We were lucky to catch up with Jim Cushing recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jim, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Have you ever had that kitchen gadget sitting on your pantry shelf that you had to have, but never used??? That’s the way I felt about an ice cream maker I had purchased. Finally I decided that I wanted to make ice cream that tasted like the ice cream my mom made when I was a kid. – That classic wooden bucket filled with rock salt and ice. And in the center was a stainless steel container full of my mom’s recipe for cool, summer deliciousness. After what seemed like an eternity, she’d scoop out the fruits of your labor – pure satisfaction.
I wanted to recreate my mother’s vanilla ice cream recipe that was still “fresh and frosty”, but with all natural ingredients. I started playing with various recipes and methods, until I came to what I still call my “perfect vanilla”. A simple blend of milk, cream, cane sugar and hand-scraped vanilla seed.
I started making ice cream for friends and neighbors. Giving it as gifts and taking it to parties. People loved it and started saying that I should sell the ice cream. I already had a full time job, and was not interested at the time in pursuing a new venture.
Then a few years later, I lost my job due to some corporate cut backs. I thought to myself, now is the time to make the leap, if I’m ever going to try to start an ice cream business.
I met with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to find out what I need to do to get licensed. And after about six months of recipe testing, becoming compliant and building a business plan, Charlotte & Olivia’s Sublime Ice Creams was born!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My professional background has always been in high-end catering and event planning. When I decided to start the ice cream business, I wanted to make sure that I used the best ingredients available, supported local when possible, and created a brand that focused on service and the community. In creating flavors, taste and quality always are the main objective. If it doesn’t taste great, then it’s not ready to sell.
Partnerships are also important when supporting other local vendors. Sourcing ingredients from farms, coffee roasters, peanut butter makers – all make for great taste, but also add to the story of our product.
Giving back to the community is important, too. Making donations to local charity event and supporting non-profits in the area is all part of making a difference in your community.
I think the thing that sets us apart from other ice cream makers – whether they are also local or on a state-wide or national level – our ice creams taste like the ice cream many people enjoyed as a kid that was homemade. I has a unique taste and texture that we describe as ‘fresh and frosty”. The ice cream has no preservatives or stabilizers, so it actually melts. And since there are no additives or artificial flavors, the ice cream is so clean tasting and the natural ingredients we us really shine.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I wasn’t sure if I could really get this ice cream business off the ground. And I wanted to focus on getting started by selling at a local farmers market, not a brick & mortar storefront. I looked at all the ways I could do this on a shoe string without a giant investment. Instead of renting a commercial space or commissary kitchen, I found a church kitchen that was willing to rent their commercial kitchen to me on an as-needed basis. Then I looked at small scale equipment that would still do the job without buying big, expensive pieces.
I was able to pay for everything with cash I had on-hand, and didn’t need to borrow or extend myself. I was very proud of that fact.
As the business grew, I always kept those same principles in mind. I’m very satisfied with the size of the business. I have still yet to take it to a major level, because I know that for that next giant step, I’d have to make a huge investment, and I’m just not ready to have a big financial burden hanging over my head.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The covid pandemic was a crazy time for everyone, including anyone who had a small business. I found that being creative and rethinking how things were done, was the best thing. Since so many people couldn’t see their friends, family, coworkers and clients – we created a series of ice cream gifts that could be delivered. We expanded our delivery area and offered special pricing for larger orders. And since we didn’t have a large factory full of employees in close contact, we were able to keep up production. In the end, our creative thinking allowed us to make sales we had never thought of before. And the pandemic years were some of the best sales we ever had.

Contact Info:

• Website: charlotteandolivias.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/CharlotteAndOlivias
• Facebook: facebook.com/charlotteandolivias
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jim-cushing-59197236