Oceanport Woman, Her Teenage Son Run Their Own Ice Cream Truck

OCEANPORT, NJ — Oceanport resident Kathy Conte loves running her own business. But what she loves even more is doing it with the help of her teenage son.

Conte, 56, owns the ice cream truck Best Day Ever, which you might have seen making the rounds in local neighborhoods. Good Humor is a vendor, and when she heard they have a contest for $25,000, she and her son applied, making their case for why they should get the money.

Conte said one of the best parts is running the truck with her son, Matthew, 16 and a 10th grader at Shore Regional.

"I got the truck when he was 11 or 12 and he was too young to leave at home. So he'd come on the truck with me," she said. "At first, he was too shy to even talk to customers. Now he's a pro! He's always busy taking orders, shouting out 'What else does anybody want?,' scooping ice cream, giving change."

She's watched her son's business skills and confidence "grow exponentially."

"Not only does he help me sell, but now he's the one who does inventory. He also files the quarterly sales tax for me. I used to always have my accountant do it, but now I'm just like, Matthew, here's all the numbers! He loves to do it."

Other people have noticed Matthew's business acumen: First Atlantic Federal Credit Union in Oceanport asked him to serve on their Junior Advisory Board. He attends a virtual meeting with bank leadership once a month, where they talk about how to get young people involved in finance.

If they win the $25,000, Matthew plans to buy a second ice cream truck to run on his own. He intends to hire his teenage friends to work for him. Matthew also wants to hire a company to redesign their website and launch virtual marketing for them.

"Some of our biggest challenges are brand awareness and getting people to know we do corporate and private events, like weddings," said Matthew.

"Honestly, I don't even know what an algorithm is," joked his mother.

"Well Mom, the algorithm will help us target a bigger audience of people," the teenager explained.

"I'm a single working mom. I just look at it like it's me and my son against the world," said Conte. "I do this job to pay the bills. We don't live above our means. We have a beautiful house in a nice town and that's good enough for me. This business pays my mortgage, his braces, etc. But I also love it. I couldn't ever imagine not working."

For the past 30 years, Conte owned and operated a hair salon, 360 Hair Studio on Rt. 35 in Eatontown.

"I've always owned my own business," she says. "I would bring my son to the salon starting when he was two weeks old. He would nap or when he was older, toddle around the store while I cut hair. But then a few years ago I just wanted to change it up. I didn't want the expense or the headache of brick and mortar anymore. Growing up, I always said I wanted to open an ice cream store. So I took a big leap of faith and bought the truck."

Best Day Ever sells a range of confections: Hard scooped ice cream, sundaes, frozen hot chocolate, frosted lemonade, brownie sundaes, caramel pretzel sundaes and more. Her truck is hired for corporate events such as employee appreciation days, birthday parties, weddings or other large events where there's a crowd.

"On a good weekend in the spring and summer, we can do 20 events back to back. Then, if it's a nice day out, my son and I will hop in the truck, put the music on and just drive around the area. We go to Oceanport, Monmouth Beach, Little Silver, Rumson, Fair Haven, Middletown and Lincroft."

If they win, Conte also wants to use the money to launch an ice cream cart.

"I envision selling hot chocolate, hot apple cider and doughnuts in the winter. I think it would be a great asset at holidays parties. We've had to turn down business in the past from people who wanted us at indoor events in the winter."

If you want to help Kathy Conte and her son win the $25,000 vote for their small business here.