Sweet connections: how sarah’s handmade ice cream built a community
BY LEAH LI
Sarah (right) and Annie (left) Park at the Fallsgrove shop. Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream.
Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream, founded by the Mother-daughter duo from the DMV area, Sarah and Annie, is an award-winning ice cream business that has three shops in Maryland. Made from original recipes and high-quality, all-natural ingredients, Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream has received recognition from major outlets like CNBC, NBC, FOX, ABC, The Washington Post, Eater DC, and Harvard Magazine. Their roots started in the early 90s when Sarah began making ice cream in South Korea for her daughter, Annie. Sarah revisited her ice cream-making hobby after retiring in 2018, and to this day, runs a successful business. However, this couldn’t have been done without the tight-knit community that constantly supported them.
Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream’s ice cream. Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream.
Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream started a few months before COVID. As a first-time entrepreneur and a small business in an industry dominated by big chains, the imposing lockdown forced them to rethink everything. However, the community was there for them, organizing “buy local” campaigns, posting about them on social media, and even buying gift cards to keep them going. Their customers even joined in when Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream donated scoops of ice cream to local hospital frontline workers, helping sustain the initiative through a scoop-matching program. “Sarah’s wasn’t just an ice cream shop—it was a part of the community fabric, and the community was just as invested in our success as we were.”
Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream created a tight-knit community. They made their shops a positive and supportive environment to give local high school and college students a delightful opportunity to gain work experience. This created a sense of belonging and a lasting connection between their shops and the community. These youthful workers brought energy, creativity, and fresh perspectives to their business, spreading their enthusiasm to not only the staff members, but also the customers. “That’s the power of the youth in business: they don’t just work here; they help shape the heart and soul of the place.” To build on this supportive community, they also focused on forming relationships with their customers by greeting them by name, remembering their favorite flavors, and creating a comfortable space where they could feel at home. Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream treats all employees like family, and that energy also seeps into the customers’ experience, creating a deeply intertwined community. Specifically, when a regular customer who had been coming in with her dad for years had her birthday and wanted to celebrate with Sarah’s Ice Cream because it was her favorite place, they knew how close their community was. “That’s when I realized—we’re not just a business, we’re part of people’s lives.”
Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream would not be the same without community support. But, what can our community do to help out these women-owned businesses? Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream shares a few tips: share your experiences, shop local, and create a space for women entrepreneurs to connect, share, advise, and support.
