Interview of Jeni Britton

TESS: So first and foremost, I want to thank you for doing this interview with me. It means a lot to me, not just because I work for the company, but because I love everything that you stand for. I wanted to start off by having you introduce yourself and tell a little bit about yourself just in case that whoever is looking at this doesn't know who you are.

JENI: Oh great. Well I'm Jeni Britton, I founded Jeni's Ice Creams in 2002. I think of myself as a start small and build entrepreneur. So I started in a farmer's market, actually before that, in 2001 I started in my apartment and I was just making ice creams. And I started in the market and then very slowly grew so I actually worked our ice cream counter for 10 years because I actually even had another business called Scream Ice Cream from 1996 to 2000. It's been like this long, long life of mine and a big devotion I think lots of passion, but I did work the counter for 10 years so I think that's like where I learned everything and now in my life I get to kind of step back a little bit and go teach people that entrepreneurship isn't you know just learning the rules of business in fact most entrepreneurs I know don't know anything about business they know about people and they know about whatever it is that they love like for me it was ice cream. And so now I'm out teaching about that a lot that's really been kind of my side hustle for a long time but now I really focused on it.

TESS: Yeah I just saw yesterday that you were at the Kraft-Heinz workshop and so I saw that you were doing some like teaching and speaking at some of the workshops they had yesterday.

JENI: Yeah it was so cool to see such a massive, massive company. I mean these people this they have like so many brands like Kool-Aid you know. There's just I mean anything you think of, I mean Kraft macaroni and cheese like all the stuff that we grew up with. It's all under their umbrella and so to see that and then also to see this great culture is really something to aspire to. It wasn't always like that, there's a new CEO there since I think 2017 but you know having to deal with COVID and all that other stuff too and they really revamped a lot about their whole way which is really cool. He's awesome.

TESS: You talked about how you built the company from scratch and how you worked to save up money to buy the gelato machine way back when and now years later you have 66 storefronts you have nationwide distribution and you're a household name in a lot of households. Did you set out on this journey with the intention of creating this unique brand, with unique flavors like Everything Bagel which is very divisive. Some people loved it, some people hated it. And maple soaked pancakes. Did you go in thinking that you would do that or did you think okay maybe I'll just sit in the back burner of the market?

JENI: Oh no I I went into it thinking if Ben and Jerry's can do it, I can do it. Like this, like I have this idea that like can we make better ice cream than everybody else is making right now and the answer to me was yeah because I got the whole Midwest to pull from in terms of our farms and farmers and dairy. So yes and then I started learning about the science of it and then it was another yes we can definitely make better ice than everybody. But I was thinking like even from the very early days I want to set the standard for American ice cream. American ice cream is the best in the world, in my opinion. Of course then I hadn't tried any of the others I was just sort of you know deciding that and if American ice cream is the best in the world because it's like harder and it's you know you can it's served on a cone it's not soft like gelato. If it's the best in ice cream in the world then can we set the standard for the company that I built to do that. And if I was able to do that then the opportunity was limitless. I'm a future thinker. I'm definitely one of those like vision people and I tend to think in two paths simultaneously from very far into the future and right now. And so I am a person who doesn't get stuck in the middle you know like I always say, have this big vision you know super dream, shoot for the moon and then do what you can right now but anything between there and your vision it's a bowl of spaghetti. You'll get paralyzed if you overthink that part because you are gonna, and Jeni's this whole story of our company you know bears that out to be true. if I had known all the challenges that I was going to face, I never would have done it, but I just started. And so that's kind of, I think how I think, but absolutely, I thought you know my my resources at the time were such that I could only just start out of my apartment and the North Market. And then I realized I had a lot to learn so I just kept going and learning, but I always knew that the opportunity was big if we could figure that out. I will also just add really quick that I was always led first by my values. So it's if you think about I'm going to start the biggest ice cream company in the in the world, you know that is a different way of thinking than what I was thinking. I was thinking ice cream is really cool, it brings people together. People like me, who are kind of creative and and you know whatever, we don't have like the ice cream. I mean there's Ben and Jerry's which is amazing, but that's kind of like hippie ice cream. I was thinking about like the sort of creative exploration generation or whatever which there just wasn't it was always like nostalgic old school ice creams, classic flavors were like it was like Ben and Jerry's so I was like can I make ice cream shops where people like me want to hang out and I was like all my friends who are skateboarders and all my friends who are like musicians and artists and whatever and I figured well if I made a place that they wanted to hang out then other people would follow that too. And so it really was always a values led enterprise. It was always about community, about belonging, about seeing people, about this idea of flavor and that everybody is different and that's what makes us this whole community so cool. And what ice cream like why ice cream is so neat. And so we were grounded and anchored in that before growth. You know and that makes you do things very differently than we have to get big. You know we had to actually go very slow in order to be able to do that.

