Underground Artisan Ice Cream - Pint's Peak Ice Cream

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Caitlin Howington, owner of Pint's Peak Ice Cream, located in Denver, CO, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Pint's Peak Ice Cream is Denver's underground small-batch artisan ice cream, proudly using all local dairy and high-quality ingredients. What started during the pandemic as my underground operation selling homemade pints-for-pickup at the local park has become a 24/7 mission to bring you delicious, undeniable ice cream bliss. We develop bold and unique flavors to bring people to new heights in ice cream and elevate their palates.

Tell us about yourself

"You should not be doing anything else with your life." A friend of mine told me this one evening as we sat in a coffee shop planning what to do next with ourselves after I had just shown them the running list of ice cream ideas I keep. As a former pastry chef, the need to create desserts never left me despite my best attempts to "grow up" and get a 9-5 job in hospitality. An ice cream business had been bubbling in the back of my mind for years, so I started experimenting and decided to start trying actually to sell it on a very small scale. I rationalized if all failed, I still had my day job until I didn't.

I was laid off due to COVID in March, a few weeks before I planned on launching. I had just moved to Denver and had no network to lean on. In some ways, the timing couldn't have been worse to double down on this idea. Ultimately, though, I knew I had a great product that I believed in. I want to change peoples' perceptions of ice cream, the flavors it can present, and how high quality it can be - ice cream really is my calling.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

To see how much we've grown in two years has been incredible - and really just the constant pivoting while a startup business. We launched during COVID, and the consumer landscape has shifted radically within these two years. We've had to keep up and pivot. Where most businesses had to pivot into COVID, we had to pivot out of it. We started selling direct online with pre-ordering. Now we're in 5 stores around Denver, two farmer's markets, and have pop-ups and events.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

So. Many. Things. Funding is a huge one; we're also struggling with labor like everyone else. Being patient can be tricky - everything takes longer than you think it should. We also have extra challenges by having a frozen product, from events to deliveries and distribution.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

1. Stay disciplined. Motivation is a finite discipline that will drive you to push forward.
2. Never stop learning.
3. Give back to those around you with no expectation of anything in return. If you're climbing up the ladder, reach back down and give a hand to those behind you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.pintspeakicecream.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pintspeak
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pintspeak/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-howington-6532031a/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.