Coolhaus CEO Natasha Case ’01 kicked off HW Venture’s Middle School Speaker Series on Wednesday by sharing the secret behind the success of her start-up company, Coolhaus.

Case said Coolhaus is an ice cream company founded and run by women that uses high-quality ingredients to make a variety of ice cream flavors. Their ice cream products are available through nationwide grocery stores, scoop shops, and most famously, their ice cream trucks.

With a background in design in architecture, Case said she and co-founder Freya Esteller found an outlet for their passion for making ice cream sandwiches by incorporating architectural aspects into their baked goods.

She and Esteller founded Coolhaus in 2008 when they noticed that there was little innovation and lack of representation coming from the vast majority of ice cream companies. Case said they envisioned an ice cream company motivated and inspired by the diversity and enthusiasm of its consumers.

“We just didn’t feel represented by these brands as millennials, and definitely not as women,” Case said.

Case said this inspired them to start their own ice cream company. They soon bought an old postal van and opened their first ice cream truck at Coachella Valley Music Festival in 2009.

After a bit of early success and years of hard work and marketing, Coolhaus made its way into grocery stores and eventually, into their own scoop shops, all while maintaining their original core values without compromise. Case said that every brand tells its own story and encouraged the student entrepreneurs of HW Venture to stay true to who they are and embrace their uniqueness.

Through the HW Venture program, students will learn how to run their own startups with the help of entrepreneurs like Case.

“This event was organized by HW Venture, a student organization, run like a startup, which aims to provide entrepreneurial inspiration and opportunity to the student body,” Senior Leader of HW Venture Coco Kaleel ’20 said.