TESS: Do you think one of your favorite parts of creating this corporation and being involved in it was the flavor making? Because you've talked about the chemistry behind it and you know you know from all my training and everything else outside of it and what I know about you, you're so passionate about the flavors and the flavor descriptions and every ingredient that goes into it. Is that like one of the biggest drivers for you was like these super unique ingredients and everything like that?

JENI: Well it's funny because it is in a way yes, but also in a way no, because I don't think that's enough to keep me so excited about it even after 26 years. So I think that what really excited me and still does is, is building this company. This company being an eco self-sustaining ecosystem where everybody kind of wins and it's this like beautiful place. It's like a world that we step into and that we create for ourselves first of all to work in and to enjoy you know in our work lives and then to be giving that and creating that for our customers. I mean there's something really really amazing just about world building, and world building is about being efficient with your resources, not wasting things. Because when you waste something that means you can't apply it somewhere else, it's like gardening in a way. I mean you know you have only so much water or whatever you know you've gotta and and time and you have to like sometimes sort of distribute all of those things and sometimes things are not great over here and then they get really great over there so you distribute resources and and everything. So in a way it's like the enterprise is the thing that is the most fun to me. I just happen to be really good at flavor and the only reason I'm really good at flavors is because I studied scent, I studied art, I studied pastry and I spent 10 years in the market buying ingredients from makers, growers and producers who I still know to this day and we still buy from this day. And I'm still meeting every new ones and learning how to use as an ice cream and also, really importantly and you know this from working the counter like you learn customers' preferences and how and why they're there and they come to us by working the counter. And I worked the counter for 10 years that that that kind of information it is like it's become innate so making flavors is something that I I do very easily because I've done it for so long and I love to do it because I love to make people like feel loved and make people feel happy and inspired and activated is what I always say. And so it's always driving me to do that, but but I think the biggest thing, the biggest thing that like keeps me in it for 26 years is that like we've created this this world you know.

TESS: Yeah. I that is one of the biggest things I've learned like working the line you know for a whole year now and I'm a shift lead and just like watching the story evolve. I've seen the same customers consistently throughout my year of being there and like I know the reasons for coming in. Like they just love it and they love that a lot of the ice cream is gluten free and you know anything involving cake in an ice cream usually isn't gluten free. And so we cater to specific crowds of people that otherwise wouldn't have been catered to and they have such a deep appreciation for that and every time someone walks in the store you know they point out "Oh my gosh it smells so good in here!" and that's because of the waffle cones and like they're a labor of love. Like we love making them and we love the process of doing it and watching like little kids are always so excited when they come up to the glass and they get to see it. It's such a cool thing to be a part of and you, you know, you are not just Jeni Britton, the founder of Jeni's. You are Jeni, you are a mother. You are an entire person outside of the business. How do you diverge the two? How do you balance between being Jeni and Jeni Britton the founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams?

