I’ve been in the e-commerce world for over a decade! So much has changed since then and I thought it would be nice to take a look back at my journey. I kind of stumbled upon entrepreneurship by accident and started my first business in 2010 when I was 15 and a sophomore in high school. Then, in 2017, I launched Mount Lai, a beauty brand rooted in Traditional Chinese rituals, inspired by my grandmother. It’s crazy to think that throughout the years, I have shipped out thousands of shipments to countries all around the world.

The first business I created started with a lightning bolt, both literally and figuratively. This was back in 2010 when the Harry Potter movies were still being released. I was a huge fan of Harry Potter and made a lightning bolt necklace out of polymer clay to wear to the movie premiere. After I posted it on Tumblr, I received so many messages asking if the necklace was for sale or where they could buy the necklace so I used my birthday money from my 15th birthday to buy the supplies needed. From there I crafted a few pieces out of polymer clay and started with a little website with only five pieces. 

I remember when I received my first ever order and was just so honored that someone wanted something that I created. It grew from there and I ended up shipping to over 20 countries around the world! This small online jewelry business was something I absolutely loved doing and was such a great learning experience for me in high school. 

In 2017, after I graduated from college, I launched Mount Lai. My grandmother has been jade rolling for over 50 years so the brand was inspired by her! We launched with just a single product, The De-Puffing Jade Facial Roller, and like with my jewelry business, I was packaging all the orders myself in the beginning.

The brand took off in ways I couldn’t have even imagined. I was shipping out hundreds of orders every month. A year into the business, I quit my full-time job to pursue Mount Lai full time. From there, the orders grew, our product assortment grew and our team grew! We finally got to the point where we now have a warehouse that packs and ships out our orders .

While the businesses and products have changed throughout the years, my DYMO LabelWriter 5XL has been a constant. Back in the beginning, before I discovered DYMO, I was hand cutting and taping every shipping label to its corresponding box. The DYMO label printer is such a game changer as it saves so much time and makes life easier. I love that sustainability is a priority for the brand as it is a priority for me as well! They use recycled and FSC materials and are constantly looking at new ways to improve. Cheers to my 10+ years of using DYMO and here’s to many, many more!

Thank you Dymo for sponsoring this post!