Cancer Scientist to Sugar-Free Chocolate Founder | SCORE Houston Ep. 36

**Dr. Beata Lerman spent nearly 20 years as a cancer research scientist with patents in cancer immunotherapy. Then a personal cancer diagnosis led her to build a sugar-free chocolate company safe for diabetics.** On this episode of the SCORE Houston Podcast, host PV Bala talks with Dr. Lerman about leaving biomedical research for small-business manufacturing, the science behind sugar-free chocolate, and how SCORE mentors Jim Davis and Jim Nordhaus helped her grow from a 200-square-foot kitchen into a full manufacturing facility and retail café. Her company, Sinless Treats (now rebranding as D'Ora Fine Chocolate), is a Houston-based maker of sugar-free, chemical-free chocolate designed to support blood sugar management and reduce inflammation, now expanding into ingredient supply for other consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. What we cover: - Leaving cancer immunotherapy research to found a food manufacturing company - The science of sugar, insulin resistance, and metabolic health - Developing the product and scaling a chocolate manufacturing operation - Startup capital, the breakeven timeline, and self-funded growth - Marketing lessons for small-business owners: SEO, GEO, and avoiding costly agency mistakes - How SCORE Houston mentorship supported her path to SBA's Houston District Small Business Manufacturer of the Year **0:00** Intro **1:01** Guest introduction **2:13** Beata's science background **3:40** Leaving research to start Sinless Treats **5:30** The sugar debate **7:41** Cancer diagnosis & the science of sugar **9:33** Learning to make healthy chocolate **11:01** Product testing & feedback **13:54** Early days in a tiny kitchen **17:07** Scaling up & compliance **19:05** Startup costs & financing **20:26** Breaking even & revenue growth **23:18** Quality control **23:38** Marketing lessons **27:19** Retail cafe launch **28:30** Vision & rebrand to D'Ora **30:08** Closing thoughts **30:27** Outro  🔗 D'Ora Fine Chocolate: https://sinlesstreatschocolate.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoo-3Yz\_BoAs-jE5PDFLiFSlERzLQB0dshlAAPeb7p7cOnaWKI6k  🔗 Free SCORE Houston mentoring: www.score.org/houston  🔗 Subscribe FREE  for more Small Business Success Stories: \: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYwZdflYjHJeI8oTA\_fRJw]  🔗 Listen on your favorite podcast platform:  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3DTCZlN... Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b4a.  Let us know what you think of this episode. What subjects you would like us to cover in next episodes. Give your comments at https://scorehoustonpodcast.blogspot.com or write to **pv.bala@scorevolunteer.org**. Let us know what you like of this episode and suggest subjects on which you wish to know more.