JENI: Well it's not always easy. I, especially like right after I became a mother, I mean like for a few years this was not an easy thing to do. I mean raising a company is like an extraordinary adventure. It's like an epic story. I mean it literally is like Frodo or like you know like I reference Lord of the Rings a lot because I think of it a lot of times like fellowship where amazing people come in and bring their awesomeness in and then together we make something greater than the s of its parts and that's the company. It's all of us including our makers and growers and customers and everybody. But it's not an adventure, unless it's really hard. Unless it hurts and so you know otherwise it's just like you know you're just having fun it's just life. You know it can really break you and most entrepreneurs I know have you know eventually get to that place where like you have just given, you feel like, you know somebody just you know you're like a washcloth that somebody like rang out. You know you just have nothing else to give. You're really trying to be everything to everybody and you at some point realize you are just empty and broken. And that has happened to me and the weird thing is, the great thing is first of all I pushed myself. I know where my breaking point, is which is really cool. Like that's actually like not something to be afraid of. Second it was really hard and it was horrible, but I learned who I am through that process and sometimes when you when your life kind of comes crashing down and our company has gone through this too. That's where you learn the most about your truest character. So I would just say that like it hasn't been easy and I haven't been able to divide the two Jeni's up at all until relatively recently and it really took getting broken to be able to see that and do that. And now of course, I'm very, if you ever follow my Instagram or whatever, like I'm in the forest every single day. I'm heading to the forest right after we get off the phone. I've always been a very magical person, you hear me talking about the Lord of the Rings and world building and all that. Like I've always loved you know magic and like I never take anything at face value everything is full of meaning to me. I studied art, so everything is so beautiful to me, the world and people and all that. But I really I'm like on this train now of like meditation, I do that but I don't meditate like everybody else does. I like go into like my worlds and I'm in the forest a lot and I'm healthy on all fronts and it wasn't always like that. Like most entrepreneurs I know have lost themselves at some point, all of them really and now I'm actually thinking is there a way that I can help them prevent that because I think America kind of uses our entrepreneurs. Kind of eats them alive a little bit, so I'm trying to figure out if I can help other founders avoid that or if it's just something that founders do. Because that actually might be part of the this thing too. But now I'm feeling amazing and really balanced in my life.

TESS: Is that something you would like consider turning into another business

because you're talking about helping other founders and doing workshops and I see from your Instagram you know you spend a lot of time in therapy and in nature. Every day it seems like you post something about being in the forest or you're with a cup of tea and I know you're a board chair for the Columbus College of Art and Design like your world has just ever evolving and like you're evolving with it.

JENI: Yeah for something like this, well first of all I am working with other entrepreneurs now we're starting companies where we can help these sort of emerging founders learn how to be leaders, get the coaching that they need early on. Which I also needed because I didn't know how to do it, I didn't know how to manage anything. I just was like an all-in you know kind of person and so we're sculpting leaders. We're helping these founders learn how to become leaders for their companies because founders should always know how to be a leader of the company and what information they need to stay in control of it. So we're doing all of that I say we, I have a team, a separate team around me for that and there's some really cool projects coming on the pike. I'm also doing non-profit work so I have like a little, well it's hopefully gonna be huge, but it's called Made Stand which we launched a couple of years ago. It was just a small movement like a lemonade stand, but you can make anything you want. We have the $10 challenge like for kids like to turn ten dollars into 100 by the end of summer. But this is a way in for me to start with elementary school kids to create programs of creative entrepreneurship. So looking at entrepreneurship as a lens through as you can see anything, any room you walk into, any you know whatever your interest is put the lens of entrepreneurship on it and see if there's opportunity there. Once you have that you can't unsee it. And then I can start working with middle school kids and then high school kids and then continue to go on as in their journey. So it's kind of a long-term vision of mine to create a more healthy ecosystem and even like for entrepreneurs and for founders and then also even like to help rebalance the power structure because the more entrepreneurs we create, the more diverse set of entrepreneurs we create. Obviously eventually that does affect the power structure at the very top because I know that the people at the top right now are not going to actually authentically step aside. We have to actually take it from them. And so that's the way you do it in America, is by raising businesses. The way I see it anyway.

TESS: I don't think you're wrong

JENI: Yeah okay (laughs)

TESS: I definitely think a lot of people would be on board with that idea.

JENI: It's long, long, long vision but--

TESS: Capitalist society everything is driven by money and power and you know money is power, which is unfortunate but it is the society we currently have and I think there are a lot of different cultures we could learn from and a lot of different countries that have seemed to like hit the nail on the head of like getting their things in order. We saw that with COVID a lot like the way just businesses had to completely shift and you know they still had to make money, but I mean it's that was such a thing that nobody saw coming that it's like how do you adapt a business from you know everything being in person and this huge, you know the energy of the story, is so vital to the experience of the ice cream and then that just got taken away so quickly.

