Her Sweet Side Hustle Turned Full Business Hit $300K in Year 1

Key Takeaways

- Keefe brainstormed her business plan while working in corporate.

- She left 70-hour corporate work weeks behind to build her ice cream business, Clementine’s.

- Now, fresh off a $6 million fundraising round, Clementine’s continues to expand.

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Tamara Keefe, 50, of St. Louis Missouri. In 2014, burnt out from nonstop travel and 70-hour work weeks in her corporate marketing role at a Fortune 500 company, Keefe made ice cream in her kitchen “as a comfort project.” Keefe’s friend suggested she parlay her passion into a business.

A side hustle was born: Keefe drafted the business plan for Clementine’s Ice Cream that very weekend. The business, however, didn’t stay a side hustle for long. Keefe left her job that same year to go all-in on her artisan, small-batch ice cream brand. Read more about her journey, below. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Image Credit: Chris Ryan. Tamara Keefe.

Where did you find the inspiration for your side hustle?

Ice cream has always been about connection for me. I grew up in a big family, and we didn’t have a lot, but my mom always filled our house with love. We couldn’t afford the classic Sunday ice cream stop that so many families enjoyed after church. I’d see kids excited and laughing with their families and would beg my mom to go. She’d always politely say no, but one day, she found a $2 hand-crank ice cream maker at a garage sale. Suddenly, Sundays in our house became ice cream days. The kitchen turned into a celebration. One neighbor brought the cream, another got the sugar, and we’d make ice cream together. It gave me a real sense of community that I had been missing. Then, as an adult, ice cream would become my passion project and business. So I always say, ice cream saved me twice.

Cashing out her 401(k) to turn a side hustle into a brand

What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?

One of the first things that I did was go to ice cream school. Yes, there is a school just to learn how to make ice cream. There, I [learned] the proper techniques, equipment and more that I needed to launch Clementine’s. Also, in the early days, we didn’t just open our first scoop shop on day one. I started by getting our ice cream in the hands of respected chefs and restaurateurs around town. I knew if I could get the stamp of approval from top chefs, we were onto something. And we did. When I left my job, I cashed in my 401(k) and used my personal savings to build the brand. I lived very lean, only paying off basic bills for over three years to fund the business.

Applying to Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program

Are there any free or paid resources that have been especially helpful for you in starting and running this business?

I applied and was selected for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in 2018, which provides education, capital and support resources to small businesses. This was a game-changer that helped me really think through my business and growth plan and forced me to have business rigor early on. It’s free to apply, so I strongly recommend it for any new business.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Clementine’s Ice Cream

If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?

I’d have hired more senior-level people sooner. I’ve learned to hire people who are more skilled and adept than me, but I wish I had brought those leaders into the operations earlier on instead of shouldering it all myself. I would have also invested more in coaching leadership and management in the early days. We also used to manage the parlor teams (it was a hot mess), but our director of retail, JulieClaire Lane, has helped us shape the culture of our parlor teams and deliver a high level of service to our guests.

Running an ice cream business takes a lot of grit

When it comes to this specific business, what is something you’ve found particularly challenging and/or surprising that people who get into this type of work should be prepared for, but likely aren’t?

Ice cream is incredibly physically laborious. It’s taxing on the body to lift 50-pound dairy buckets all day long! There’s a perception that running an ice cream business is cute and fun, but you have to have a lot of grit. Beyond the physical part, it’s also creatively taxing. You have to keep consumers engaged with new flavors throughout the year, while staying committed to quality. You must understand the food science behind great-tasting ice cream, and the formulation of great ice cream takes a lot of care and precision.

The fragility of a single-source supply chain

Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong — how did you fix it?

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned came at the exact moment that we couldn’t afford one. We were heading into summer, our busiest