BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

This Disrupter Left A 6-Figure Job To Scoop Ice Cream And Built A Sweet Success Story

Following
This article is more than 6 years old.

Portland-based Salt & Straw is reinventing the ice cream industry.

Photo courtesy of Leela Cyd Ross

Would you wait in line for 45 minutes to sample pear and blue cheese ice cream? Or hop on a plane to try green apple and wasabi flowers sorbet?

Salt & Straw is an Oregon-based artisanal ice-cream brand with a cult following that was dreamed up by entrepreneur Kim Malek. Her customers are known to go on tasting tours of the 10 West Coast shops — hopping from Los Angeles to San Francisco to Portland — to sample the offbeat farm-to-cone flavors that vary from city to city and change on a monthly basis. Marriage proposals and job offers have been made in epic Salt & Straw lines.

Salt & Straw founders Kim and Tyler Malek.

Photo courtesy of Brian Doben

It's no surprise that Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group  — the force behind Shake Shack — has just announced that it is investing in the company that Malek started with her cousin Tyler. (Kim's the brains behind the business; Tyler's the one with the culinary chops.) This week, Meyer's cool New York City café concept Daily Provisions will start selling Salt & Straw's Manhattan-inspired ice cream flavors, like salted caraway rye with strawberry cheesecake. Other plans are in the works.

So how did Kim Malek go from hawking ice cream out of a simple cart on a street corner in Portland to disrupting the business? And what informed her success? Here, she reveals the secret ingredients and some advice she gleaned along the way from Danny Meyer and a couple other rock stars: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and U2's Bono. 

Sampling flavors at a Salt & Straw shop, which one customer said was like "going to a wine tasting."

Photo courtesy of Leela Cyd Ross

The Scoop On Starbucks: Malek got her start working in college as a Starbucks barista, which she translated into a position in the marketing department after she graduated. At the time, Starbucks had just 30 stores. "My parents felt sorry for me because they didn't think I had a very good job," she says. "I was working for this tiny coffee company that no one had ever heard of. And I would say, 'No, it's going to be a big thing some day — I really believe in this guy Howard Schultz."

Creating A Cool Idea: During her time at Starbucks, Malek was living in Portland and helping open new markets around the country. Inspired by this wildly creative city, Malek had a thought: "I was struck by what an incredible sense of community Portland has, as well as collaboration like I've never experienced before. I was moved by the idea that an ice cream shop would be a good way to capture that."

Salt & Straw's colorful packaging.

Photo courtesy of Carly Diaz

Developing A Business Plan: Malek tells the painfully hilarious story of shopping around her first business plan for Salt & Straw. "I sent it to a possible investor and he sent it back to me covered in red ink. It was horrible. He was not impressed with my idea. At the top he wrote, 'You can’t do this. Who do you think you are, Starbucks?'"

What She Learned from Howard Schultz: "The number one thing I learned is that you can develop a business model based on people first," says Malek, who recalls sitting in store meetings as a barista and having Howard Schultz come in and talk to the team. "The respect that I was being given at my entry-level position made me feel like I was really being entrusted with the future of this company. I knew that this people-centered idea was important." Salt & Straw followed the example, offering all employees three months paid maternity and paternity leave, health insurance for even part-timers and an extensive leadership training school. The company also partners with local organizations and communities and is launching an artisan incubator. "We started out with a lot of these benefits, when we weren't even sure we were going to make it as a company. It can be kind of scary to do that, but I knew that it was central to our mission."

Founder Kim Malek, scooping ice cream.

Photo courtesy of Leela Cydross

Next Mentor — Bono: After leaving Starbucks when it had about 3,000 stores, Malek worked with Red, the company founded by Bono to fight AIDS in Africa. "He is the most humble person. I remember we were having a problem with a project, and we knew he was going to call my boss at this certain time. So we were sitting in the office saying, 'Oh, we've let him down,'" recounts Malek. "And I will never forget the phone call. Bono called to say he was sorry we were having this problem and to explain how he thinks he played a role in creating it. As a leader, I've always remembered that. To walk in and show your support and accept your level of responsibility is really inspiring."

What She Learned from Bono: Another thing that struck Malek about Bono was how he tapped into connections, asking people to come forth and help. He also refused to accept the status quo. "I remember Bono telling the story of how he started Red," says Malek. "He was volunteering in Africa and saw firsthand people dying from AIDS and went to Washington D.C. to talk to people in the Senate and the government about the fact that the medication was not very expensive. The people he was talking to said, 'This isn't a topic that is discussed at the kitchen table in the cities where I'm up for reelection So this isn't important to me.' And he said, 'Ah, ok, if that's the challenge, that's something we can do, we can make it a topic." The lesson, says Malek: "If there’s a problem out there that needs to be addressed, we have to go fix it. Nobody else is going to do it. We can make a difference."

Are you hungry yet?

Photo courtesy of Leela Cyd Ross

Quitting Her Job: Leaving a six-figure job with a superstar boss like Bono wasn't easy, but Malek was asked to relocate from the West Coast to Red's headquarters in New York City, and she didn't want to go. Her husband encouraged her to pursue her dream of going into the ice-cream business. But when she couldn't get a business loan, she didn't let that stop her. "I did what everyone says not to do — I cashed in my 401k. In the meantime, my cousin Tyler wanted to go to culinary school and so, long story short, he moved into my basement and started making ice cream."

