Aidan Stark-Chessa
Who am I?

An infinitely complex and nuanced person who probably has a lot in common with you.

Building a company, taking photographs, writing when something won't leave me alone. I don't have a singular focus, and I don't really want one.

As a kid I'd lock myself away for hours building entire zoos and cities out of Playmobil, painstakingly, and fly into a panic if anyone touched what I'd made. That impulse never really left — I just traded plastic animals for a company, a camera, and a lot of unfinished essays. I've always been drawn to writing, even without much natural talent for it, mostly because I've always been drawn to stories.

I graduated from Bates College with a degree in Philosophy, a concentration in Religious Studies, and a minor in Rhetoric. During my time there I captained Bates Ultimate's Orange Whip, and I'm endlessly interested in craft, food systems, and collaborative creative spaces.

Honeysuckle by Weeping Willow Co.
The Work

Weeping Willow Co.

In 2023 I co-founded a beverage company producing Honeysuckle — a premium non-alcoholic cocktail built from honey, lemon, ginger, and gentian bitters. No shortcuts, no artificial flavors.

It won the Bobcat Ventures Entrepreneurship Competition at Bates in 2024. I lead product development, production logistics, and distribution, and handle the branding and storytelling that goes into building a company people actually want to root for.

Visit drinkhoneysuckle.com Read the Bates News story →
Also true of me

Restaurants taught me as much as school did.

Digital storytelling

Three years building campaigns and content for Get Maine Lobster — a national seafood brand — across TikTok, Instagram, and X, including work that reached far past where I expected it to.

Hospitality

I've spent years behind the bar and on the floor at Street & Company, a high-volume fine dining seafood restaurant in Portland — the kind of place that taught me more about pressure, craft, and teamwork than any classroom.

Community

I served on the board of SafeBAE, a youth-led sexual violence prevention organization, and co-created "The Youth Take" podcast on masculinity and consent through Maine Boys to Men.

My take on Netflix's Adolescence, via Maine Boys to Men →

Movement

Skiing, surfing, biking, climbing — chasing the flow state has been a backbone of my life for as long as I can remember. I captained Bates Ultimate's Orange Whip.

"I try very hard to never hate, and always forgive. If you take one thing from this site, let it be that we should talk to everyone, and love unconditionally."

See my photography → View my resume →
Photograph
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