King of Pops started with a small starter fund, a used ice cream pushcart, and luck.
Since 2010, the pop business has grown — both in popularity and in its outreach.
Committed to building community and supporting diversity, King of Pops pushes itself to be role models for other businesses.
Read on to learn how King of Pops embodies and supports diversity, equity, and inclusion in their community.
Tell me a little about yourself? How did you get to this role?
I’m Callie Murray, the head of marketing for King of Pops, a company based in Atlanta known for its all-natural pops and their mission to create Unexpected Moments of Happiness. As a founder-led company, they are known for their genuine and successful marketing tactics, and I joined the team to help scale these strategically.
Can you give me the background about your business?
King of Pops was founded in 2010 by brothers Steven and Nick Carse in Atlanta after Steven was laid off from his corporate-America-job. He started selling hand-crafted pops at carts at busy intersections, and the rest is history! King of Pops now sells at major sporting arenas and festivals (pre-COVID…) and offers catering and gift packages, in addition to their iconic carts.
What does diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you?
To me, DEI is much more about the process and posture than a number or benchmark. It involves placing value on the voices and perspectives of those who are not the majority, with the deep belief that these voices are just that: valuable.
How does King of Pops promote diversity, equity, and inclusion?
King of Pops has long been committed to its neighborhood in Old Fourth Ward, so partnering with local schools and organizations here has been a priority. Sometimes that’s through popsicle donations and other times it's through free community events at our HQ, like a kid-focused rally for Black Lives hosted in our parking lot in partnership with other local organizations.
We also realized that we had an engaged social media platform that could be used to amplify diverse voices in our community, and we’ve partnered with friends like @letsamplify.love and @special_needs_siblings to share their stories and campaigns to our audience.
How do you define success as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion?
Right now we measure success by whether or not we feel proud of what we're doing, versus specific metrics or benchmarks.
What are some tips you would give other managers looking to increase their awareness and execution of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplace?
First, lean into uncomfortable realizations or feelings you may have. If you notice that everyone in a meeting looks the same, ask yourself why that is. If you feel awkward about a certain conversation, dig into why. Make this personal work.
As a part of that, I’d encourage you to look into the reason behind why you’d want to increase DEI in your workplace. Is it because of outside pressure or appearance?
What kind of resources are most helpful when it comes to educating yourself on facilitating diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments.
Conversations, always! We also love learning from The Diversity Gap (check out their podcast!).
