Selling Ice Cream from a Broken Truck to Becoming a Multi-Million Dollar Household Brand with Natasha Case, Co-Founder of Coolhaus

Natasha Case is the co-founder and CEO of Coolhaus, a leading women-founded and -led ice cream and frozen dessert brand creating premium cookie sandwiches and pints. After earning her masters in architecture and landing her dream job at Walt Disney Imagineering, Natasha discovered her newfound passion for creating architecturally-inspired ice cream sandwiches as a way to bring joy to her coworkers during the last recession. At that time, Natasha met her co-founder and now wife, Freya, and they realized the potential and uniqueness of the product. They decided to quit their corporate careers to pursue their passion for ice cream as a real business and create a brand they could identify with. 

In 2008, they took a barely drivable postal van they purchased on Craigslist to Coachella to officially launch their ice cream sandwiches. The event turned out to be a massive hit and Coolhaus has now become a multi-million dollar business growing 2-3x per year. Natasha has been named 30 under 30 by Forbes & Zagat and has helped expand the business to over 7,500 grocery stores nationwide, from Safeway to Whole Foods. 

In this episode, we’ll talk to Natasha about: 

* How Natasha found a way to incorporate her two passions, food and architecture when she was working at Disney [6:39]

* When Natasha decided to take a personal passion of hers to the next step and create a real “business” [8:39]

* Why not being able to secure a business loan and launching at Coachella with a broken van was the best decision Natasha made [10:44] 

* How Natasha and her co-founder managed to launch at Coachella despite having no brand or business recognition [14:35]

* How the Coolhaus brand went viral after its launch and changed the trajectory of the business [16:17]

* Natasha shares how she launched the company by borrowing only $1,400  [20:11]

* Key challenges Natasha faced growing Coolhaus and the importance of being transparent with your customers during difficult times [24:18]

* Natasha discusses what it takes to go from start-up founder to a CEO of a multi-million dollar business [27:34]

* Natasha opens about life as a mother and entrepreneurship & how her children have motivated her to create an even bigger ice-cream empire with Coolhaus [32:10]

* Natasha shares advice on how she mentally handles the stresses and challenges of running a business [37:13]

* Key advice Natasha has for women who are taking a leap in their career or want to start their own dream business [38:51]

Follow Natasha:

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashajcase/ 

* Coolhaus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coolhaus/ 

* Coolhaus Website: https://cool.haus/ 

Follow Yasmin:

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/

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