During the pandemic, many started small businesses, but not many of them were 12 years old. Kaya Novack, a local Santa Clarita teenager, started her small business, Kaya’s Creamery, in 2021.
Stuck in a pandemic at only 11 years old, Kaya fell quickly into the pit of boredom. She eventually came across an online class where you could pay $12 to learn how to make mochi.
After just one class, she said to herself, “I can do that,” and began offering her own online Zoom classes to teach others how to make mochi. Her classes were priced at $10 to attend and would have four to 10 people in attendance.
This form of ice cream making was only the beginning.
Kaya and her family started gathering around their Cuisinart ice cream maker, throwing in various traditional ice cream toppings. They would pack their creations up and gift them to friends and family.
Kaya didn’t just cure her boredom. She had ignited a passion.
A few courteous drop-offs led to more and more people asking for more ice cream. Seeing that there was a demand for her product, she decided to turn this cure for boredom into a small business.
“I think she thought I was joking,” said Kaya after approaching her mother, Larie Novack, with the idea.
In the summer of 2021, Kaya officially launched Kaya’s Creamery.
Larie posted Kaya’s small business on her neighborhood Facebook page and people started pouring in with orders.
“At first I was a little confused because maybe people are just buying it because they want to be nice and support somebody,” said Kaya. “But after more and more people started ordering it and getting second orders, I was kind of nervous. But after a while it just felt really good to be making something that people like.”
The demand for Kaya’s Creamery slowly got out of control as more and more people were exposed to her ice cream. Kaya’s ice cream was even shared on a larger Facebook page for local foodies.
People weren’t just ordering one or two pints of ice cream — they began ordering 20 to 40 for their events.
“She got an order so big one day, I had to cook everything in the freezer,” said Larie.
Kaya’s Creamery started out occupying the singular Novack family freezer. Now it has expanded so much that the Novacks had to purchase two additional freezers to keep up with the demand of the small business.
Constantly creating ice creams also led Kaya to constantly creating new flavors, all fueling her sense of creativity that she says she always has had.
“I’ve always kind of liked creating things,” said Kaya. “When I was 8, I had a business where I made lip balms. I just always liked selling things and creating things.”
Some of Kaya’s flavors include Stroopwillfall in love, chocolate covered banana, Blue’s lemon berry pie, birthday cake surprise, Sean’s s’mores, Sarah’s red velvet runway and many more.
Her flavors come from requests from customers, and she will then name the flavor after them. Others come from her own mind, always thinking of what she can do next.
“We’ll be eating something, that’s not necessarily ice cream, and we’ll be like, ‘This would be a good thing for ice cream,’” said Kaya.
On Aug. 4, Kaya took on her biggest challenge yet – catering at a food truck event.
Kaya said that she was extremely nervous at the start of the event. She was worried that no one would purchase her ice cream, and being a 10- by 10-foot pop-up tent next to an ice cream food truck didn’t help calm her nerves.
She pushed through and sold more than 150 of her 200 ice creams that she brought for the event. She also received some donations for her charity, A Scoop of Love.
Kaya began her charity as a way to give back to her community in the best way she knew how to, with ice cream.
“When I started the business last year, I always knew that I wanted to incorporate charity somehow,” said Kaya.
After years and years of seeing her family give back and she herself making blankets for shelter dogs, this kindness was instilled in her heart.
“My family and my school have always made it really important to give back to charity,” said Kaya.
With donations that she receives and some extra profits from the small business, Kaya donates her ice cream to underprivileged families. She believes that “every kid deserves love and ice cream.”
Kaya has worked with Family Promise and Bridge to Home, and hopes to expand her charity work even further in the future.
Her passion for giving back and ice cream may be the two driving factors of the small business, but she hopes to use her small business as a way to achieve two of her dreams – paying for college and traveling across the country.
Although Kaya is not certain where she wants to go to college or what she wants to study, she does know that one day, she wants to go on a cross-country road trip with friends.
Those wishing to purchase from Kaya’s Creamery can direct message the business on Instagram, @kayas_creamery. To inquire about donating to A Scoop of Love, one can direct message @a_scoop_of_love_charity on Instagram for more information.
