Sex + Ice Cream owner Nicole Leth talks spoofing Guy Fieri, being a girlboss and opening her first shop on Friday, May 6
Instagram: @sex.icecream
Twitter handle: @nicoleleth (Literally don’t follow me on there; all I do is make bad Guy Fieri jokes.)
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa
Current neighborhood: The Crossroads!
What I do: I am the girl behind the clothing brand Sex + Ice Cream. I sew and design clothing, accessories, ceramics and prints. I am about to open my first Sex + Ice Cream store in May, at 1515 Walnut in downtown KC (eeeee!). When I’m not making clothing or working in my shop, I do a lot of community work with young-women’s centers talking to young girls about self-empowerment. I think that kind of stuff is really, really important.
What’s your addiction? Watching bad reality TV and then making mini-movies on my Snapchat. One of my best ones was a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives spoof where I dressed up like Guy Fieri and went around KC reviewing food. My friends and I have done some good MTV Cribs spoofs, too.
What’s your game? I play this fun game with my cats where I hide their favorite toy and see how long it takes them to find it. I feel like that’s not really the kind of game you were talking about, but besides that, I don’t really watch sports that much.
What’s your drink? La Croix or Franzia boxed wine.
Where’s dinner? Westside Local! Or Sakura in Shawnee for happy hour. They have a little train that drives around and brings you sushi! I’m obsessed. That little train is so cute.
What’s on your KC postcard? Oh, man. The Sex + Ice Cream storefront! Haha, shameless self-promotion.
Finish these sentences: “Kansas City got it right when …” It started First Fridays! I love how popular they are now. It’s so great for small businesses in the Crossroads.
“Kansas City screwed up when …” Peachwave closed (R.I.P., Peachwave. I miss you every day) and when it knocked down the Great Mall of the Great Plains. I have a thing for outdated malls.
“Kansas City needs …” A permanent cat café like the ones in Tokyo. And more bars and clubs to dance at on the weekends that aren’t creepy.
“As a kid, I wanted to be …” The lead singer of an all-girl rock band.
“In five years, I’ll be …” 28 and still a girlboss and hopefully opening more Sex + Ice Cream stores.
“I always laugh at …” Cats doing funny things and Guy Fieri.
“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; Keeping Up With the Kardashians; and any show about ghost hunting.
“I can’t stop listening to …” Borns, the Beach Boys, Billy Joel and Guns n’ Roses (Axl Rose circa 1989, swoon). I always get really into oldies when it starts to get warm out.
“My dream concert lineup is …” Blink-182 (only playing throwbacks), the Beach Boys, Brand New and the Cranberries.
“I just read …” Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham.
What’s your hidden talent? Cycling. Before I decided to go to art school at KCAI, I had the chance to bike competitively, but I chose art instead. I’ve ridden my bike across the entire state of Iowa 13 times and also biked with Lance Armstrong!
What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Early 2000s pop-rock and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
The best advice I ever got: Was something my dad told me when I was in high school. It was that when bad things happen, it was up to me to take a step back and figure out what positive things could come from that bad situation. He told me that if I could find at least one positive thing in every bad thing that happened in life, I would take the power away from the bad things and be invincible. He was right. I live by this.
Worst advice? That bleaching my eyebrows off would be a good idea.
My sidekick? My cats, Sprinkle and Mousse.
What is your spirit animal? A butterfly. OK, and I only know this because I was obsessed with finding out what my actual spirit animal was, and I took all these personality tests and every single one said butterfly, so yeah.
Who is your hero? Katy Perry, Tracey Emin, Jeremy Scott, my mom, my dad
Who is your nemesis? Donald Trump
What’s your greatest struggle right now? Staying levelheaded and balanced as things get crazier closer and closer to my store’s grand opening!
My favorite toy as a child: Sailor Moon action figures. I would make clothes for them and make them sing songs.
My dating triumph/tragedy? Showing my Guy Fieri video on a first date.
My brush with fame: When I was growing up, I lived next door to Corey Taylor (the lead singer of Slipknot). I was 13 and I was obsessed with Good Charlotte, so I decided I would write a letter to Corey begging him to introduce me to Joel and Benji Madden. (Somewhere in my 13-year-old brain, it made perfect sense that Corey Taylor would be friends with the members of Good Charlotte.) I wrote this handwritten note with doodles of Joel and I, and then quotes of my fav GC lyrics, and hand-delivered it to his door. I never heard anything back, but that’s my brush with fame. I tell that story at parties sometimes, and it always gets a good laugh.
My soapbox: Women’s rights and body positivity.
What was the last thing you had to apologize for? I had to apologize to my neighbor because I was playing music too loud in my apartment, and they could hear it.
Who’s sorry now? Haha! Not me.
My recent triumph: Working my butt off and opening my first brick-and-mortar Sex + Ice Cream storefront! It still hasn’t hit me that this is real, and this is happening. I get so giddy every time I think about it!
The grand opening for Sex + Ice Cream (1515 Walnut) is Friday, May 6, at 6 p.m. Expect popsicles, beer and shopping. Regular hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
