Elena’s to Serve Up Advice in Assembly

Grewal reflected on how her Hopkins experience guided her later in life. She expressed appreciation, stating that it was “formative” and “really helpful.” Grewal discussed “how [Hopkins] shaped [her] successes and failures… and some of the lessons that [she’s] learned along the way” to inspire and inform Hopkins students.

Prior to opening Elena’s on Orange, Grewal was a data scientist at Airbnb. She “specialized in gathering information … and making recommendations for how to make the business go better.” Although Grewal didn’t always want to open an ice cream shop, she said that she “always knew that [she] wanted to give back to [her] community,” which led to her latest business endeavor.

Grewal returned to New Haven at the height of the COVID-19 lock down in 2020. Grewal said she “felt like community really mattered,” as did “having little pick-me-ups to kind of make your day better.” Grewal had “always really loved ice cream, and [she] just felt like this would be such a wonderful thing to have.” She “felt like community really mattered” during the pandemic, especially treasuring “having little pick me ups to kind of make your day better,” inspiring her decision to open an ice cream shop. Opening Elena’s “was really just a kind of opportunistic thing that happened where the location was available in [her] neighborhood.” 

Grewal sought to create a gathering spot for people to go with friends and family, which Hopkins students believe Elena’s has achieved. Ava Salzano ’26 praised Elena’s on Orange: “The customer service was really good, and it was really clean, and it had an upbeat vibe to it.” 

In opening her business, Grewal faced many complexities and challenges. These included recipe development, purchasing costly equipment, finding suppliers, following food safety and zoning laws and budgeting. Another important piece to opening Elena’s was “having good contractors who are delivering on time.” 

Grewal made her shop stand out through Elena’s signature unique flavors and exceptional staff. Grewal recounted “a lot of testing… We had community members come in and do blind taste tests,” and said that she was proud of her team’s creativity to “create these awesome flavors every week.” She also shared that these rotating flavors are “a big draw for a lot of people” along with “operational excellence… so that we can ensure that the quality is really high and we have a staff that cares to do that and to provide great service.” 

Molly Calderone ’27 described her experience at Elena’s: “The people are nice, it looks cute in there, and the ice cream is really good.” Bodhi Chiravuri ’26 believed that "it's important that the environment is nice,” as Elena suggested. Relating to Grewal’s emphasis on the importance of flavors, Aidan Nori ’28, shared the value of  “good service, homemade or made locally, made with good ingredients [and] fresh.” Camille Pittard ’29 loves “ice cream shops that have really unique flavors or changing seasonal flavors.” 

For others, the limited ice cream flavors are a disadvantage. Amelia Adams said, “personally, I like a little more variety but I can see standing by the classics.” Simi Bhutani ’28 prefers “lots of flavors that are unique.” Whereas for Vidwan Aryan ’27, the “quality of the flavors” make an ice cream store stand out.

When Grewal opened Elena’s on Orange, she discovered what was necessary to succeed in this process. She noted that passion and a good idea aren’t enough. It is essential to have “the rigor and the discipline around the execution to actually turn that love and care into something that is what you hope it to be.” Grewal stressed the importance of stepping outside “your comfort zone, learning new things… asking for help… [and] bringing in great people.” 

Hopkins student opinion varies on the importance of potential benefits of shopping locally. Haley Kreitler ’27 thought “supporting small businesses is important. They have a nice little charm that is always loved.” Edward Russell ’28 said small businesses “can be the pillars of smaller communities.” To some, it doesn’t matter. Logan Matthews ’25 said “as long as I can get my cookie dough milkshake I am happy.” Alternatively, Beatrix Vassilev ’27 said she “only eats Ben and Jerry’s ice cream because it’s [her] favorite.” 

Grewal offered advice to anyone hoping to open a small business. “Do something that you really care about, because there's definitely going to be tough moments that will make it so that you want to quit,” stressing the importance of “having a good support network” such as family, friends and other business owners. 

Overall, Grewal concluded, “I really have a lot of empathy for small business owners” and that “this is definitely harder than it should be to get going, but we pushed through. So, you know, we’re on the other side, and it’s been going great.”