Want to try Amy’s Ice Creams? You’ll have to go to one of 15 locations in three cities—even if you’re a family friend of Amy Simmons, who founded the Austin-based ice cream shop in 1984. “My kids would always bring their friends over, and the first thing their friends do is open the freezer door, and there’s nothing in there—they’re sort of disappointed,” Simmons told Community Impact Newspaper in late September. “We don’t have it in our house; it’s something we go out and experience and really value.” Simmons, who started Amy’s Ice Creams at age 23, credits her business naivety for turning the small business into a success story. “I still thought money was kind of evil; it was greedy, and that was not my purpose. My purpose was to do a better job—care for the people, care for the community,” she said. “So that was a great advantage to me because you could open your mind to, ‘How do you build this?’ … and it made us very unique.” As increased competition continually challenges Austin-area small businesses, Simmons said it is important that local entrepreneurs differentiate their efforts. “We have to understand if we do something different, we’re going to make that experience extremely satisfying,” Simmons said. “It might not work for every industry, but for the ice cream business, we’re going to thrive.”