Celebrating Sunny Halfmann: First-Time Scooper to the Heart of Baskin-Robbins
Recently, Baskin-Robbins celebrated team member Sunny Halfman’s 31 years with the brand.
On October 2, 1995, having just graduated from high school, Sunny began her very first job at Baskin-Robbins scooping ice cream in San Angelo, TX under franchisee, David Sturgeon. Early in her career, Sunny discovered something she particularly enjoyed: decorating ice cream cakes. She began experimenting with cake design, developed a passion for it, and soon found herself creating increasingly elaborate designs. Her portfolio grew over the years and demonstrated remarkable range. Whimsical Halloween characters, colorful underwater scenes, intricate character cakes, delicate floral arrangements, and elegant tiered creations displayed her artistry.
Her cake-decorating talent has become well known throughout the Baskin-Robbins community. For many years, Sunny was perfectly content concentrating on her cakes. Little did she know that another opportunity was waiting just around the corner.
When Opportunity Met Ability
Around 2008, the business entered a period of significant change. As responsibilities shifted, Sunny and the owner took on much of the day-to-day operation of the shop, and their working relationship developed into a natural partnership.
While Sturgeon concentrated on administration, business development, and new ideas, Sunny stepped forward to manage scheduling, inventory, customer service, and the countless details involved in running a busy ice cream shop. In the process, she discovered something important about herself: she could do all of it. It wasn’t long before she had recruited capable new team members, rebuilt a strong operations team, and established herself as someone the business could depend upon wholeheartedly.
What began as a challenging transition became a defining moment in Sunny’s career. The shop has never stopped moving forward.
An Award That Belonged to the Team
In 2020, during the extraordinary challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Angelo shop received the prestigious Operator of the Year recognition from Baskin-Robbins.
The original award bore the owner’s name. However, he felt strongly that the accomplishment belonged to the people who had made it possible: Sunny, the assistant managers, and the entire team. He declined to display the original plaque at the shop and instead had the recognition redone to honor the shop itself.
It reflected a philosophy that has guided the business for years: the role of ownership is to provide the leadership, resources, and support that allow team members to perform at their highest level. After all, Baskin-Robbins offers customers more than ice cream. It offers an experience. That experience is only as good as the people who create it.
Sunny’s leadership has been instrumental in bringing that philosophy to life.
Why Stay for 31 Years?
Ask Sunny why she has remained with Baskin-Robbins for more than three decades, and her answer is refreshingly simple. She loves her job. Even after all these years, the work continues to provide new challenges, opportunities to grow, and the satisfaction of doing something she genuinely enjoys.
Sunny’s relationships have extended well beyond the workplace. Over the years, Sunny has developed lasting friendships with members of the ownership family, including nieces who once worked alongside her at the shop. Her own child later became part of that same working family.
For Sunny, Baskin-Robbins has remained a place where she can continue doing what she loves while discovering new talents. For the shop, having Sunny as part of its leadership team has been an equally remarkable gift.
More Than a Number
Baskin-Robbins has always had a special relationship with the number 31.
For Sunny Halfmann and her Baskin-Robbins family, that number now represents something equally special: 31 years of dedication, creativity, professional growth, personal relationships, and countless moments spent making customers’ days a little brighter.
Some people spend their careers searching for a place where they belong. Sometimes, that place can be where it all began.
Happy 31st anniversary, Sunny. Thank you for many incredible years of making life sweeter!
Interested in a career at Inspire and our brands? Visit our Careers Website.
ABOUT BASKIN-ROBBINS
Baskin-Robbins, founded in 1945, is the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, with more than 7,800 retail shops in 37 global markets. Baskin-Robbins is part of the Inspire Brands family of restaurants. For more information, visit BaskinRobbins.com and InspireBrands.com.
