Justin Woolverton
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Comment: My name is Margie and I work for Halo Top Ice Cream. I'm hoping to add Justin Woolverton's Wikipedia page for Wikipedia consideration. He's the subject of multiple in-depth biographical articles in various top media publications that chronicle his life story. If there are additional details I can provide, please let me know.Sprinkles2019 (talk) 23:22, 8 January 2019 (UTC)
Justin Woolverton | |
|---|---|
| File:JustinWoolverton.jpg | |
| Born | 1979 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | UCLA & Columbia University |
| Occupation | CEO of Halo Top |
| Known for | Founder of Halo Top |
Justin Woolverton is an American entrepreneur and the CEO of Halo Top Creamery, an ice cream company.
According to Inc. Magazine, in his youth Woolverton was a "navy brat."[1] Woolverton attended University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia Law School.[2] He was a corporate litigator at a Los Angeles law firm called Latham & Watkins for four years.[3][1][4] Around 2011, he grew disenchanted with the practice of law.[1][5] In his free time, he explored other careers, such as acting, screenwriting, and comedy.[1]
Woolverton founded Halo Top Creamery, an ice cream brand focused on reducing the number of calories in its products, in 2011.[1] He began making what would become Halo Top in his apartment kitchen[1][6] to meet his own dietary restrictions.[4] He had followed a low-sugar diet, but still had a sweet tooth.[4] He unintentionally created the first prototype of Halo Top on a $20 ice cream maker, at which time he was inspired to take it to market.[4][6] He spent a year experimenting with ice cream recipes.[1][4][7] Woolverton partnered with Doug Bouton, another disgruntled lawyer Woolverton met in a basketball league that became the company's COO and President.[3][1][4]
Woolverton and Bouton funded the company with their personal credit cards, financing from friends and family, a high-interest loan, and through a crowd-sourced funding website called CircleUp.[6][1][8] In the beginning, Woolverton focused primarily on marketing, finance, and the ice cream recipes.[1] In 2012, Woolverton quit his job at the law firm to focus on Halo Top full-time.[6] He pomoted the brand by sending social media personalities pints to try.[3][1][4]
The ice cream brand was popularized by a 2016 GQ Magazine article where the editor ate nothing but Halo Top ice cream for ten days.[6][4][7] Manufacturers couldn't keep up with demand, so Woolverton and his partner worked in collaboration with third-party producers to create dedicated space to manufacture the product ice cream.[1] Sales grew more than 200-fold over three years.[1]
Woolverton still works on Halo Top recipes.[6] He currently resides in Los Angeles with his dog named "Molly Bear."[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Helm, Burt (December 12, 2017). "Why the Most Hated-On New Ice Cream Brand in America Is a Booming $100 Million Business". Inc.com. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ White, Ronald D. (September 15, 2017). "How L.A.'s Halo Top became America's bestselling ice cream pint". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Behind Halo Top ice cream's low-calorie success". CBS News. December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cassidy, Anne (July 2, 2018). "The man who created a $2bn ice cream firm in his kitchen". BBC News. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ Bronner, Stephen J. (July 2, 2018). "Before Halo Top Became One of America's Fastest-Growing Ice Cream Brands, It Was on the Verge of Death". Entrepreneur. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f LaVito, Angelica (June 29, 2017). "The future of ice cream looks a lot like Halo Top". CNBC. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Wang, Kaitlyn (August 16, 2017). "How This Upstart Ice Cream Company Began Outselling Ben & Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs". Inc.com. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ Bronner, Stephen J. (July 2, 2018). "Before Halo Top Became One of America's Fastest-Growing Ice Cream Brands, It Was on the Verge of Death". Entrepreneur. Retrieved December 8, 2018.