable. She recently graduated from University of Illinois and loves working as our General Manager because she enjoys leading and team building and of course eating all of the free chocolate! When she is not at the office or on a tour, Bee is spending quality time with friends and family.
Liz Van Beek, Weekend Tour Manager
Favorite Chocolate: Chocolate Covered Peanuts
Liz has been part of the Chicago Chocolate Tours team since January 2010. She loves being the Weekend Tour Manager because she loves being organized and being able to work with such wonderful people. Another one of her favorite perks is that she is constantly surrounded by delicious chocolate. When she is not in the office or on a tour, she is studying finance and economics at DePaul University and exploring Chicago!
Rachel Wells, Tourguide
Favorite Chocolate: Dark Chocolate with Espresso Beans
Rachel became a Choc Star in June of 2009. She loves being a Chicago Chocolate Tours Tourguide for multiple reasons: she enjoys telling stories and entertaining large groups of people, she's fascinated by Chicago's amazing history and architecture, and she gets to devour all kinds of delicious and unique chocolate! When she is not touring, Rachel works as a freelance actor and educator. She is also a company member and Education Director of The Suitcase Shakespeare Company.
Learn about our founder here.