I parked an old postal truck at Coachella and sold ice cream sandwiches out the window. Ten years later, my brand is a huge success - and these are the 5 tricks that made it all work.

Natasha Case

Natasha Case, CEO and cofounder of Coolhaus. She launched the brand with her now-wife.

• Natasha Case is CEO and cofounder of Coolhaus, an ice cream brand available in 7,500 stores.
• She started her business in 2009 by converting an old mail truck into a food truck and driving it to Coachella, where she and her partner, Freya Estreller, sold handcrafted ice cream sandwiches to festival-goers.
• Now, 10 years later, the brand is a success, and Case is reflecting on some hard-fought lessons she learned along the way.
• For instance, it takes years to understand who you are, especially as a leader - and having the right people by your side is incredibly important.
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If you had told me 10 years ago that I'd be running an ice cream brand that now sells to over 7,500 stores nationwide, I never would have believed you. At the time, I was an architecture student with a budding interest in making ice cream sandwiches.

On a whim, in 2009 my partner and cofounder, Freya Estreller, and I decided to convert an old postal truck into a food truck and drive out to a desert music festival outside of Los Angeles. Our handcrafted ice cream sandwiches were an instant hit among festival-goers, and we knew we had to continue selling them after the event ended. It's been a whirlwind since that weekend - even when we were both working multiple jobs and things got chaotic, we felt consumed by our passion, and driven to continue growing our business.

Now, over a decade later, I wanted to share the five biggest learnings I've taken away from the whole experience - not only in business, but in life.