Wrapping up National Ice Cream month, APAICS president & CEO Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke sits down with founder and CEO of Ice Cream Jubilee, Victoria Lai. In this conversation, Lai speaks of her transition from working in public service as a government lawyer to becoming an “icecreampreneur” and how she melds the two together.

Victoria Lai Bio:

Victoria Lai is the Founder and Chief Icecreampreneur of Ice Cream Jubilee, where she dreams up ice cream flavors inspired by international desserts, boozy cocktails, and childhood treats, like Banana Bourbon Caramel, Thai Iced Tea, Cookies & Cookie Dough, and Gin & Tonic sorbet. As the CEO, Victoria also manages finance, operations, growth, human resources, marketing, and strategy for the company.

Victoria Lai founded Ice Cream Jubilee as a blog that featured her passion for inventing ice cream flavors. At the time, she was working as a lawyer and presidential appointee at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security. Before this appointment, she clerked in the Second Circuit and Southern District of New York for the Hon. Denny Chin, worked as a corporate litigator, and advised the Democratic National Committee and a presidential campaign as the Director of Asian American Pacific Islander Outreach. She holds a J.D. from Fordham University and a B.A. from Wellesley College.

In 2013, Victoria entered her flavors in a city-wide ice cream competition and won People’s Choice for Best Ice Cream in DC. Inspired by this success, she left her job in 2014 to open her first store in the Navy Yard area of Washington, D.C. by Nationals Stadium. Ice Cream Jubilee currently has three locations, in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard and U Street neighborhoods and in Arlington, VA. Ice Cream Jubilee ships nationwide and is available in Whole Foods Markets in DC, VA, MD, PA, KY, OH, and southern NJ. Ice Cream Jubilee has been recognized as the Best Ice Cream In DC and one of the Best Ice Cream Shops in America seven years in a row!

Ice Cream Jubilee has been named one of the Best Ice Cream Shops in America by People Magazine, the Drew Barrymore Show, Thrillist, Food & Wine, and has been voted the Best Ice Cream in D.C. in the Washington CityPaper and Washingtonian Magazine. Victoria’s transition from government lawyer to icecreampreneur has been featured by NBC Nightly News, More Magazine, and Bloomberg News.