Nothing says hot summer day like going to the ice cream parlour and devouring a decadent ice cream sundae or popsicle. There are plenty of choices in ice cream, but Jane McGinn’s mission was unique: to offer a healthy, divine product that was gluten-free, dairy-free and hormone-free. This was the motivation behind her version of the famous fudgsickle.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

It all starts with ice-cream. We lived in the country surrounded by cow pastures. We were 5 kids and a freezer, which also served as a bomb shelter. It was a mysterious room filled with frozen food. My mom would make everything from scratch, but ice cream was a special treat we bought on Sundays. I would sit on the swing overlooking a brook and enjoy an ice cream sandwich.

Who were your role models as a child?

I come from a family of cooks, but cooking was always a way to make ends meet. My great grandmother cooked for the Katharine Hepburn’s family. My mom and dad were very practical people.They taught me the art of resourcefulness.

What was the best investment your parents made in you?

Time. The center of our family was time. My dad walked away from jobs because he wanted to spend time with us.

Did you know what you would become as a child?

I wanted to become an actor/performer and studied with Sanford Meisner. I even moved to LA. It just wasn’t in the cards for me.

How did you transition to being an entrepreneur?

I was in the real estate industry in New York City and I was always struck by the entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants. I wanted to be the master of my own ship.

What is the inspiration behind Sweet Janes?

I never lost my love for ice cream or the Earth or people. One day I was at the bowling alley and I ordered a popular brand of ice cream and the chocolate crumbled. It felt dirty. I set out to make the best fudgesicle in the world. I joined Webow and they helped me define a business plan that led me to Malcolm Stogo’s Ice Cream University in West Orange, NJ. He taught me how to make dairy-free ice-cream.

What is your advice for young entrepreneurs?

Don’t let anyone tell that you are too young or too old to do something. I met a 12-year old who had a clothing line that she could take to market. She had incredible drawings. Don’t overthink what you’re going to do. Just show up and make your best product. Every day I tell myself, I’m going to be the best Jane and I’m going to make the best fudgsickle.

What is the best part of your job?

Watching the look on a customer’s face when they try my product. I know it’s a good product, but I feel great when I can see the smile and joy that fills them.

What’s next for Sweet Janes?

I want to make Sweet Janes a household name.

What is the best investment your parents made in you/for you?
My first computer was an old hand-me-down that my mom brought home from work.

It was too slow to use the latest and software and games, so I spent most of my time trying to develop my own applications for it. That's how I started to learn to code.

Did it impact your choice of your line of work that you do today?
Definitely. Once I started to code, I wanted to improve all of the products I was using. Back then, most of the big platforms were closed from outside developers. AOL didn't have an open API, so like some other kids my age, I spent time hacking it to add my own features.

I couldn't afford a $10,000 PlayStation 2 dev kit, so I found other ways to reverse engineer my favorite games. I had fun sharing what I made online with other people. I was always interested in creating new and interesting ways for people to connect and play with each other. That's exactly what Zynga was about from the day we started the company.

What has been the most rewarding part of choosing this path?
Building something hundreds of millions of people use and getting to work with and learn from so many great people along the way. I was lucky enough to work with some of the people who made some of my favorite games from childhood.

What is the one piece of advice you would give a young person today?
Start small, and start now.


If you love minecraft, build a mod for it. Surround yourself with other people you want to learn from. This is the best time ever to be a creative person. If you can find a way to work on something you already enjoy, like your favorite game, you will be more patient when struggling to learn all the hard stuff. Before you know it, you will be an expert.

@jtwald #justinwaldron #HowIGotHere #HIGH

If you could do anything now, what would you do? Why?
​ I love the work I do with CODE2040 but if I could do anything I would combine social impact with some way to get paid to eat and travel, my two favorite hobbies! ​

What is the best investment your parents made in/for you?
They told me I could do whatever I wanted to do and supported me in doing it. My parents have never questioned a professional choice I've made. They never sent the message that one path was better than another path. As a result, I was free to consider what I wanted to do and achieve. It doesn't mean I always made the best choice, or that they didn't have wisdom to share, but it does mean that I never felt pressure to conform to a certain ideal of what I should be doing with my life, which is a great freedom to have.​

What did you think you were going to be when you grew up?
​When I was little I wanted to be a pediatrician because I understood what that was!
Although both my parents always worked, I saw them as Mom and Dad, not professionals. So my pediatrician was the first professional whose job I understood. Then I learned about medical school and decided that was way too many years of formal schooling for me. Of course I ended up going to graduate school anyway, but I took three years off after college so I got to get some good clarity on what I really wanted to be - a social entrepreneur!​

What is the one piece of advice you would give a young person today?
​Experiment! Try new things. Don't just do what makes you comfortable. You grow and learn most when you're feeling uncomfortable. If you're willing to be uncomfortable you can achieve a lot without waiting to gain experience or be given permission. You don't need an invitation to create impact!​ ​Just start.​

What has been the most rewarding part of your work?
​ I love hearing the students who have gone through CODE2040 tell stories about how things that they are so proud of and excited about now came about in part because of the opportunities they received through their experience with us. We hear all the time that one of the key things students get from CODE2040 is the little push they needed to dream big and trust themselves and that has been the difference that inspired them to step up, take a risk, and do something awesome.​

How do you hope to leave a better world for the future?
I hope that through my work with CODE2040, lots of people will help lots of other people gain access to opportunities that will set them up to thrive and shine.​ CODE2040 is about so much more than the work that we do, it's about inviting everyone to join us to pitch in where they can to make tech, and the country in general, more inclusive and to ensure that people from all backgrounds thrive.

@CODE2040 @laurawp #HowIGotHere #HIGH
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