When Harry Met: A Little Something Extra Ice Cream CEO Hunter Norwood

Hunter Norwood is a bright and charming young man — “sharp as a tack,” it’s said — who loves to read, was a home run hitter in baseball, and scored a touchdown playing football. Just before graduating from Geraldine High School, he went to his senior prom with a UAB cheerleader. 

Today, he’s a soon to be 22 years old CEO of his own growing and profitable business, with 28-plus employees, and maybe 50 others waiting to be. 

Hunter’s enterprise, A Little Something Extra Ice Cream, based in Dawson in DeKalb County, has been featured in numerous local and national stories and TV programs, including “Fox & Friends” after he sold his products at a Talladega race. The University of Alabama is preparing a documentary to tell his life story — which begins with his birth with Down Syndrome. 

That is the most common genetic chromosomal disorder and cause of learning disabilities in children, according to the Mayo Clinic, and can lead to various other medical abnormalities. 

Hunter’s parents, Michelle and Anthony Norwood were initially devastated by his diagnosis, especially coming after the death of a six days’ old daughter not long before. 

However, they and Hunter’s older sister, Hope, determined that regardless of the obstacles, he’d live a regular life. As Michelle put it, “You’ve never met my son and I’m not putting limits on what he can do,” and she never has. The Norwoods viewed it as the start of an adventure. 

When Hunter was in kindergarten, Michelle enrolled in studies at Jacksonville State University to learn more about special needs children and adults. “I went back to school to help Hunter in every way that I could,” she said. 

She also wanted to help the parents of other Down Syndrome children, having walked that path and dealt with feelings of failure.  

Michelle became a teacher in Hunter’s school, and it helped having the same hours as her children and being able to participate in their after-school activities. She ultimately earned master’s and educational specialist degrees in special education, and a master’s in instructional leadership with thoughts of going into administration. 

Now, about A Little Something Extra Ice Cream ... 

About five years ago, Michelle was awakened about 2 a.m. one morning — ‘I believe the Good Lord woke me up’ — with the idea of Hunter selling ice cream from a truck, going from one place to another, “maybe from town to town.” 

This was the first of many specific “miracles” that led to a unique business for her son, that would lead a to a career of helping other special needs folk as well. The idea began to take shape and turn into reality. 

Michelle inquired about obtaining a truck and about how to set off on such an adventure. A friend led them to a former FedEx truck, a Mercedes sprinter, that they could adapt for their use. 

“God told me how to do it and put the right people in our path to help us,” Michelle said. 

Sitting on my living room sofa with Hunter, she told how in 2019, after trial and error, A Little Something Extra Ice Cream. 

The “something extra,” Michelle noted, calls attention to the additional chromosome that characterizes Down Syndrome, “but it refers to other things too.” 

So, the Norwoods, including Hope and Hunter’s younger brother, Brodie, began their ministry with Hunter serving as CEO. Arrangements were made with the Ice Cream Warehouse, a Jefferson County wholesale distributor for their inventory. 

They started with school festivals and church socials. Now, the Little Something Extra Ice Cream truck travels throughout Alabama selling its products, and has gone into neighboring states as well. If there’s a crowd, it’s been said, Hunter’s family and their Ice Cream Experts will be on hand. 

A couple of years ago, the family was honored by the International Association of Ice Cream Vendors and Distributors at its annual convention in Las Vegas for having the only such ice cream truck business in America. 

A special blessing for the Norwood ministry has been the ability to sell ice cream at both Auburn University and University of Alabama home football games. 

An article by Grace Thornton in the Alabama Baptist newspaper said Hunter enjoys meeting new people and being the boss (as well as the unlimited access to ice cream). Other special needs friends, dubbed Ice Cream Experts, staff the truck with him. They undergo training in product knowledge, greeting customers and financial literacy, which ends with a graduation ceremony to “Pomp and Circumstance” and a diploma. 

Michelle told Thornton it took Hunter longer to do things, but added, “It was worth the wait. Hunter has strengths that I don’t have. Just like the body of Christ, God creates us all to glorify Him, and we all don’t have the same talents, we all don’t have the same gifts.” 

After hearing Hunter’s story, I think we could all agree with Thornton who summed it up by saying, “Serving Ice Cream, sharing smiles, breaking barriers and giving hope!” 

For more information about the Norwood ministry, visit https://alittlesomethingextraicecream.com or call 256-601-7125. 

Harry D. Butler, a former broadcaster, is a motivational speaker and author of “Alabama’s First Radio Stations, 1920-1960.” Butler periodically sits down with someone of note, then brings the conversation to readers.