New Port Richey woman turns a 'bad habit' into a booming business

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Michelle Palisi is the owner of Chocolates by Michelle. She started the business back in 1981. 

"These are our assorted chocolates. Our crème-filled, our nut clusters, our truffles," Palisi said.  "I just love it... Every day it is something different. You never get bored here." 

Palisi got her funds for the world of chocolate making from an unusual source. 

"I smoked since I was 15 years old," Palisi said. 

She quit 35 years ago. 

"I was waking up in the middle of the night, to light a cigarette," she explained.

Palisi was tired of seeing her money going up in smoke, so she decided to open up a bank account. 

"I was buying four packs a day," she shared. "So, I felt that if I didn't spend the money on cigarettes, I could save the money and that's what I did." 

Palisi took the money that she saved and went to college and traveled to New York. 

"I brought a new wardrobe all with my cigarette money," Palisi said. 

When she got back, she opened up her sweet shop.  

"I took a bad habit and turned it into a business," she explained. "That's why it is so much fun."

The 74 –year-old chocolatier is using chocolates to fulfill children's wishes at the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

"When you eat chocolate you feel good," she explained. "It's the texture. It's everything about chocolate that people like and feel good about it." 

For Palisi, her life has been like a box of chocolates. You never know what's inside until you take a bite.

Palisi has more than 800 chocolate molds at her shop. 

Click here for more information on Chocolates by Michelle. 

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