Larry Brown, founder of Mooo! Ice Cream, has always known two things to be true: he loves ice cream, and he’ll find a way to make things work.
The latter can be seen from his journey to Seattle Pacific University. He came to his faith during his senior year in high school and after a year at UC Irvine felt knew he needed to figure out what his faith meant to him at a Christian university. But he had to be scrappy: from scholarships to student employment opportunities to extracurricular involvements, he funded his way through all four years entirely on his own.
At SPU, Brown studied accounting, and an internship with an accounting firm led to a full-time job offer to start after graduating in 1983. He worked at the firm for several years before pursuing a new calling: law school. After a successful career as a lawyer, he started his own law firm, in which he eventually sold a majority of ownership.
So where does ice cream fit into Brown’s story?
“I always joked that someday when I retire, I’m going to open up an ice cream shop, and I’m going to scoop ice cream, and I’m going to hand out legal advice that nobody can rely on,” he said with a laugh.
The tenant of a commercial building Brown owned in his hometown, Fall City, Washington, wanted to vacate, which got him thinking about what could fill the spot.
“I certainly heard a small voice saying, ‘This town needs another bright spot, another light. You know, they need to see the light of Christ,’” he said.
Brown got to work on what an ice cream shop would look and feel like. He put the aesthetic of the shop together with the help of a design firm and made sure the mission of Mooo! had one important throughline.
“We tell our staff we want everybody who comes in in the door to feel the love of Jesus, even if they’re having a bad day or have a bad attitude or whatever, we want them to feel the love of Jesus,” Brown said. “We really see this as much as ministry to the community as we do a business.”
And if you build it, they will come. Since they opened their doors in spring 2025, the outpouring of love and support from Fall City residents has made their shop a community staple and a mainstream success — winning the “Best Ice Cream Shop” award from 425 magazine earlier this year. With 16 flavors that include classics like vanilla as well as seasonal favorites like huckleberry swirl, Mooo! will surely scoop up something to satisfy your sweet tooth any day of the week.
“The community are our biggest fans,” Brown said. “I can’t tell you how many times people have thanked us for opening up the shop.”
And Mooo! isn’t just providing a place to make new memories: it’s also making a difference beyond its cow print walls.
Five cents of every dollar spent at Mooo! goes to local charities that serve children and families. At a recent charity auction, Mooo! auctioned off the opportunity to create an ice cream flavor for the shop. Ten percent of the sales from that ice cream flavor went to charity.
The inspiration for this initiative? His alma mater.
“You can’t leave SPU without asking yourself the question: How does my faith integrate with everything else I’m doing in life? And as a business person, how does faith integrate with the business, and how does my business serve a kingdom purpose?”
The accomplished accountant, lawyer, business person, and SPU Board of Trustee has forged his own path and inspired others to follow. His younger siblings and three of his children are SPU alumni, with one granddaughter starting her senior year this fall. Brown even provides scholarships to employees of Mooo! Ice Cream who choose to attend SPU.
And yet, he doesn’t take credit for the success that has come his way after years of hard work.
“God has consistently opened doors for me that I would not have been able to open myself,” Brown said. “It’s been a series of doors or windows that he has opened for me and continues to open for me.”
