VAIL VALLEY — Almost 10 years ago to the day, Carrie Zovluck overhead some guys in an Edwards bar talking about wanting to sell an ice cream truck. Within a couple of hours, the truck was hers.
She had no idea that she’d become known as the “ice cream truck lady” soon after, or that a decade later, she’d still be driving it around the valley selling ice cream to happy customers.
“I bought the truck, and it’s been the best thing ever since,” Zovluck said.
Zovluck, whose two children were in elementary school then, couldn’t wait to show her kids the vehicle she had named “Sweet Serendipity.”
Zovluck said she entered into the new business partly because she secretly always wanted an ice cream truck, but mostly out of necessity.
“I had a 40-hour a week job for $12 an hour, and I had two kids,” Zovluck said. “So I bought the truck.”
It brought her independence and joy.
“I don’t have a boss; I don’t have a schedule,” Zovluck said. “It’s a service — it’s cheap and it’s cheerful.”
Cheer is what Zovluck brings to the business, said longtime friend Carrie Kirkutis.
“She has such a great personality,” Kirkutis said. “She just fits it. I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it.”
Zovluck has learned how to market herself and the truck to bring in more business, and she’s learned about her expenses versus her bottom line. She said she tries to keep her prices pretty low. You can buy almost anything on the truck for around $2.
Buying the truck remains one of the best decisions she’s ever made, she said.
“It’s fun and it’s ice cream,” Zovluck said. “Who doesn’t like ice cream?”
