We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jade Le a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jade, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think the first thing of being successful is identifying what that even means, to us as individuals. Everyone’s starting point in their business, career, or journey is different and therefore THAT starting point is going to determine what success looks like to them. I think what has led me to have a successful business, in my definition, has been my commitment and consistency to growing it.

There are so many first steps that need to be taken but without commitment and consistency, a lot of steps can lead to nothing. I share this from experience with building my own brand. In 2018, I started a Bay Area based brand called Lemonade51o to make some extra money to pay off my student loans. I was substituting off and on so doing something on the side didn’t seem like much.

I had no intention of becoming self-employed, no thoughts of selling clothing or any idea on what it would grow to be. Fast forward to now (Jan 2024), I have been self-employed for the last 8 months and seriously could not have been doing this if it wasn’t because of my past self’s dedication to expanding my business.

I had a set goal in mind when I started, to make about 30k to pay off my student loans by selling stickers I designed. I posted a couple designs on Instagram and crazy enough, people bought some! I designed more stickers, posted them and before I knew it, I was in a consistent cycle of trying to sell things I made. I became committed to this silly idea of paying off my student loans by selling stickers and other things. I realized that if I was to reach my goal of paying off my student loans I had to be consistent with what I was doing and committed to making money through this new avenue I created for myself.

Jade, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Jade Lemonade, a mixed Vietnamese Virgo from the Bay Area. I love my home and create things for people that love the Bay Area culture, community and consciousness. I sell stickers, clothing and other accessories that highlights the things that make the Bay Area special to me. I am the owner and operations manager of Lemonade51o. I am the marketing manager, the accounting department, the customer service rep, the creative director and most importantly, the HBIC (head bitch in charge).

The idea of selling stickers came from my love for pins and attending the Patch and Pin Expo in San Francisco. I think it was my second or third time attending and I realized, “omg people actually take an idea they have and make something!?” I thought, well that means I could too.

From the jump, I knew I wanted to make Bay Area items so I started with designing three stickers with a font generator. Something simple because I didn’t have any graphic design skills or really consider myself creative. Three stickers became five then ten and more and more. Quickly after putting my ideas and products out on the internet, I got asked to make clothes and this is when things really got fun. I looked into some options in making clothes and ultimately decided on embroidery.

Embroidery was the quickest and most affordable option for me. More importantly, I thought it was the most eco-friendly. I bought a couple of sweaters from the thrift store to bring to a local mom and pop shop to make some samples.

These samples did two things, it expanded my sticker business to a clothing business and made my clothing stand out compared to others because I strictly did embroidered items. Eventually I was able to save enough money to buy my own embroidery machine and do all the embroidery myself. I am proud to say that I have two embroidery machines for my business, a PE Brother 800 and a Meridian BLMA.

I think the thing that sets me apart from other brands is that Lemonade51o is for the Bay. I make things that represent the lifestyle of living here. The songs and slang that shape our movement. The hustle and culture that only folks that have really lived here understand. I think I do it in a way that doesn’t rely on using Oakland or San Francisco as my sole identifier for my business. If you are wondering where the 51o in my business name comes from, 510 is an area code for East Bay communities (San Leandro, Oakland, Hayward, Alameda, Union City, Berkeley, Emeryville and more). It is the only area code my phone number has ever known. It’s a number that people are proud to have and is becoming quite exclusive now that a new area code is being introduced to accommodate the growing population.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I am so proud to share that as of May 2023 I am doing Lemonade51o full time. It was something my previous employer was aware about and something I couldn’t wait to do. Before May, I worked as an Equity and Initiatives program manager at La Familia, a non-profit in the Bay Area. I was working on a project funded by the California Tobacco Control program which had a set end date, April 30th 2023. This date felt like a natural ending for me at this job. I committed 3 years of advocating for policies and programs that would reduce tobacco related disparities in the Bay Area and after April, I had a chance to invest in my business in a way I never had before.

I shared a little about starting my business as a side hustle in my response to what it takes to be successful so I will share how I pivoted my mindset once I turned my side hustle into a full-time business.

First, I became more intentional about goal setting and the markets I vended at. Before I went full-time, I didn’t really make monthly or weekly goals to try and achieve. I also signed up for markets that just seemed fun instead of thinking about markets that had guaranteed foot traffic and my target audience.

Once I realized I was going to quit my job, it was my goal to get into as many stores as possible to reach people that may never find me on the internet or at my markets. Now my goal is to have all my retailer payouts pay for my personal bills. You can buy my products at the stores highlighted on this page

https://lemonade51o.store/pages/lemonade-locator

Another big shift I made was treating social media as part of my job description. It’s not to say I post every single day or have a strategy but I am a lot more mindful about making sure I have a consistent presence on Instagram and Tiktok. I owe it to these platforms for reaching customers from different cities and states I never imagined Bay Area folk lived.

With all this being said, I felt confident and secure enough to run my business full-time because I had a safety net. The money I saved to pay for my student loans is now a rainy day fund for any months that sales are slow or when I just need some extra financial help. Luckily, I’ve been able to sustain myself without touching it but it’s nice to know I have some extra cash in case I need it. I cannot thank my past self enough for the work I put in.

The last thing I want to share is an early, crazy milestone in my business. I won a t-shirt design contest in 2019 with Zumiez and clothing brand, Petals and Peacock. It was so wild finding out because I was a long term substitute at the time and my students and I were on edge the whole day waiting for the results. After winning the contest, the owners of Petals and Peacock flew me out to Seattle to spend a day with them in business meetings at Zumiez and see first hand how business’s market themselves to big retailers. A few months later, we collaborated on a shirt for their 8 year anniversary event in Berkeley. I am forever grateful for that opportunity.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

$20 bucks and a goal. Haha, okay but seriously I started with stickers because they were cheap. I found a website where you can buy about 50+ stickers for $20. After buying your first couple of products it’s really about keeping your business money separate (if you can!) and reinvesting in your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lemonade51o.store/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lemonade51o/
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lemonade51o https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/11/02/bart-paper-tickets-will-no-longer-be-accepted-after-nov-30-accelerating-transit-agency-into-digital-era/ – referenced as “Bay Area based designer”

Image Credits
Night Life – California Academy of Sciences Personal Photo – Jordan Lewis – @artmoney.gallery / @jordan_velour