Whether you’re planning a corporate event, a birthday, or just looking for some entrepreneurial inspiration, this episode is packed with insights, stories, and a guaranteed craving for ice cream!

On this episode of Business Inspires, Brett Johnson and Katie Ellis sit down with La'Zendra Danforth, the visionary behind Konfetti Carts—a premium ice cream cart catering service making a splash in Columbus, Ohio.

With over 20 years of event planning experience, La'Zendra Danforth shares the story behind turning a quest for the perfect “wow factor” into a full-fledged business that brings elegance, fun, and unforgettable ice cream moments to gatherings of every kind.

You'll hear how Konfetti Carts customizes every detail—from flavors to cart décor—to match each client’s unique vision, serves up joy all year round with indoor setups, and relies on deep community connections and local partnerships to grow. The conversation explores creative event ideas, crowd-favorite flavors like brown butter bourbon, and the importance of excellence and service in building a standout brand.

Moments

00:00 "Confetti Ice Cream Experience"

06:50 Strategic Networking for Business Success

09:43 Custom Fun Ice Cream Bars

11:32 "Versatile Event Services Provided"

14:17 Brown Butter Bourbon Craze

17:31 "Ice Cream Joy Bringers"

21:13 Mobile Ice Cream Business Growth

Top 3 takeaways

1. Customization is Key: Konfetti Carts goes above and beyond to tailor their offerings for clients—matching event aesthetics with cart decor, flavors, and even branding. From weddings to corporate events, every detail is designed to create memorable experiences.
2. Networking Drives Success: As a newcomer to Columbus, La'Zendra Danforth credits strategic networking and community partnerships for Konfetti Carts’ visibility and growth. Getting involved locally was essential to building a thriving business.
3. Inclusive & Creative Offerings: From specialty ice cream bars (think raspberry sorbet + champagne!) to dairy-free and gluten-free options, Konfetti Carts ensures there’s something for everyone—and easily adapts to fun, off-the-wall client requests.

Copyright 2026 Tri-Village Chamber Partnership

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

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Let's Get Back To the Interview 2

We'll be back right after this 1

Welcome to Business Inspires, where our goal is to inspire you to create the business you envision. I'm Brett Johnson, Tri Village Chamber Partnership board member and the owner of Circle 270 Podcast Consultants.

Thank you for following and subscribing to the podcast. With me, as always, is Katie Ellis, president and CEO of the TriVillage Chamber Partnership and co host of the podcast. Great to be here with you, Katie.

So good to be back. As always, Brett. And today we get the pleasure of getting to know La'Zendra Danforth with Konfetti Carts. La'Zendra, welcome to Business Inspires.

Thank you. Thank you.

So Konfetti Carts is a premium ice cream cart catering service dedicated to bringing the highest quality and most luxurious ice cream experience to events and special occasions.

With a focus on elegance and sophistication, Confetti Carts provides not only delicious ice cream, but also a visually stunning and aesthetically pleasing setup.

For over 20 years, La'Zendra Danforth has been a trusted name in event planning, and it seems like your passion has always been to craft those unforgettable experiences for your clients to start. Can you share with us the story about how Konfetti Carts started? How did the business come about?

Thank you, Katie. Thank you so much for having me here. We're very excited to be a part of the podcast.

And so Konfetti Carts and really is a brainchild from my original business, which is Studio D meetings and events. And we are destination meeting planning.

And as I was sitting down and thinking about how we expand my event planning firm, we were working with a client and one of my corporate clients, and we were looking for that wow factor, which is what we always want to to do. How do we make this event special? And so out of that brainstorming session, we thought about doing ice cream for them. And how do you do that?

And how do you make it incredible for the attendees? And in doing that, Confetti Cart turned an idea, turned into a full business. And the idea was that we created this wow factor.

How do we create create ice cream and make it spectacular and make it fun, that it's not just for kids, it's, you know, kids of all ages. We all love ice cream. And so how do we create something special that leave people walking away talking about it?

And so that's how how we created Konfetti Carts.

So Konfetti Carts, I mean, how'd that name come about? I mean, what does the brand represent beyond?

So we wanted it to be something that people talked about, right? And so we're always, as a team, always thinking of that wow factor, as I mentioned previously.

And so in coming up with the names, you're thinking ice cream, you're thinking fun. We thought about confetti, right? Like, what's that? Wow. You know?

