I know an ice cream shop review in the middle of a freak winter ice storm sounds kind of CRAZY, but that is my personality...I like to zig when everyone else zags! But there is a reason to my madness. My birthday was last week in the middle of the snow storm. After it was all over, I decided to give myself a late birthday present...a skillet cookie from Desoto Snow and Creamery. That review will come a little later, but for now let me introduce you to Monica, the owner of Desoto Snow and Creamery & after eating that skillet cookie, maybe my new best friend.
I like interviewing the owners of restaurants because it helps others get to know them, like them, and want to do business with them... and I get to meet really cool people like Monica. With that said, here is my interview with Monica.
1. My family is obsessed with ice cream, we get into arguments over the ice cream names "mint chocolate chip vs. green mint chip." (In my house, its green mint chip by the way.) Do you come from an ice cream obsessed family like me? How did the idea of an ice cream shop come about for you?
I love the arguments over the names! I came from a small community in South MS (Waveland, Bay-Waveland Area) and we had local ice cream shops and snowball stands galore. Ice Cream and Snowballs were the standard to beat the heat type of dessert or fun family friendly outing that was relatively inexpensive. Anyway, no matter where we went, the owners or workers knew us (Came from a real small town) and people were friendly. I have always known I wanted to own a business; our family has a strong small business connection. My Grandparents, my parents, my brother and now
me, we all owned and ran small businesses. I wanted to open up a cakery or bakery of some sort 10-15 years ago, I kept dreaming and eventually many years later; I made it! Ice Cream and Snowballs have such a strong family connection to me and are some of my best memories enjoying the simple things in life.
2. I noticed a very close knit family vibe when I visited your shop. I know many small businesses are a family affair. Do you have lots of family working in the shop, or does everyone just feel like family? Who plays what role in the shop? I volunteer to be the official ice cream taster/quality control.
I love it!! My husband, son (who is away at college now) and I work at the shop. Yes, we have a family vibe for sure, our workers are our work family! My workers call me Mon and most customers think they are saying Mom and ask, 'is that your mom' or ask me 'is that your daughter or son'? So we get that a lot! My husband Jeff is over the snowballs on the weekends, he trains workers how to make snowballs. I train the front of the house, keep the books, ordering and generally run the business in addition to working the floor and back of the house. During Mardi Gras, King Cake season, I am rarely in the front due to the demands of King Cake season. Anytime, you are down in the area, I have plenty of taster spoons,come on in!
3. I went for the king cake, which was delicious by the way, but was intrigued by the skillet cookie on your menu. What is it, and where did that idea come from?
Thank you. I thought of Skillet Cookies to add to the warm-cool vibe of a hot fudge sundae, or brownie sundae. A nice homemade chocolate chip cookie baked in a skillet with a scoop of your favorite ice cream and toppings...The skillet cookies do take a little time to bake but they are worth the wait. We have some customers that opt for our brownie or chess square sundae (not having time to wait on the skillet cookie) and they come back for more. The sudaes whether a skillet cookie or chess or brownie sundae can be a decadent dessert.
4. It sounded like the king cake is an annual thing at your shop. Do you have any ties to New Orleans or Mardi Gras? I'm a Memphian by choice. Are you from the area? If not, how did you get here?
We are from the MS Gulf Coast and have family in New Orleans. Where we are originally from was called Little New Orleans, since so many people had weekend houses that were from NOLA. A hurricane brought us up here, of course! We had two dogs at the time and hotels were not too inclusive for pets (over 20 years ago), so we stayed with my brother and his wife in Memphis. We fell in love with the area and have made this our home for the last 23 years.
5. I originally went to your shop because you were doing something to promote the Tunica Humane Society. I have a family member who's origin story begins there, so THS is near and dear to my heart. How did you get connected with them? Is your business supporting any other non-profits?
I love THS!! When I was in real estate, we had community work days at THS and that was all it took. I signed up for the work days when I could and wanted to help them out. I stepped up to help after seeing post after post of helpless, starving pets that these beautiful people were saving, helping and giving them better lives by loving them and finding forever homes for them. I saw Champ and that was my wake up call to do what I could to help. I text'd a friend who made the post and told her what I wanted to do to help. By the way, Champ has a beautiful adoptive family and he is so loved. Once a month, we have a fundraiser day for THS, 10% of our proceeds goes to this great organization. We also help other nonprofits that are local.
6. One of my hobbies is making my own ice cream. Do you make your own at DS&C? Do you source anything locally that you want to shout out? We love promoting locally owned businesses.
I started making my own ice cream at home as well while we were contemplating an ice cream and snowball shop. As a business owner, I wanted to make the best decisions for a much larger target market than what I was making at home. A good friend of mine told me I should give this company a try, they were in Alabama. Well,I did my research, asked questions and made the 6.5 hour trip down there to taste ice cream and it was a done deal. Ice Cream from Alabama was a perfect fit, New Orleans style snowballs, we are from MS Gulf Coast and Ice Cream from Alabama; we hit the trifecta.
7. What is your favorite thing to EAT on your menu? Why?
Currently I am into my Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream, that is my therapy and happy place. When I really want something next level, I will heat up my chess square for my strawberry shortcake ice cream, it's a great combination.
8. What is your favorite thing to MAKE on your menu? Why?
If you grew up in an at home cook's kitchen, you appreciate the tips, tricks and just how to make things with your hands. I get so many compliments on my chess squares and they are a labor of love. I have had many people tell me, it tastes just like my grandma's; now that is the greatest and most humbling compliment. Your cooking or baking was just compared to their childhood memories...it doesn't get much better than that!! Love love love!!
9. What's your favorite part of your job?
Meeting people and making them feel welcomed, getting to know them and their families. We love our customers, we want them to know we appreciate them and we enjoy being a part of their day.
10. Being an entrepreneur is gutsy, difficult, scary, (insert any negative adjective here...) Do you have any advice to someone thinking about starting their own business?
Yes, it is all of the above and more! For anyone thinking of opening a business, do your research, follow your dreams and be the best you, in the business.
11. Is there anything else that you want to talk about that I forgot/didn't know to ask about?
My Logo!! LOL Coming up with a business plan, and all the financing and business aspect is one thing and is attainable but finding a name and logo...that was by far the hardest. I met with business consultants and they missed my vision...out of sheer joking and mostly frustration our logo came into being. You are selling two of the coldest items in the market, one of them being dairy. How can you get that to be a memorable logo and a fun experience? Well, we have a cow (calf actually) with a scarf and earmuffs. We found a picture and I drew a rendition of a calf with a scarf and earmuffs and that became our logo. Cows wearing earmuffs and scarfs are a thing, I promise.
If you want to get your hands on one of those skillet cookies, you can pay them a visit at:
5627 Getwell Road,
Southaven, MS
662-536-6291
Thanks Monica for the great interview and the amazing Skillet Cookie!
In honor of the birthday, I created a new t-shirt design. If you want to get your hands on a "Go Shorty It's Sherbert Day" T-shirt, click the link Foodiememphis
1 comment
Love this interview and cute little small business. Monica actually helped my family do the hardest thing…find a perfect home for our growing family. She made it so fun and easy…I can so see her beautiful bubbly personality owning a successful ice cream shop! Best of luck in both yalls adventures. Love the bday shirt was funny reading out loud to understand it.