Meet Angie Martinez | Owner & Popsicle Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angie Martinez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angie, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
The idea of Mom and Pop Shop all started while I was taking my (then) two children on a jog and stopped to get them a treat from an ice cream truck and thought, “here I am running to improve my health but I am getting my children sugar-filled food. There has to be something better??” Health was also at the forefront of my mind with my second child having a rare genetic condition, heterotaxy. I had to monitor his diet and exposure to anything potentially harmful to his immunities. I had the idea to combine something fun and playful as well as wholesome… fruit ice pops!  I brought on my best friends Julia, to make the pops, and Bernie, to help design and market, and Mom and Pop Shop was created!

Our journey started with a simple idea to make healthier popsicles for our children while retaining the nostalgia of the vintage ice cream cart experience. We just wanted to create something so no child with a dietary restriction or allergy would miss out on a treat.  And we wanted to incorporate playful design to really make the brand unique. We bought a rickety mail truck from craigslist and made pops out of our kitchens and sold them out of coolers with dry ice. And that’s how we started!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We feel like we have always been ahead of the trends.  Seven years ago when we started the company the artisan/gourmet pop definitely existed, but no one was really doing healthy pops. We were making our own oat milk and date syrup before it could be found on the shelves of Sprouts and Whole Foods. With consumers demanding more healthy, minimally processed foods we have noticed a lot more companies starting to use alternative sweeteners and whole fruit like we have been doing for almost a decade now. It is extremely difficult to go plastic free in the frozen food world due to freezer burn and ice crystallization, but we feel like this is another consumer concern and rightly so! We hope again to be pioneers in this arena as well. More than ever we need to stick to our plan to make the world healthier and cleaner. We can’t help but feel moved by how the air, wildlife and ocean quality was improved since the lockdown occurred last year at the onset of the pandemic and we feel compelled to do our small part to maintain these improvements.

So we are beyond thrilled that we have switched to 100% plant based compostable packaging. This was part of the mission from the beginning but was so hard to attain, but we learned persistence and patience pay off if you hold on to your company’s core values.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Take a long weekend to San Pedro, California. A small town vibe located in Los Angeles. Along with the beautiful cliffs and ocean there are so many amazing places to visit.

Visit the Corner Store the cutest little market where everyone meets and hangs out and where you can grab a Mom & Pop Shop Pop from the freezer.

Shop local at
@StyledbySoluna – An amazing Momma curating the most beautiful and special products. She is a true collaborator who brings so much beauty and love to the world. Her Brick and Mortar opens this month.

Or visit
@CraftedPortLA, an incredible place where we go for everything from coffee, gifts, and art. This unique spot has something for everyone including candle making, ceramics and painting classes. market@craftedportla.com

Don’t forget to grab a beer @Brouwerijwest As a production brewery, tasting room, and beer garden Brouwerij West encompasses 26,000 sq. ft., including 8,000 sq. ft. devoted to visitor use for our tasting room, and 17,000 sq. ft. as an outdoor courtyard/beer garden. The overall tasting room space hosts a multitude of events, including beer festivals, concerts, weddings, conferences and more.

For breakfast the city is filled with the best diners but this tiny bakery is a must.

@Colossusbread bakery is an incredible bakery in San Pedro and also just opened up in Long Beach. A perfect example of quality food and passion make this place so special.

And don’t forget to head next door for one of the greatest Chorizo Burritos EVER @Choriman

If you are looking for something a bit more healthy try

Stacey Jackson’s @NudaJuiceShop – Nuda is a Health and Wellness Shop is a SoCal founded holistic lifestyle brand dedicated to providing 100% organic, plant based, products and services. Nuda is community based, bringing in local chefs, sidewalk plant sales and community garden exchanges.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This may be random but a big shout out to @Blippi. When Covid 19 hit we were in process of opening our new pop shop in downtown LA. As we realized we wouldn’t be opening and instead of growing scaling back our business and pivoting we felt defeated. In the midst of craziness we were asked to do a Youtube show with Blippi.(If you don’t know Blippi you probably do not have a small child) Julia joined Blippi and made delicious pops teaching kids about healthy food. We filmed not thinking much about it but as soon as it aired we had a huge following and a new demographic and fan base of kids from the ages 2-4 years old from all over the world. This show helped our company grow through the pandemic and helped us reach a bigger audience.

Website: https://www.mompopshop.com

Instagram: @momandpopshoptruck

Twitter: @MomandPopTruck

Facebook: @momandpopshoptruck

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mom-and-pop-shop-los-angeles

Youtube: Mom & Pop Shop Pops

Other: Blippi episode https://youtu.be/CxKN-Aab3U0

Image Credits
@AmyGraves @Anyakernes @kingandkuai @blippi