A family chocolate business sets its sights even higher

For years, Marcy Vieau-Goetz and her mother, Pam, poured everything into running their family-owned chocolate shop in the Chicago suburbs. But growing Happy by Chocolate often took a back seat to day-to-day tasks: managing shipments, fixing tech issues, generating publicity and addressing other administrative needs. Building for the future had to wait.

That changed when Marcy discovered Capital One’s SAGE program.

Delivered in partnership with the Women’s Business Enterprise Council, the program gave Marcy the tools to shift the family’s focus from daily operations to long-term planning. Marcy brought lessons and ideas from SAGE back to Pam, and together they built a roadmap focused on growth priorities, such as scaling toward a national brand and doubling corporate sales.

Since participating in the program this past summer, Happy by Chocolate is already seeing early wins. Marcy said they secured two new year-round corporate gifting clients and hosted a tasting event with new artisan bars and pumpkin spice marshmallows that drove sales 300% higher than a typically slow September Saturday.

"Before SAGE I was stuck on the hamster wheel, doing the same thing over and over,” she said. “After SAGE, I walked out with a completely new perspective, goals and a confidence to say, ‘Okay, let's get off of that wheel. Let's try something new. Let's be bold.’"

Marcy’s experience highlights what can happen when entrepreneurs gain access to business mentorship, tools and resources. For a decade, Capital One's Enterprise Supplier Management (ESM) programs—SAGE, Catapult and Supplier Mentoring—have helped hundreds of small business owners at different stages of their entrepreneurial journey.

While SAGE helps small businesses across select cities grow, Capital One’s other ESM programs target different operational needs. Catapult leverages Capital One’s innovation and digital expertise to help entrepreneurs across the country expand through product launches and facility expansions, while Supplier Mentoring turns direct guidance and structured goal-setting into increased revenue for business owners in Northern Virginia. Across the board, ESM program alumni report that the combination of coursework and one-to-one mentorship consistently drives job creation and long-term business resilience.

As part of its historic $265 billion Community Benefits Plan (CBP), Capital One is expanding the reach of these supplier development programs, including launching SAGE and Catapult cohorts out of Chicago. The three programs combined are on track to support 100 businesses annually—increasing what they served prior to the CBP.

“The Community Benefits Plan didn’t just fund these programs—it challenged us to reach further into the communities we serve,” said Reuben Essandoh, director of Enterprise Supplier Development at Capital One. “But for us, it’s never been about the numbers. It’s about impact, one business at a time.”

Marcy grew up watching her mother, Pam, master chocolate making. It started as a hobby and took off when Pam's homemade English toffee sparked non-stop calls from friends. The family stepped in to help package chocolates in Pam’s kitchen, while her living room became shipping and receiving. When Pam decided to turn her hobby into a business, she and Marcy converted the basement into a commercial kitchen before eventually opening a storefront.

Pam serves as master chocolatier while Marcy manages strategy, marketing and sales. Together, they oversee an all-women team, including Marcy’s 98-year-old grandmother, Charlotte, who packages sweets by hand. 

Through SAGE and her three mentors—two Capital One associates and a Chicago entrepreneur—Marcy gained something most small businesses do not have time or capital to find: an advisory board to help pressure-test her ideas.

That outside perspective helped shift her mindset from simply owning a business to actively building it. She created a one-page business plan that traded vague goals for actionable benchmarks. For example, she expanded the company’s production manuals so her team could handle packaging on their own, giving her the bandwidth to launch a 12-month sales and marketing plan, address a summer sales slump and work toward doubling corporate gift orders.

The program also helped her understand the value of social media. With new content strategies, Happy by Chocolate expanded its digital reach this past summer—moving from videos that typically received under 2,000 views to top-performing posts reaching over 80,000. One video published in June surpassed 200,000 views. 

“Marcy is very dedicated, and she and her mom put a lot of time and attention into their products,” said Donna Ashworth, a Capital One ESM senior manager who is one of Marcy’s mentors. “Through brainstorming sessions, we’ve talked a lot about ways they can continue to grow different aspects of their business, and we’ve seen Marcy take those ideas and expand on them.”

Capital One’s ESM programs aren’t just a curriculum—they’re powered by a network of Capital One associates who lend their specialized expertise to help small businesses. 

This year alone, more than 70 associates have served as mentors, workshop leaders and instructors, bringing real-world expertise to local business owners across the country. Cohorts are intentionally kept small—13 businesses or fewer—so each participant gets one-on-one time with associates and resources. 

"I find that our volunteers learn from these business owners often just as much as they help them," said Allison Kube, a manager with Capital One’s Supplier Development and Opportunity Team. "Giving back is part of the DNA of Capital One associates... It gives them so much joy to see how they can actually help these founders grow and build their futures." 

That hands-on mentorship aligns with a $5 billion CBP supplier development commitment to help small businesses grow, hire and build long-term stability. In the plan’s first six months alone, Capital One deployed nearly $840 million directly to small businesses and Capital One’s developmental programs like SAGE supported more than 50 businesses in the second half of 2025. 

For Marcy and Pam, that combination helped turn the hamster wheel into a runway for growth. 

“To take something that started in my mom's basement—working alongside my mom and my 98-year-old grandmother—and build a structure that honors their hard work while carrying us into the future, that means everything to us,” Marcy said. “I want Happy by Chocolate to be a household name. Now we have the roadmap, and we’re ready to execute on those big goals.”