In this episode of the Youth Career Readiness, The One Question Podcast, hosts Julie Lammers and Michael Horn interview entrepreneur Manish Vohra, co‑founder of the Museum of Ice Cream. The conversation opens with the hosts explaining the podcast’s mission to help middle‑ and high‑school students explore careers. Vohra shares the origin story of the Museum of Ice Cream, describing how his love for museums, play, and ice cream led to a global brand that blends art, design, and joy. He then offers concrete advice for young people seeking careers that bring happiness and impact: start with something you love, turn that passion into a playful, joyful idea, and let laughter drive connection and innovation. Vohra emphasizes that any idea can become a "popsicle"—no dream is too small or too big—if it’s rooted in joy and a willingness to imagine the impossible. The episode closes with a reminder to keep building joyful experiences.
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Welcome to Youth Career Readiness, the One Question Podcast.
I'm Julie Lammers.
And I'm Michael Horn.
And this is the podcast where we talk to people across careers about their professional journeys and what advice they would offer
to help all middle and high schoolers explore, experiment with, and discover careers.
Today we're excited to welcome entrepreneur Manish Vohra. Maneesh is the co-founder of the Museum of Ice Cream, an experience that blends art, design, business, and pure fun to create moments of connection and joy for people around the world. We've been looking forward to this conversation for a while.
And I'm excited because Maneesh is a friend of mine. We went to college together, so this will be fun on multiple levels for me, but also because I've never gotten to ask him this question before. So Maneesh, it's good to see you, my friend. Your work of course, has been centered over the last many years around creating experiences that spark real joy, not just for those that you serve, but also for the teams, your teams that build these experiences. So a lot of middle and high school students today, as you know, they say they want careers or jobs that make them happy and also make a positive impact on others. What advice would you give those young people who want their future careers to spark real joy? joy, both for themselves and for the people that they serve.
When we built Museum of Ice Cream, it started with a deep love for museums, walking through historic homes, exploring exhibits, stepping into spaces filled with stories. Museums protect imagination. They hold culture. They invite us to step inside someone else's world. And I remember thinking, what if there was more? More play, more joy, more laughter bouncing off the walls, and of course, more ice cream. And maybe A million sprinkles. So we built the Museum of Ice Cream, a place where you don't just look at a museum, you step inside it, you participate, you taste, you laugh, you become a part of it. Today we have 8 Museum of Ice Creams all over the world with over 4 million ice cream lovers coming every year. And it started with just one playful idea. And here's what I would tell you all. If you want to build something joyful, start with something you love. If you love museums, start there. If you love history, space, baking, dinosaurs, it doesn't matter. Start There. Invent something from nothing. Invent something from something you love. You can expand on anything that already exists and just follow the laughter, follow the joy. Look for that giggle in the room, the big laughter, of course, and something that makes somebody else smile. And to me, laughter is a driver of connection. And this is something that, even though it's playful, can still be a great idea like the Museum of Ice Cream. So what I would ask yourself is what makes you feel most alive? What brightens your room with color? What creates more play? Innovation is just adding joy into people's lives when they least expect it. So we always say, anything is popsicle. That's right. At Museum of Ice Cream, any of your ideas, anything is popsicle. No dream is too small. No dream is too big. Swimming in sprinkles, building museums of ice cream around the world, it all just starts with saying, wouldn't it be amazing? Wouldn't it be insane if you had an idea that feels joyful, a little wild, and that's what the world just needs. Keep building and build something like a museum, and I hope to see you out there in the museum world.
And that's all we've got on Youth Career Readiness: The One Question Podcast.
Thank you for tuning in, and we'll see you next time for more tips and insights.
