Today we’d like to introduce you to Nichole Curott.
Hi Nichole, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was a stay at home, homeschool mom for 15 years. Began working again in 2019 following a divorce and worked my way up to a Marketing Supervisor position, where I still work full time. A couple of years ago I decided that I would like to own my own business.
Finding a reputable builder that saw my vision and believed in what I was doing and who was able to provide a realistic budget proved the biggest challenge. After months and a lot of praying, I did find an amazing and trust worthy builder, Cox General Construction. We got it going. They brought my drawings to life and we created this amazing ice cream shop and event space!
Being allergy friendly was very important to me. My son was never able to eat ice cream in an ice cream shop growing up with his dairy allergy and neither was my niece who has a severe nut allergy. This was a personal issue that affected our family and I wanted to be sure to offer the ability to enjoy a sweet treat together for other families. We take it very seriously and we have a large customer base with allergies as a result. My sister owns an allergy friendly shop in VA and I was able to get a lot of guidance and advice from her on how to navigate this feature of the business.
In addition to being allergy friendly, we have lots of fun menu items, event space you can rent for ice cream parties and we also offer off-site catering.
Owning an ice cream shop is a lot of work, but super rewarding and so much fun! So many families have become friends. Seeing kids come in yelling “ice cream!” with such excitement just makes me happy. From the time we opened we have put family games on all the tables because bringing back family moments and experiences is just so important and I love watching families disconnect from electronics and just enjoy time together.
As we are still growing and people are still learning that we even exist, it still makes me so excited to have a new customer come in and even more when they say “I’ve heard so much about this place we just had to try it”. My dream is to be known across all of Knoxville and everyone with a dairy or gluten intolerance/allergy to feel good about coming to NikNak’s with their people and enjoying this space and our delicious ice cream.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been fairly smooth. Owning a business in general is stressful at times and there’s a learning curve. For the most part, it’s been an enjoyable process and I’ve enjoyed seeing the growth of the shop in each area of progression. I’d say the hardest part has been the government involved parts – taxes, employer laws, etc lol. I am pretty savvy, but they make it very difficult I think.
As you know, we’re big fans of NikNak’s Ice Cream . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
What sets us apart from other shops is our shop environment. Our customers always say it has a feeling of warmth and cool vibes. They feel like they are home here. That means the world to me. We have a very relaxed environment and lots of indoor seating. People come in and feel like family. We remember your name and most times your order, and that resonates with people.
I am most proud of just building this business and the growth it’s made in just one short year. It makes me excited for what is to come. Especially where I was 5 years ago. I have so much pride behind it because I truly worked so hard for it.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Integrity. Being genuine. I’m also kinda funny 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: niknaksicecream.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niknaks_ice_cream?igsh=a2pxMTVhY3lvazgx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Asrmz4GG4/?mibextid=wwXIfr
