You may not know her yet, but Elana Hubert has got some Sweet Karma!
1) What is your business?
The business is Sweet Karma Ice Cream – a campus-wide ice cream delivery service. I make the ice cream, which is made with 100% organic ingredients, and jar it into half-pint mason jars. The next time you order, you give me your jar, and I give you a new one (kind of like the milk exchange at the farmers’ market).
2) How did you get the idea?
The sentiment that Columbia/Barnard is a semi-isolating place to be is one I’ve heard from many students on campus. University is a hub of some of the most thoughtful and innovative people there are. I thought, if people could only share their ideas, get assistance and support through this interdisciplinary power-house, wouldn’t we get so much more accomplished? When I began to think about what brings people together, to talk, and to collaborate, I thought, food! Memories of high school were resurfacing of my friends and I sitting around in the living room eating pints on pints of ice cream, and, talking passionately about how we could change the world. Although we may have been naïve, the excitement and optimism is what I seemed to remember about these moments, and what I wanted to recapture. And so, Sweet Karma was born. “Sweet”, because the flavors are “the best” (to quote the testimonials), and I deliver them to stressed-out college students in their dorms or the library in mason jars. “Karma”, because I felt it was important to not only pass on good deeds, but also good ideas. Through the “Karma Project”, this exchange of ideas and thought was made possible. Students submit questions they want answers for, and I post one of these questions on our social media sites, and collect responses. The responses go on the mason jars and are seen by other students in our community. This month, people wanted to know “how to de-stress”. The answers that came in were surprising, helpful, and allowed people to see they had support, commonality, and understanding from their community.
3) When did you start and how?
SK started last semester when I was having all of these ideas about all of the ice cream flavors I wanted to make and try, and how to share them with my friends and community. The Karma Project idea was also a big part of the reason I was drawn to make this into a business, and not just something I do for fun. I wrote down my ideas, made a LONG “to-do” list of the things that needed to happen before we launched, and asked my boyfriend (yes, my boyfriend) if he wanted to partner up with me. He was really into the idea, and is also a business minor, so we collaborated and put things into gear. I made a website (www.sweetkarmaicecream.com), used every social media site we knew to get the word out, and figured out the logistics of everything from ordering food to a delivery schedule.
5) How do you plan on growing your business?
The week before Thanksgiving was a huge shock to us – we got so many orders, and were up until 4am making ice cream. Although it was amazing and super exciting to get that kind of response, in order to grow the business, right now, we want more people on board. We just hired an awesome intern who is going to help us out a lot. Once we get more “people power”, we can reach out to even more students and more organizations on campus to get them ice cream, cater their events, and spread the Karma Project.
5) What else are you involved in on campus?
I am a part of Design for America – a national network of design and innovation studios that use user-centered design to create sustainable social and local change. It’s AWESOME. I am also involved with SDT on campus, and work in midtown at Repair the World in the (non-existent) spare time I have.
6) What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
It’s a toss up between salted caramel and spiced chocolate. But, I also really just love good, plain vanilla.
7) Where do you see yourself in five years?
Hopefully feeling like I’m contributing creatively to the world – making the world a more tolerant place whatever I end up choosing as my career. I’m leaning towards a career that has to do with peace and conflict resolution/community building. Whatever I’m doing I want to be spending lots of time with friends and family, and spending some time traveling. Argentina is next on my list!
8) What’s your power outfit?
It definitely involves some big earrings, a scarf, and my favorite pair of Clark suede heels (to give me a little height…)!
If you’re interested in being a part of this start-up, email us at sweetkarmaicecream@gmail.com with your name, year, major, and what skills you could contribute to our team! We’d love to have you! And find us on social media!