JENI: Yeah and it was so sad and we're getting it back and we're focused on that as you know and of course it also like COVID just because in a crisis there's always an opportunity. And for us, and and I mean that like the opportunity to make people feel loved, activated and inspired which is what I always say or please the shit out of people, it's the other thing I like to say. But like there's always an opportunity to find a way to inspire someone and we found that in COVID by shifting bucket production to pint production. We did a whole bunch of things in COVID, but one of the big things that always stands out in my mind as a really important moment was like in like April of 2020, very early, the government was saying we'll be back by July 4th. And we had to decide, we don't we don't believe that, and what we did we did decide that we thought this was going to be longer than that. Which means we're going to be closed and so the leadership team pivoted from bucket production to pints and that saved us because we had inventory of pints to sell online and if we hadn't done that I mean I don't know where we would be right now. But so many other changes during COVID similar challenges big and small the company met over the last couple of years. And so we ended up you know, our website grew, our grocery business grew, and we're still hoping that we'll get back to, I mean people came back to the stores of course but not quite yet to that number and I feel like it's just because people have got new habits and I would love to see a day when people are just completely back out in our culture because it's so important especially now and I think ice cream can play an important role in helping to bring people back together. But you know us just being in our in our homes eating ice cream doesn't help as much. I think we do have to be back in stores, so you'll see us doing a lot more to try to drive people to stores because it's so important for reasons bigger than just you know, us, I think.

TESS: Yeah one of my favorite days so far of like working for the company was this summer. 12 South had like the summer kickoff party as a lot of stores did, but I mean just the amount of people who came out and a lot of them I knew. Like my friends came, their family came, and just like so many people that I had already seen throughout the store that week. Like the excitement for being able to come in the store and like being able to taste the ice cream, like that is a big deal to people when they come in and they were like "No samples?!" I'm like "I know!" and we have such unique flavors that it's like they'll just be like they'll just go for Milkiest Chocolate and vanilla because it's like those they are wonderful flavors. But they didn't have the courage to try something outside their comfort zone.

JENI: Yeah that is really a game changer or you know for it has been anyway for our company. But that's really why we exist. I mean without tasting like it's impossible to really be the full expression of who we are for our customers because we know that a lot of people come in because they hear about the new flavors or at least one person in the group hears about all the new flavors. I don't know if you've noticed this but there's a personality that I call the tour guide. And they come into the shop and they have four friends or three friends with them, but the tour guide comes in and they they're the person it's like they work at Jeni's. They're the person who like knows the history of the company, knows all of our new flavors. They have they know all the old flavors, are telling the stories of all of them and they're they're they're telling directly you to give tastes to their friends. And that tour guide person is always the one that orders the wackiest flavor and then the three friends order like you know milk chocolate or something. And so it's interesting to me too on this like discussion that when you just look at data, this is why data isn't always the right way to do it that there's an instinct involved in how we do things, when you only look at data what you're what you're seeing is we need to be making more flavors like milk chocolate because this is what people want and it's what they love. But if you work at the shops you know that we would never get the opportunity to make that sale if they weren't here to either try the new one or if the tour guide didn't bring them in because the tour guide was so excited about whatever new we had that month. And so this like constant, like I always think that our customers are here to explore and discover. And that is everything even if they end up with Salty Caramel or Brown Butter Almond Brittle, which is like my favorite and I'm not dragging anybody for doing that. But or milk chocolate or whatever, which yes they're all delicious. But like Buttered Popcorn, oh my God, that flavor was so good this year.

TESS: In our store everyone's like what's the best seller. Well it's Gooey Butter Cake, but I try to encourage every time I'm like High Five Candy Bar. I'm like we have some great seasonal flavors that aren't gonna stick around. Lemon and Blueberry Parfait is one of my all-time favorites.

JENI: Oh my gosh me too!

TESS: And every time it leaves I'm just like my heart aches.

JENI: I have another freezer in my garage for flavors like Sunshine, Buttered Popcorn. I have nine pints of Buttered Popcorn in my freezer right now because I was like if it didn't sell well, I wasn't sure. We're not going to bring it back and I, we, have to bring that flavor back. But you know it's like you, yeah I have a whole extra freezer for the same reason and then Take Five is like insane. I actually can't have that one here because I will eat the whole pint. I never eat the whole pint. I'm just not that way usually of the ice cream, but for that one I am. Because there's something that just keeps you coming back for another spoonful.

