Lori Joyce is the founder and CEO of Vancouver-based premium ice cream brand Betterwith Ice Cream. She also co-founded the bakery franchise Cupcakes by Heather & Lori.
A couple of years back, I was running out of money and fast. Living in Vancouver, well technically West Vancouver, and despite a very successful launch of my premium ice cream Betterwith Ice Cream into grocery, I was unable to attract any investment capital for my startup. Being new to the CPG (consumer packaged goods) space, I was starting to feel the harsh reality of how difficult it was going to be to go up against the Nationals in the frozen space. It was me against the Goliath(s), and quickly I was beginning to understand why most were so eager to convince me to stop rather than push on.
But no one ever told me it was impossible. And for this, I kept pushing on. It also meant that I was going to have to make some sacrifices and make a few difficult decisions. The first one was made for me. It was the Spring of 2018; I was coming home from school with the kids in tow and found an Eviction Notice taped to the front door. In the same week, a prominent potential investor told me he assumed I must have been supported by a husband that was ‘backing me’. He said, “How else could I have done what I was doing.” So little did he actually know.
In 2018, many people still remembered me from my reality TV Show called The Cupcake Girls. Yes, it was a huge success – a Gemini-award-winning success that was sold into over 90 countries worldwide. But what most didn’t know was that my husband and in-laws shamed me for doing the show. They absolutely resented me for it. My successful reality TV Show embarrassed them.
So, once the school year finished, I moved with my youngest son back to Victoria and back in with my parents on a five-acre self-sustaining, organic farm.
And in regard to my business, well, I have even better news to share – I have found success with growth and production. And I am deliberately and proudly sharing my past with the present.
I will forever be a Cupcakes Girl, and with conviction, I am going to shout it out loud!
