Jana Solom, one of the founders of Mamacacao, shares her story today to inspire you to explore the depths of cacao and connect with us.
Jana: 6 years ago, neither of our lives were so connected to cacao, and we surely didn't foresee such a role for ourselves, everything just came naturally step by step.
I left the Amazon jungle with a cacao pod in my hand, handed to me by my master plant teacher.
At the time, I wasn’t sure what to do with it—and truthfully, I felt a little uneasy receiving it. As I walked away, the girls behind me asked if they could have one too, and of course, the teacher agreed.
Yet something about that moment stayed with me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been chosen for something I didn’t yet understand.
However, when it was time to leave Peru, for reasons unknown, I was denied boarding to the US, my next destination and all my belongings, as I started my journey there and planned to celebrate Christmas with friends in San Francisco.
Instead, I was left in Lima with only the things I needed to get to the jungle, and a bag full of stuff for the trip...
Luckily, friends from the Hanuman Project called me and invited me to Guatemala. - I didn't have much of a choice, so I flew off to an unknown land, trusting my friends, and never knowing that this could be the start of such an adventure. a journey to the Maya's traditional culture and depths - a cultural space similar to Estonians, but more alive there than here.
I sat in ring after ring of fire ceremonies. Sh known as the local Nana Rosalía Zavala at fire ceremonies in which the cacao and its ancient knowledge play a big role.
She spoke as if seeing the future—naming what was out of balance in the body and soul, and pointing clearly to what needed to be done next. She read the future through cacao—and she was always right. Many tears flowed, seeing that the world is much deeper, simpler and more magical than I had thought.
And with each tear, I began to believe more in myself and my own path - that it doesn't have to be like anyone else's, and it can't be, because it is my path.
Grandmother Rosalía's connection with cocoa restored my faith in magic and that everything is much more connected than my previous view of the world had led me to believe.
I had long been fascinated by Mayan astrology and its powerful symbols. Years before I ever set foot in Guatemala, a dear friend, Kairi Kivirähk, gifted me a Mayan astrology reading with Mark Elmy. That reading quietly opened the next door on my path. What followed was a deepening study with Mark, unfolding naturally, step by step. It brought me profound insights—not only into earthly life, but also into the intimate connection between human experience and the elements.
I also understood why I am the way I am and why others are the way they are... This understanding and compassion opened my heart even more and gave my life a deeper compassion and purpose.
I attended and supported fire ceremonies where cocoa plays a meaningful role, but unfortunately there are not many recordings of these moments because these spaces are sacred - where we don't film or take pictures. We are just there - in ourselves, with each other and with the fire.
These circles left a deep imprint on me, and with each gathering, my understanding grew stronger. The more I witnessed, the more I realized how vast and profound the cacao’s wisdom truly is. I understood the beauty and pain of being human..
Atitláni I also met some extraordinary people along the way, who I call my soul heirs - the bright people who are making the world a better place, in small and big ways.
Starting 2019, we were all green and small... Today, many of us have become amazing artists, retreat centre owners and painters of light.
And also, looking back, I feel that all of us changed there - growing deeper in our mission and in the connection with each other. 
And where was the cacao in all of this? Cacao was everywhere—behind every picture, there was a cup of cacao that brought us together. It opened our hearts to hope and faith, reminding us that we can achieve anything when we choose to come together and support one another.
After each round, we washed the dishes together and tidied up the rooms, the altars. Everybody was always there with a heart and support.
At the same time, this insight was not enough for me, at one point I felt I had to go to the source to see how the cocoa was made. I'd seen it grow in the Amazon; I'd sat in a circle with grandmothers and grandfathers in Guatemala and listened to their wisdom; and I'd taken healing circles with friends and in the community....but that still didn't show me all I needed to see to understand what it means to create something like this with my own hands - and how does it work anyway, that cacao can go from seed to block by reclaiming a vast area of rainforest?
The fast-fast-fast of today's society has robbed us of the depth of connection... but Beronika and Laurent from the DaliLeo farm showed me a light in another direction!
I witnessed what fifteen years of dedication and daily, steadfast work had meant to them—work that hasn’t yet brought much financial reward, but has gifted them with a profound sense of mission and a soulful connection to themselves, their family, their community, and nature.
Their family has been helping to build water systems and find solutions where the government has failed.
These changes were born out of a love between two people in a restaurant in La Paz, in the Atitlán. Thanks to their family and the work of their community, we can drink this wonderful cocoa in Estonia today.
From there, the journey led me to a women’s collective, where I picked and completed my Guatemala traditional belt. I shared with the local elders that in my country we have similar woven belts called kirivöö, and we spoke about the beautiful parallels between our traditions.
I also shared that we don't wear folk costumes every day anymore, and that people who are deeply in touch with nature still exist in rural areas. And that we still have shamanism - a connection with nature that is still alive through the medicine men and women.
When I returned home, my heart and eyes were alight. Each morning, I sat in meditation with cacao, sometimes for thirty minutes, other times for up to two hours.
I was given precise instructions on how to share the cacao. At first, I resisted—I wasn’t sure I wanted to listen. But in the end, I surrendered to the calling. There was a flicker of fear, too—the worry that I might be seen as a weirdo, shifting from photographer to cacao ceremony host.
However trust in the guidance won and I started putting on cacao circles to bridge the teachings. and my friend Maris and I found a way to get this cocoa to Estonia.
In the 5 years of the journey so far, many different workshops and circles have been organised, which have always been both uplifting and supportive.
Those after circle ripples made and still make my heart glow. moments when we truly hold each other.
In the midst of these circles and spaces, I realised that cacao needed to reach a wider audience and it was important that it could be sold in Estonia..
At the time of this realisation Jaanela and Kaisa appeared in my lifewho had been drinking cacao in the same way and sharing it with others.
This is when we started a business together...thats how DaliLeo cacao Estonia was born, which has now become Mamakakao OÜ and Mamacacao.eu.
It was important for us to do it right, or at least as well as we could together. So that cacao would be available in Estonia, but not turn into something that is just food.
Today we are on the road with Kaisato create a strong company through which neighbouring countries can also buy our cocoa.
And it hasn't been an easy road... but we believe in our mission, our board and the support of the Estonian people.
This summer, we launched two wonderful new cacaos from Guatemala under the Mamakakao white label: “Joy & Ease” and “Tropical Taste.”
We named the cacaos ourselves, inspired by the feelings they evoked when we drank them. And we invite you to remember that this drink carries deep roots and profound meaning.
And here in the meantime there were many more stories about how "Heart Space" with Margit Kärner was born, the Edu Academy cacao circles with Roland Tokko, cocoa gong nights with Tiina Karjatsa, etc....
The whole story is too long... but I hope that this fragment will inspire you, because your story is important too.
If you would like to connect more deeply with cocoa, we welcome you to our training courses and circles. Find out more on our IG account: mamacacao_eu.