Parfections Celebrates First Year in Cockeysville

After more than 20 years in the corporate world, Kim Rigby decided to turn her hobby of chocolate-making into a full time career.

The 44-year-old Reisterstown resident said she learned to make desserts from her grandmother, who she calls her inspiration.

"It was something I've always had an interest in," said Rigby, a self-taught chocolatier. "Growing up, I had molds that I would use in my baking."

Rigby, who worked in outside sales, would bring her homemade chocolates to meetings with clients.

"They really liked them and asked me where they could get them," Rigby said. "I realized I had something here."

So in 2004, Parfections Handmade Gourmet Chocolates, which specializes in truffles, chocolate dipped fruit and bark, was born.

When the business first began, she leased space at a commercial kitchen and made confections primarily for weddings, corporate events and mail orders. 

"By word of mouth, the business really grew over the years," Rigby said.

Confident in the customer loyalty chocolate creations had garnered, she decided to open a store at 10768 York Road in Cockeysville on Feb. 5, 2011, despite a less-than-forgiving economy. 

"We had a good following prior," she said. "I wouldn't have [opened the store] if I didn't have that."

While Rigby calls wedding favors and corporate gifts her "bread and butter," the storefront has brought in more local clientele.

"I'm always thinking," Rigby said of her chocolate creation process. "My mind is constantly going."

Sometimes, she said, the best creations are happy accidents.

While working late during the recent holiday season, Rigby mistakenly dumped a raspberry mixture into her hazelnut truffle batter. After setting the combination aside for a while, she decided to see what she could make of it.

"It's now very popular with some customers," she said.

Her personal favorite chocolate is the tropical typhoon truffle, which features milk chocolate, mango, cayenne pepper and toasted coconut. This was in fact her first original creation, and Ribgy has recently made a spin-off bark version.

Now that she's entering her second year of running the storefront, Rigby hopes to market her products to more of the local residents and companies, and, in a few months, she's unveiling a new line of herb-fused chocolates.

Although running her own business is no easy task, Rigby has no regrets.

"It's awesome," she said. "It's a lot more challenging, but rewarding to do what you love. You're your own destiny."

To commemorate the first-year anniversary of the Cockeysville store, Parfections is offering complimentary chocolate dipped strawberries, a raffle for two gift baskets, in-store specials and more on Feb. 4 and 5.