Humble Beginnings: "We were going to open a store, but we weren't going to be able to open until late August, but of course we wanted to be open for the summer. So we thought we’d start as an ice-cream cart, which was a good way to make mistakes that don’t sink you," says Malek. "Tyler would make ice cream in the morning and go to culinary school and then scoop in the evening. And I was scooping during the day. He would transport the ice on the top of his Subaru. It turned out to be the wettest summer on record in Portland. So we were standing outside when it was almost sleeting sideways, selling ice cream."

How it all began: the original ice-cream cart.

Photo courtesy of Salt & Straw

The Discovery: Then out of the blue, the Wall Street Journal called. "They wanted to do a review on our ice cream," says Malek. "It was mind blowing because we were just getting started." But the editors wanted Salt & Straw to have national distribution in order to featured them in the newspaper. So in three weeks, they started a mail-order business. Shortly thereafter, Salt & Straw witnessed the Oprah magic: "Someone at O Magazine called, and we were featured as one of Oprah’s favorite things. That gave us a bit of momentum just as our store was opening in August."

The Lines! But it wasn't just a little momentum — there were lines out the door from day one. "Having lines freaked me out because at Starbucks, we were always working as hard as we could to eliminate lines," says Malek. "But it was all just reflective of the idea of being a great community gathering place. And that's what made me really happy."

Lining up in a Salt & Straw shop.

Photo courtesy of Leela Cyd Ross

Taking It To The Next Level: Two years in, Malek hired a woman named Casey Milligan as the first-ever store manager. She had a background in fine dining and an idea of bringing that kind of service and skill training to the ice cream world. Part of the homework: Everyone in the company read Danny Meyer’s book Setting the Table. Next, they signed up for a hospitality training conference with Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) in New York City. "Their training and philosophy is how to set up a culture of enlightened hospitality and hold each other accountable," says Malek. Milligan and Malek took their learning back to Portland and created Salt & Straw University, a quarterly leadership summit and four-day training for everybody who comes on board. "We really integrated everything we learned into our company, and while we were there, we found out that they ordered our ice cream all the time. We couldn't believe it."

The Rest Is History: "At the end of the conference, they said, 'If anyone has any questions as you go along, please keep in touch," says Malek. "And you should not say that to me if you do not mean it." Malek took USHG up on the offer and reached out for advice over the years — and developed a relationship. "They’ve been extremely helpful and also taught me that when someone offers to help, you should really take them up on it. Not only did it benefit our business, but this dialogue helped to foster our relationship and get to know each other over the years."

A flavor rainbow: almond brittle with salted ganache.

Photo courtesy of Leela Cyd Ross

What She Learned from Danny Meyer: Here are the 11 things Malek learned from the hospitality guru.

1. "The hospitality industry can be transformative and offer meaningful career opportunities. Develop a company and experience that matters...to employees, partners/vendors, the community and customers. This isn’t only a means to a paycheck. We are part of something bigger, offering a runway to developing a career path in multiple possible directions."

2. "People first, employee centered, have a heart. I know it sounds trite, but putting employees and your community of suppliers, vendors and partners first is a smarter business model that is more sustainable in the end. These are the people who are creating your success. Take good care of them. Believe in your people and your industry as a force for good and look for the ways we are contributing to inequities in our society. Danny Meyer told a story about how some forms of tipping are actually linked to the days of slavery and finds that ‘tradition’ unacceptable in his company."

3. "Growth doesn’t need to rob your culture — your culture can actually fuel growth and benefit from it if done carefully and thoughtfully."

Photo courtesy of Salt & Straw

4. "Lead with humble curiosity and great respect. Be grateful. I’ve learned this from watching Danny interact with each person he meets. He allows time to meet with every person who they hire in a weekly open lunch for all new folks. We are modeling a similar program at Salt & Straw."

5. "Of course, people want to be paid a fair amount, but beyond that, people want to be treated fairly. This drives many decisions, big and small."

6. " Don't shy away from doing things the hard way, stay true to who you are and remember: It's important to say no. One of the first questions DM asked me was, What have you said no to since you started your company?' And from there, as we’ve gotten to know their organization, we’ve shared with them the complex model we use to create our menus and make our ice creams. They weren’t scared away, in fact, they appreciate it and were drawn to us because of it. We do a little more than is expected and we think that’s why customers have responded to our company with the loyalty that we’ve experienced."

7. "Create strong community roots and give back. This drives every decision we make, from collaborating with artisans and farmers, to actively supporting local schools and raising awareness for issues like childhood hunger and equal rights."

A Salt & Straw waffle cone.

Photo courtesy of Salt & Straw

8. "Choose people and partners first and foremost for their values, work out the rest. That includes investors."

9. "Focus on getting things right, not getting things done fast. We were working out a launch in New York and the timing was getting tricky, so as a team we delayed the launch."

10. "Don't be afraid to try things out and figure it out as you go along. USHG tells a great story about getting started with Shake Shack, thinking they'd have more of a focus on hot dogs. But when hamburgers stole the show, they had to figure out how to quickly pivot.

11. "Things don’t need to be done as they’ve been done before. Food and service experiences don’t have to be and shouldn't be mediocre. For example, USHG has recreated food at airports, on flights, at stadiums and in fast casual as a whole. There's a way to reinvent any situation to provide people more than they expect. I’m excited to see where we (as a collective whole) can take this next."

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website