CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Valentine’s Day is an occasion where people can express their love and appreciation for one another.
It’s also a time for one Cheyenne woman to sell boxes of hand-dipped red, white and pink chocolate-covered strawberries and reminisce on the holiday that inspired her to turn a hobby into a part-time job.
Dynisha Corbin is the owner of DipZ by D, a dessert service that offers elegant chocolate goodies year round to local chocoholics.
Customizing and selling these special treats for the day of love is somewhat of a tradition for Corbin.
As a former Cheyenne East high schooler, she made chocolate strawberry boxes for her mother’s All State co workers, usually taking nine or 10 orders every Valentine’s Day.
An amateur confectioner at that time, she used these opportunities to practice basic dipping and decorating skills. The positive feedback she received from the co-workers motivated her to continue offering the service.
“When I look back at those, I’m like, ‘They were so ugly, I don’t know why anyone would buy them!'” she said. “But it was super sweet to know that I have a lot of people on my side that were trying to support me even though the [strawberries] weren’t the greatest yet.”
Corbin officially launched DipZ by D in 2020 and now sells 10 to 30 strawberry orders a month.
February still brings in the most business, and this year Corbin is busy making 50 boxes.
Although she stopped orders this week to give herself time to prepare, anyone can message the DipZ by D social media page and create a custom request for a dozen chocolate strawberries, which cost between $35 and $40.
Corbin buys the red berries and Ghirardelli chocolate locally, but says design inspiration can come from anywhere. Customers usually send her photos of specific patterns and colors, but Corbin often gets ideas from seeing photos on Instagram or from other chocolate businesses.
No matter how the berries are decorated, Corbin said customers’ remarks remain the same.
“People tell me I pick out the sweetest berries, and that they are too pretty to eat most of the time,” she said.
Running DipZ by D allows Corbin to be creative, and gives her something to do outside of family duties.
“I just like making people happy and getting to be creative,” she said. “I stay at home with my kiddos all day … so I’m getting to do something outside of being a mom and a wife.”
Once her kids are in school, Corbin hopes to open a store front in the city dedicated to selling chocolate-covered strawberries.
“That would be an amazing thing for sure; that’s definitely [a] goal within five years, maybe,” she said.
