ICE ICE BABIES Coolhaus

ICE ICE babies

Coolhaus ice cream founders and wife-and-wife duo NATASHA CASE and FREYA ESTRELLER are living the dream—building a successful brand and growing their family.

8M I N I 0

photography by JULIE SHUFORD

MINI | Let’s dive right into your life as a mom. What does your morning routine look like?

NATASHA CASE | Right now due to quarantine and having a two and a half month old, our mornings are… particular. We take turns doing the bright and early morning feed for Baby Nico (anywhere between 4 and 6), then the other does the 7:30 feed. So if that’s me, I’ve been trying to get a short nap in after that. If it’s Freya, she does the feed and heads downstairs to the Peloton. When I wake up (usually around 8 or 8:30 due to interrupted sleep— must be the latest wake-up time for a CEO!), I make myself a matcha latte with Nutpod creamer, chlorophyll, and monk fruit, and Freya gets a cold brew with Ripple pea milk. We love making delicious, satisfying breakfasts, and we eat as a family. Breakfast is the cornerstone meal of our quarantine life since we don’t see anyone in the evening! Tomorrow is the first day Remy goes back to preschool, so I’ll be trading off doing the drop-offs with Freya, but then I’m pretty much diving into work until 5:30 or so. Because of quarantine, I no longer work out in the morning; I usually hop on the Peloton for my lunch break.

MINI | What do you think is the greatest challenge of motherhood?

NATASHA CASE | I think as mothers there is a lot of expectation and assumptions we deal with, things that fathers do not. We must push for equal standards.

MINI | What has surprised you most about motherhood thus far?

NATASHA CASE | How much of my life has stayed the same alongside the life-altering experience of having children! My kids truly blow my mind. They are fascinating and we love them more than anything. We made a conscious effort when we became parents not to abandon our social lives, our self care, us

and our relationship as a priority. It’s not easy, but I do feel that we have honored our goal there.

MINI | What is most important to you in raising your children?

NATASHA CASE | In general, education, and that doesn’t mean that they are on some Ivy League funnel. It means that they are educated somewhere that has a diverse community and curriculum, where teachers are passionate about teaching and kids are passionate about learning.

MINI | You and your wife Freya have just welcomed your second baby! What advice would you give to parents getting ready to

go from 1 to 2 kids?

NATASHA CASE | Of course, it’s challenging to double the child population in one’s house. A friend described it as going from double teaming to one-on-one defense (for the sports fans out there). However, you are so much more skilled from having gone through one than you realize, and I’ve found, much more relaxed. You have a better routine and structure and the dynamic between the two kids, from the moment they meet, is one of the most fascinating things ever! Also—and this is the biggest for me—I have found myself being very in the moment, because with Remy it was more about getting to certain milestones (Can he crawl, walk, jump, talk?). This time, proba-

FAV O R I T E K I D S MOVIE... Ratatouille. The rat is named Remy!

bly the last time, we just take it day by day. You kind of realize, what’s the rush with getting them from milk to solid food? That’s just more work! I’m perfectly happy giving Nico a bottle and not convincing her to eat the noodles I’ve just made her.

MINI | What has been the hardest aspect of having two kids now?

NATASHA CASE | I think staying on top of things organizationally and financially, which hasn’t really set in yet because Remy has been at home in quarantine and Nico is not in daycare yet. But once they are both in, we’ve got to be sure we’re organized and communicate.

MINI | Tell us how you decided on your kids’ names.

NATASHA CASE | Both names would have been the name if it was a boy or a girl. We like short, easy-to-pronounce and read names, plus both have a European twist! Remy is a French name (we have a lot of Francophiles in the family: my sister is a French professor, and my brother-in-law is French), and Nico means ‘people of victory’ in Italian.

MINI | We all experience mom guilt from time to time. When do you find mom guilt creeps in for you and how do you deal with it?

NATASHA CASE | I think sometimes, ‘Am I just too busy and not soaking in this golden era with the kids?’ or ‘Will I look back and wish I put the phone down more and just stared into their eyes?’ And then I realize it’s important to also do my thing. While I do my best with and for them to create sustainability and satisfaction on my end, ultimately it makes me more

present when I am with them and therefore, a better mom. Plus, they might find it creepy if I’m constantly staring into their eyes!

MINI | Where have you seen the biggest changes in your life since becoming a mom?

NATASHA CASE | Maybe diet. I never ate fruit before, but now we have tons of it around for the kids. We love ordering from Grub Market. And in a major way, being more environmentally aware. We need to ensure our children have a healthy planet. It couldn’t be more vital.

MINI | Let’s talk about Coolhaus! How has the brand evolved since it began and where do you hope to see it go?

NATASHA CASE | We started with a non-drive-

able postal van turned ice cream truck that we launched at Coachella. Now, we are building the grocery business in everything from Whole Foods to Ralph’s to Target to Publix with dairy and dairy-free pints, sammies, and cones. We have an awesome flagship store and innovation center in Culver City, and we still operate trucks (well, not during quarantine) in LA, NYC, and Dallas.

MINI | What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in business thus far?

NATASHA CASE | How important it is that you spend the majority of your time speaking to and working on your authentic vision. MINI | What has been your proudest career moment to date?

NATASHA CASE | I’m really lucky that my career has brought so many joyful moments! I’ve loved traveling on behalf of the brand. It’s brought me to London, Madrid, Cayman Islands, even Guam.

MINI | What do you think about the idea of “having it all?”

NATASHA CASE | It completely depends on your definition of what that is. For me, it’s not about a dollar amount in your bank account. It’s about controlling how you spend your day and being surrounded by the people you truly love.

MINI | Social distancing is a new phrase in everyone’s vocabulary right now. How have you spent your time in quarantine? What will you remember about this time?

NATASHA CASE | Definitely Baby Nico being born! Bringing her into the world, introducing her to her big brother and the immediate family we have been quarantining with. We’ve also moved into a new house. So much has happened during quarantine.

MINI | What is the one piece of advice you would give your kids?

NATASHA CASE | Have big ideas AND the drive to execute them.

FAST FACTS

FAVORITE KIDS BOOK Truman’s LA Adventure. My mom actually wrote and illustrated it. It’s beautiful and Remy and so many of his friends love it!

BEFORE KIDS, I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD Eat so many puffed snacks.

SHOWS I’M WATCHING The Great, Alone, The Good Fight, and Billions.

IF THERE WERE MORE HOURS IN THE DAY, I WOULD Read more books (not just articles and essays, as much as I love The New Yorker!), do more Peloton rides (currently obsessed) and more creative projects. Recently, I’ve been doing charcoal portraits of friends.

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT Mizlala.

CAN’T STOP LISTENING TO Charlie Parker while I cook with Freya, Remy plays, Nico watches!

GUILTY PLEASURE I’ve been making a lot of tiramisu during quarantine. I just made a frozen one with a Coolhaus ice cream layer.