Sweet Pearl’s Ice Cream in Garland opened Oct. 6, 2023, offering a sweet treat in Firewheel Town Center for movie date nights and kids’ meetups. If you like ice cream, it’s a cool spot.
But behind the counter, you’ll find a series of second-chance stories. Owner Will Gibson was nearly killed in a bicycle accident in 2020. During a painful recovery that left him nearly bedridden with a traumatic brain injury and nine broken ribs, he learned to make ice cream, selling it at first to neighbors in Wylie. He named the business Sweet Pearl, after the abandoned mutt he found in his neighborhood, in need of a second chance.
The business got successful enough that Gibson started Sweet Pearl’s ghost kitchen — a popular way for food-makers during the pandemic to sell products via delivery. But after Gibson and Pearl got their second chances, their business needed one, too. The ghost kitchen didn’t work, long-term.
Gibson needed money. He has a knack for perseverance, we already know that. His neighbor Alan Moses offered to become a minority partner in Sweet Pearl’s Ice Cream, offering the capital for Gibson to open a scoops shop in Garland and keep the business running.
“Alan had given me money before he’d even tried the ice cream,” Gibson says.
But how? Moses lives in the same neighborhood Gibson does, and Moses’ sister raved about the ice cream that Gibson would deliver door-to-door during the pandemic. Moses’ wife loved it, too.
“When they talk about angel investors,” Gibson says, eyes welling up with tears, “well, this guy saved us.”
Moses remains a full-time accountant but will also help Gibson with his finances. (And, Moses has eaten the ice cream by now. He loves the lemon blueberry cake ice cream.)
Gibson hired Meriel Bautista as his executive pastry chef and “magic maker,” as Gibson calls her. Bautista formerly made pastries for the Cowboys Club, Joy Macarons and Nobu. While Gibson enjoys helping create the recipes, like for the churro toffee coming soon, he also struggles to stand for long periods of time. At some point, he’ll need another lumbar surgery.
Gibson and his team hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Garland shop on Oct. 20, 2023. Mayor Scott LeMay and a very well behaved Pearl were in attendance. So was Dana Wise, Gibson’s grandmother that he met for the first time five years ago.
Allow us one more story: Gibson’s biological mother was a teenager when she got pregnant. As Gibson tells it, his biological father gave his mother money for an abortion, and they parted ways. Gibson’s mother chose to have the baby and gave him up for adoption. “She saved my life,” Gibson says.
Gibson’s mother died before he could find her in his adult life. But he found Grandma Dana.
“I feel like I’ve known him all my life,” Wise says of Gibson.
Wise traveled from Arizona to Texas recently for the ribbon-cutting of Sweet Pearl’s Ice Cream. The next day, Wise watched Gibson marry Natalie Bollen, who supported him as he recovered from the bicycle accident and created Sweet Pearl’s.
“I’m just so proud,” Wise says.
Sweet Pearl’s Ice Cream 305 Coneflower Drive, Garland (in Firewheel Town Center). It opened Oct. 6, 2023.