TESS: Yeah I mean it's just I constantly have pints in my freezer and every time my friends come over they go "What do you have?" and I'm like "None you can have." I'm like I'm holding onto these. These are my secret stash, but it is such a big deal because you pointed out the tour guide and you know where my store is on 12 South. The amount of tourists and literal like tour guide people we get is probably you know like 60% of our customers. You know we see bachelorette party, after bachelorette party. They come through and they're so excited to have ice cream and I push so hard for them to try different flavors. I'm like I get it, you have to try Gooey Butter Cake, it is the best seller, but I mean our Salted Peanut Butter based off the buckeye candy. It's such a good peanut butter taste or every other seasonal flavor we have. I'm like I promise you will find one and you will love it and you will hold on tight. You know Goat Cheese With Red Cherries has a cult following after it. People come in every single day and they say "When is it coming back? When is it season?" and I'm like "It's not here yet. I'm like you missed it. You missed it the last season" and they're always so upset by it, but I'm like I promise it's coming back that is a flavor that will never, I feel like not come back at this rate.

JENI: But yeah exactly we got to get everybody to get like an extra ice cream freezer like I have. They're surprisingly not, like they're surprisingly inexpensive. I think I got mine for like 200 bucks.

TESS: My shopkeeper has a separate one and hers is full of ice cream as well. She has like a bucket of Rainbow in it from one time when there was like a freezer failure. And someone had to take it and she was like it's coming home with me and her husband loves it.

JENI: Oh my God I love that!

TESS: The company is certified B-Corp, and so it's one of the things we advertise you know when people come in when they ask about the company. As having the most ethical and fair trade ingredients and processes. What was that process like for you as an individual and for the company when you were deciding like that's what I want to be, that's what I strive to be? I want to be certified B-corp.

JENI: Well it was never, it didn't start out as that. As I started reading about other states actually having that certifications, a tax certification or structure that exists and it didn't exist in Ohio. I was kind of on this train of like can we get that here? That would make a lot of sense, that would be a wonderful incentive for other businesses to follow. But we were already, I mean we were a small company we're just me in the market and a couple people, but we were already doing business this way. I like to say that because, this actually is true, like I built the business that you would build if you were 12 and you just thought this is how everybody does it. Right so you made everything from scratch. You made all your marshmallows. You made everything. You know, you really cared about your customers. You like we were very connected to the community in the market listening to other merchants and the other merchants were you know we were like a community and when one company did well we all benefited from that. So we were very motivated to all do well for each other in the market space. There was all this cool stuff that happened in the market that we just kept doing in every neighborhood wherever we are. So if we open in, yeah, 12 South then we're thinking about our impact everywhere and you know in that community. And so when the the B-lab created their third-party certification authentication or whatever it is. We immediately applied and we got it. I think we had to change like one or two things and we were already certified with it. So we didn't have to change a lot and it wasn't something that we had to plan for. Now what's cool about being a B-Corporation is that they expect you to grow every year. So they give you a number and you're supposed to grow that every year and so we've been able to do that since we started. And that is I think really fundamental about this movement is that it isn't about being perfect. It's about the desire to get better and to be a part of the movement and that wherever you're at now you're expected to keep going because we can always just get better. Which is of course you know as you know, the idea of better is such a Jeni's thing. You know when I started making ice creams they weren't really working. I couldn't get access to the dairy that I wanted and so this concept of like you know I'm gonna do what I can now and I'm going to keep getting better forever and that'll just be who we are. You know and eventually we'll be making the ice creams that we know we can and we'll be the company that we know we can be. Instead of waiting until we were perfect and so that's something I really value about this whole movement. So you know it's just like anywhere we can we can try to tweak something forward we do every year.

TESS: You've partnered with a plethora of nonprofits. You know, 12 South, we always

have a little fundraiser going on for a different non-profit locally or you know nationally.

You've collaborated with Tyler the Creator, Dolly Parton, and recently Lonely Ghosts.

How do you choose like which companies ethically and morally represent the brand and which properly suit it and that creative process, like you know creating an ice cream with Tyler the Creator?

