Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Spangler.
Hi Kyle, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
From a young age, I’ve always loved ice cream. As a child, I even had a simple hand-churned ice cream maker that I loved using. It wasn’t until college, though, that I really began to appreciate premium grocery-store ice creams like Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen Dazs.
That interest quickly turned into a passion. I bought a few ice cream books and a compressor style machine that allowed me to make multiple batches without having to refreeze a bowl between each one. From there, I bought more books, studied the science and techniques behind ice cream production, and even took the famous ice cream making course at Penn State, among others.
As I continued learning and experimenting, I got better and better. Eventually, I reached a point where I felt confident that I could make a product that was even better than the premium brands I had enjoyed for years.
At the time, there were only a couple of shops in the area making truly homemade, hard serve ice cream, so I felt Lynchburg was an excellent place to get started. The biggest challenge was finding the right location. It took more than a year to find a space that we felt truly made sense, but looking back, it was absolutely worth the wait.
Fast-forward seven years, and I’ve gained an incredible amount of experience making ice cream nearly every day. At the same time, the business has grown enormously, and keeping up with demand can sometimes be a challenge.
Even as we’ve grown, staying true to the original handcrafted product remains extremely important to me. We don’t cut corners or sacrifice quality just to speed up the process. Everything takes time, and I believe that commitment to doing things the right way is what makes all the difference.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting a business with very little prior experience is extremely challenging. We also started with a very small budget, so much of the remodeling work had to be done ourselves. There were certainly times when it was stressful, exhausting, and difficult, but it was part of what it took to get the business off the ground.
The first year was especially overwhelming. As an owner, you’re trying to juggle so many different aspects of the business at once while also figuring out and fine tuning the production process. Then, just a few months after we opened, Covid hit, which obviously threw another major wrench into everything.
As the business continued to grow and we became busier and busier, scaling up production presented another set of challenges. We don’t have a tremendous amount of production space, so our back of house area is pretty packed with equipment. Finding ways to increase production while maintaining the same quality and handcrafted approach has been an ongoing challenge.
Thankfully, the road is much smoother now than it was in those early years. But one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a business owner is that you have to get comfortable with the bumps along the way. It’s not a matter of whether challenges will happen, it’s when they’ll happen, and how you respond to them.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Outside the Cone?
Outside the Cone is a handcrafted ice cream shop specializing exclusively in hard scoop, homemade ice cream. What truly sets us apart is our commitment to making as much as possible from scratch. We prepare the majority of our inclusions in-house, which is actually quite uncommon in the ice cream industry. Brownies, cookie dough, toffee, and many other inclusions are made with simple ingredients from scratch, often right before they’re layered into our ice cream.
We also love creating unique flavors that you won’t find anywhere else. A few examples include All Smoaked Out, a collaboration with County Smoak featuring brisket toffee, bacon caramel, and honey cornbread; Ink Attack, a pitch black double dark chocolate ice cream infused with squid ink and layered with orange butter cake chunks and orange cream cheese icing for Halloween; and Into the Galaxy, a cake batter ice cream with vanilla cake chunks and swirls of dragon fruit and butterfly pea flower.
We also take advantage of the incredible local produce available in our area, using fresh, locally produced strawberries, blueberries, peaches, blackberries, apples, and other fruits in our ice creams whenever possible.
The commitment to quality is what I’m most proud of. Our slogan, “Deliciousness is in the Details,” isn’t just a tagline it genuinely reflects how we approach everything we make. We believe the little details matter, from the ingredients we use to the way we prepare every component, and ultimately, those details are what set our ice cream apart.
We currently offer 10 classic flavors, 4 Flavor Lab flavors, 2 vegan/dairy-free options, and 1 keto/sugar-free option. Our Flavor Lab flavors change frequently, so if you find one you really love, it’s best to come in sooner rather than later. Popular flavors can sell out sooner than expected.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I got my B.S in Exercise Science and was a personal trainer for a short period of time. People often find that funny, now that I sell ice cream for a living.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://outsidethecone.com
- Instagram: @outsidethecone
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outsidethecone
