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Chocolatier

Chocolate: Eclipse Chocolat, San Diego, CA
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Do you want to become a Chocolatier?

Are you in a love affair with chocolate? Do you see making chocolate as a way of expressing your creativity? Then come be a chocolatier with William Gustwiller, owner of Eclipse Chocolat in San Diego, for a chocolatier VocationVacation dream job holiday.

Will is an artist by training and has a masters degree in sculpture. But when time came to show his sculpture at the end of his graduate program, Will decided to host a reception after the show and cater it himself with his homemade chocolate truffles. Up to then, chocolate had been a hobby. But people responded enthusiastically.

“They said, ‘We knew you did this amazing art but who knew about the food!’ They were really blown away and so was I,” Will said.

Soon after, Will decided to pursue chocolate over sculpture and landed several high-end hotels as accounts, providing his truffles to their guests. After working for a couple of years in a rented commercial kitchen, Will opened his café/chocolate shop, Eclipse Chocolat, in the early winter of 2007. Will is definitely one of VocationVacations’ youngest mentors, but his passion and talent warrant him being part of the exclusive mentoring club.

Will says chocolate has many different flavor profiles and in that way is similar to wine. He likes to introduce unexpected flavors to chocolate to create dynamic taste sensations.

Some examples of his chocolate concoctions are truffles like pomegranate sage and cardamom rose petal. His chocolate bars include flavors like mango masala and espresso walnut.

Will’s best-selling chocolate is lavender sea-salted caramel, which he says gives a progression of flavors that hit your taste buds. The taste starts with the metallic flavor of salt, followed by the herbal taste of lavender, the flavor of burnt caramel and then the flavors of dark and milk chocolate finishing off the experience.

Eclipse Chocolat is open seven days a week. Will has three part-time helpers, but he is the only chocolate maker for Eclipse. That fact is both invigorating for Will and also a bit daunting.

“If I don’t come in, nothing happens,” Will says. “No one can make the chocolate if it’s not me. Here, I make everything. I’m in a tenuous space where I work 60 hours a week. If something were to happen, parts of the business would disappear.” Will can help you remove the romance of being your own boss!

“It’s a little frightening, but it’s also very exciting to make everything. My identity is attached to the chocolate. If people like what they find, they can’t find it anywhere else.”

Here's what a recent Vocationer had to say about their VocationVacation with William:

“I had a fabulous VocationVacation, and my mentor was beyond great. He answered all of my questions and taught me the hands-on steps of running the business - which is what I wanted to know.”
Donna N.
San Diego, CA

While on your Chocolatier/Owner VocationVacations® dream job holiday with William Gustwiller at Eclipse Chocolat, activities will include some or all of the following:
  • Learn how to make a variety of European-style truffles, barks, home-made marshmallows, and fine specialty confections
  • Participate in tempering, mixing and dipping of chocolate
  • Decorate a variety of hand-made confections
  • Package and create effective presentations for the confections
  • Receive an overview of the operations and ins and outs of owning a retail chocolate store
  • Taste the sweet rewards of your labor
The Chocolatier/Owner Vocation Vacations® dream job holiday with William Gustwiller at Eclipse Chocolat includes:
  • Two days of one-on-one mentorship in your dream job as a chocolatier/owner
  • The option to participate in a total of one hour of pre- and post- VocationVacations career coaching from an accredited, affiliated VocationVacations career coach
  • A pocket-size VocationVacations journal so you can document your dream job coming to reality
  • Light lunches with your mentor

Available: All year based on mentor's availability

Price: $949 Per Person

Book This Career Mentorship



Suggested Accommodations

Hotel Parisi

Hilton San Diego
(Not included in the price of your VocationVacations® dream job holiday)

Other activities and tourist destinations while on your VocationVacations® dream job holiday:

Reservation, Cancellation and Rescheduling Rules and Conditions:

Full payment of the VocationVacations dream job holiday is required to make a reservation. A $100 non-refundable fee is assessed if a VocationVacations experience is cancelled or rescheduled prior to 14-days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday, based on the approved availability of the mentor to reschedule. A VocationVacations adventure cannot be rescheduled and is non-refundable if cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday. Written notification of cancellation or rescheduling is required in all cases. In the US, Grounded Nomads, LLC and VocationVacations holidays encourage all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling. In the UK, Grounded Nomads, Ltd and VocationVacations holidays must require all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling and provide verification of such travel insurance to Grounded Nomads, Ltd.