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feel it’s not a healthy choice, and a quarter says they avoid always during the fundraising process. her priorities.
eating ice cream altogether. She told CTI: “For me personally, it is about prioritizing
The emergence of Peekaboo has successfully dispelled and acknowledging that I cannot be everything to everyone.
people’s worries on wellness when enjoying ice cream. More- My family will always come first and it is the foundation
over, it even provides many healthy choices. There are so far upon which Peekaboo is built. After all, I created Peeka-
nine different flavors at Peekaboo, including some “guilty boo to solve my own problem of getting my kids to eat
indulgent flavors”. For example, the newest flavor Unicorn more nutritiously and create balance where there was
ice cream tastes just like birthday cake, but actually, it has none: dessert.”
mineral-rich zucchini in it to help people get more cal- Realizing her limitations of putting effort on both
cium, vitamin A, riboflavin and phosphorus. Their Cot- side, Levison decided to hand over some aspects of the
ton Candy flavor also has hidden beet which allows people business to experts who can handle them far more expe-
to have all the sweetness but without the burden of taking rienced and intelligent than her. In this way, it not only
in too much unhealthy sugar. helps her to run the business more efficiently but also it
People’s love for Peekaboo’s veggie ice cream is ob- creates her more time to accompany her children.
vious. From Wall Street Journal, to Forbes and The Wash- Nevertheless, balancing work and family is, in fact,
ington Post, Peekaboo has been recommended by many a relatively small obstacle for most female food entrepre-
mainstream media. There’s no denying that Peekaboo has neurs. More difficulties come from financing and funding
won a huge success. support. According to the business news platform Crunch-
Nevertheless, as a women-owned business, there base’s report, in 2018, only 17% of venture dollars funded
will inevitably be some obstacles that most female globally was invested in companies with a female founder.
entrepreneurs need to face. The most common one for The Network of Executive Women’s research also shows
Levison and those mom-founders is how to balance work that women often offered less money and receive higher
and family. The answer from Levison is that kids are interest rates on business loans than men do.
However, the idea of making ‘hidden veggie ice cream’
didn’t shape into a concrete business until Jessica had two
kids herself. As any other parent, she struggled to get her
children to have vegetables. “My goal is always a balanced
meal but that isn’t always a reality. The reality is that some-
times getting my kids fed and happy is more than enough
and we’ll leave the greens for tomorrow,” she confessed.
Inspired by her motherhood experience of commit-
ting to making her kids healthier by sneaking in some
nutritious veggies into something that her children like,
Jessica created the only ice cream brand on the market with
hidden veggies. That is Peekaboo.
At Peekaboo, they are building the future of better-for-
you ice cream. “We give you more of what you need (veggies),
together with more of what you want (ice cream). With
Peekaboo, you can get the benefits of vitamins and nutrients
from vegetables like cauliflower and spinach - without sacri-
ficing the taste of delicious ice cream,” said Levison.
Nowadays, more people have a complex feeling for ice
cream. On one hand, ice cream is always the comfort food
we seek, especially during stressful times. However, on the
other hand, more and more people start to pay attention to
health and fear to take indulgence in ice cream. According
to a new national survey conducted by an independent
research firm called ARCTIC ZERO, about a third of Amer-
ican adults limit their ice cream consumption because they
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