A Sweet New Note: Jo-Anne Chrysochoos on Creativity, Reinvention, and Sweet Notes Candy Company

Opera singer. Music educator. Choir director. GED instructor. Caterer.

And now, candy entrepreneur.

For Jo-Anne Chrysochoos, those chapters may sound completely different, but each one has been shaped by the same love of creativity and bringing something meaningful to life.

Her newest venture, Sweet Notes Candy Company, combines that creative background with another thing Jo-Anne has always enjoyed: making celebrations memorable.

In this episode of Women in the Driver Seat, host Mary Helen Darah sits down with Jo-Anne to talk about the winding career path that eventually led to Sweet Notes, how years in music and catering continue to influence her work, and why she believes there is always room for another creative chapter.

Today, customers can find Sweet Notes Candy Company inside Bassett Nut Company, where Jo-Anne offers colorful candy selections while also creating customized candy tables for weddings, birthdays, showers, and other special events.

For Jo-Anne, it is the latest opportunity to turn an idea into an experience.

A Life Built Around Creativity

Music was one of Jo-Anne’s first creative outlets.

She earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in vocal performance and spent years singing throughout the Toledo area.

Her career eventually expanded into education.

Jo-Anne taught music at the college level and became a choir director, a role she has continued for more than 25 years. After leaving college music instruction, she moved into another kind of classroom and began teaching GED courses.

Through every change, teaching remained part of her life.

So did creativity.

Then came another major chapter.

Jo-Anne co owned Perez and Peppercorn Cuisine, a high end catering company in Toledo, with her friend Maryann for about a decade.

Music had taught her how to create an experience through sound.

Catering taught her how to do it through food and presentation.

When Candy Became the Next Idea

Sweet Notes Candy Company did not begin with a detailed business plan.

It started with Jo-Anne creating candy tables for her grandchildren.

She enjoyed the process enough to start thinking about what else she could do with the idea.

The possibilities were almost endless.

Candy could be matched to the colors of a wedding.

A display could become part of the theme of a birthday party.

Guests could take home favors.

The table itself could become another visual piece of the celebration.

Jo-Anne approached Rachel at Bassett Nut Company with the idea of creating a small candy shop inside the store.

The concept would give customers another reason to stop in while also providing Jo-Anne with a place to introduce people to her custom candy displays.

The answer was yes.

And another business was born.

The name Sweet Notes Candy Company brought Jo-Anne’s worlds together perfectly.

Music had always been part of her life, and now she could combine it with food, entertaining, and creativity.

Everything could finally come together in harmony.

What Music Taught Her About Business

Jo-Anne may have changed industries several times, but she has never really left the lessons of music behind.

Music taught her discipline.

It taught her to be creative.

It also taught her how to communicate emotion and make someone feel something through what she creates.

Those lessons still matter at Sweet Notes.

A candy table is not simply a collection of jars filled with sweets.

Jo-Anne wants it to become part of the feeling of an event.

The colors matter.

The presentation matters.

The details matter.

Just like a performance, the individual pieces need to work together.

That same attention to detail followed Jo-Anne into catering and now into her newest business.

She learned how to take an idea that existed in someone’s imagination and turn it into something guests could actually experience.

Creating Something Personal for Every Celebration

Jo-Anne begins the process of designing a candy table with a simple question.

What do you love?

Customers may prefer classic candy, Swedish candy, chocolate, or a combination.

From there, Jo-Anne works with the colors and theme of the event.

Even if someone’s favorite candy does not match the color palette, she looks for another way to incorporate it.

The container can change.

The presentation can change.

The idea does not necessarily have to disappear.

That is where Jo-Anne’s creative background comes into play.

She can design the table, provide décor and apothecary jars, coordinate a backdrop, handle setup and teardown, and provide bags so guests can take candy home as a favor.

The goal is to create something that feels like it belongs at that particular celebration rather than placing the same display at every event.

A wedding should feel like the couple.

A birthday should fit the person being celebrated.

The candy becomes part of telling that story.

Another Chapter of Reinvention

One of the most interesting parts of Jo-Anne’s story is how comfortable she has become with beginning again.

Her career has never been defined by one job title.

She has performed.

She has taught.

She has directed choirs.

She has helped adults pursue their education.

She has built a catering business.

Now she owns a candy company.

Each experience has given her something useful for the next one.

That perspective also gives her new business a sense of freedom.

Sweet Notes is not about proving that every career must follow a predictable path.

It is about continuing to explore what makes you curious.

For Jo-Anne, the best part of this chapter is helping customers bring their own visions to life.

She gets to meet new people, visit different venues, and see the excitement when a celebration finally comes together.

And she has discovered something else along the way.

Candy is definitely not just for kids.

Adults light up around a candy table too.

There is nostalgia in seeing a favorite sweet from years ago or discovering something that reminds you of another time in your life.

When Mary Helen asks Jo-Anne for one word to describe Sweet Notes Candy Company, that is exactly the word she chooses.

Nostalgia.

Finding the Next Sweet Note

There is something fitting about a lifelong musician creating a company called Sweet Notes.

Jo-Anne’s career has been filled with different movements, each one distinct but connected to what came before it.

Music gave her discipline.

Teaching gave her another way to connect with people.

Catering gave her experience turning ideas into beautiful events.

Sweet Notes Candy Company brings those skills together in a completely new way.

And Jo-Anne is still not finished creating.

Her story is a reminder that starting something new does not mean abandoning everything that came before.

Sometimes the next opportunity is simply a new way to use everything you have already learned.

👉 Watch now to hear Jo-Anne Chrysochoos share how a career spanning music, education, catering, and entrepreneurship came together in harmony through Sweet Notes Candy Company.