And so just to add that little extra of luxury and a conversation starter, we decided to spell confetti with K instead of a C. And so the brand represents an experience. That's what we always want to create for our clients, this higher level of experiences.

You can get ice cream in any form, but we have our attendants that are professional and they're dressed according to the occasion, and they're scooping the ice cream and creating that customer experience that when you walk away from our carts, they really are walking away with a smile or feeling that extra touch of joy, that little extra touch, that signature touch that we like to call it.

So I know that you've come from Florida, and that has a different. A different temperature range than Columbus, Ohio. Was there any challenge in launching Konfetti Carts here in the Columbus market?

Or could you share maybe what the biggest challenge was?

Yeah, absolutely. We definitely thought about that.

Coming from Florida, where the temperature is warm 10 months out of the year in Florida, where we have four true seasons, we were a little concerned about, you know, would this be a seasonal business? But we were very intentional about our design that the carts are made to be indoors, so it's not seasonal.

We're very different from a food truck where you would go outside to experience the service. And so we were very intentional. The carts were strategically made to be indoors so that the carts are a part of your event.

So we even make sure that we can change the umbrella color out to match the esthetics of the event. We can add things to the car, like florals for more of our weddings, that sort of thing. Or balloons for birthday parties. We've actually.

We can even add. For our corporate groups, we are able to add the client's logo or branding and that sort of thing.

We really have designed the carts to be a part of the event so that your guests can have that experience and throughout the event. And so we. That really hasn't been a challenge for us, because who doesn't like ice cream all year long? And so we wanted to eliminate.

Eliminate that by making sure that the cart can be indoors and can service our clients 365 days.

Well, yeah, it serves the birthdays that are in January, February, they can't have, you know.

Absolutely.

So Lonfetti Carts has been very visible in Columbus. I mean, how have local partnerships and community Involvement contributed to that growth.

Oh, it's been the only way that we have been so successful to this point. Brent. I've really been. I've been in the event industry for over 20 years.

And one of the things that I speak about as a event professional, just a working professional, is I always talk about networking, networking, networking. And that is a huge component when you're in the. When you're in corporate America, but also as an entrepreneur, it's key.

And so I talk about this all the time when I'm doing, when I'm speaking in front of groups. And so I've taken that knowledge and applied it to our business.

And being new to Columbus, where we didn't know anyone, we didn't come to Columbus with a network of people. Right.

And so starting a business here, that was the one thing that I was very strategic about is getting start networking, going to chamber events, going to. And then seeing what other network events extended from that. Right. And so meeting people, having conversation and saying, where should we go?

Who should we be connecting to?

And then just my knowledge of being a planner, seeing, setting up those strategic meetings and going to meet the hotels and event venues just to introduce ourselves to them so that they know who we are, know that we're in the city, the services that we offer. And so my answer to my, my response to that is networking, networking, networking.

We have really, really just hit the ground running of trying to spread the word that we're here.

Can you walk us through your flagship offering? And you mentioned, you know, interchanging out logos and umbrella colors and things.

Anything else that you can share about what that setup looks like?

Yes, yes, absolutely. We really do try to customize our services to our clients so that it's. I mean, we have an ice cream cart. And so that framework is standard. Right.

But one of the things that we like to do with our clients is have that initial conversation. And my question to them and to our clients is always, what's your vision? Right. Like, how do you see the cart being a part of your event?

And so from some of our wedding that we just did this past weekend, the couple loves ice cream. That was their first date, like that sort of thing.

And so we really, we're strategic with their planning that after their first dance, we serve the first scoop of ice cream. So we really kind of customize it to be the first part of their. Of their wedding. And so we always ask the client, what are you envisioning?

If it's a corporate client or social event or a birthday Party, we really get an idea of what their, who's their audience, who's the guest, what attendees are going to be there.

For our corporate groups, depending on the size, if we need one cart or how many carts we need to bring to make sure that the lines aren't too long or you know, that we get to service them at the utmost excellence that we always provide. And so customization is really big with us.

Like I was saying earlier that we can customize the cart with the color scheme and decor, but then also the flavors. We do some really fun things.

We did a science fair and so we named the ice cream some scientific names so that it kind of matched the branding and the theme. Or for some of our weddings, instead of your a custom cocktail, we have a custom ice cream flavor that we could do.

So we really do try to make it fun and engaging for the guests and really that conversation for the attendees.

