March small business of the month features Lindsey of the Chocolate Moose

Lucas Foust:

All right. Hey, this is Lucas Foust here with Lindsey Anderson of the Chocolate Moose here in Bozeman. Lindsey, you have a guest behind you, too. Who's behind you there?

Lindsey Anderson:

I do. That is my son.

Lucas Foust:

What's your son's name?

Lindsey Anderson:

This is Hudson.

Lucas Foust:

Hudson. Hi, how are you? You're on our program also. How does that sound, Hudson?

Hudson:

Good.

Lucas Foust:

Great. That's way cool. Awesome. Hudson, how old are you?

Hudson:

Seven.

Lucas Foust:

You're seven. Cool. All right. I remember being seven. It's pretty neat. I take it, are you in second or third grade?

Lindsey Anderson:

You're in [inaudible 00:00:41]?

Hudson:

First.

Lucas Foust:

Oh my gosh. You're such a big guy for being in first grade. I'm surprised. That's great. Hey, Lindsey, thanks for agreeing to be the Foust Law Office's business of the month this month. You own the Chocolate Moose. How long have you owned that now?

Lindsey Anderson:

A very short three months. We took over ownership in the middle of October.

Lucas Foust:

Great. I think I told you this, my son Chandler used to make taffy, and I think it's probably the same recipe. Is it same recipe or have you changed it?

Lindsey Anderson:

It should be the same recipe, yes.

Lucas Foust:

All right. Well, if anybody has received a package from Foust Law Office, we always include Chocolate Moose taffy in it, along with our mugs. That's just what we send out periodically. Thank you to your business for providing that already. We appreciate it.

Lindsey Anderson:

Thanks for supporting us. Absolutely.

Lucas Foust:

We want to know a little bit about you, Lindsey. Tell us, if you would, please, this is the same question I ask everybody, in not only this, but also in jury, in cases involving a jury. Setting your faith and your family aside, just setting those aside, Lindsey, what's the passion in your life? What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Lindsey Anderson:

Oh, the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is probably my fitness, health and fitness. I'm an avid runner, run pretty much every day. Without it, you probably don't want to be near me.

Lucas Foust:

Well, great. Do you run road races? How do you do that? Do you run miles or are you one of those marathon runners?

Lindsey Anderson:

Yes. Yes. I have now found my new love is trail running. It has been for about the past four years, I'll say. Prior to that, it was road races, but I took to being in the mountains.

Lucas Foust:

Well, good for you. When did you start running? Was it something you did in high school, grade school? How did it start?

Lindsey Anderson:

I just started in college, just kind of trying to beat the stress away. I started running in college and kind of haven't really stopped. It's just gotten to be bigger and bigger in my life.

Lucas Foust:

Where'd you go to college?

Lindsey Anderson:

I went to Montana State University. Go, Bobcats.

Lucas Foust:

Oh, great. No, that's fantastic. Did you grow up in Bozeman or did you grow up in the area?

Lindsey Anderson:

No, I grew up in Billings. Billings is my hometown.

Lucas Foust:

Oh, good. Just a couple hours away. But you went to Bozeman. Did you move away for a while, or have you been at Bozemanian for a long time?

Lindsey Anderson:

Well, I moved away for about three years to attend grad school and then realized how badly I missed Montana and came directly back. Wasn't gone for too long.

Lucas Foust:

Where'd you attend grad school?

Lindsey Anderson:

The University of North Dakota.

Lucas Foust:

Oh, no. So you didn't go that far away. Oh, I guess you went, that's the other side of the state, even. North Dakota.

Lindsey Anderson:

Yes. Yes. Not too far, but the winters there are a lot more brutal than ours.

Lucas Foust:

Yes. Yes. It's also not as scenic, as I understand.

Lindsey Anderson:

Oh, no. Great place to send your kids to school.

Lucas Foust:

Okay. Well, good. Good. What'd you study in graduate school?

Lindsey Anderson:

Occupational therapy.

Lucas Foust:

Oh, good. Good. Did you practice that for a while before you started the chocolate shop?

Lindsey Anderson:

I did. I was actually an occupational therapist up to three months ago.

Lucas Foust:

Oh, no kidding. Oh, great. Tell me this, what made you have a, "Hey, I want to run a candy shop," of all things?

Lindsey Anderson:

We heard that it was for sale, and I kind of put that thought into the back of my mind and didn't really address it again. And then my brother was in town, and he kind of was the driving force behind it. They were going to close the doors to the Chocolate Moose, and we just didn't want to see them close the doors. Didn't want to see Bozeman lose another business. So, totally just jumped off the cliff and trying a new adventure.

Lucas Foust:

Good For you. How is the starting off period? How's the first three months? How do you like it so far?

Lindsey Anderson:

So far, it's been great. I really love it. I love being in the kitchen, anyway, at home, so it's kind of a super easy transition. I love sweets, so it's been fun coming up with new recipes, too, that we're trying out, and we're going to promote here really soon. I've loved it. It's been great.

Lucas Foust:

What's your favorite thing so far about running the Chocolate Moose?

Lindsey Anderson:

I think it's just kind of the independence. Kind of with any business, as the owner, I guess, you can set your own hours. Sometimes it's super long days, other times I can be home with my kids after school. I think that's been probably the best, but the second part is sampling my creations.

Lucas Foust:

Nice. All right. Well, great. Now, I see that you have Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the TV every time I go in there, is that something we can always expect when we go in?

Lindsey Anderson:

Hopefully, we are going to be doing some remodeling soon. We're going to see, because it's a vintage candy shop, we're debating whether or not we want to keep the screens in the candy store. That's just one, as a team, we're just kind of hashing out to see if that's the way we want to go. I love seeing it. Everybody, it kind of brings back memories when they come in. But we'll see if it stays. I don't know.

Lucas Foust:

We met your son, and then you have a daughter, also. Is that right?

Lindsey Anderson:

I do. Yeah.

Lucas Foust:

How old is she?

Lindsey Anderson:

She's nine, and she's in the third grade.

Lucas Foust:

How cool is it for a seven and nine-year-old to have parents who own a candy shop?

Lindsey Anderson:

They do love it. They love it that every time they come in, they get to pick out a treat. Usually, they go for the ice cream, though, because they get enough chocolate at home.

Lucas Foust:

And then you feature Wilcoxson's, even, a local creamery. Is that right?

Lindsey Anderson:

Yes. Yeah, yep. Out of Livingston.

Lucas Foust:

Well, good. Good. Well, listen, I want to thank you for agreeing to be our business of the month for, I believe, it will be March of 2021. We really appreciate it. Again, congratulations on being our business of the month and thank you so much for your time, Lindsey. I appreciate it.

Lindsey Anderson:

Yes. Thank you. Thanks for picking us. That's awesome.

Lucas Foust:

All right. Thanks.

Lindsey Anderson:

Yeah.