Life & Work with Jaime Esler of Archie, MO

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaime Esler.

Hi Jaime, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My husband and I had always talked about trying a mobile food vending business of some sort when we retired. We attended festivals and craft shows and always noticed how busy the food vendors were. In 2013, the company I worked for closed and I was paid out a severance package. My daughter was three and I desperately wanted to be able to stay at home with her but at that time our family needed two incomes to make it. We decided to take a leap of faith and attempt our retirement idea early. The next question was “what type of food vending did we want to do?”. My husband favored kettle corn because it could be sold year round, while I favored shaved ice because it would be in an air conditioned trailer. We ended up going with kettle corn so that we could sell it year round and I could possible stay at home with my daughter. So we used my severance package to buy all of our equipment and we were in business. Looking back, this was definitely one of our best decisions as it all worked out and I was able to be a stay at home Mom. As the years have gone on, we have backed away from summer events with the kettle corn and mainly just pop it in the fall. The heat of the kettle combined with the heat of summer was getting to be too much for me to handle. Soooo, I started looking around for shaved ice trailers for sale. We tossed around the idea for probably a couple of years before deciding to actually do it. We purchased our trailer in 2023 and started to make it our own. Chillin’ Shaved Ice hit the streets in 2024 and we have had so much fun with it. My daughter has always helped us with kettle corn and now she helps me with the shaved ice. It is a lot of work, but for me it is so much fun serving treats to customers. I love to get to talk to people and see them smile when I hand them out their shaved ice.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No. We were ready for business in 2024. Being our first year, I had planned to try all difference sorts of venues to see which ones were the best and where Chillin’ Shaved Ice fit in best. Even though I had not been feeling very good for a long while I tried to push through but was definitely not 100%. I eventually found out that I had two very large kidney stones (one in each kidney). So basically right in the height of shaved ice season I had to have two separate surgeries. This obstacle hindered our first year in business.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What are you most proud of?

With our mobile food vending we have been able to teach our daughter in real life that what you put into something is what you get out of it. It is a lot of work. People don’t see all the extra work that is needed at home in order for things to work and run smoothly out on the streets. Hard work does pay off though!

What sets you apart from others?

I believe our trailer design/theme sets us apart from the others. I LOVE the beach and actually always tell my husband that that’s where I belong (maybe some day)! I also LOVE pink! Our trailer is hot pink with a tropical vibe so we get LOTS of looks when we’re driving down the road.

What makes you happy?
I absolutely love getting to talk with my customers. I get to meet so many different people and learn so much from talking with them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/chillin_shaved_ice
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15ULZM9JMd/?mibextid=wwXlfr