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In 2019, I made a decision that would put me $60,000 in credit card debt. I was consumed by a vision, I was chasing a dream. A dream I wasn't even sure would work.
This is the story of how I went all in to build Joy Milk Tea, and why I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
In 2019, I made a decision that would put me $60,000 in credit card debt. I was consumed by a vision, I was chasing a dream. A dream I wasn't even sure would work.
This is the story of how I went all in to build Joy Milk Tea, and why I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
I grew up always listening to stories about founders who risked everything to start their businesses. The idea of putting everything on the line seemed crazy to me. Why would someone gamble their entire future on a single idea?
Then, in 2019, I listened to Peter Rahal, the founder of RXBAR, on How I Built This with Guy Raz. Peter’s father told him, “You don’t need to raise money, you need to sell 1,000 bars.” And suddenly, something clicked for me. It sounded exactly like something my own father would say.
For months, I had been thinking about starting a milk tea company. Everywhere I looked, it felt like the universe was pushing me toward this idea, but doubt gnawed at me. I had never made milk tea in my life. What if people don’t like it? What if I fail? (Read More: Milk Tea Mania - Unpacking The Latest Drink Craze Among Millennials and Gen A)
And then one day, sitting in a Starbucks parking lot, I had a moment of clarity. I looked ahead at my future, and instead of seeing possibilities, I saw a foggy, empty road. My job wasn’t fulfilling, my relationships were strained, and my life felt directionless.
As I stared at the big green Starbucks sign, it wasn’t a coffee shop to me anymore—it was a giant billboard that screamed, “Create!”
In that moment, all the doubts vanished. I knew I had to start this milk tea company, and I had to do it now. At this moment it began to make a lot more sense how someone could risk everything for an idea.
I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t have much money, but I had conviction—and that was enough to get started. Looking back this was so foolish because I would eventually dig myself into a hole I probably wouldn’t get out, if not for a series of unbelievable blessings. But I believed I would create the most loved milk tea brand in the U.S.
Conviction alone didn’t change the fact that I had almost no savings. I couldn’t afford a fancy setup or professional equipment, but I could go to the store and buy some tea, milk, and sugar. And so, that’s what I did. (Read about how we relentlessly craft the best milk tea in America)
Within two weeks, I had a product I was proud of. But then came the next challenge: selling it. The nearby farmers market wasn’t accepting new vendors. My first real hurdle. Desperate, I went to the Wicker Park Chamber of Commerce in Chicago, where I begged Alice and Pamala to give me a spot. I ran to my car, grabbed samples, and practically forced them to try it.
To my surprise, they found me a spot—on the condition that I paid by the next day. And this is where my debt journey began.
I didn’t have the money, so I charged it to my credit card. Soon, I was charging everything to my credit card—supplies, kitchen fees, packaging, labels. As each farmers market passed, I had to bring more product, which meant more costs. For every dollar I made, I was spending two.
By the end of that first farmers market season, Joy Milk Tea had made it into a few stores, and I was producing 1,000 bottles a week. The process was grueling:
I did this for more than a year, losing money and solidifying my financial ruin. I didn’t really have a plan, I knew I needed to make a shelf stable product. I had spent a lot of time researching it and talking with co-packers but I didn’t know how I would ever afford it. I guess I just left it up to God… I think I had decided I will keep doing this until I literally cannot anymore. I would just find a way to make milk tea one more week, however I could.
I would have kept going until I literally couldn’t anymore. But fate had something else in store for me. At that first farmers market, there was a regular customer named Jordan. Every week, he’d come by with his family, his coworkers, or his friends. I didn’t notice him much at first, but one day, near the end of the market season, he stopped me.
Jordan told me he’d been coming every week because his friends, family, and coworkers couldn’t get enough of my milk tea. And then, he asked a question that would change everything:
“What do you need to take this further?”
What I needed was to clear my credit card debt, but instead, I told him I needed money to run a trial for a shelf-stable product. My milk tea, as it was, would spoil within seven days, and I knew this was the only way forward.
The next day, Jordan wired me the money I needed. I poured it all into our first trial run with a co-packer, creating the product that would take Joy Milk Tea from farmers markets to store shelves.
Today, I no longer have credit card debt, and Joy Milk Tea has grown far beyond those humble beginnings. We’ve launched four flavors, expanded into over 1,000 stores nationwide, and sold over 1,000,000 cans. (Read More: Igniting the milk tea category one sip of Joy at a time. How Joy is transforming the milk tea category in the USA.)
Our future isn’t set in stone, but it’s a lot clearer now. Every day, I wake up excited about what lies ahead—for our brand, our customers, our team, and my family.
Looking back, I realize that entrepreneurship isn’t about having everything figured out. It’s about persistence, staying in the game, and refusing to let your mind kill your dreams.
Your mind will create beautiful dreams of a future only to kill them with you as the only witness. Don’t let your mind kill your dreams, get started. 1 day at a time.
If you believe in the future of milk tea and want to join us on this journey, we’re always looking for new partners to help bring Joy Milk Tea to even more customers. Contact us to learn how we can work together to grow this exciting brand.
In 2019, I made a decision that would put me $60,000 in credit card debt. I was consumed by a vision, I was chasing a dream. A dream I wasn't even sure would work.
This is the story of how I went all in to build Joy Milk Tea, and why I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Before we sold millions of cans, we almost went bankrupt trying to perfect just one. Here’s the wild story of how 2,200 pounds of tea and relentless testing would create the most delicious milk tea—or could have cost us everything.
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We love milk tea. We couldnt really imagine a world without it. It’s fitting since we found ourselves making milk tea for America. That love for milk tea, although unbreakable, really isnt what this is all about. For us, this is really about choice. It’s about small decisions in your everyday life that you have become numb to. Yeah, what you drink is a super small choice, but every little thing counts right? That’s where this all began, with a small choice. Another venti S******** iced americano or try something new? I chose to try something new… but quickly...