But some of our really fun offerings that we do like to share with our guests is that we have a couple of specialty bars outside of just serving our ice cream. We have our raspberry sparkle bar and that is our raspberry sorbet that we serve in martini glasses and pour champagne on top.

So that's a really fun thing that we like to do. We also have our affogato bar which is our vanilla bean ice cream and we pour espresso on top.

And we've partnered with the local brewery here in town to get our espresso from them. And then we have fun things like a root beer float bar and our cookies and cream bar.

And again, we've partnered with a local baker and get our fresh cookies to serve with our cookies and cream bar. So we really do try to make it interactive and fun and really a great experience for your guests.

You mentioned a few typical events of birthdays corporate. I mean, what kind of events do you typically do? I mean this is the really a good time to kind of list going. Yeah, we do this, this, this and this.

Really what you do?

Yeah, yeah. Brent, I tell you, we always say if it's a gathering, we can be there, done everything from corporate events, we've done client appreciations.

There's you know, local businesses when they're opening up their store and doing a grand opening, we've done ice cream for them for their grand opening event. From, you know, five year old birthday parties to 60 year old birthday parties.

And you know, we, if it's a gathering, we can, we can absolutely be there to do it. It's. And then the fun thing is that, like I was saying earlier, we can make it look different every time.

I mean, we've even done one of the local corporations here in town. They. It was a factory here, and they just wanted during the break for all their guests to have.

I mean, for all their employees to have ice cream in their breaks. And we just came outside and was serving everybody ice cream as they were getting off of work.

And so it's just fun because ice cream brings joy, right? And so it doesn't always have to be a celebration. It could just be a thank you for your employees, and we can definitely do that.

I really like that how you embed yourself into the company atmosphere that you're branding yourself. It almost looks like they own you, quote, unquote. It's not what's that going on? Sort of thing.

I just love that matching everything that's going on with that event or that company with the branding piece of it. That's great.

I was just gonna say, and I never thought of doing, like, of course, a root beer float bar and of course, the cookies and cream. But, like, it's not just scoop and ice cream, although you can.

So I ask, in that sense, has anyone come up with anything really creative or off the wall as a request?

Not yet. Not yet. We do often. We just did an event for a local organization here in town, and we were. They. We were featuring our pumpkin spice ice cream.

And, you know, we had it all set up, and this is how we're gonna serve it. And sometimes they're like, oh, we can have the pumpkin spice and then add the root beer. And then like, can we do this and can we do that?

And, you know, our answer is always yes. You know, it's like, this is your treat. You know, how do we put a smile on your face? So if it's mixing the flavors and mixing the toppings, then the.

I always tell our team, the answer is always yes.

Well, so let's go with a memorable reaction you've seen from guests when the cart shows up at the event. I mean, that has to be half the fun for you as well, too, of just kind of everybody going, ooh.

You're right, Brett. Absolutely. And I'll tell you, the number one sentence that we hear all the time is, did you bring the brown butter bourbon?

Our brown butter bourbon ice cream has definitely been a fan favorite for our guests and clients around Columbus.

Anytime that we're doing event, a lot of times it's some of the same people that are there and they Are they've seen us at other events, you know, and so it's been really fun to walk. You know, we're setting up and some of the staff members are like, did you bring the Brown Butter Bourbon? Are we having Brown Butter Bourbon?

You know, and so that's been fun because we do try to make sure that we always bring that or encourage the guests. Our clients are saying, well, what's your, what's, what's your favorite? What do people always ask for?

And so now to walk, to go around the city and people requesting our flavors. It's really cool. It's fun.

That's outstanding. And that's quite the tongue twister.

You said that so fast. So well.

So what is your strategy for picking flavors? Obviously, the Brown Butter Bourbon was a hit. Do you rotate menu items? Do you do those limited edition flavors?

I know you mentioned the pumpkin spice, those seasonal flavors. Can you dive into that a little bit?

Yes, yes, absolutely.

We do try to always, you know, I mentioned earlier that we do customize our services for you, but we do try to make sure that we're offering things for the season. During the summer, we have a lemon sorbet that we offer and we have a delicious lemon ice cream that we offer that's only summertime that we offer.

Of course, during the fall, we featured our pumpkin spice and we just released our peppermint ice cream for December. So those are fun. But then we do have our staple events that stay on the, that stay on the menu the whole year.

