Loved Called Gifted Podcast: Toni Blaze on Treat Boxes and Chocolates to Cherish

Catherine Cowell chats with Toni Blaze at her shop in Trentham Gardens about her journey from a 23-year career in veterinary marketing to running her own fudge and treat business, Treat Boxes and Chocolates to Cherish.

Toni traces her creative streak back to childhood, and how that instinct for presentation and creativity carried through into her career, where she spent over two decades doing marketing for a large veterinary organisation, all while baking and cake decorating as a beloved hobby on the side. That hobby reached a real milestone in 2016 when she won gold at Cake International with a hand-sculpted, fairy-tale-inspired mouse-in-a-tree-trunk cake, an idea she dreamed up while walking near Cannock Chase.

The real turning point came in 2023, when Toni was made redundant after 23 years in her job. It was a devastating blow, but with the steady support of her partner, who runs his own business, she began to seriously consider turning her fudge-making passion into a livelihood.

Today, Toni makes over 36 flavours of fudge, from firm favourites like chocolate peanut butter to a newly developed Turkish delight, and even a liquorice flavour she wouldn't have chosen herself but which customers kept requesting. The biggest surprise hit, though, has been chocolate-covered pork scratchings, affectionately dubbed "Pork Chocs." The idea came together almost by accident one evening on the sofa with her husband, ahead of a Black Country-themed event, and it sold out within the hour. The product has since taken on a life of its own, even catching the attention of comedian Johnny Cole, who now helps promote it.

Throughout the conversation, Toni speaks candidly about the emotional highs and lows of building a business from scratch, the pressure of turning a beloved hobby into something that has to pay the bills, and the ongoing challenge of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. She reflects on learning to be a little easier on herself over time, and on the joy of building the business alongside her husband as genuine creative partners. The episode closes with Toni sharing what she finds most rewarding: helping people create thoughtful, personalised gifts that bring real joy to both the giver and the recipient.

Transcript 

For the 90th episode of the podcast, Loved Called Gifted is joining with the Raise podcast in a joint venture, with, rather excitingly, two podcast episodes. To get the second one, which will be released the following day, you will need to hop across to the Raise podcast to hear Carol interviewing Catherine about the creative possibilities of doubt. 

In this episode, Catherine talks with Carol Barwick, founder of Raise and host of the Raise Podcast. Carol shares how creativity became both an outlet and a lifeline during a sometimes challenging childhood, leading to a lifelong passion for writing, music, and helping others find confidence and self-expression.

The conversation explores Carol’s faith journey, from her early experiences in Anglican and Quaker communities to discovering her own voice as a teenager. Carol also reflects candidly on the profound impact of long COVID, which transformed her active ministry and left her navigating disability, loss, and uncertainty.

Together, Catherine and Carol discuss faith, doubt, healing, identity, and what it means to have value beyond what we do. It's a moving and honest conversation about learning to trust God's love, even when life changes in ways we never expected.

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What does it really mean to grieve? Tom Attig, philosopher and author of Seeking Wisdom in Death's Shadows, joins Catherine Cowell to challenge some of the most widely held assumptions about grief and loss.

Drawing on four decades of teaching, writing, and listening, Tom argues that the famous "five stages of grief" simply don't reflect how people actually experience bereavement. Instead, he offers a richer framework: grief as relearning the world — a recognition that when someone dies, the entire fabric of your life is thrown into upheaval, and the work of mourning is finding your way through a landscape that has fundamentally changed.

Tom explores how love doesn't end at death, why grief is rarely something we "finish," and what it means to carry the legacies — practical, soulful, and spiritual — of those we've lost. He also reflects on the book itself: a collection of fourteen essays written over forty years, alongside new writing that traces the arc of his thinking, culminating in reflections on what it means to live well as finite, fragile human beings.

A warm, thoughtful conversation for anyone navigating loss, caring for others who are grieving, or simply asking what makes a life meaningful.

Book: Seeking Wisdom in Death's Shadows by Tom Attig (Oxford University Press) Discount code: AUFLY30 for 30% off at the OUP website

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St. Ignatius of Loyola had a revolutionary effect on the spiritual lives of millions of people. As well as founding the Jesuits, he developed a philosophy and practice of prayer that continues to be helpful to people 500 years later. We look at how he was both similar to and different from his contemporary Martin Luther. And take a look at some of his ideas and methods, such as finding God in all things,  Lectio Divina (reading scripture with the heart) and Imaginative Contemplation (engaging with scripture through creative imagination), the examen, colloquy, discernment, the importance of desire and the difference between consolation and desolation. Whether you’re new to Ignatian spirituality or looking to deepen your connection with the divine, this episode offers practical insights and spiritual tools to guide your journey.

