06/16/2021
OUR STORY, MEET THE OWNER, AND GIVEAWAY!
2 years ago today, O-Keto-Key had the privilege of receiving the EY Ernst & Young Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Utah region and a $2,500 scholarship. It was the key to many doors, and the start of many adventures. Here's O- Keto-Key's story and how we got there.
(Giveaway details at the bottom)
First, I would like to introduce myself to my followers who do not know me in person. My name is Joan Vilate (or JV for short!), and I have been making keto ice cream for four years, and have been keto cooking for 5 years. I'm not joking when I say I've probably tried every single keto recipe out there! I am still working on my own personal health, but we have discovered that the keto lifestyle is the missing link for many people's health and we have been doing all we can to improve the quality of life with keto. I am based in Salt Lake City, Utah, where I sell my ice cream to local foodies.
I started making ice cream for my family and friends in 2017, in plastic leftover dishes, then moving on to simple white containers with handwritten labels, and then, as I increased my sales, finally graduated to our iconic O-Keto-Key stamped lids, (thanks Synergy Grafix) representing the hundreds of hours and many dozens of recipe tests put into every pint.
During my Junior year of highschool enrolled in My Tech High , I had been taking an entrepreneurship class because I wanted to learn more about owning your own business. Then, close to the end of the year, one of my teachers, Jen Fairbanks, reached out to me and invited me to apply for the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award, sponsored by the Junior Achievement of Utah and Ernst & Young. It came as quite the surprise! She told me they were impressed with the growth of my business. I actually turned in the application late but they still accepted it! Jen was amazing, and a key part of making this happen. Thank you as well to Matt Bowman, Heather Lessely, and all the teachers at My Tech High.
Next I met a wonderful lady, Becky Harding, who represented Junior Achievement of Utah, who was their scout for this year's candidates. We had an interview and ultimately, after many weeks of filtering through all of the applications and finalists, I had the honor of being chosen for the award. She was so kind to me, and truly was more than someone to work out meetings and dates, she became a good friend. She even ordered some ice cream!
We filmed a video at the EY Utah headquarters (thanks Jeff from Digital Bytes Production & Design) demonstrating how I make ice cream and why I started my business. It was a little scary being interviewed in front of the camera but we made it through! The video was played in front of hundreds of attendees during the awards ceremony.
On this day 2 years ago, we attended the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards Gala at The Grand America Hotel celebrating Utah's most ingenuitive entrepreneurs who showed that they were changing the world by the way they do things differently. It was a prestigious black tie event, and after receiving a giant check (bigger than me for sure!) and giving an acceptance speech, we got to celebrate together as all the other entrepreneurs recieved their awards. Thank you Teresa for all of your work organizing this event!
We got to meet the owners and representatives of many budding Utah businesses (including Taft and Minky Couture) and share in each other's successes. At this event I met many friends who I've made great memories with afterwards. MY GIRL ❤️ (and through her, Chamblee) her husband-to-be, , (who managed to finish a whole pint in one sitting upon my dare), and Vivien and Fern böhme were people I was able to meet because of this event. I was and am still so grateful that I was chosen to represent the youth entrepreneurs of Utah who follow their pioneer heritage and blaze trails for others to follow. And My Tech High made it all possible.
I cannot thank my family enough for their continual support, as well as my faithful customers. I would not be where I am today without you all. I am excited for the future and how we can continue to help people take control of their health and happiness, one pint of ice cream at a time.
~GIVEAWAY DETAILS~
To celebrate this four year+ journey, I would like to give two free pints of ice cream away to two people. Please tag someone who inspires you with their entrepreneurial spirit, or who just loves ice cream! I'll get started: Alfresco AZ. Each tag is one entry, I'll choose our winners on Friday the 18th.
