Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting profitable girls who’ve made main profession modifications—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content material officer at Who What Put on, every episode provides you a direct line to girls who’re recreation changers of their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to remain tuned.
Laura O’Neill, the co-founder of the long-lasting Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, has a profession journey that epitomizes the serendipitous nature of entrepreneurial success. Rising up in Melbourne, O’Neill started her profession in occasion manufacturing. Nevertheless, it was a visit to London in her early 20s that altered the course of her life. There, she met Ben Van Leeuwen, her future associate and co-founder of the now-beloved ice cream model.
Van Leeuwen shared a daring thought with O’Neill simply earlier than she moved to New York: what in the event that they began an ice cream truck that bought genuinely good ice cream? This idea instantly captivated O’Neill, and fewer than a yr after her arrival within the States, she, Van Leeuwen, and his brother Pete launched Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. The trio devoted the subsequent decade to rising the enterprise, step by step increasing their product line, opening brick-and-mortar shops, and growing a spread of scrumptious vegan choices.
During the last a number of years, O’Neill and the Van Leeuwen brothers’ skilled partnership flourished — collectively, they continued to scale the enterprise, demonstrating outstanding resilience and dedication. Right this moment, O’Neill oversees all elements of Van Leeuwen’s advertising and marketing the place her artistic imaginative and prescient has steered the corporate by numerous packaging re-brands, high-profile collaborations with celebrities like Jimmy Butler, and the creation of distinctive, particular version flavors reminiscent of Hidden Valley Ranch. Below her steerage, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream has achieved spectacular progress with over 50 outlets and availability in 12,000 grocery shops throughout the nation.
Hearken to the most recent episode of Second Life to learn how O’Neill determined to take the leap of religion to begin a brand new model in a brand new nation and the way she continues to evolve the gourmand ice cream idea.
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