And so we always have our raspberry sorbet because. Or one of our sorbets we always keep on the menu because we are really, really big on dietary restrictions.

We want to make sure that we never leave anyone out. Right. And so we always encourage our clients.

It's not mandatory, of course, because they can order what they want, but we always encourage them to have one non dairy option. And so we have a wonderful menu of non dairy ice cream flavors. Like we have a cookies and cream that's non dairy and Asia berry that's non dairy.

So we have some really, really fun and delicious non dairy options along with our sorbets. Most of our items are gluten free, so we really do try to be strategic about the flavors that we offer so we don't leave anyone out.

We never want someone to come to our cart like, oh, I can't have that. We try to have something for everybody.

Yeah. What brings you the most joy in writing Konfetti Carts?

You know, it's the smiles on People faces when they walk up to us, you know, the converse, hearing the conversations as they're enjoying the ice cream, like I mentioned earlier, walking into a room and people saying, can you. Can I just buy the brown butter bourbon and you have it shipped to my house?

You know, it's like that brings me joy that people are enjoying our ice cream. They love it. They look forward to seeing us there.

And you know, when we, we plan events all the time on our event company side and you know, we're always thinking, how do we bring joy, right?

Like when people come to an event, they're stepping out, they're coming to this event for a reason, to celebrate, for a celebration or to learn something at a conference or that sort of thing. And so we want to leave them walking away really just feeling like that just wonderful deliciousness that ice cream brings.

And just to see people's face light up when we're there, that we can add that little extra touch to your event is always amazing to us. We love it.

So as a multi business entrepreneur that you are, what lessons have shaped you on how you lead and grow Konfetti Carts?

You know, we. It's staying connected and staying connected. We always want to be of a service to people. How do we.

That we're not doing this just because Studio D or Konfetti Carts is a job for us. It's our passion. And so we always try to service our clients from that place, right?

That we always operate service in excellence when we have our team meetings.

That's what I'm always sharing with our team is that even when I'm not in the room or I'm not serving the ice cream every single time our carts are there, we want people to see us in excellence, right? And so that's how businesses are sustained, is that you operate in excellence from that, from your field, right?

And so whether you have a coffee shop or a floral shop or a Fortune 500 company doing accounting, right? You want to always operate out of excellence. So then that way you're servicing your guests from that place.

And so as we continue to grow, we're always looking at that like we want to make sure that we're growing in the direction that is needed for this area, for the city. How do we continue to share our business with people? And so that's continuously showing up and showing up in excellence.

So looking ahead, what's next in the next one to three years, we new services, maybe obviously flavors, that's probably in the mix already and maybe expansion.

You know, we're we're thinking about that. You know, we're the Konfetti Carts has is designed to be a mobile ice cream catering company. So we are really not looking to get a brick and mortar.

We want to be able to go wherever, you know, and so that's our concept. And so our growth is continuously getting more carts, expanding our team so that we can service more guests.

You know, one of the things that, you know, I've learned very early in being an entrepreneur is that you have to know your niche, right? And so know what your offering is. And so. And then you take that, and that's how you're able to grow once you understand what you're offering.

And so our offering is that we're a mobile ice cream company.

And so as we continue to grow, we'll, you know, expand our cartoon, the number of carts that we have so that we can continue to spread this joy across Columbus in various, you know, in various capacities. You know, if we're.

We're hoping to continue to get more partnerships with businesses here so that we can service them to the best of our abilities, for sure.

And so now that everybody has ice cream cream and sorbet on the brain, how can we get a hold of you? How can we connect?

Well, on all of our social media platforms, we are at Confetti Car, and that's Konfetti with a K. And you can also visit us on our website, which is Konfetti Carts with an s dot com. That's Konfetti Carts dot com. And on there, there's very easy ways for you just to click and share your interest in our services.

And our team is very happy to get back with you immediately so that we can create this wonderful custom ice cream experience for you and your guests.

Super. Super. Well, thank you for joining us. This has been fantastic. And yeah, now I have to get some ice cream.

I'm gonna make sure we give you some brown butter bourbon, for sure.

So. Exactly. Wow. Well, listeners, don't forget to check out our podcast page on the Tribe Village Chamber Partnership website.

Look for the podcast tab at the top of the homepage and tell us what you think about this or any other other episodes at info at chamberpartnership. Org.