After moving from Kansas City to Oklahoma City in 2020, Nashville-native Angela Muir saw a delectable gap in the market: a small-batch ice cream shop. She set off to learn from industry legend Malcolm Stogo, and in June 2022, Boom Town Creamery was born. Five years later, this RISD-trained designer, mom of four, and self-made businesswoman is still handcrafting from-scratch scoops — with five shops to show for it. In this episode of Oklahoma Stories, Angela explains how the very DNA of Oklahoma inspired her business model, and how life in Oklahoma has been the cherry on top for her kids’ childhood.
My husband, myself, and our four kids moved to Oklahoma in 2020, and we have really grown to love our community.
Oklahoma is a great place to live. With four active kids, we’re between soccer fields and theater performances. We love to have a community that has opportunities for my kids.
We see people moving here all the time. My husband is a dentist [owner of Yukon Dentistry & Braces], so he sees a lot of patients that are new to Oklahoma. It’s that same kind of thought as living in a small city. You have more opportunity to do something new than you would in somewhere that’s super saturated.
OPENING BOOM TOWN CREAMERY
I’ve always been a foodie. We had this ice cream shop that we loved in Kansas City, so when I first did research about Oklahoma City, I was trying lots of ice cream and not finding exactly what I wanted. That’s when I realized, “Oh, there’s room in this city to do something fun, to do something big.”
This idea of opening a handmade ice cream shop was just stuck in my mind. One of my good friends recommended I read the book Boom Town by Sam Anderson. It just made me love Oklahoma City. I felt like I knew the community better. After reading the book, it really felt like the perfect place for me to start Boom Town Creamery.
OWNING A BUSINESS IN OKLAHOMA
We make really amazing ice cream, the best in my opinion. It is America’s comfort food. We can lift your spirits on a bad day or make a good day better.
My goal has always been to create a space where people can come and hang out and it’s theirs. We want to be here. We want to be here for our community. We want to be rooted in the community.
We are truly an Oklahoma City business. Our brand is completely rooted in the history of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. We name some of our flavors with Oklahoma-centric themes, so I feel like it gives people recognition, and they really feel like, “This is our local ice cream shop.”
Moving here was a big surprise. I’ve started something and people are embracing it.
I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for the long haul. I love being here. It really feels like home, and I can’t picture being anywhere else.
