We recently connected with Christian Sudduth and have shared our conversation below.
Christian, appreciate you joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers
Two years ago I had a gentleman walk into my store and he told me that he was is dire need of a shaved ice because he had a very upset child waiting in the car with the poor mom. For anyone who has been in my shop you understand it is not just a standard run of the mill dessert shop, no it is a combination of Lego art on display with over 45 homemade flavors of shaved ice to pick from. It is a destination for many of my customers and their families, every year I am told that the family vacation is not complete unless they have had the opportunity to visit my shop at least once on their visit to Hilton Head. Now to get back to the father who walked into my shop; I would imagine he had to of been amazed to see what was in my shop when he walked in. He began to inquire did I build these creations and how long I had been doing it, as beginning to tell him my story and how my shop came to be; he all of a sudden turned the tables on me. He asked me if I could make him a creation. I answered absolutely. Then he became more specific with his request, “ I want a football helmet or basketball with a team logo on the side, and make it life-sized too…can you do that?” At first I was having a deer in the headlight moment; I had never attempted anything like that in my life! So I doubt I am across as convincing, I said “Oh sure absolutely I can totally do that.” Then the gentleman asked for my business card, paid for his sno cone & then walked out of my store. At first I thought I am never going to hear from this man ever again. But the very next day I noticed that I had a new follower on my Instagram account; it was the Big 12 Athletic Conference. At first I thought it was not legit; somebody had to of been cat-fishing me right? But no, it turns out it was for real. I checked my inbox and I had a message from that same gentleman who came into my shop the day prior; it turns out he was the Chief Marketing Office for the conference and he was following up asking me if I would be willing to make Lego Art for the conference? Um, YEAH I SURE WILL! Later on I had a video conference with the marketing team for the conference and a few months later I wound up creating a football helmet & basketball with conference logo on it. The conference paid me handsomely for my creations (which by the way took a lot of trial error to create) and they were entered into their end of year sweepstakes where someone could win my creations by simply entering their name to be drawn. This chance encounter has led to other wonderful opportunities for which I am extremely grateful for. It is a lesson learned that you never know who you are going to meet on your journey through life and what doors can be opened up for you.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a child I was a very picky eater and there were very few things on any menu that I would find appealing. However there was a snowball stand not far from my parent’s house that I would always want to go to in the summers. I would find anyone I could who would be willing to take me there of course. Later on in my life when I moved to Hilton Head in my mid-20’s I was at a crossroads in my life. I had been caught up in the recession of 2008 so I did not have a job and I was finishing my graduate degree. I really did not know what I wanted to do with my life. It was my family’s idea that I start a business since I had always wanted to be my own boss. It sounded like a wonderful idea but I still did not have a good direction of well, what kind of business? Again my family suggested that I sell shaved ice. Their argument was; you live in the south- its hot most of the year, you live in a beach town- there’s tons of families that visit here every year, but most importantly there’s kids lot of them- they are your target group.
So after I bought an ice shaver (which I still use the original to this day) and some syrups I started doing events at birthday parties, festivals & farmers markets. Just to try it out to see if I wanted to be serious with it. After doing this for two years and finally deciding that I was going to be for real with this and also when I could make my own syrups on my own (which customers loved) I decided that I wanted to find a brick & mortar location where I could operate on set days with set hours.
When it came to décor I did not know what I wanted to put in my shop. Again it was my family who came through again. They suggested that since I am a Lego nut and I was always making these beautiful creations that I should put them on display in my store. After all what is the point in creating something wonderful if the only who sees it is you?
Fast forward to now it has been 16 years since I started on this journey and 14 years that I have had my store. The collection of creations on display has grown (almost to the point where I am running out of room) and so has my clientele. I been fortunate enough to experience professional success on countless levels and having my shop has opened up so many more opportunities that I would have never dreamed to of been possible. It has as they say taken a lot of setbacks, sweat & tears to get to where I am but it has all made it worthwhile. I love what I do, and I am very blessed to say that.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In the summer of 2023, disaster struck my shop at the worst possible time too. Summers are a very busy time for my shop and especially the week of July 4th. Early on a Saturday morning sometime around 3am, I got a call from a neighbor of mine who lives next door to my shop that there was a big problem. She told me that there was water gushing out from under my door. Within a matter of minutes I was out the door and rushed to my shop. When I arrived I did indeed see the water running out from my store. I unlocked the door and flipped on the light switch and my heart just sank. My whole shop was flooded. It was like a scene out of a sinking ship; my mats, trashcans…anything that could float was bobbing up and down in the water. In hindsight I probably should have waited for the fire department to arrive, but being a concerned and desperate shop owner; I had to do something to save my child (my store). I found the water supply and turned it off and that thankfully stopped the flooding. After that I remember it all being a blur; I cried my eyes out thinking that I was never going to recover. All of my hard work that I had invested so much time and effort into was gone after 11 years. Thankfully I was able to open my shop back up in a week and I was able to recover but it would not have been possible if not for the efforts of so many people and some very lucky bounces that went my way. I learned that you can work so hard for something and it can be taken away from you in a blink of an eye; but more importantly I learned that if you get a chance to have back what was taken from you that you loved so much; you have to love it even more.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
This will sound cliched and probably archaic but I treat everyone who steps into my shop as family. As a result I feel fortunate to say that I have become adoptive members of so many other families who visit my shop year after year. I have seen children grow up, I have even been a part of someone’s wedding, I have been asked to write letters of recommendation, I have made art for customers, I have received so many positive reviews of praise on the web and in person; but most importantly treating my customers as family as given me a sense of fulfillment. Even on a bad day which do happen to everyone, I still feel happy because I have my shop and all of the wonderful people who take the time to visit it again & again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.snoconesbychris.com
- Instagram: @snoconesbychris
- Facebook: Sno Cones By Chris
- Linkedin: Christian Sudduth
- Yelp: Sno Cones By Chris
