March 19, 2024

Tamara Keefe: Trading Golden Handcuffs for Genuine Happiness

Episode 28
I got to where I wanted, but it wasn’t what I thought it was gonna be.

Tamara Keefe: Trading Golden Handcuffs for Genuine Happiness

Episode 28

Share this:

"It was in year four where I woke up one day and said, 'Oh they’re not the problem, I’m the problem!' And so once I realized I was the problem and shifted my frame of reference on how I led, interacted, managed, motivated and inspired...it all changed."

Tamara Keefe is the CEO, Founder, and Flavor Temptress of Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery, an ice cream shop with eight locations in the Greater St. Louis Area that serves unique small-batch ice cream flavors, including alcoholic and vegan options. Clementine’s is one of the few Micro Creamery’s in the world, a designation that requires strict ingredients and production methods that helps them produce the best ice cream in the world. Clementine’s is a two time winner of the North American Ice Cream Association’s Flavor of the Year (2019 and 2023), the most distinguished honor in the ice cream world.

Tamara talks to Cynthia about her love and passion for ice cream, dating back to her early childhood, and how it helped her carve out her current lifestyle and path to genuine happiness. Tamara started out in corporate America, rising steadily through the ranks to become a highly successful executive. She exceeded her wildest dreams of achievement, but it wasn’t what she thought it would be. She was miserable and had to get out. This episode describes what she did next and how she was able to trade suits for scoops.

She doles out the truth on the sacrifices she had to make personally and professionally to make her dream come true, including downsizing her home and adjusting her management style. This is a masterclass on entrepreneurship, leadership, and betting on yourself. When it’s over, if you need a little taste of happiness, then don’t forget that Clementine’s ships!

Show Notes

1 – Intro 00:24
2 – Winning the Oscars of Ice Cream 01:14
3 – Locations 02:17
4 – Ice Cream solves everything 03:12
5 – Some of our speciality flavors 03:44
6 – What’s a micro creamery 04:38
7 – Vegan offerings 08:45
8 – Starting my own business 09:45
9 – If you had a safety net, what might have changed 11:43
10 – Why you were miserable in corporate America 13:29
11 – Was there a moment of realization that you were unhappy 14:11
12 – Meeting with girlfriends, Clementines birthed 16:03
13 – Childhood origins of ice cream 17:47
14 – How she got into the food industry early in her career 23:11
15 – Following unconventional paths 24:20
16 – What kind of risks did you take? 25:28
17 – Coming from humble beginnings 26:56
18 – Downsizing when you start a business 28:34
19 – Defining Happiness 31:28
20 – Falling in love with St. Louis 33:02
21 – Would you go back and change anything about your journey 34:12
22 – What challenges and obstacles taught you the most 35:21
23 – Was there a moment that helped you discover that? 36:45
24 – How did you make the necessary leadership changes 38:41
25 – Culture of clementines 41:43
26 – How do you maintain culture over many locations 43:01
27 – The ice cream shop experience 44:09
28 – Storytelling nuances of Clementines 45:43
29 – Any challenges faced as a female? 50:52
30 – Power of No 55:05
31 – Prioritizing the employee experience 56:16
32 – How did you get to the point of being so fearless 58:10
33 – Importance of having a local ice cream shop nearby 1:00:11
34 – What’s next for Clementines 1:00:32
35 – Cool events they put on 1:01:29
36 – Advice for success 1:02:30
37 – How do we find you 1:05:30

Content Notice

This podcast and all She Lift Project content represents the opinions of Cynthia Kirkpatrick and her guests. The content here is for informational purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice – financial, legal, medical, or otherwise.

Views and opinions expressed in the podcast and across all She Lift Project media channels are our own and do not represent that of our places of work. While we make every effort to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate, we welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.

  • All
  • Anesthesiologist
  • Audio Systes
  • Authenticity
  • Author
  • Bespoke
  • Book Anthologies
  • Book Publishing
  • Bootstrapping
  • Broadcaster
  • Business Coach
  • Business Owner
  • Career Strategist
  • Carondelet Garden
  • Carondelet Kitchen
  • Cathy Davis
  • Cathy L. Davis
  • Coach
  • Coaching
  • Community
  • Confidence
  • Consultancy
  • Consultant
  • Corporate
  • Culture
  • Customer Service
  • Danna McKitrick
  • Davis Creative
  • Davis Creative Publishing Partners
  • Defense Attorney
  • Doctor
  • Engineer
  • Entrepreneur
  • EO
  • Family Business
  • Family Law
  • Fashion Consultant
  • Fitness Coach
  • Forensic Accounting
  • Fraud
  • Gateway for Good
  • Glowe
  • Growth
  • Higher Education
  • Home Care
  • Hospitality
  • innovation
  • International Business
  • Katherine Flett
  • Lawyer
  • Leadership
  • Life Coach
  • Litigator
  • Mandarin
  • Manufacturing
  • Marketing
  • Medicine
  • Mindset
  • Networking
  • Neuroperformance
  • Partnerships
  • Performance
  • Podcaster
  • Positivity
  • Professor
  • Psychology
  • Relationships
  • Retired
  • Salary Negotiation
  • Sales
  • Small Business Attorney
  • Speaker
  • Spiritual
  • St. Louis
  • Stainless Steel
  • STL City SC
  • Systems Engineer
  • Technology
  • Trainer
  • Trial Lawyer
  • Watters Wolf Bub & Hansmann
  • Webster University
Headshot of Debbie Champion

Debbie Champion: The Jury Whisperer

Cathy L. Davis: Somebody Needs to Hear Your Story

Katherine Flett: Don’t Be a Jerk

Tamara Keefe: Trading Golden Handcuffs for Genuine Happiness

Danni Eickenhorst: Leadership 101: Pour Into Your People

Nancy Weaver Headshot

Dr. Nancy L. Weaver: Support Over Silence

Share:

More Posts

Headshot of Debbie Champion

Debbie Champion: The Jury Whisperer

I always ask myself, when the jury goes out, is there anything I would have done differently if I could have? And sometimes the answer is yes. And you think about what you would have done differently. And I always take notes while the jury’s out as to what I wish I had changed, because when the jury comes back, and if they win, if you win, you don’t want to change anything. And so you don’t learn from that. And so I try to do that while the jury’s out.

Cathy L. Davis: Somebody Needs to Hear Your Story

Especially since COVID I’ve noticed that there are two things that people need. So if someone’s out there buying a book, they’re going to buy it, one, because they’re looking for hope, or two, they’re looking for community.

Katherine Flett: Don’t Be a Jerk

I have a three year old, Nora, and I was going to court that morning, and I was in my full suit and walking out, and she said, mama, you look like a superhero. And it was just, like, the best thing to hear. Because I’m like, “Yes, little girl, I hope you always see a woman in a suit and think that’s a superhero.”

Nancy Weaver Headshot

Dr. Nancy L. Weaver: Support Over Silence

“We’ve talked to adults who were mistreated as children and they say that if one person had said something, done something, reached out…given me any indication that how I was treated was not ‘ok’, that would have made all the difference.”

Send Us A Message

Topics

Show Name

Stay Connected

Amet minim mollit non deserunt ullamco est sit aliqua dolor do amet sint. Velit officia consequat duis enim velit mollit. Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet.

New episodes

We publish on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month.

Scroll to Top