Caleb Larioza (12) slowly pedaled his weighed-down bicycle into Christmas Card Lane on Saturday evening. In front of his bike, he hauled an eight-foot-long stand equipped with a built-in cooler, sheltered under a white canopy that proudly displayed the words ‘Ice Cream and Sweets.’ Upbeat music flowed from the accompanying speakers, inviting children to gather around and catch a glimpse of the mobile Wit Family Ice Cream stand and its passionate peddler of popsicles and other ice cream treats.
Parking his bike, Larioza stood before a small group of kids as they eagerly crowded around the menu printed on the outside of his cart, trying to decide which frozen treat to choose. Tightly gripping her mom’s hand, a little girl timidly walked up to Larioza and looked up at him. The cheerful smile on Larioza’s face seemed to give her courage, and letting go of her sister’s hand, she pointed to the image of the Spiderman ice cream bar on the menu. Larioza reached into his cart for her order and bent down over the stand to hand it to the small girl, her face instantly lighting up seeing her favorite character’s face on the ice cream.
“We have a bunch of character ice creams, and it’s really fun seeing them react to the popsicle after they unwrap it,” Larioza said. “They all smile when they get their ice cream, and it’s nice to be the one who lets them just enjoy themselves.”
Larioza helped launch his family’s small business, Wit Family Ice Cream, in the summer of 2021, something his family had been thinking about for a long time. Since he couldn’t drive yet, his family decided to purchase an ice cream bike, which he could pedal around his neighborhood to sell his products.
“Most of the time, I’m the one handing people the ice cream, and I’m the one that pushes it up the hills during the summer and riding it around,” he said.
Larioza said that working for his family business has allowed him to grow in numerous areas in his life, from working hard to being more personable.
“I think all jobs teach the value of hard work, but with my job specifically, the harder I work, the more I make,” he said. “I do think it taught me discipline and pushing myself more than a normal job would do.”
This mindset motivates Larioza to try to sell on more streets in his neighborhood and keep pushing himself. Since the bike is only electrical-assisted and doesn’t have enough power to make it up some hills, Larioza often has to get off and push the stand. Even though it’s tiring, his hard work pays off to help his family.
“It was really hard when I first started; I was sore for weeks,” he said. “But it’s fine now that I’ve gotten used to it. It’s really rewarding to see that the hard work gets through. It’s rewarding that something that I’m putting a lot of effort into, I can see the visual results of that.”
Although selling was difficult for Larioza when starting the business, his experience and his confidence have evolved over time, allowing him to improve his social connections with others.
“The first time I went out selling to the public, it was intimidating,” he said. “That’s when I realized I was kind of lacking in social interaction [because of] COVID, and I didn’t realize how much I stopped talking to people. I felt kind of awkward [at first], but I feel like I’ve grown in terms of making sure people are comfortable. I also think I’ve grown in terms of just being able to have a positive attitude and spreading that same energy with other people. If I’m happy, I hope I can make other people happy too.”
According to Larioza, the skill of being able to talk to people will prove valuable in his future career.
“Interacting with people is always important, no matter what job you do,” he said. “That’s a big experience that I’ve learned from this as well.”
In addition to being able to help his family, Larioza finds happiness in the delighted look on each person’s face who receives their ice cream.
“It’s not just because of the hard work, but also because I make a lot of people happy when I’m giving [them] ice cream,” Larioza said. “[When] they’re smiling and their whole family is happy, that feels really good.”
