Meet Hannah Pollack, a former marine who spent $20 on an ice cream sandwich side hustle in 2016; 10 years later, her business was making $3 million a month

Hannah Pollack is a former US marine who started an ice cream sandwich business with just $20. She later built the business into a company generating $3 million in monthly revenue. She is the co-founder with her husband Xavier Meers of the company Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Pollack is a Marine Corps veteran, who started the dessert brand as a side hustle. During that time, she and her husband used to work as chef in 2016. That same year, she shifted all her focus into the business and led a path full of success for her.

How did it all start?

Pollack and Xavier worked on the business. They started making ice cream sandwiches for just $20. Usually, this is not a very big investment in the initial stages of a business. But, it was enough to buy ingredients for 20 sandwiches.


Together, they built the business and named it Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches.

One fine day, Pollack thought of the original idea. Later, she made an ice cream sandwich from scratch. To her surprise, the customers tasted it and liked it.

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How were the sales?

According to reports, the business did pretty well. It generated around $50,000 in its first year. Another good thing which led to growth in sales was Walmart. According to Pollack's interview, which she gave to Entrepreneur, Walmart became the first major retailer of the business.

The sale eventually grew. According to reports, it sells through more than 5,500 grocery stores across the United States.

Interestingly, the business grew on a large scale and generated huge profits. The Entrepreneur report states that the company recorded its first $1 million revenue month in 2024. Its first $3 million month came in 2026.

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Was the journey easy?

No. According to Pollack, she used to wake up around 4 am to prepare sandwiches before her chef job. Then, Meers helped her by collecting them and delivering the orders between his shifts.

They even had to reinvest the money they earned from early sales in order to buy ingredients and equipment. There was no big investment for them that suddenly made the business grow larger. It took around six months for the business to actually become profitable and get consistent monthly revenue.