Chocolate and frozen yogurt may bring people together, but for Isaac Lee Collins, owner of Fifth & Emery, they changed his life.
Isaac was born in East Kansas City and was a catalyst for his parents to leave destructive habits behind. They knew they needed to change their lives, not just for themselves, but for their new son. Isaac remembers a bit about his life in Kansas City – being surrounded by so much love and so many people like himself.
“In Kansas City, there wasn’t an abundance of money, but there was an abundance of love,” says Isaac. “I was truly raised by a village.”
By the time he turned three, his family relocated to St. Joseph for a chance at a new lease on life. His parents became deeply engaged in their work, their sobriety, their faith community, and their family. St. Joseph, though, was different. His large family of aunts, uncles and cousins wasn't there, and the tight-knit community he'd always known was suddenly far away. It was difficult to find and establish his identity and his place. It was then, at a young age, that Isaac realized he wanted to own his own business and create the feeling of love, community, and kindness.
After high school, Isaac stayed in St. Joseph to attend Missouri Western University, where he played football for five years while getting a business degree and completing the entrepreneurship program to move toward his dream of owning his own business. The entrepreneurship program culminated in a competition, the prize for which was a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise to own. Isaac won and moved to the small town of Williamsburg, Iowa to run his fledgling business.
After graduating, he had two weeks to move to Williamsburg before it was time to hit the ground running. In the first three years, he worked 80 to 90 hours a week, doing everything he could to learn how to run a business at age 23. The business became a success, but Isaac was still unhappy.
Isaac’s life revolved around the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. He went to work, went home, went to sleep, and did it all over again on a never-ending cycle. Once again, he faced the same problems he did in St. Joseph.
"There was a lot of me not being accepted and being treated like I didn't belong, even though I was a full business owner," says Isaac.
It was time to come back home. In 2015, Isaac used funds he saved from his business to purchase the Yogurtini in South Plaza. For a year, he owned both the Yogurtini in Kansas City and the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Iowa, trying to juggle operating businesses four hours apart. Life in Kansas City was good, though, and he sold his franchise in 2016 to focus on new ventures.
Isaac used the funds from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to start a nonprofit, a health-sector start-up, real estate, and other businesses to see what would stick. He realized, however, that he loved food retail.
In 2018, he purchased the Yogurtini in Shoal Creek and in 2020 he purchased another frozen yogurt business and flipped it into his third Yogurtini location. Things were going well, but Isaac knew there was more opportunity for growth.
“I told my employees to go for their dreams, and it was always my dream to own a business, but never my dream to own a franchise,” says Isaac. “We trusted that we could do it,” Isaac shared.
Last year, he left the Yogurtini franchise to rebrand to his own company, Fifth & Emery, named after his children, Isaac the Fifth and Sage Emery. In addition to the same frozen yogurt he had perfected under the Yogurtini brand, Isaac brought in the handmade chocolates and caramel apples he had learned to create in his Rocky Mountain Chocolate days. Just weeks after the rebrand was complete, he opened his fourth location, the new Fifth & Emery Headquarters, at Zona Rosa, quickly followed by a location in Lenexa.
The rebrand was scary — would people still come into a business that seemed new? Isaac and his team worked tirelessly to ensure people knew that the things they loved about their Yogurtini locations — the flavors, the recipe, the ownership, the staff — were all here to stay, just with a new name and expanded product offerings, like treats hand-dipped in high-quality French chocolate.
It went off without a hitch. Every location, especially the Shoal Creek location, which had always been their highest performing, accepted the change readily.
Isaac values the community aspect as a core tenet of Fifth & Emery and works to do what they can to give back. He hosts local schools for give back nights, donates where he can, and even started “Books for Yo,” a reading program that rewards children with frozen yogurt for ten 30-minute reading sessions.
It’s been just over a year as Fifth & Emery, and Isaac is thrilled with how the year has gone. He’s built something not just for himself and his family, but for the community at large. Isaac hopes one day, if his children choose, that he can pass down his business to the children it’s named after. He also hopes that Kansas City will learn to love caramel apples as a year-round treat, outside of the fall season. Mostly, he hopes Fifth & Emery can continue to support and be supported by the communities they call home, just like how he felt in those first years of life, surrounded by an abundance of love.
Fifth & Emery locations:
Shoal Creek: 8375 N. Booth Avenue, Kansas City (you can find copies of our magazine here!)
Zona Rosa: 8671 NW Prairie View Road, Kansas City
Plaza: 4853 Main Street, Kansas City
Overland Park: 8941 W. 135th Street, Overland Park
Lenexa: 12970 W 87th Street, Lenexa