How My Entrepreneurial Mum Taught Me To Run A Successful Business From The Heart
Can you run a profitable business at the same time as generously giving back to your local community?
Bognor Regis based ice cream parlour and mobile ice cream catering company Pinks Vintage has been doing so for over 17 years and it’s all thanks to founder and mother of two, Katy Alston.
Katy founded the business in 2001 after her husband bought a vintage ice cream van and encouraged her to renovate it, leave her job as a nurse and start her own business.
Throughout the next ten years, Katy drove the business forwards with one mission in mind:
“The aim is always to exceed our customers expectations and to honestly spread a little happiness through the medium of ice cream...” she explains.
By being the friendly face selling ice cream on the streets of Bognor, Katy became fondly known as ‘Mrs Whippy’ and grew the business by catering at weddings, parties and events across the South Coast and maintaining impeccable cleanliness and customer service standards.
When Georgia Alston joined her mother in her ice cream van company, she was skeptical of how far her Mum would go in the pursuit of brilliant customer service.
“Mum has always been a stickler for two things: One, cleanliness and keeping our fleet of ice cream vans spotless. And two, remembering that no matter who the customer is we always show them the utmost respect and gratitude for choosing the spend their money with us.” says Georgia,
She continues, “I knew both were important of course but Mum would always go the extra mile and encourage me to do the same. At first I thought it was overkill, but I quickly realised that not only did it make our “job” have meaning and purpose, but it helped spread the word about Pinks Vintage in a really natural way. We got known for our giving back and we’re really proud of that.”
Some of the initiatives Katy, Georgia and the team have got involved with include abseiling down the Spinnaker Tower for the Aldingbourne Trust, and arranging a reading challenge with a local secondary school in an economically deprived area.
“The most memorable moment for me was when mum and I arranged a reading challenge with a group of students who were struggling to keep up. The deal was if they finished reading the book they would get a free ice cream. We returned a few weeks later and every single student had read the book! Not only that, they enjoyed it! One student had even recommended it to his mum and let her borrow the book once he had finished reading it.” says Georgia.
She continues: “You could see the difference in the students since our first visit, their confidence and self esteem had skyrocketed! All because we had taken the time to say you can read this book and you can challenge yourself.”
The most recent opportunity to give back to their local community is to raise awareness of dementia through a yarn-bombing challenge in partnership with Dementia Support and Sage House. The challenge will launch their new ice cream parlour in Bognor Regis and encourages crafters to knit, sew or crochet bunting to create a trail from Sage House to the new parlour which opens this Spring.
Katy’s take on giving back is that Pinks Vintage has never been about ice cream. “Yes, the ice cream is incredibly important, but we will always be primarily about people. Each of our customers and members of the team and incredible and unique individuals. Pinks is about recognising, respecting and absolutely enjoying that wonderful gift. That’s why we are always smiling!”
This Bognor-based mother and entrepreneur will always put heart into her business because, as she says: “Our customers are our community. Our community are our customers. Giving back, to me, is really just a way of working together to create a successful and happy future.”
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Contact
Georgia Alston - Pinks Vintage Ice Cream
info@pinks-vintage-icecream.co.uk
01243 867422
About Pinks Vintage Ice Cream
Pinks Vintage Ice Cream is an award-winning Ice Cream Van and Tricycle hire company adding unique and delicious catering to a range of events - from weddings, parties and special occasions to corporate events, family days and staff rewards.
Run by mother and daughter duo, Katy and Georgia Alston, the pair are heavily involved in projects to support their local community in and around Bognor Regis as well as representing women within the ice cream and mobiler industry.
https://www.pinks-vintage-icecream.co.uk
Photos by Goble Photography https://www.goblephotography.co.uk/