Meet Lisa Paugh | Owner/Operator Local mom & pop ice cream parlor

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

Hi Lisa, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
I am by nature a hard worker and very organized. I take pride in providing a fun atmosphere for my staff, we are surrounded by whip cream and cherries all day long. Our team has systems in place to keep us organized and we provide a fun product to sell. I lead by example, as a working member of my team there is no task I will not do. I am very lucky to be my own boss and I do not take that for granted, I come in happy, leave happy, trying to always feeling productive.  I believe our customer service sets us apart from everyone else, we have the most phenominal team, there is constant conversations about flavors, what are our customers asking for, what are the new trends, what else can we make that is fablous?

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Walrus Ice Cream has been local to Fort Collins Old Town since Dec 4th of 1987. Our mix and ice cream is made on location daily with no additives or perservatives.  As a Fort Collins tradition you will find us collaborating with other local small business, combining their most popular items in our ice cream. For example, we make a Silver Grill cinnimon roll with cinnimon rolls from the Silver Grill and a chocolate peanut butter stout with beer from Rally King. With some of our wholesale clients we make specific ice cream for their menu, we recently make a Tonka Bean ice cream for Choice City Deli, a Fig Newton for Cafe Vino and a lemon Riccotta for Jay’s Bistro. There are many other local resturants where you will find Walrus Ice Cream on the menu, Rio Grande, Sonny Lubick’s, Nick’s Italian, DP Dough, Wing Shack, Sexy Sammie’s, Beaver’s local grocery, Overland Foods local grocery, Mountain Ave Cafe, Jax Home and Ranch, Jax Outdoor, Jax Loveland, Jax Cheyenne and CSU university has it in their Foundry dining hall along with the Student center at 5030. We use fresh milk and cream from a local dairy, our peaches are Palisade, we use real bananas, raspberris, strawberries, bluberries, blackberries and mango’s along with using all name brand ingredients.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When my bestie comes, we will spend a day on the Poudre River enjoying the natural beauty, if not a picnic then lunch at the Mishawaka. We will dine at the Rio, Nicks italian, Sonny’s or DC Oaks and have breakfast at the Silver Grill. We would spend an afternoon at the white water river park here in Old Town, take a stroll down the square and play some games at Pinball Jones. I often recomend to visiting familys the Museum of Discovery and the free water attractions on the Oak street plaza and the Old Town Square. We get many comments about our beautiful art in Old Town and the amazing flowers that line our streets.

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?
My parents, Clay and Leslie, my aunts, Dorie and Marcia and my sons, Jonathan and Hunter. My ex husband John and I bought Walrus Ice Cream exsisting in 1999, my dad knew the previous owner, Steve Orner, and was the connection that provided us the opportunity to purchase this local iconic business. My father also help organize my family to all pitch in and help us come up with the 25% we needed down. Those loans have since been repaid but the investement and trust from my family were instrumental in securing us this business and providing us with the opportunity to raise our twin boys in an ice cream, family oriented, enviorment. My kids started working shifts in the store when the were 14 years old, sometimes riding their bikes to work if no one was home. They understood the importance of customer service and both worked all through high school, along with many of their friends, to go above and beyond helping us provide the best ice cream in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Website: https://walrusicecream.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/walrusicecream/