Work & Money T H E V I E W F RO M H E R E
What was your childhood like? I grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and moved to Ohio when I was 12. My grandmother Enid was always teaching us how to make things. We’d come back from Enid’s house knowing how to weave baskets out of cattails, and my other grandmother, Betty, would say, “I think we could sell these.” I always knew that running a business would be for me.
P H O T O G R A P H BY N I C K FA N C H E R
What was your first real job? I wanted to be a grown-up when I was 12. I wanted to go out and work. I had been selling stuff and babysitting industriously.
She started by mashing cayenne oil into chocolate ice cream—and grew an artisanaldesserts empire. Her company, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, now has 23 thriving shops across the United States and products in more than 1,500 stores. Real Simple got the scoop from Jeni Britton Bauer, 42, on crafting goals, rebooting after a crisis, and learning the difference between art and commerce.
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REALSIMPLE.COM
When I turned 15 and could get a real job, I got one immediately at an ice cream company. Then a French family opened up a bakery across the parking lot, and I went over there and got my next job. I worked there for six years, and I started making ice cream at home during that time. Tell us how you started playing around with flavors. I had lots of essential oils at home because I was also really into perfumery. One day I took some cayenne essential oil and mushed it into storebought chocolate ice cream. I brought that to a party and everybody went crazy. Six or eight months later, I opened a little farm stand in an indoor public market, making ice cream out of the ingredients [cream, fresh fruit] I bought there. That was the beginning of everything. Written by
Jane Porter
THE GUIDE work & money
JENI BRITTON BAUER • Founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams • Columbus, Ohio
