We were lucky to catch up with Ondrey & Mia Lawson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ondrey & Mia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job

With a backgrounds in education (Mia) and program management (Ondrey), we have had many valuable experiences that have helped us as business owners. However, we would say that the most important lesson we have learned is how critical communication and teamwork are to business success.

Mia: As a former educator, I have learned the importance of being able to effectively communicate and collaborate with others. This has been invaluable in my role as a business owner, as it has allowed me to successfully work with our team and clients, learning to listen to their needs and concerns, and to communicate clearly and productively in order to achieve our goals and provide best-in-class team and customer experiences.

Ondrey: As a program manager responsible for coordinating and overseeing the work of a team, the importance of being able to clearly communicate expectations and delegate tasks, as well as the importance of being able to work effectively with others in order to achieve a common goal is critical to the success of any initiative.

Together, these experiences have taught us the importance of being able to effectively communicate and work as a team in order to be successful in business. We have learned that by listening to and supporting each other, and by working towards a common goal, we can achieve great things. This has been essential to the success of our business, and we continue to rely on these lessons every day.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

We are Phrostbite Italian Ice, Houston’s premiere mobile Italian Ice vendor, serving refreshing and tasty desserts to people all over the city! We offer mobile catering, popup vending and delivery services for corporate and personal events, putting smiles on people’s faces!

We are Mia & Ondrey Lawson and have degrees in engineering, strategic management and communications, accompanied by backgrounds in project/program management, education and admin.

Ondrey: The idea came during an outlet mall visit-turned-product discovery! Residing in Houston, Tx, the climate is hot and humid year-round, so one summer day, Mia decided to get a cup of Italian ice from a kiosk while shopping. I’d never heard of this dessert, but decided to try some of hers and it was love at first taste! As we began discussing this deliciousness-in-a-cup, we were perplexed as to why this treat wasn’t more widely known in our area and thought how great it would be to introduce Italian ice to more Houstonians! After six months of research, planning, and development, Phrostbite Italian Ice was born!

Mia: Along our journey, we’ve been blessed to connect with some incredible entrepreneurs, market personnel, and community leaders who believed in our vision, our product, and gave us opportunities to thrive. Since launching in June 2021, we’ve seen tremendous growth and have provided services for various marketplaces, private events, festivals, birthday parties, school events, and more.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

When thinking about our client relationships and the image we want to portray, we bolster brand loyalty through focusing on several key business operations. We maintain an active and engaging social media presence, specifically on Instagram and Facebook, to help to keep customers updated on new flavors, locations, and promotions, as well as engage with them through surveys, quizzes and direct messaging. Additionally, our Google profile provides a platform to interact with customers and receive feedback on how we can improve operations. We also personalize customer interactions by providing specific recommendations and remembering customers names and favorite flavors to create a memorable experience that encourages them to return. We are constantly present at local events, such as farmers’ markets and festivals, which provides additional opportunities to connect with customers in person and grow the brand. And finally, we are in the process of launching a loyalty program where customers can earn points for each purchase and redeem them for discounts or free items to incentivize repeat business and foster increased brand loyalty.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for our business has been both word of mouth and visual advertisement. For our catering business, customer testimonies and reviews have gone a long way. There have been numerous times where we are contacted by new clientele and when asked how they heard about us, nine times out of of ten, they mention that they know someone who experienced our products and services and recommended us, or they know someone who in turn knows someone else who experienced our products and services and did the same. While we are at open events like festivals and farmers’ markets, once we serve several cups of Italian ice to customers and they walk off, we begin to receive a flurry of customers stating that they saw people walking around with our product and it looked too good to not circle back and experience some for themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.phrostbiteice.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/phrostbiteice
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/phrostbiteice/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/phrostbiteice
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/phrostbite-italian-ice-houston
• Other: https://linktr.ee/phrostbiteice