Shawn Askinosie

In 2006, Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean-to-bar chocolate factory and never looked back. 

Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award-winning chocolate factory located in Springfield, Missouri, sourcing 100% of its beans directly from farmers. Askinosie left the courtroom to spend his days traveling to regions of Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania to source cocoa beans for his chocolate. They open their books to farmers, translating financials into their language and profit share with them. 

Before becoming Springfield’s Willy Wonka, Askinosie graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and worked at a Dallas firm for three years before starting Askinosie Law Offices in Springfield. His defense work earned him numerous law accolades, including Missouri Lawyers Weekly Lawyer of the Year.  

When his life took a 180-degree turn and he opened the chocolate factory, he applied the same dedication to the craft. He’s now a Specialty Food Association Hall of Fame inductee and was named by Forbes as one of the Best Small Companies in America.  

His 2017 book co-authored with his daughter, Lawren Askinosie, “Meaningful Work: The Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling and Feed Your Soul,” is a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon. 

Askinosie applies his little free time to organizations with meaning to him. After suffering the loss of his father as a teenager, he co-founded the Lost & Found Grief Center and continues to serve on its board. The Askinosie Foundation inspires students at every grade level to use small business to solve world problems. In 2013, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks named him Humanitarian of the Year for his ongoing efforts.  

Askinosie is a family brother at Assumption Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Ava, Missouri.