Suggested reading: 

Landmarks: And Ignatian Journey by Margaret Self 

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin

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Catherine Cowell sits down with Maria Manuela Silva—a spiritual director whose life journey spans cultures, crises, and a profound rediscovery of faith.

Maria shares her story of growing up in Portugal under the fear and restriction of a dictatorship, living through a revolution, discovering faith, and then building a life of ministry and service in the UK. When a series of personal losses brought everything to a halt, Maria found herself at a breaking point—yet somehow still holding onto God.

Maria's is a  journey from fear to trust. Through silence, contemplative spirituality, and the simple yet transformative experience of being truly heard, Maria discovers a deeper, more personal connection with God—one rooted not in striving, but in listening, presence, and what she beautifully describes as “the dance” of the divine.

This episode is a gentle, spacious invitation to anyone longing for a more authentic spiritual life. Whether you’re questioning, rebuilding, or simply curious, Maria’s story offers hope, honesty, and a reminder that your own path—your own “dance”—is worth discovering.

You can find a transcript here.

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Catherine Cowell and Katy Bowser Hutson talk about play as a spiritual practice. Katy shares how her lifelong creativity—and even her experience with cancer—led her to see play not as something trivial, but as something deeply meaningful, even sacred.

Together, they explore how play is rooted in curiosity, imagination, joy, and relationship—and how it can shape the way we connect with God, ourselves, and others. From childhood wonder and storytelling to creativity in everyday life (like choosing colourful pens or drawing in serious moments), they highlight how play can bring lightness, freedom, and fresh perspective—even in hard seasons.

God isn’t just serious or distant, but playful, creative, and inviting, delighting in us and drawing us into relationship. Play becomes a way of resisting fear, rediscovering joy, and reconnecting with what really matters.

It’s a gentle invitation to slow down, wonder more, and make space for a little more play in everyday life—especially where we least expect it.

You can find out more about Katy at her website: katyhutson.com

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Catherine is joined again by Maria Garvey who is navigating life with ongoing physical fragility and chronic pain. She reflects on surrender, vulnerability, and the slow undoing of an identity built on strength, resilience, and responsibility. What emerges is not a neat lesson, but a lived experience of being “broken open” — and discovering love not as something earned or managed, but something received.

Together they explore curated vulnerability, aging, self-compassion, and the courage it takes to stop “bouncing back.” Maria shares stories of toll booth chocolate bars and “microdoses of love” — inviting us to notice the small, sacred encounters that hold us together. What does it mean to rest into love, especially when life brings us somewhere we’d rather not go?

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Catherine Cowell chats with Andrea Clarke about surrender, rest, and rediscovering who we really are beneath all the roles and expectations. Andrea reflects on a sailing trip that became a powerful spiritual reset, where she sensed an invitation to join Jesus’ “crack surrender squad” — not about doing more, but about letting go. Through stories, poetry, and deep honesty, they explore surrender as returning to our “factory settings”: being loved, enough, and free to live authentically. It’s a gentle, thoughtful conversation about releasing over-responsibility, resisting pressure (especially in faith spaces), and learning to live and serve from a place of love rather than exhaustion.

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This episode is a deep, honest conversation with Addison Torrance and Caidyn Bearfield about their experiences in the foster care and youth institutional system in Ohio, and how those experiences led them into advocacy. They both share painful stories of being placed in congregate care and residential treatment facilities, where trauma, over-medication, lack of education, and loss of trust were common. Despite that, they talk about finding healing through community—especially with other former foster youth—and turning their experiences into purpose. Much of the episode focuses on challenging systems that profit from institutionalizing young people, advocating for safer, more humane alternatives, and pushing for systemic change (like the creation of a Youth Ombudsman). It’s heavy, but also hopeful, showing how shared experience, learning, and courage can turn harm into meaningful action.

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As we start the New Year, Catherine is joined by Olga Malarkey for a rich, down-to-earth conversation about faith, identity, and noticing God in everyday life. Olga shares a bit of her story and together they reflect on Ireland, creativity, and the deep hunger for freedom and healing woven into Irish culture, before moving into Olga’s personal journey of faith — including walking through years of chronic illness and experiencing both God’s presence in the struggle and the joy of healing.

The heart of the conversation focuses on the Examen, an ancient Ignatian prayer practice that helps people reflect on their lives and become more aware of God’s loving presence in both the highs and the lows. Olga explains the practice in a simple, accessible way, sharing why it’s been so transformative for her personally and why it’s increasingly used in leadership, therapy, and spiritual formation.

It’s a gentle, hope-filled episode about living an integrated life, bringing our whole selves into the light, and learning to lay down the day with honesty, gratitude, and grace.

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If you'd like to get in touch, you can email Catherine at [email protected] 

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