Black Business Spotlight: One Scoop At A Time
Le’Day Grant describes how she became the owner and founder of MyKings. She was walking up Colorado Boulevard. She noticed an empty storefront with a “for rent” sign in the window. She peered in, and had a prophesy: ice cream.
Grant opened MyKings Ice Cream shop, at 2851 Colorado Blvd., on March 1, 2020. “It was all fun and exciting and happiness, and weeks later my business was told we couldn’t have customers.”
Maybe it wasn’t the best timing, but it would take more, much more, than a pandemic to drag Grant down. “I am all about bringing joy to people,” she says. “People always tell me I create happiness, and this is bringing people together through ice cream.
“We are building the community one scoop at a time.”
MyKings is named for her oldest son, MyKing, who turned 4 on Jan. 23. Grant, who is 27, has three more boys, including twins who are not quite two months old. Part of her motivation is to create a legacy and generational wealth for her children. The Denver native, who lives in the Central Park Neighborhood, opened the shop with no loans. Her grandmother has been an essential volunteer, pitching in as workers have been hard to find.
Since opening, Grant has also committed to providing financial literacy classes to anyone who’s interested. This August the shop will sponsor its third event for young entrepreneurs to sell artwork, crafts, clothing, baked goods and other snacks.
“This is all tied together by ice cream,” she says, including flavors with names like Golden Oreo, Blue Moon, Sleepless in Seattle and, of course, Superman.
— Cara DeGette