DeepSummary
The episode features an interview with Jing Gao, the founder and CEO of Fly By Jing, a direct-to-consumer Asian food brand. Jing shares her upbringing, moving to different countries as a child, and how those experiences shaped her relationship with risk and independence. She discusses leaving her stable tech job to pursue a career in food, evaluating risks as an entrepreneur, and her decision to move to the US without knowing anyone to launch her business.
Jing recounts the early days of Fly By Jing, including the challenges she faced in creating and shipping the product to customers after a successful Kickstarter campaign. She talks about the multiple setbacks, such as production issues and damaged shipments, and how she overcame them through perseverance and communication with her customers.
Despite the obstacles, Jing's authentic approach and the power of word-of-mouth helped Fly By Jing grow into a multi-million dollar business. The episode also touches on Jing's latest cookbook and her new grab-and-go concept, Foa, as she continues to share her passion for Sichuan flavors and evolve the cultural food landscape.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Embracing risk and stepping out of your comfort zone is essential for personal growth and entrepreneurial success.
- Entrepreneurship is a journey of self-discovery and overcoming personal barriers and fears.
- Building a successful business often involves persevering through numerous challenges and setbacks.
- Staying true to your authentic vision and connecting with your community can be powerful drivers of growth.
- Continuous learning, discipline, and a growth mindset are invaluable in the entrepreneurial journey.
- Pursuing your passion and sharing your unique perspective can create opportunities for innovation and cultural impact.
- Evaluating risks, making calculated decisions, and taking small steps can help turn ideas into reality.
- Finding the right business partner and establishing strong communication are crucial for successful partnerships.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I think it's definitely been a gradual process for me to embrace risk.“ by Jing Gao
- “For me, I go through life with experiments, but it's all really in purpose of learning and growing and becoming a new person, becoming a person that goes in a direction that the previous me couldn't even have fathomed.“ by Jing Gao
- “There's so much work that leads up to it. And so I think for about six months, I just started kind of chipping away at that little by little by little, but knowing that if I didn't create that discipline in my schedule, so I was like going to bed at nine, waking up at 05:00 a.m. Every day for that time. If I didn't have that discipline in blocking out my time, I would just fill it with other things and consulting or events and stuff.“ by Jing Gao
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Episode Information
Behind Her Empire
Yasmin Nouri
11/27/23
Jing Gao is the founder and CEO of Fly By Jing, the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer startup and Asian food brand.
Her first product, the Sichuan Chili Crisp, took the food world by storm in 2018, propelling Fly By Jing into the mainstream and spotlighting Jing as a leading expert in Sichuan flavors. Fly By Jing has since sold over 2 million jars of Chili Crisp to date, making it one of the fastest-growing condiments on the market and a household staple for many. Today, Chili Crisp can be found in thousands of grocery stores across the United States, coming a long way from the Kickstarter campaign that first led to its fame, and Fly By Jing has expanded into a multi-million dollar business.
In this week’s episode, we discuss Jing’s upbringing, the many countries she’s lived in growing up and how those experiences impacted her life. She talks about how she left her stable tech job to pursue a career in food full time, the way she evaluated her risks when becoming an entrepreneur and how she decided to move to the US without knowing anyone to start her product business. We also talk about the early days of the business when Jing first launched on Kickstarter, the multiple challenges she had when creating & shipping the product to customers, and how she created such an incredible, high growth brand from the power of word of mouth and community.
In this episode, we'll talk to Jing about:
* Jing’s childhood upbringing and relationship with risk. [2:32]
* What helped Jing overcome change and push herself outside her comfort zone. [9:45]
* What motivated Jing to quit her tech job and move to Shanghai for a new opportunity. [11:43]
* The relationship between food and Jing's personal identity and cultural heritage. [16:09]
* The significance of seizing opportunities and staying open to chances. [19:13]
* Jing's parents' viewpoint regarding her career journey. [21:07]
* Establishing a restaurant and the lessons Jing gained from this experience. [22:21]
* Choosing the right business partner. [27:15]
* The financial struggles encountered, and lessons learned while operating a restaurant. [28:54]
* Jing's shift towards creating her own products. [36:09]
* Why entrepreneurship is self-work. [42:34]
* The key stages in the launch of Fly by Jing. [45:12]
* Jing's latest cookbook and what's next for her and the business. [53:50]
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Follow Yasmin:
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/
* Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/
Follow Jing:
* Fly By Jing Website: https://flybyjing.com/
* Fly By Jing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flybyjing/
* Jing’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jingtheory/
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