Building a Life
Nick and I spent the last week in Savannah, GA at our annual ice cream conference. It's called ConeCon. And yes, there's lots of ice cream involved. This was our second year attending and it was so nice connecting with ice cream makers and operators that we know and who know us through the internet.
Nick and I eating ice cream for lunch at ConeCon 2024
Outside of my ice cream community, many people ask what my vision is for Sugar Hill Creamery. Will we open 40 more stores? Are we coming to their city? We often get congratulated for our growth. But honestly, scaling for scaling sake has never been our plan.
When we opened the first door in 2017, we were solving a lifestyle issue. We needed more time with our family and I needed more time in my neighborhood. I really love Harlem and I just wanted to be here more. I wanted to be able to walk down the street slowly and say hi to people that I happen to live next to, but may not know very well. For me, this was kind of like gardening but gardening for my soul. I couldn't keep up with my daily three hour round-trip commute to do really important and fun work at a children's museum. I also didn't have much time to spend with or cook for my newborn and toddler. Even though cooking takes a toll on me every day that I do it, I do enjoy being able to look at a recipe and cook from it or go to the grocery store and purchase ingredients for something new that I want to try. I consider it a privilege.
I wasn't able to do any of that before ice cream.
A group pic of some of America's ice cream makers and operators hanging after a day of learning and connecting
Since then, we have opened four additional locations. We do a lot of corporate catering and a little bit of wholesaling. Maybe you've even seen our ice cream at the Met recently.
But again, this growth wasn't exactly the plan. I always knew that there was going to be more than one store. We named it after Sugar Hill, the neighborhood in Harlem. At the very least, there would be one more location closer to the company's namesake.
But in the last seven years, I didn't necessarily plan where we are now.
Most of the opportunities that we have received have been because we have consistently shown up for and in our business…every day. This work pivot was about a lifestyle I wanted to live. My vision wasn't to be an ice cream mogul or tycoon. I'm not building an empire. I'm building an ecosystem for myself, anybody who works in this business, and my neighborhood. Sugar Hill Creamery feeds us and it gives to others ––to our employees, our customers, our neighbors.
I realized once we started this business that I actually always wanted to be an entrepreneur. In retrospect, this was evident through several much smaller ventures that I've initiated over the years.
As I wrote in a recent email, my entrepreneurial practice is very similar to what my artistic practice was. I'm always working on an idea…working on building something. I'm sculpting something even though I was never a sculptor. I'm telling a story. I'm proving my thesis through my work.
For all entrepreneurs, their businesses should allow them to live the life that they want to live; it shouldn't dictate the life that they have to live.
Many of us are working to live. But, zoom out for a moment and think about the life that you want.
It was great to spend the week with my husband and business partner in Savannah, GA. We were definitely at work, but being able to have dinner on our own every night was definietly a perk. Here we are at Sorry, Charlie's Oyster Bar.
I was watching Becoming Warren Buffet documentary on HBOMax a few weeks ago and Buffet said, "I have constructed a business that fits me. It's kind of crazy to spend your life painting if you're painting a subject you don't want to look at. I've gotten to paint my own painting in business." He talked about how Berkshire Hathaway doesn't have a PR company, general counsel or any of the human resource trappings a company of his scale usually has. He continued, "It's exactly the life I like. It's not work. It's just a form of play, basically."
Building a life isn't just about figuring out how to support yourself with any job that will feed you. It's about approaching your work from a place of deep curiosity, play, rigor, and tenacity.
Many of us hustle to be able to provide for ourselves and that hustle looks like us taking any job that will pay the bills. Our passion for the work isn't there. But, imagine what life would look like if work were a mound of clay we couldn't wait to make sense of?
Petrushka
Your Local Ice Cream Lady & Life/Business Coach