We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kalli Lebaron. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kalli below.
Kalli, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
One of my favorite aspects of owning Joy Pops is the creativity that’s comes with creating the business. coming up with different flavors, marking post, and menu designs are all great creative outlets for me. however, it can be hard to constantly coming up with new ideas when you’ve been doing it for a couple years. sometimes I can get stuck in my head and can get used to doing the same routine/ same way of running my business. One way I like to keep the creativity alive is connecting with my customers. when I have the opportunity to go cater an event and meet with my customers one on one, i fill up with creativity and motivation. seeing my customers and followers light up with joy over our flavors and aesthetic of our business brings me so much joy. getting to talk with the customers to see what they respond to and what they like inspires me to try new things! all of my customers have such fun and unique styles and taste It’s so fun to get a different perspective and try other things I wouldn’t have thought of. I am extremely grateful for all of the customers and followers that support my business and help keep my creativity alive!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Kalli and I am the owner of Joy Pops. I started this company when I was 17. Me and my family travel to the Dominican Republic a few times growing up and we came across a company called Joy nutritional pop. I fell in love with the company and would go there every day when I visited. I got to talk to the owner, letting her know I would love to own something like this in the US and she’s inspired me so much. The owner Valery offered and agreed to be my mentor and teach me the way to make Gourmet Paletas. i’ve grown up visiting my family in Mexico, and I’ve always loved the paletas made with real cream and fruit.
after training in the Dominican Republic to make paletas I was able to go back to the US and open my own business! I started with a vintage 1969 ice cream truck from Arizona. starting a business so young was very difficult but it’s taught me so much. I am now 22 and have grown my company to what it is today. we were featured on the cover of Salt Lake magazine this year for their July/August issue and got to go live on good things utah. we wholesale to 15 different stores and specialize in private catering for weddings, corporate events, and private parties.
it’s been amazing to create a community, and I have felt so much love from the support from my friends, family and from ice cream lovers here in Utah! paletas are different from American ice pops, because we use real fruit and real cream. Everything is made from scratch in my commissary and made with a lot of love!
We take a lot of pride in our product and each paleta is made with love. We are working hard to spread the joy here in Utah!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
it was very difficult starting a business at a young age, and growing it even through a pandemic.
I had to be very determined and tenacious when it came to continue to try and grow my business each year. being resilient and continue to charge forward even through difficult times is very important.
Something that helped me keep a clear mind through busy parts of the year were to make sure I was extra organized. Making good use of calendar schedules and planners helped me keep all of my events aligned and made sure all of our orders were done on time.
owning a business can mean 12 to 15 hour workdays during the busy season, and to keep up with that demand I made sure to fill my body with nutritious food and surround myself with family and friends that supported me an encouraged me to keep on going. I also made sure to get plenty of sleep at night. Overall taking care of your body can help you persevere and keep going with a clear mind.
I also think it’s important to not be afraid to ask for help. The importance of having a strong community or family around you is huge. Being able to turn and ask for help and also help your community in a time of need is so important and can really benefit everyone in the long run. it’s been great to reach out to other local businesses for help or to reach out to my mentor in the Dominican republic for advice.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
my biggest area of growth this year has been able to relinquish some of the Control and ask for help by hiring more assistance. I started this company when I was young and it’s been my baby. But as we grow, there’s only so much I can do so this year it’s been really great to hire a ton of help and I’m able to try and keep a clear mind while also being able to keep up with the demand. The help of hire this year has been tremendous, and it’s been awesome to train my employees to do what I’ve loved, and what I’ve built over the years. i’m so grateful for all the help and how we’ve been able to get our product out there in our community, serving at events and getting to connect with everyone.
this growth has been able to allow me to move up and grow my company more while still educating myself and continuing to improve my company!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joypops.com/
- Instagram: @joypopsicles
Image Credits
cover of SL mag photo is shot by Adam Finkle
