Who could have thought that watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty could inspire the creation of Deep South Pops on North State Street? Not many, I suppose. When Jake Franklin first watched the movie, he was tired of dreaming and wanted more from life. He wanted to bring his dreams to life. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty provided Jake with the much-needed inspiration that moved him to take action and open Deep South Pops. Jake’s dream would soon take form around mid-2015. On June 15, 2015, Jake and Kristy opened Deep South Pops, at the intersection of North State Street and Euclid near Millsaps College. The new joint’s specialty was serving popsicles, coffee, gelato ice cream, and craft beer. Since opening the Joint in 2015, Deep South Joint’s amazing services have been available to Jackson residents every day from 6 am to 9 pm. What follows is an overview of Deep South Pops in Jackson, MS from when it was opened in 2015 to its closure four and a half years later.

Since Jake Franklin was a teenager, he dreamt of a business that he and his wife could run together and that once they had kids, the kids could get involved in. Before Deep South Pops, Jake worked in the telecommunications sector for a little over 17 years. One day Jake was at a graduation party for his sister and they had a movie playing on a big screen in the backyard. It was the Secret Life of Walter Mitty–the story of a guy who daydreams about doing these wonderful, fantastic, and heroic things but in real life he kind of leads a boring and complacent life. This moved Jake since it rang especially true with him. Not that he didn’t have a good life or anything, but in terms of his dreams of opening a business, he had let it drift away over the years.

The following day, Jake started trying to figure out what running a business entails, what it would take, and how to go about financing the business. After he moved from Birmingham to Jackson with his wife and kids, Jake finally decided to start Deep South Pops. When he told Kristy about the idea and they started talking about opening a business, Kristy was a bit hesitant and was worried about how things would change since Jake had been the sole provider of the family and Kristy had been at home for 8 years and homeschooling. She was curious about whether they would be able to fulfill both roles at Deep South Pops, and home in the same capacity as before. However, the idea of running a family business seemed exciting because Jake and Kristy liked working together, and had proved to be a great team ever since they came together.