Meet Sienna Trapp Bowie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sienna Trapp Bowie.

Sienna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in Boulder and began my studies at CU when I was 16 as part of a concurrent program in collaboration with Boulder High School. That allowed me to go to high school in the morning, work during the day and attend university at night. By the time I graduated from high school, I was ready to start my second year at CU and I went abroad studying fine art in Florence, Italy and living next to the Duomo.

After the semester ended, I traveled solo for six months in Western Europe. The following year, I studied abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico living in Tlaquepaque – a small artisan neighborhood in the outskirts of the city and attending the university downtown. After the semester ended, I traveled through Mexico, Guatemala and then into South America for another six months on my own traveling by local bus. During my time in Peru, I spent time in the Amazon jungle living with a small village of mixed indigenous peoples in the San Madre de Dios region and studying their use of medicinal plants. I returned to Boulder and worked on finishing my double degree and, upon graduation, was awarded Summa Cum Laude, the highest honors, in Fine Art and Cultural Anthropology. Inspired by my thesis work with Mexican performance artist Guillermo Gomez Pena, I decided to move to Mexico City after graduation. I met Aldo, my future husband and Fortuna’s business partner, after two years of living in the city and working for a fashion brand out of Los Angeles. At the time, he was working for the largest LGBTQIA+ dance club in the city and running their bar program.

After a few months of living together, we moved to Tokyo, Japan. We were married in Japan and for the next five years, we lived and worked in the capital. The appreciation for origin, quality and technique inspired us and we began to contemplate working with ingredients from the Americas. Before returning from Japan, we spent time living and working with a family of Danish farmhouse brewers outside of Copenhagen. Out time with them solidified our decision to work with Mexican grown cacao and to produce artesanal chocolate. Returning to Mexico we made contact with Professor Nisao Ogata, the head of the Tropical Trees Department at the University of Veracruz. We spent the next two years back and forth between Mexico and Boulder, learning about cacao with him and tasting some of the very best cacao grown in Mexico. Meanwhile, we designed a micro chocolate factory and shop inside of a 26′ truck, which is what became Fortuna Chocolate.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As a person who has sought out the edges and borders of experience my whole life the path can definitely be uncomfortable at times. I am committed to challenging myself and I enjoy it when that path is smooth but it is not my priority.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At Fortuna, we work with ancestral cacao, which means cacao that has been grown in these specific regions in what is now Mexico for thousands of years. We support indigenous-led growing co-ops which have smaller access to the global market as a result of their small harvests and buy directly from them at prices that they set. We see ourselves as a continuation of a legacy of chocolate makers in the so-called Americas, the motherland of cacao.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
My parents were separated before I was born and they both stayed in Boulder. I went to a bilingual elementary school and identified with the kids of immigrants more than I did with the other Boulder kids. I was repeatedly sent to the principal’s office for fighting in their defense and started learning Spanish. As early as I could, I started working for the Open Space Department, working on repairing trails through their Junior Ranger program and budgeting my own money. I struggled with the ‘clique culture’ in middle school and spent time volunteering with the elderly at nursing homes and at the Boulder Public Library reading the children. As young as 10, I started learning about industrial meat production and as a result, was a fierce vegetarian until my early twenties. I have always loved making art and reading.

Pricing:

• $5 – $40

Contact Info:

• Email: sienna@fortuna-chocolate.com
• Website: www.fortuna-chocolate.com
• Instagram: @fortuna_chocolate
• Facebook: @FortunaChocolateBoulder