Our Team

IRA Leibtag
Founder and CEO
- Loves chocolate so much that he created Cholaca because a pure liquid cacao didn’t exist.
- Created a proprietary process to emulsify cacao in water and named it Cholaca.
- Went to York University, then the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (where he’s from) and was a concert pianist before a successful career in entertainment sound production.
- Designed and produced television network signature sounds, feature film scores and commercial jingles, and led the Jurassic Park Lost World audio team for MCA/Universal’s theme park.
- Built first web radio station called excite.fm
- Is married to the love of his life Mary and they have two beautiful daughters.
- Likes to drink his Cholaca with half and half.

Mike Ross
VP Operations
- Originally from New York, but spent most of his childhood growing up in Boulder
- Voted best all-around kid in kindergarten
- Graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a degree in finance
- After a short stint living in New York City, moved to Kentucky and started a company sourcing reclaimed wood from old tobacco barns
- Following the sale of his company made his way back to Boulder and eventually landed in the natural products / foods sector, met Ira, and the rest is history
- Loves hanging out with his wife, Sara, and their long-haired miniature dachshund, “The Mongrel”
- Likes his Cholaca with orange soda