Entrepreneur Alak Vasa uses ancient wisdom to create delectable treats
To Alak Vasa, a sweet treat shouldn’t just be a guilty pleasure. In fact, she’d prefer there be no guilt tied to the experience at all. As founder of Elements Truffles, Vasa has perfected the art of blending old-world Ayurvedic medicinal insights with confectionary delights, two realms that usually don’t co-exist well. But for this entrepreneur, taking an unconventional path is something she has taught herself to wholeheartedly embrace.
Driven to Succeed
Born in England, at the age of four Vasa and her parents, both physicians, moved to Ahmedabad, India. She had wanted to become a doctor like her parents but opted to study computer engineering in college instead. She came to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California in the late 1990s and landed her first job with Cisco Systems in 2000. She eventually found work in New York with Goldman Sachs and later other Wall Street investment institutions where she worked as an algorithmic trader. “I enjoyed my time on the trading floor, but I realized it wasn’t my love for finance, it was my love for problem-solving in a fast-paced environment that drove me to achieve things,” she said. “I was doing all of these things because in my mind I thought ‘this is what successful people do.’”
Meditation Changes Everything
While she was content with her career, a life shift was in the works. At the encouragement of a friend, she began to learn to meditate. On weekdays, she would even practice a walking meditation on the 15-minute trek between the train station and her office.
“Over time, I realized my inner voice was getting louder and clearer. It was a voice that was asking ‘Why are you doing this?’ It became a huge internal dialogue,” Vasa recalled.
As a child, she enjoyed baking and thought of enrolling in culinary school. Then a friend who owned a bakery needed help and offered to let her learn on the job as a chef’s assistant. She still worked on Wall Street but found she loved being immersed in the bakery on the weekends. She was also experiencing some health challenges that she was tackling by reincorporating Ayurveda back into her life, something she grew up with, but felt she had forgotten and perhaps taken for granted.
“I realized something in my inner child was so happy when I worked at the bakery that I didn’t really want to not pursue this, so I ended up quitting my job,” she added. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew it was going to have to do with food and the powerful science behind Ayurveda.”
Overcoming Uncertainty
A few months after quitting her job, fear set in. While her husband was completely supportive of the move and was her “unofficial first hire” for the company she was yet to create, Vasa felt lost, adding: “I wasn’t earning and I did not realize how much that mattered to me.”
A former manager tempted her with a job offer back in the financial world, but with the help of her meditations, Vasa knew she couldn’t focus on both the business and the job at the same time. So, instead, she dove into integrating Ayurvedic principles into sweet treats. Instead of refined sugar, she sourced local honey as a sweetener. Even today, ethical sourcing is a key part of Elements’ business story. Its single-origin cacao comes from small to mid-sized family-owned farms. Her recipes also blend superfoods and essential oils, and are free from gluten and preservatives.
“I wanted to make eating chocolate guilt-free and joyful. Cacao is healthy and good for you, the amount of refined sugar (added to most brands) is what kind of kills it,” she said.
After finding success at local farmer’s market events, in 2015 Elements Truffles was officially born. Today, the New Jersey-based company sells nationally, has a staff of 13, and both direct-to-consumer and wholesale divisions. The chocolates are made by meditators who craft the pieces with high-vibrational music playing in the background, and the company has expanded into drinking chocolate and protein bars. Vasa also has no plans on slowing down either.
“I want to make sure Ayurveda is a household name and want that feeling of convenience and joy and deliciousness tied with Ayurveda,” she said. “Now, we look forward to disrupting multiple other categories. I’m proud that we have created a product that was influenced by our own culture and heritage and have brought it to a new country as an authentic piece of what we grew up with.”
