A Snapchat changed Vandra Caldwell’s life.
Last year, her friend Trishona Helm was visiting L.A. from their native Omaha and snapped Caldwell a picture of rolled ice cream–which is rolls of ice cream placed vertically in a cup, finished off with various sweet toppings.
Helm’s response: “Let’s bring it to town. No, I’m serious.”
In August, they invested $10,000 of their savings and a $30,000 loan into launching Mixins Rolled Ice Cream in downtown Omaha. By the end of October, the business had generated $100,000 in sales–and Caldwell is already planning to create a rooftop ice cream bar at Mixins next summer as well as mulling franchising the business.
Caldwell has a lot of company: Nearly 63 percent of women financed their businesses from their own savings, according to the 2018 State of Women and Entrepreneurship survey of 279 women. Compare that to versus 43 percent of surveyed Inc. 5000 CEOs.
Caldwell, a 25-year-old biracial single mother with three kids, previously worked at a news station and childcare learning center. She sees her business as a means to provide a better life for her kids, even as it forces her to juggle competing demands. One vivid memory for Caldwell is signing the loan before going straight into labor the next day.
Her parents would help take care of the kids. But that meant she couldn’t see her children for more than a few days at a time–and would often turn to her business partner for a shoulder to cry on. In this, too, Caldwell isn’t alone. Spending time away from family is one of the biggest sacrifices female founders cited in our survey. (63 percent of our survey respondents have children.)
“I’m just trying to make a sacrifice now,” she says. “I’m trying to make a better life for them in the future.”
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