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How do you successfully grow a small business while managing a balanced lifestyle?  We get the scoop from Holiday Dmitri Kumar, co-founder of NYC’s beloved OddFellows Ice Cream Co., a brand known for their funky, unconventional ice cream that pair sweet with savory, with flavors such as Maple Bacon Pecan and Beet Pistachio Goat Cheese. OddFellows currently has locations in two of the city’s hippest neighborhoods: a flagship store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and an ice cream sandwich shop in the East Village.

In addition to being an ice cream entrepreneur, Holiday is a writer, an aspiring martial artist in kenpo karate, and a self-described “mama bear” to a pair of precocious toddler twins and a 5-year-old schnoodle. She founded OddFellows Ice Cream in June 2013 with her husband Mohan and pastry chef friend Sam Mason.  

Your background is in media, while your husband worked in real estate finance. How did you wind up opening an ice cream company?

When I was pregnant, I was craving salty ice cream, something I couldn’t find at the grocery store. Sam came to my rescue. One night he brought over his homemade pretzel ice cream. It was like nothing I’ve ever had. Then and there the ice cream shop idea was conceived. Mohan was about to get laid off work and looking for the next thing. It kind of just fell in line - the birth of the business directly following the birth of the children.

When is the best time to start a seasonal business like yours?

Definitely the summer when demand is the greatest.

How do you stay in the black when the weather is cold?

[Laughing] We don't. But we feel that it’s important to stay open despite the fact, to build our brand and to be there for our loyal customers. I remember one day in the dead of our first winter, we had one sale the entire day.  Though summer makes up for those hard times. We draw lines out the door then. In the winter, our focus is on wholesale business.

Your first location is a traditional ice cream shop, your second location specializes in ice cream sandwiches. Why ice cream sandwiches?

Customers were asking for it. Our East Village location started out as a regular scoop shop, but in a hyper-crazed foodie market like New York City, something delectably different and interesting is always a good idea – I mean our ice cream cotton candy cones were a hit in our Williamsburg shop. In the East Village now, we still have scoops – but customers have other options like creating their own ice cream sandwich or getting one of our cold scoop on a hot brioche bun.

Commercial rent in both of your stores' neighborhoods is notoriously high, and independent businesses are disappearing. You seem to be bucking this trend. How do you do it?

Luck and a husband who knows a thing or two about commercial real estate. We started looking four years ago and were able to negotiate and secure a favorable commercial lease thanks to Mohan. To do the same today would be much more challenging since rents keep getting more ridiculous in Williamsburg.

You helm OddFellows' PR and branding strategy. How important is social media for the success of a brick and mortar business like yours?

It is tremendous. It drives traffic not only from all over the city and country, but from tourists overseas. We attract international media coverage in cities with strong foodie cultures. The Japanese especially gravitate toward our weirdness, and we get repeated inquiries about expanding abroad.

What is the secret sauce for a successful food business?

There’s no magic formula, though having a partner like Sam on board has gotten us some media love. He’s our Willy Wonka, our mad food scientist- posterboy. He made skirt steak ice cream on Iron Chefand hosted his own TV cook show (IFC’s Dinner with the Band). We started the business when there was a dearth of artisanal ice cream shops in the city. Since we started, so many fancy ice cream shops have popped up, with quite a few – ahem - in close proximity to ours.

If you were starting today, what would you have done differently?

We opened our flagship shop shortly after I had the twins. I would not recommend to anyone to become first-time business owners at the same time that they become first-time parents, in particular if they’re expecting twins. That said, I guess we’re proof that it can be done. But our first year in business was grueling. Mohan was busy tending to the shop, and I was in near tears often from the stress and emotional weight of raising two newborns with little support.

How do you find the balance in your family?

I don’t – at least not in the perfect sense. I’ve taken off four years from my career to raise my babies and focus on our family business – and I’m yearning to get back. A lot of people have this notion that starting a business and being your own boss means working when you want. Not true. Your business is like another child: It constantly needs your attention in order to grow and succeed. It is a constant struggle to keep a balance.  We use every opportunity to spend time together. For instance, I’m a big-time wanderer. I used to travel overseas quite a bit on a whim before I met my husband and before we had kids. Now as a family, we’ve made it a goal to do one international trip a year. If money weren’t an issue, my gypsy side would have us spend half the year away from home traveling, but of course we also have a business to run.

OddFellows Ice Cream Co. is located at 175 Kent Ave in Brooklyn and 75 East 4th Street in Manhattan.

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Did this story wet your appetite for running your own successful business?