Made In Chicago: Kimmer's Ice Cream
CHICAGO (CBS) -- From a young age, Kimberly Yates worked in a Baskin-Robbins, where her fondness of frozen treats began.
"I just loved the business -- there was always a lot of families, it was usually at a happy occasion," she said.
As part of an entrepreneurship program at the University of Iowa, Yates was taught a valuable lesson: Do what you know and do what you love.
"I knew ice cream, and I loved it, so all of my business plans were always focused on ice cream and trying to figure out how I could create something that would really stand out."
The pink and sparkly scenery of Kimmer's Ice Cream certainly stands out.
Yates opened her first location in St. Charles in 2010 and debuted another in downtown Wheaton two years ago. In addition to gourmet ice cream, Kimmer's also has scoops, sundaes, shakes, smoothies and ice cream cakes on the menu.
"All of our ice cream is homemade. It's very dense and creamy," Yates said.
One of the shop's most popular desserts, the Sparkle Cone, doesn't exactly look like your typical dessert. "It's a sugar cone dipped in white chocolate," Yates explained. "And then we decorate it with edible glitter."
And now that Yates does what she knows and loves for a living, she has business advice of her own. "A lot of people will say, 'I can't believe you want to do that, there's a lot of risk involved.' And you just have to go with your gut and believe in yourself and you can make it happen."