From biomedical engineer to chocolatier. From dreaming of a life in the United States to building a Colombian brand. From a ‘dream job’ to becoming her own boss. This is the story of Nataly Nicholls, the creator of Magno — the pioneering Colombian brand crafting chocolate gems finished with 24-karat gold leaf and made with real chocolate.
Nataly was born in Medellín 30 years ago. She studied Biomedical Engineering and spent six months in Japan on a research-focused internship. The experience helped her grow as a person and gave her a close-up look at a culture completely different from her own — but it also showed her a reality she didn’t want for herself.
The people she worked with were deeply devoted to academia. They studied constantly, leaving little room to build a family or have children. “It discouraged me a bit, but I stayed on the path I had started.”
Nataly returned to Colombia, finished her degree, and began working on the commercial side. In Bogotá, she worked at a food company handling marketing for its meats line — and she took the chance to enroll in university again, this time for a specialization in marketing.
Her next job was at a company that imports and distributes sports-inspired brands. While there, she attended a sales convention where she met the man who is now her husband, Nolan.
Nolan Plant is from the United States and was living there at the time, so Nataly began looking for a way to move — and the most sensible path, she figured, was an international role that would let her travel constantly and, eventually, request a transfer.
That search led her to Familia, where she managed the company’s brands across the Caribbean: Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and more. Then one day Nolan decided to move to Colombia — and the plans changed.
Then came Magno
“Something I’ve learned is to focus on three tasks a day. If I get to the rest after those three priorities, great — and if not, no problem.”
One day, she decided to start exploring her artistic side — she knew her future was there somewhere.
“I thought about building a business around gifting, because I love being in the middle of two people giving each other something — and chocolate has always been a symbol of love and friendship. So I started playing with colors and learning; I bought a few molds and made my first chocolates.”
In her daily research she came across real chocolate — which, unlike the chocolate most of us grew up with, is made with cocoa butter, far healthier than the hydrogenated fats in ordinary chocolate.
“Why was chocolate-flavored paste ever invented? Because cocoa butter isn’t easy to work with — it’s chemically unstable. To be shaped, real chocolate has to move through different temperatures that stabilize the fat so it looks as beautiful as it tastes.”
At first, like anyone charting a new course, it wasn’t easy. There were many long nights of work, preparation, and study — but also the unwavering support of her husband and her mother.
“When I started Magno I was still working at Familia, and I kept that up for a year and a half. There came a point where I had to make a decision, because it was humanly impossible to do both. I’d go to bed at 1:00 and get up at 6:00 in the morning for work.”
Today Nataly is fully focused on her brand — happy doing what she loves most, and an inspiration for young people dreaming of starting something of their own.
“We make white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and sugar-free chocolate with a variety of fillings.”
Adapted from MARÍA ANDREA CALERO
