Mike Schechter

Mike Schechter is the production manager and master chocolate maker at Taza Chocolate. He grew up in Newton, MA and attended elementary school with Taza founder Alex Whitmore. Mike went on to study philosophy and theatre at UVM. While at school, he worked at a steakhouse and a clam shack on Cape Cod, and also began to skydive. After graduation, Mike moved to Oahu to escape the cruel Boston winters and gain more skydiving experience. For ten years, he travelled the world as a professional skydiver, splitting his time between the Northern and Southern hemispheres in an endless summer. To date, Mike has completed just under 10,000 jumps in places like Hawaii, California, Australia, and New Zealand, participating in national competitions and world record attempts. Mike returned to Boston in the fall of 2007 to join our team, taking over the reins from Alex as head chocolate maker at Taza. Mike enjoys tinkering with machines and playing bridge, and once took 2nd place on America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Kellie Silsby

Kellie Silsby is the chief production assistant at Taza Chocolate. Kellie grew up in small-town Maine and moved to Boston as soon as she was able. She was working as an esthetician when she came across a craigslist posting for a job at Taza wrapping chocolate bars. Though it sounded too good to be true, she applied anyway and was hired on the spot. Kellie quickly moved up from foiling bars and washing molds to become a full-time production assistant. It’s a good bet that if you’ve eaten Taza Chocolate in the last year, you’ve tasted her handiwork. Kellie lives with her brother Adam in Medford. Outside the factory, she enjoys hanging out with friends and candlepin bowling - she’s even got her own set of pink bowling balls.