Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ian Moore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Being from New Jersey, I loved Italian ice but I had a difficult time finding it here in Atlanta. With the rise of the Atlanta Water Boyz I knew that Italian ice push carts could be a solution. Working with my Morehouse brothers we created Glaciers Italian Ice an alternative to the Water Boyz. The company was founded to serve the community not only delicious Italian ice but also as a way to keep our youth safe, educated and employed.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Glaciers Italian Ice Youth Entrepreneurship Program was founded to keep our youth and young adults safe, educated, and employed. As a direct alternative to the “Water Boyz” we have strategized, organized, and mobilized a viable solution. Since 2020, there were over 1000 calls made relevant to youth selling water on the street. There were also over 400 complaints relating to things such as aggressive sales tactics, obstructing traffic, and
unwillingness to clean the area when complete.
There have been 32 arrests made, 18 shootings, and unfortunately the murder of an 18-year-old male, who was killed in
Midtown over a $10 water bottle dispute. Glaciers Italian Ice seeks to rectify this problem by providing our young men with an opportunity to become financially independent and safe.
Glaciers Italian Ice implores an owner-operator model in which we provide a turnkey business for our youth. Glacier
provides the infrastructure, marketing materials, location, permits, equipment, and training to operate a successful Italian ice cart. By splitting the profit, we incentive and motivate our youth to work.
Through our screening process, youth will undergo an intensive mentoring program where they will learn the Glaciers Italian Ice key principles: Hard Work, Humility, Honesty, and Hospitality. We wish for our youth to grow with our company as they will master budgeting, communication, and time management skills.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

This business was first designed as an LLC but we quickly realized that we needed to help our community. With many young men unemployed we were honored to change our business model to that of a nonprofit organization. This pivot allowed us to raise funds and differential our brand from everyone else.

In life and business, we must be okay with pivoting from our original plan. When ideas come to you it’s important to act upon them even though it was not in your plan. When you are purpose-driven you understand that pivoting is all apart of the greater plan.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Glaciers Ice has been a bootstrapped business since its inception. We initially pulled our resources together to invest in our first push cart. To expand into our storefront location we began to delve into crowd fundraising. We reached out to friends, family and community members to donate to our cause. This fundraising led us to secure our building lease. We secured a county grant to hire additional youth and purchase equipment that would ensure the sustainability of the business. We are always seeking additional grants and donations as our work of keeping our youth safe, educated and employed expands.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.glaciersice.org
• Instagram: @glaciersiceatl
• Facebook: @glaciersiceatl
• Yelp: Glaciers Italian Ice

Image Credits
@glaciersiceatl