Meet Ashanti Mayfield, the owner of Creamy Cone Cafe in Rainier Beach in Seattle. When Creamy Cone Cafe opened its doors in June 2021, it brought family fun and locally-made ice cream to the heart of Ashanti’s neighborhood. She was inspired to open an ice cream shop because she saw her community’s need for more fun local spots that anybody in her neighborhood could walk to. Ashanti and her family run Creamy Cone Cafe together and offer a little something for everyone. They have 12 rotating ice cream flavors — including vegan options like Piña Colada and Rocky Road that are actually rich and creamy — fresh waffle cones, milkshakes, and espresso drinks.
Pro tip: Make sure to try a scoop of Creamy Cone Cafe’s Banana pudding flavor!
Get to know more about Ashanti and Creamy Cone Cafe in this week’s Business Spotlight Q&A.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s something your customers may not know about you or your business?
I’m from Seattle, but I also lived a portion of my life in Federal Way and Tacoma. I have been in the South Seattle Rainier Beach area for the past 15 years. This is my neighborhood, and being here all these years and kind of knowing we needed something fun and exciting to have here within walking distance was something I thought was important.
Why is it important to you and your business that people #SpendLikeItMatters?
To keep regular people with a mindset of knowing that they can open up something and achieve and have it be successful. It’s easy to get discouraged and to have all these great ideas, but to actually put it into play and push yourself to actually make it happen — I think that it’s important for people to support [small businesses] so they can give a younger kid or teen or young adult confidence to maybe push and open up their small business. It was important for me to have my family involved. Just us growing up in Seattle and seeing how it’s a melting pot — we’ve got a lot of different cultures and ethnicities, and when you see different cultures running their family businesses, like that’s cool. And when it comes to African-American owned businesses, I think that we could see a lot more, and I would love to see a lot more.
What are some of your favorite local businesses and why do you love them?
If I had to pick my number one, it’s because they’re right down the hill, and I just love everything that he brings to the table — it’s Umami Kushi. [Harold Fields] has these deep fried buns and they’re filled with just the best stuff. He’s got a beef curry pan that’s so good and he’s got the lentil and a salmon one — I just love everything he makes. The beignets, those are on the weekends, so I’m always ordering dozens of those to share with others. My family also loves to get pizza next door at Paranormal Pie. And then I have Moe’s Toure Apparel right next door, and we love to get T-shirts and stuff made there. He has other cool little things too — my daughters love to get purses and backpacks and little accessories that he brings in.