Ep 386 | Jenny Lei

Written By Yasmin Nouri

Her Launch Flopped With Zero Sales. Now It's a Celebrity-Favorite Cult Brand.

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Jenny Lei is the founder of Freja, the cult-favorite vegan handbag brand that you've probably seen on Hailey Bieber, Sarah Jessica Parker, and all over your feed. 

But here's what you might not know. Jenny started Freja with no fashion background, no design experience, and no investors. She funded it herself with money she made from a dropshipping business she built after Googling "how to make money fast online" because she had to pay for her life living in NYC. She launched a work bag brand out of her New Jersey apartment in February 2020, weeks before the entire world stopped going to the office. She signed up two thousand people to an email list, sent her launch email, and didn't get a single sale. And she was doing all of it on a visa, with a clock ticking on whether she'd even get to stay in the country. Today, Freja is a multi-million dollar brand and one of the most talked-about names in the space.

In this episode, Jenny gets really honest about the slow years nobody talks about, why she believes growing too fast can actually be a curse, and the moment she broke down crying in an airport because she'd been holding the entire business together by herself, with no systems underneath her. We talk about the difference between selling products and creating a brand, how intuition is built through failure, and learning to separate who you are from the company you create. She also opens up about burnout, the systems and team she built behind Freja, and what it was like to step into the spotlight after years of hiding. If you're in one of those quiet, slow seasons right now — doing everything right, waiting for it to pay off — this is the conversation you need to hear.

Show Notes:

  • Why growth should be measured by learning, not just revenue. [02:37]

  • The downside of growing too fast without understanding why it worked. [03:58]

  • Growing up with curiosity and the freedom to explore new interests. [04:05]

  • Navigating identity after moving between China and the United States. [06:00]

  • How a vegan Instagram account became an early entrepreneurial venture. [06:58]

  • Separating personal identity from the business you build. [09:08]

  • Why the business should work for you—not the other way around. [10:00]

  • From Cornell graduate to Googling how to make money online. [13:55]

  • Learning the fundamentals of online selling through dropshipping. [15:22]

  • The difference between selling products and building a brand. [17:05]

  • Creating Freja after failing to find the perfect work bag. [19:25]

  • Using naive optimism to design a product without a fashion background. [20:25]

  • Launching just before the pandemic and facing an immediate setback. [24:25]

  • Why volume, consistency, and paid ads fueled early growth. [26:02]

  • The gradual rise of Freja and the success of the Chrystie collection. [27:58]

  • Reaching a turning point and finally viewing the company as a real business. [29:07]

  • Burnout, team growth, and learning how to build systems at scale. [31:17]

  • The marketing channels that mattered most from startup to scale. [35:23]

  • Stepping into the founder spotlight and sharing the story behind the brand. [37:48]

  • How journaling became the most impactful business tool. [42:33]

  • Using ChatGPT and the Socratic method for better decision-making. [44:12]

  • Moving to London, evolving as a designer, and reimagining the future of Freja. [45:51]

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Ep 385 | Mariam Naficy