Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Weekley.
Alyssa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Starting my own business had never actually been on my radar until I met my husband. Clint is the one who brings the entrepreneurial spirit to our team and it has rubbed off on me in the ten years we’ve been together. When we were dating and didn’t have a ton of money while in high school and college, we would try and find fun little dates that were inexpensive. Finding local shaved ice trailers or shacks was one of our favorites. We grew up in Manvel, Texas our whole lives and it didn’t have anything like that close by. If we loved shaved ice so much, we new children and families would too. Manvel is a growing community and we wanted to be a part of it with this idea.
We have been so blessed to be able to provide a safe and fun environment for kids to hang out at after school to wait on their rides or for a game later that evening. This was a big goal of ours during the planning process! We tried to imagine all the things we would have liked right across the street when we went to MHS and then incorporate that into our plans. Every year we try and add something new and slowly achieve all of those goals.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As we spread the word about our new big idea to build a shaved ice stand right across from Manvel High School, our most asked question was, “well what are you going to do during the winter?”. While that was a great question, Texas realistically only has about 3-4 months of real winter. If that. So we stayed open! And we continued to stay open every winter since. We did try and do breakfast and coffee during our first winter, but we were actually selling more shaved ice than coffee and decided to stick with what we know. Our first winter was slow and posed a challenge for us to determine if we would try and stay open the next year, but the more people that knew we didn’t close after the season then the more came.
We’re so happy to say that every winter gets busier and busier. This winter season we brought on s’mores alongside our hot chocolate! Our team has helped in creating such fun new treats which we hope to keep everyone excited about year-round! Our drive-thru, which was added pretty last minute thanks to a dear friend’s suggestion, is so great for our winter season at Weekley’s when it’s cold and rainy out.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have done so many different jobs in my short time as a “career woman”. Like most high schoolers and college kids, I started in the restaurant industry and learned so many great skills which I use to this day as a small restaurant owner myself. For a short time, I built and designed websites, created paintings and other small DIY projects that I would sell online, and worked for a local Interior Design firm doing home staging and design projects. My degree is in Interior Design and I love the creative outlet that it gave me. I still help friends and families with their homes and small projects here and there, but I think my biggest success would be designing and building our business from the ground up.
There are many different guidelines to follow when building a restaurant, event one as small as 400 square feet. We needed to make sure we met all of the criteria for the city building codes, health department as well as make the building compliant with ADA standards.
I absolutely loved the construction process and learning the steps we needed to take to build our dream, literally. But I also learned that sticking to a strict timeline can be so stressful and near impossible. Finding a good team and making those connections with others in your industry will be such a great tool and key to future success.
I now work at our location and I love that I still get to release some of the creativity inside through fun shaved ice creations and new flavors! Social media has been a great way for me to display Weekley’s “works of art” and connect with our customers. We love getting their input on what we should try next!
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Weekley’s Shaved Ice + Snacks was built with the love and encouragement of so many people. Our friends, some of those who helped from laying tile to taking orders. Our family helped us clean up the property before we opened and have been huge supporters to this day. Our local churches and children’s organizations have been so wonderful by hosting bible studies, kickball tournaments, life groups, meetings and more at our location and we are so grateful for them! But what keeps us functioning and successful is our team of employees. We have such an amazing group of girls that work with us and put so much energy into helping us produce a good experience and product for the community.
Pricing:
- Our Shaved Ice prices range from $2- $4.50
- S’mores prices start at $2.00
- Hot Chocolate prices start at $1.50 and we have many different flavors like peppermint and pumpkin spice as well!
- We often run our Punch Card Promotion which is Buy 7 get one FREE!
Contact Info:
- Website: Weekleysice.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weekleysshavedice/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weekleysshavedice
- Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@weekleys.shavedice?