JENI: Yeah so I mean these a lot of times come to me. So through somehow my network that's just because. So Tyler was sort of my friend. Bobby, who makes streetwear in LA, he has a company called, The Hundreds, like he did our t-shirts and we were collaborating. And Tyler noticed that, reached out, like he's like you know became a friend and then we started talking about ice creams. We realized that we have like very similar way of approaching everything in life and everything and he's become a friend. So the Lonely Ghosts, the same thing. I just met the founder doing mushrooms, on a mountain in Santa Cruz and we realized that we share the same values and so we've stayed in touch and that company was just tiny, just starting at the time and I think they're just gonna be huge. They're already I mean just in these couple of years since, they've already grown so much and they're beloved for those, the values that they have which we all feel and so that's been great. It's just the way that it is. I mean there's other stuff coming up too and these are you know, I'm a people first person, so like these are people who when I like someone and they like me. We have this like connection. It's always because of these like values that we share and that we think are important to share with the world and then we come together and it's like this inevitable thing. Obviously we get a lot of people who want to do collaborations with us. And that isn't how we work. We just really wait until we are so inspired by someone and their voice. And you know like Dolly was like a no-brainer. That was like you know what you know it's just like that was the team, just like who would be like the one person that we could that we would really just want to work with and just called her you know and they were like yeah. They knew who we were, they loved the story of the company, and they were really excited to work together. Also like I spent a lot of time in libraries. I was a librarian and so she has the thing with the library so. But I mean as a human being who is super creative, manages to keep all sorts of people as fans, that was such a real win for the company I feel like. And also like I haven't tried the Duncan Hines cake mix that she's done, but I'm so excited to try her coconut cake from there. I think like oh my gosh, cake and ice cream like we needed to be doing like this three like trio collaboration or something you know.

Tess: My mom has been on the lookout for it every time she goes to the grocery store she's like "I haven't found it. It's always out!"

JENI: And Duncan Hines follows me on Instagram. I was like "Hey send me some of that cake mix" and They were like you can find it at the store. No I can't, it's not there! Yeah no.

TESS: My last question for you, what do you want your legacy to be? Obviously you've been running the business for 26 years and the time will come that you will step away. You will, you know it will always be a part of you, but you will eventually say this is for now for someone else. What do you want your legacy to be?

JENI: Well and that's happening now to be very honest. I mean I'm not, I have always in the beginning of the company it was very easy for me to step away from the things that I wasn't good at. So like finance, I could easily just be like that's yours now or you know HR. You know I mean as much as I love people, I am a horrible manager so there's a lot of stuff that like was very easy for me to step away from. And now I'm like I really do believe that the company can be, we can make better ice creams if we have fresh eyes in our innovation, in our test kitchen and isn't just coming from me because you know to this day I'm the only one that's ever made an ice cream flavor at Jeni's and of course it takes a lot of people to pull it off. It's not you know, that's not just me, but like I'm the one that puts all the flavors into the funnel that eventually gets through the whole team and and so on. And the recipes those all come from me too. So I'm actually working on like, I really, as I mentioned like in the first question like I really think the thing that I'm the most proud of is this whole ecosystem. This company that exists as a world. And if it's reliant on me you know to work, then that's not complete. Obviously, I will always be the biggest champion of every single person at Jeni's and want to be connected to the company and be you know some kind of you know spirit that sprinkles magic throughout and I will be there for anyone who ever needs me that's not a question, ever. To me this is just such a wonderful life that I've gotten to live and I and I'm just grateful to have grown up in the midwest, in America, where I didn't question whether I could do whatever I wanted and I and I just did it. As far as legacy, I just really don't know. I think what I would like to see is, is you know it's one of the hardest things about being a founder like me, who put my name on the sign, which is a whole story. It wasn't really what I wanted to do. But I think what I'm really cautious of is sort of ruining that name. You know, because it's also the name that I have as a human being and when you put your name on something it really means something to you personally and I think to a lot of people over time. So that's something that I just care so deeply about, that that name and that those values that we put in that they remain. And I think we've put in, like can you imagine if Jeni's like changed, like I just feel like it's so through and through the company that I feel very proud and very, very, I'm losing the word right now. But secure that that there's no danger right now. That we're going to lose our sense of direction because it's so everywhere in this company in every single corner and I do think that we are just continuing to get better. So mostly I just think like if we just if we could just stay with the way we are and like continue to build on our values then I will just always be very proud of this company. And I also think you know the word company is better than the word business the word company means you're not alone. And I have never once felt alone in this company, in any way. Even when it was like just me in the market and the customers. We were all together and the farmers you know. So now I just see this whole company as this company of amazing people.

