Kim Malek of Salt & Straw (@saltandstraw) bet everything on the idea of a new type of ice cream shop, one that builds community and helps people, while innovating along the way. Drawing inspiration from her time at Starbucks as it revolutionized the coffee experience, the Salt & Straw CEO and co-founder sought to do the same with her ice cream company.
Watch now to learn about organic brand collaborations, remaining authentic during business expansion, and building back after tragedy.
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Chapters:
[04:12] – Kim Malek 2-Minute Drill
[08:43] – Opening Salt & Straw’s First Location
[23:20] – The Pillars of Collaboration
[35:30] – Salt & Straw and Disney
[41:27] – Triumph From a Tragic Fire
Kim Malek is a Restaurant Influencer —
The cofounder and CEO of Salt & Straw had a front seat to what a true community can create as an employee of Starbucks during their early expansion stages.
“Just seeing the power of business to turn that on and a community and to make a difference in people’s lives, it gave me that entrepreneurial bug that I never got rid of,” the Salt & Straw CEO and cofounder says of her initial inspiration to Restaurant Influencers host Shawn Walchef of https://calibbq.media.
Starting with just a big idea and very little knowledge of ice cream making or how to create a business around it, Kim Malek and her co-founder and cousin Tyler Malek went from driving around conducting taste tests and gathering feedback from local business owners, friends, and family to having dozens of Salt & Straw locations across the country.
For Kim Malek, Salt & Straw is much bigger than just ice cream. The company prides itself on “becoming a part of the community where we scoop”.
One of the ways they do so is allowing the local artisans to shine through their flavors.
“As we started to get going, it was sort of an embarrassment of riches in terms of all these collaborations and people that came forth that we wanted to work with.” remembers Malek. “It ended up resulting in using ice cream as a platform for storytelling.”
That organic storytelling and focus on hospitality played a role in materializing famous collaborations and investment from superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and placement at Disneyland’s Downtown Disney District.
The growth did not come without trial, though. With only four stores at the time, the CEO remembers being in a tense room when presenting her store to Disneyland due to, in their eyes, the lack of notoriety.
Tapping into the same grit and unwavering determination it took to cash in on her retirement and get a loan to open the first store, Malek pitched Disneyland with her heart and faith. She came away with the deal.
But that wasn’t the end. At the time, Disney policy did not allow their workers to have visible tattoos, colorful hair, or piercings. That went directly against the inclusive environment that had been built at Salt & Straw when they opened their first shop in Portland, Oregon. Not easily deterred, they fought back.
“Being able to show up and be who you are and express yourself, it’s so important to our brand,” says Malek.
EPISODE LINKS:
Salt & Straw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saltandstraw
Salt & Straw TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saltandstraw
Salt & Straw Website: https://saltandstraw.com/
ABOUT KIM MALEK (@kimberlymalek)
Kim Malek, the CEO and co-founder of iconic ice-cream brand Salt & Straw, has completely modernized the ice-cream industry by creating a brand whose ethos goes beyond the delicious dessert. Malek has built an unparalleled brand through a unique business strategy focused on building a community, supporting local artisans and farmers, and continually creating custom, one-of-a-kind ice-cream flavors.
ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS:
Welcome to the Restaurant Influencers podcast and video series. Every week host and restaurant owner Shawn P. Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) talks with leaders like Emeril Lagasse, Sam The Cooking Guy, and Marguerite Zabar Mariscal, and Rob Dyrdek about their secrets to running a business, modern branding, and how to show up where customers are spending time online. https://restaurantinfluencers.media
• Published by Entrepreneur Media – https://entreprenuer.com
• Produced by Cali BBQ Media – https://content.calibbq.media
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RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS IS PRESENTED BY TOAST
Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.
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