Long-term employee turns ice cream shop owner

When Peggy Cullivan was 12 years old, she would pop into Heyn's Ice Cream on a regular basis to buy a scoop of blueberry cheesecake ice cream.

One day, the owner asked if she wanted a job. 'I was 14,” Cullivan said. 'It was my first job and I loved it.”

Paul Heyn opened the Iowa City ice cream shop in 1989 and owned the shop for many years. Cullivan took on more responsibility at Heyn's over the years and was basically running the store full time by the time she was 20.

'Who starts working at 14 and ends up running that same business?” laughed Cullivan who has been working at Heyn's for 22 years.

Cullivan noted that of the 40 flavors sold at Heyn's, blueberry cheesecake remains her favorite.

'If anyone is coming in for the first time we tell them to sample, sample, sample and sample some more,” she said. 'And I love to watch people's faces light up when they find their flavor.”

A large part of Cullivan's long-term commitment to the business is the friendship she developed with Heyn over the years. When he died nine years ago, he left Heyn's Ice Cream to Cullivan.

'He was one of my best friends and had a huge impact on me,” she said. 'He taught me so much about business. I love this business and have literally put my life into to it to make sure that it stays in business.”

Cullivan said for a number of years she ran the store just as she thought Heyn would. Recently, she said, she's running the business to help it grow.

In May of 2015, Cullivan decided to open a North Liberty location. 'I was not necessarily ready to own two businesses and I was terrified, but I knew the community of North Liberty already loved our product.”

The company moved its production - all of Heyn's premium ice cream is homemade with 14 percent buttermilk fat - from the Iowa City shop to the North Liberty location, which provides more space. 'We also have a big window where customers can watch our ice cream-making process.”

Having a second shop also has allowed Cullivan to make some other changes and improvements as well as hire a manager. There are about six employees, but Cullivan said that number goes up during the busy summer months.

'This is my time of year to breathe,” she said of winter. 'The other three-fourths of the year I work 60 to 80 hours a week.”

On any given day you'll likely find Cullivan at either Heyn's location. She runs ice cream back and forth between the stores.

'I am always coming and going, but this past year I've spent a lot of teaching my manager, Dawn Fowler, all the aspects of the business,” Cullivan said. 'I fill in where ever I need to fill in.”

Cullivan, who also was married in April 2015, said 2016 was a bit of a whirlwind and she is looking forward to a smooth year ahead. She said having the extra managerial help will allow her to reconnect with what she loves best about working at Heyn's.

'My favorite part of the business is working with the (high school and college) kids I hire,” she said. 'I still have so many relationships with people who have worked here over the years.

'And I love being behind the counter. I love selling ice cream because of the people that come into the shop and I am looking forward to getting back to that.”

At a glance

- Name: Peggy Cullivan

- Title: Owner

- Business: Heyn's Premium Ice Cream

- Address: 811 S. First Ave., Iowa City, and 25 E. Cherry St., North Liberty

- Phone: (319) 354-1981 or (319) 665-2249

- Website: http://heynsicecream.com/

l Know a company in business for more than a year that would make a great My Biz? Contact Michael Chevy Castranova at michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com