Scoop Dreams: Alumna Turns Childhood Memories Into Business

For Juliana Ortiz, ice cream is more than just a dessert.  

Ortiz still gets nostalgic recalling childhood trips to Rite Aid to grab Thrifty’s ice cream with her parents. Her go-to flavor was chocolate, and it brought her comfort every time she ate it.  

Ortiz cherished the little things. Going for chocolate ice cream with her mom and dad may have seemed ordinary to others. But for her, growing up in a low-income family, it was always a special moment. 

 “Ice cream was always a reward,” Ortiz said. “I had to do something good to get it. Every time I had ice cream, it was always that sense of accomplishing something, even if it was something small.” 

 Now, as a business owner, Ortiz looks for special moments like these through customers at her own ice cream shop. Entrepreneurship was never something on her radar, but that changed at Cal State San Marcos. It was a combination of fond memories of eating ice cream with her family and realizing that ice cream shops have the happiest clientele. 

 “No one goes to an ice cream shop angry, right?” Ortiz said. “Customers are either really happy because they’re with family or friends or they’ve had a really bad day and they want a pick-me-up.”  

 Since graduating from CSUSM in 2018 with a degree in marketing, Ortiz has launched a successful ice cream business, Cali Cream, with her husband, Ken Schulenburg. Ortiz has helped craft 55 different flavors, including her childhood favorite, chocolate. 

 Quality is paramount. Cali Cream ice cream is made with 16% butterfat, compared with an average of 12% for most ice cream companies.  

 “We get it shipped from the farm to us within seven days,” Ortiz said. “It’s only seven days from cow to cone.”  

 Since opening steps from Moonlight Beach in Encinitas in 2016, Cali Cream has expanded to include a bakery and a second ice cream location in San Diego’s downtown Gaslamp Quarter. Cali Cream also has been featured at special events like Comic-Con International and concerts at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.  

 “I don’t know if there was ever a moment where the lightbulb went off,” Ortiz said, “but I think there are times where you’re in a place in your life where you just say, ‘Hey, I want to do something different.’ ”  

 Ortiz came to CSUSM looking for a change, intending to create a better life for her daughter, Leslie. 

 When she was 16, Ortiz learned that she was pregnant. Telling her parents was difficult, and she didn’t want them to be disappointed in her or think it would keep her from having a successful future.  

 “It was extremely hard,” she said. “You never want to disappoint your parents. And you never want to do anything that they think might hold you back. Sometimes kids make mistakes. I’ve learned from it, but I think I’ve turned it around. I also believe that there are certain things that just kind of happen for a reason, and I feel like she’s my biggest motivator. We’ve grown up together.” 

 Leslie was born prematurely, weighing just 4 pounds. Ortiz was facing adult responsibilities at a young age, but Leslie was a constant source of inspiration and motivation.  

 “At that time, it was so difficult to try to navigate everything,” Ortiz said. “But I ended up just striving forward again. I’m not going to be a statistic. I’m not going to let something like that hold me back. I needed to give my family – and I needed to give my daughter – a good example.”