Jeni always knew she would be an entrepreneur. She found her path by studying things that mattered to her—art at The Ohio State University, pastry at a Columbus bakery, and blending perfumes and collecting essential oils at home. It was the perfect foundation for a soon-to-be ice cream maker.

She began cooking with essential oils at home, which gave her an idea: What if she used ice cream as a carrier of scent, like an edible perfume? As an experiment she added cayenne essential oil to store-bought chocolate ice cream. It was cold, it was sweet, and then it burst into flames in her throat. At that moment, Jeni knew the potential of ice cream. With a vision that ice cream could be better and more interesting, Jeni opened Scream in 1996 inside the North Market in Columbus, Ohio. At her stand, she crafted unique flavors (such as caramel with sea salt and pistachio with honey) from scratch each day. This would set the foundation for the opening of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams there in 2002.

Today, Jeni and her hands-on crew conceptualize, test, and perfect every flavor of ice cream, sorbet, and buttermilk frozen yogurt in the Jeni’s test kitchen. She continues to craft one-of-a-kind flavors in tandem with some of the world’s best makers, producers, and growers, from grass-grazed milk from Northeast Ohio to American bean-to-bar chocolate to ​exquisite Fair Trade-certified African vanilla.

In 2012, Jeni earned a James Beard Award—a coveted honor for food and culinary arts writers—for best-selling cookbook ​Jeni’s Splendid Ic
e Creams at Home.​ ​Jeni’s latest book, ​Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Desserts​, was published in 2014. And in 2015, ​she was dubbed one of ​Fast Company​’s​ ​Most Creative People in Business.

When Jeni isn’t developing new flavors, working on a book, or art directing new campaigns, she devotes time to Local Matters (the fresh-food-for-all Columbus-based nonprofit she co-founded), serves on the boards of the Wexner Center for the Arts and Columbus College of Art & Design, and gets into trouble with her husband and two children at their home in Columbus.