Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a teen who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a friend, and a son or a daughter. Above all, the Teen of the Month is dedicated to making a positive mark on the planet. Rich or poor, famous or not, the Teen of the Month shines as an example of what today's teens have to offer.

February's Teens of the Month are Elise and Evan Macmillan, co-founders of The Chocolate Farm, a maker of custom, gourmet chocolates.

These kids have a pretty sweet deal, but don't think their lives are just a bowl of cherries – not unless they're chocolate-covered cherries.

Elise and Evan Macmillan are co-founders and the CCO (chief chocolatier officer) and CSO (chief strategy officer) respectively of the Chocolate Farm, a maker of custom, gourmet chocolates. What's amazing is not just that Evan is 18 and heads up two successful businesses or that Elise is 15 with skills that gave the duo the idea for the Chocolate Farm, but that he was only 13 and she was only 10 years old when they started their business.

A Sweet Idea
Evan wasn't even a teenager when he started dreaming of becoming an entrepreneur. A couple of years before they started the Chocolate Farm he designed and administrated a popular Web site focused on the life and works of John Steinbeck.

"I would get questions from people, usually students, from all over the world about Mr. Steinbeck and his writings," says Evan. "Some of these people thought I was John Steinbeck until I explained that he had passed on many years before."

Later, Evan applied the Web design skills he learned from that experience to start a Web consulting business in 1998. Meanwhile, his sister, Elise, was creating as well, although she was doing her designing in the kitchen where she had started making chocolate at age 3 at their grandmother's knee.

Then in 1998, Evan was serving on the youth advisory board for the Young American's Bank, where the customers were all under the age of 22. The bank was sponsoring a one-day "kids" marketplace, and the prize was a booth at the Holiday Marketplace where they could sell their product.

Evan teamed up with his sister to develop a business plan. They settled on the idea of the Chocolate Farm and selling handmade, farm-themed chocolates. Their business plan was accepted by the marketplace, and they were given a table to set up shop. They sold and continued to receive orders by e-mail and phone long after the event.

They realized pretty quickly that they were onto something. Using Evan's expertise with the Internet, they adapted their original plan to keep the "farm" doors open all the time by building the Chocolate Farm Web site.

Tasting Success
Evan and Elisa's business model is open and friendly, giving their customers many delicious choices at reasonable prices. They even encourage customers to make their own chocolates through cookbooks and kits that are available on their site.

"I am responsible for creating new Chocolate Farm products, and we are always looking for new ideas for the chocolates we make, the custom chocolates we create for special events (weddings, banquets, gifts) and our Chocolates By You kits," says Elise. "I create new chocolates by improving on our current products and experimenting with ideas for new products. Sometimes I invite friends to help with taste tests. I also answer many of the questions that thousands of people send us about how to make chocolates and how to start their own businesses."

This attention to detail, their product and their customers has paid off in a big way. In 1999, the Chocolate Farm received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was rated the top youth food business in the USA in 2001. Elise, Evan and the Chocolate Farm have also been featured in numerous publications including People Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Teen Magazine and have appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, The Early Show on CBS and Food TV just to name a few.

Beyond Business
But don't think that they can just blow off school or that they even want to.

When asked about their future plans, both Evan and Elise say they are looking forward to attending college as well as continuing to grow their business. School comes first for both of them.

"As small business owners we are always on call, but during the school year, school is the No. 1 priority," says Evan. "Our hours per week vary from four or five hours per week during final exams to 40 or 50 hours per week during school holidays. As we have grown, we have had the benefit of hiring people to do many of the things we used to do when we were a smaller enterprise."

Elise says the most difficult part of her job is finding time to do everything she likes to do. As a sophomore in high school, she loves to act. She appeared in the Denver Center Theatre Company's professional production of The Christmas Carol. She also received national recognition for playing the violin and viola, has fun with hip-hop and jazz classes, plays soccer and is a member of her high school's junior varsity field hockey team.

Evan is a senior in high school who plays on his high school varsity tennis team, does extemporaneous speaking on the speech and debate team, is a volunteer tutor and president of the high school investment club. He was even an exchange student in Spain for the summer of 2002!

What both teens say is the most important attribute as young entrepreneurs is to be willing to try new ideas and to learn from your mistakes. Evan and Elise also rely on their parents and experts to guide them as they grow both personally and professionally. Obviously, they're going in the right direction.

Want to see more?

• Jamie Rubin
• Lacey Wood
• Daniel Anstandig
• Talk about it!