Cool Off at the Wednesday Farmers Market with Summer Snow
Enter the Boulder Farmers Market on a Wednesday evening from Arapahoe Avenue and one of the first things you will see is a light blue Volkswagen van. Doors swung wide, Bo and Kristen Abbott can be seen slinging snow cones and chatting with customers.
Their artisanal shaved ice business, Summer Snow, was born from the desire to create a business that allowed the two of them to work together alongside their daughters Ellington, 10, and Emmeline, 7, throughout the summer. Inspired by Kristen’s cousin who opened a snow shack in her home state of Oklahoma, the pair decided to combine their skills in visual arts and community building to create this new venture.
The result – shaved ice made with homemade syrups made from just fruit and sugar. Their creation is what they hope has become an easy “yes” for parents on a hot summer day.
While Bo and Kristen did not have experience working in food trucks, they have a shared creativity and resourcefulness that they say made them successful. Kristen is a painter, and Bo works with students at the University of Colorado during the school year. The pair met the summer after their first year of college through a college program in Breckenridge. While they had to return to their respective universities in Arkansas and Oklahoma, they both had the feeling they would make it back to Colorado.
And they did just that nearly 10 years ago. This drive to follow their passion and intuition is the same thing that pushed them to start Summer Snow.
They purchased their van and refurbished it in their garage with the help of Google and YouTube videos. They perfect recipes for syrups by simply trying things out and taste testing – something their girls love to help with.
The experience of starting and running a business has been a learning experience not just for Bo and Kristen, but for their girls and their one high school employee, Jean-Pierre (JP). The three kids have been able to see what it takes to run a business, more in depth than just showing up and clocking in.
Plus, the girls love taking orders, interacting with customers, and building relationships with the vendors around them (especially when it means getting their faces painted).
Bo says his favorite part about the business is seeing people get excited. Parents get excited when they see something that they feel good about letting their kids eat, and often come back to get a snow cone for themselves after having a taste. They have even begun to gain customers who return to their van every Wednesday and say they come to the market specifically to get their favorite shaved ice.
The next step for Bo and Kristen is to figure out how to scale their business with authenticity. It is important to them for their business to be a place to grow people and have a positive impact in the community. They aim to live generously in every part of their life, including with Summer Snow.
The creative, entrepreneurial couple is always thinking of new possibilities whether it be a more permanent location next summer, an additional market day, another van, or something they have yet to dream up.
What they do know is that Summer Snow, while it hasn’t been easy, has allowed their family to work together, made their life here in the town they love more sustainable, and connected them even further to their community – things that are worth investing in.
