Jasmine Tea | Junior

Jasmine Tea is a junior at LASA who’s found value in teamwork and independence through sports and entrepreneurship. She enjoys being able to find a community in her sport, ultimate frisbee. Tea also has a business, Jastudioco, which is popular for its unique designs of meaningful songs utilizing important symbols for the songs and even the artist’s own handwriting which caused it to go viral on TikTok and Instagram.

The Liberator: What extracurriculars are you a part of?

Tea: I enjoy owning my business, I play the piano sometimes, I love listening to music, and I play ultimate frisbee. I started playing [ultimate] last year. I was introduced to it by my friend, Piper, because she said they needed more female players. I also [played] to fill up my time and because exercise is just good. When I picked up ultimate frisbee, it was very easy and beginner-friendly. Over time, I kind of really enjoyed it and the community, and I built a lot of friendships through frisbee that are really special to me. I get to go to this club team that I’m part of called Texas Tango; it’s a women’s or non-binary only team. And I’m also a part of Youth League, where you talk to a bunch of ultimate players in Austin who are also in high school.

What about your business, and how did get it started?

Well, I fell in love with this artist, Gracie Abrams, last year, and I realized that she didn’t have any merch or jewelry that I could wear. And I felt a really deep connection to this song called Camden. It was really sad, but it’s good. So I made my first necklace based on that song. It’s just a heart pendant with Camden in her handwriting and when I first promoted that, it went viral, people loved it. And then from that point on I got more and more into Gracie Abrams’ music. And then I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got an opportunity to sell necklaces and pursue a passion for music that I really enjoy.’ So I got lucky and now it’s my part-time job.

How has your business grown, and how do you manage it?

I design my necklaces with software. And then I send my designs to a manufacturer and they take about a month to create the design and send me images, like CADs, of the design until they send it to me. Then I design packaging for each necklace that reflects what I feel the song would be as a product. And then I promote it on Tik Tok because social media is very important nowadays. I’ve also promoted myself on Instagram. So I basically run this all by myself in my house, and it’s taken up quite a lot of my game room. I’ve sold over 2,600 orders.

How have these hobbies become a part of your life?

I think that teamwork and collaborative things are really good for me. It’s important to learn how to work as a team, but then also to work on myself which is my business and being independent. Having this experience with money and business is really important.