We had the good fortune of connecting with Michele Mower and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michele, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
I’ve always had the goal of starting my own business. But the time never seemed right. When I finally took the plunge, I did it with intention and purpose. Two of my main goals were, to be ecofriendly, and to give back to the community as much as possible. To tackle the first goal, I set out to source only biodegradable containers and utensils. All of our containers and utensils are made from plant fiber. Next a big part of my business model is fundraising and donations. Which can look like, school fundraisers, fundraisers for 501c3’s and even helping get exposure for nonprofits that need the help.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My business is gourmet shaved ice. The idea was inspired by the New Orleans “snowball.” The difference between what I do, and a “snowball” is the way I have utilized my culinary creativity and talents to add to the look and flavor of a traditional “snowball.” Here in South Florida what sets my business apart from other shaved ice or snow cone places is we use a block shaver for our ice, so we have soft and fluffy ice. A lot of the other guys use ice crushers, so their product is crunchy. We also make our own syrups, so everything is made with cane sugar. NO High fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. What we do cannot be purchased in a store. What I am most proud about is that the goal I set out to achieve is slowly becoming what I had hoped for. I had been in the service industry for 23 almost 24 years before I decided to take the leap and start my own business. I learned a lot of lessons in the industry during that time. But one of the most important lessons I learned was, customer service is the most important part of any business. Without customers you wouldn’t have a paycheck or a business.
Nothing about the service industry has ever been easy. the only thing constant is change. You need to be able to adapt all the time to whatever it is that is going on.

My brand is going to be like my personal story…… ever changing and evolving, to be a better version than it was when it started

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
South Florida as a whole has a lot of fun and great places to hang out and eat and drink. In Miami we would visit Bayfront Park, the entire Wynwood area, and of course Little Havana. But we would eat at CVI,CHE 105 in Downtown Miami. In Ft. Lauderdale we would hang out on Ft Lauderdale Beach and check out all the little bars and restaurants including Las Olas.
We would visit the Boca Museum of Art
In West Palm Beach we would visit the Norton Museum, check out clematis and rosemary square, and then we would eat at Victorias Pisco Lounge in Lake Worth Beach. If you haven’t noticed yet, my favorite cuisine in south Florida is Peruvian.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Where I am at in life is without a doubt because of my unwavering determination to be successful and not give up. So, in the words of Snoop Dogg “I wanna thank me, for believing in me, I wanna thank me for doing all this hard work, I wanna thank me for no days off, I wanna thank me…. for never quitting, I wanna thank me for ALWAYS being a giver and tryna give more than I recieve, I wanna thank me for tryna do more right than wrong, I wanna thank me for just being me at all times.

Website: shavedgourmet.com

Instagram: @gigisgourmetshaved

Facebook: @gigisgourmetshaved

Other: Tik Tok: @gigisgourmetshaved

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