Tess: Would you, I know I said that was my last question, but I'm just curious. Would you ever want your children, if they grew up and were like I want to take over the business, like I want to be involved in it, you know is there like anything you would tell them that like you wish you would have done differently or would you like tell them maybe don't get involved?

JENI: I would want them to make their own business and I would definitely be a support for them for that, but I wouldn't want them to be in under my name. I think the pressure is different that way and it doesn't seem right, but they would, I think Greta would love to have it, who's 15. She would love to work at a Jeni's actually right now or or you know next summer or something. And that would be really cool. But she would also apply without wanting anyone to know that she's my daughter. Like that really really bothers her and so you know so she may end up working somewhere else because she just doesn't, she's just not that way. She's a hard worker and she would not want anyone to think that that was any kind of advantage. That that's just something that really bothers her, but I think that that they'll have their own thing. And Greta just had this test and my son Dasha will do it too at some point. Like you know like your strengths right, and her strengths are like a lot like mine which is like enterprising, self-discipline, you know all of these things, creative. That point me to the fact that I think she's very entrepreneurial and entrepreneurial people are just a little, built a little differently. We just have a lot of trouble with the rules, which both my kids do. And we're really vision-led and that's kind of how she is. So I have every reason I think that they will form their own company and in fact probably don't fit in anywhere else. Like that's really in many ways, I mean ultimately, the reason I created my own world at Jeni's, is because I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere else. I mean honestly that I think is a lot to do with why Jeni's exists, because I wanted to create a place where I felt comfortable. And as a deep very big introvert and somebody who when I grew up I was very very shy. I found myself through service and I still it's still the perspective that I view everything. I just through this lens of service and entrepreneurship so anyway I think my kids have that but we'll see.

TESS: That was always one of the biggest things when I applied to work, I was like

this company you know every single store has the Black Lives Matter in the window. And you know the Fifth and Broadway location, they received backlash for it. There are some people down there who don't appreciate that we have that and it gets ripped down from time to time and so now it's taped up super high up where no one can reach it. And I always just liked how everything at the company was handled. The way you know the employees are treated you know. We get paid $16 an hour even if that's not what we make in tips, like we are being paid fairly and that's not something that every company can say especially in Tennessee where the federal minimum wage is all that you get and even in food service sometimes they're like actually you make three dollars an hour and then you reach that $7.25 with tips, but that's not how it is and that's never how it's been. And my store specifically, we are a family, I have made my best friends at 12 South and I'm beyond grateful to work there. You know I texted my friends and I was like I'm about to interview Jeni and they were like what?! And I was like I can come into work today and be able to say that and so it's just been such a fun time to work for your company and I'm so grateful for it and I'm so grateful for you to do this interview with me.

JENI: Well I just love you guys all so much. I think about our front line team because you know I like to say that like I like to think, I mean I worked the counter for 10 years. I was making the ice creams and helped all the customers or a lot of them for 10 years. And so like I know what it takes behind the scenes, to bring an ice cream to life and then you scoop it and you like hand it over the counter. It's this moment of like handoff that is so wonderful and so important. So I'm thinking about you guys all the time and and I feel kind of weird because like there's like we're so big now that like there's no way I can get to every store every year like I used to be able to do, but I have to find a way now that COVID is you know, well it may be coming back, but whatever I'm all vaxxed you know to get back out and I often think like could I do like a road trip from like literally across the country or something. So I got to figure that out because I just adore you guys so much and I know exactly what it's like to work the counter. It's not easy but it's something like inspiring. There's this like teamwork you learn so much by doing that you really just learn. You become this Jedi of human emotion like you know serving people in this quick fashion. But there's so much you can learn from that so I'm writing a book right now and it's about flavor and a lot of these beautiful stories so maybe too when I get this book done and I can get out this could be another sort of shop tour or something like that. But I'm always happy to talk to your store and I'm always cheering you all on from afar and sending so much love.

TESS: Perfect thank you!

JENI: You were such a good interviewer, that's wonderful.