WO MEN O F AC HI E V E M E NT
CHRISTY GRAVES VICE PRESIDENT, CHAPEL HILL TOFFEE AND GRIFF’S TOFFEE or years, nearly five days a week, Karen Graves would start her day before 9 a.m., prepping toffee treats on the quartz countertop in her kitchen. This is the home she raised her family in – nestled in the Old Forest Creek neighborhood – and where she first created her Chapel Hill Toffee. A Chapel Hill resident since the 1970s, Karen attended UNC, met her husband, Griff Graves, and started her clay business, Clay Sculpture by Karen Graves, here. (For the latter, she’d create an array of artistic items from nativity scenes to whimsical personal pieces.) But soon she gravitated to a medium easier than clay. “Friends had mentioned that they wanted to buy my toffee whenever I made it for desserts for special occasions,” she recalls. A Village Advocate article about appreciating local products gave her the final push to take her enterprise full time. In 2008, one of Karen’s sons, Mark Graves, joined her both in the kitchen and as a business partner to help spread the sweetness to “take the candy company big time.” Mark’s wife, Chapel Hill native and UNC grad Christy Graves, came on board in 2012 (the same year they moved to a commercial kitchen) and now acts as the head of marketing. She organizes media advertising, runs social media, promotions, collaborations, partnerships, product photography and more. Mark’s brother, Scott Graves, became a part
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By Anna Beth Adcock 80
chapelhillmagazine.com
May/June 2023
KAREN OWNER AND FOUNDER, CHAPEL HILL TOFFEE AND GRIFF’S TOFFEE
GRAVES