Our Story

Marilyn Doore grew up in Wisconsin, but her singing and voice teaching career took her to different areas of the U.S. including MN, NY, CT and FL until finally landing here, in Franklin in 2020. One hot summer day while strolling Franklin’s historic Main Street, she wondered to herself why no one was selling popsicles there. That thought landed in her back pocket for several years until she and her fiancé, Steven Smith, were hiking in AL and had a refreshing gourmet popsicle afterwards. It was so delicious that she decided to pursue that long forgotten thought about selling popsicles in downtown Franklin. They discovered a small, family-owned company called Lolly Gourmet Pops in Jonesboro, AR. When they called the owner to discuss Lolly’s marketing strategy and how they had gotten started, Marilyn and Steven were pleased to discover that Lolly Gourmet Pops was for sale! And so it happened…

Just as serendipitously was finding their location for Lolly. While looking to secure a place to create their luscious frozen treats, they drove down a side street in the Grassland area of Franklin and found several businesses had space for lease. The first one that they called was in the same building as the Grassland Dance Academy and when Marilyn went to see the space, she knew it was perfect - 360 square feet that had formerly been a smoothie and quesadilla shop run by the dance studio. GDA agreed that Lolly could continue running the smoothie and quesadilla business under the Lolly Gourmet Pops name. It’s been sweet success ever since!

Marilyn has a BA in Music and her Vocology certificate from NYU and teaches private voice in the evenings as well as doing work for TPAC. Steven is a plumber by day and side-by-side they make pops together. They enjoy kayaking, hiking, going to concerts and creating exciting new flavors for the pops whenever they find the time. They are excited to bring their decadent and unique frozen treats to Franklin and all of the Nashville area.