AN INTERVIEW WITH CREATIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPER, JULEY LE
Juley Le is a southern gal that has lived in Chicago and Nashville, but calls New Orleans home. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, she always knew she wanted to start her own business. In 2008, she created Upperlyne&Co., a blog documenting her classic, casual and cool lifestyle. It's grown extensively ever since, being featured on The Everygirl, Refinery29, Design*Sponge and more! In early 2015, Upperlyne & Co. expanded into a product line featuring stylish kitchenware and classic textiles. If anything could ever get me in the kitchen, it's these aprons. A genuine bosslady, Juley is also a contributor to The Everygirl and a creative business developer, working on projects like the Montrose shop.
She's a total jane-of-all-trades (and wrote a blog post about being mediocre at everything!). For this interview, I wanted to hear more about her creative process and journey into being a creative business developer!
Side note: Juley was one of the first people I met at New Orleans Fashion Week. We had a small conversation about blogging and living in New Orleans, and she gave me her card. This was in 2010, so I've been able to witness her and Upperlyne's journey via the internet over the past 5 years! She literally is the definition of classic and cool.
If I'd asked you at 19 what you wanted to do or be, what would your answer have been?
I was in college (Loyola University), and I always knew I wanted to do something in business. My parents are very successful entrepreneurs who built a great empire out of nothing, so I have that engrained in me, but my biggest thing is always doing my own instead of taking advantage of their success. I'm very headstrong and always knew that I was going to do something on my own, for myself. I didn't have anything set in stone but I knew that something like that was in the works for me.
What were you involved in growing up? Do you have a memory of cooking with your family or anything that leans towards what you're professionally doing now?
Growing up in the south is super influential. Not only that, growing up in a large Vietnamese family, everyone is a great cook in my family—except me. Hands down, I'm not the best cook at all. But I'm very observant. That food culture, community, it's always been something I've grown up with. I didn't cook a lot, I just observed and really refined my taste while listening and watching what's out there. It's something that I still do today. At 19, I was very involved on campus. I held a couple leadership roles—president of the Asian organization; made a lot of changes. It was kind of an experiment to me to use the business savvy that I have now as a launching pad for those things. I was involved in things that I really cared about, like diversity. Growing up, though, I didn't go to the greatest school, which is why I needed to work harder than others when in college. I wasn't bred in a private school. So when you go to a private college and you're with incredible people who are doing amazing things, it makes you want to work harder. I got involved in things that I wasn't comfortable with, to be honest. I was like, "Oh, I'm not the best public speaker...I'm going to go be a president of an organization." I intentionally put myself in those positions so that I could look my weaknesses in the face and just deal with it. It wasn't intentional, or that I planned to do those things, but I have a knack for jumping into things. It's something that I've always been doing. It's a hodge-podge of things: I observe a lot, I appreciate the background that I grew up in, and that translates well into what I'm doing now.
In your interview with The Everygirl, you mentioned that while studying business at Loyola, you really had to kick your ass into gear to graduate with honors. What made you focus on school more than your extra-curriculars? For me, when I have difficultly in school, I get more involved outside of school rather than focus education. You kind of went more towards the academic side, right?
I do enjoy learning, but the organizations that I was involved in really gave me an opportunity to apply what I was learning in the classroom. So, that's exactly what you're doing. Everything you're learning, you're just taking that and funneling into a different arena, so that you can practice those skills. Even though you don't know it, it's happening. I really believe there needs to be a balance between academia and extra curricular so that you have the book information so that you can apply it to real life.
Did that have any affect on your work ethic today?
Honestly, I feel like I'm still in college. I'm learning all the time. Everything that I do, none of it is textbook. All of it is learning, problem-solving and figuring it out as I go, but what learned from college and being involved in so many different things is that I'm able to manage so many different things because that's what I've been doing for like, the past 8-9 years. It taught be how to be disciplined, what I can say no or yes to, what is really worth my time. In college, I was going to school full-time, running all these different organizations, starting to get into new things and I was wearing myself down. But that's a great indicator of what I'm doing now. Now, I'm more mature, I know what to commit myself to. I have more direction, but all of college was a great preparation for me. Whatever you're doing now is preparation for what you're going to be doing in the future.
Your first job was with Teach for America, right?
...and then you moved on to a software company. Which also involved you moving to a different city. That's so random. Tell me about that change.
Yeah, so random For TFA, it was in 2008. I have a degree in finance and there was no jobs. I mean, this is the recession. I knew that I was interested in TFA because they started recruiting me my sophomore year because I was so active, and I do have a genuine care for education. That transition was wild because I had never been a teacher and I was never interested in being a teacher. It was another one of those opportunities where I was completely out of my comfort-zone. I really enjoyed figuring shit out. I was in a difficult position and was there for the right reasons and, of course, as a result, I had an invaluable experience, met amazing people, was able to do some great things that I'm proud of and it's now something that is a part of my story. In the same respect, after I left TFA, I was recruited by that software company through TFA. There are connections between everything! Post-TFA I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew what I was good at: systems, making things better and developing. All I did in TFA, besides the teaching, was help develop the school and their systems. I translated that leadership to the software company. My friends were like, "What are you going to do in Nashville?" I said, "I don't know!" I didn't know what job I accepted, but there wasn't jobs in New Orleans. At that time I had to be smart. I had to figure out how I'm going to pay my student loans, I need to figure out how to do all of these things. So I'm going to take this opportunity, even though I don't know what I'm doing, and just tackle it. The hiring person asked me the same thing. I was like, "Why are you guys interested working with me and having me move over there to do this?" And he said, "It's not what you know, it's your leadership skills." That's something that gave me confidence. I kinda just jumped into it. You have to do what you have to do.
You started working for The Everygirl when you moved back from Nashville. You mentioned in their interview that you were "comfortable but there's so much to be desired." Tell me about that.
I think that's the biggest message. I wasn't great at what I was doing, yet I grew to become great. I was always trying to figure out how to plant my seed in New Orleans and do it the way that I see it being done. That was a recurring theme in every job that I had. I was always like, "I'm learning a lot, but this is not going to be a forever thing for me."
I often feel like I'm never satisfied—that I could always do more or be more, which can get exhausting and make me unproductive/less creative. Are you pushed by that at all, and if not, what do you do to get out of that exhausted place?
It's not supposed to be easy. I think, even now, I'm just so grateful for every single day. What I'm doing better now is paying attention to the thoughts that I allow myself to have. I went into this year focused on not feeding the negativity that's in my head, you know—in my head, nowhere else. All we have is our minds and it's a very powerful thing. I probably, every week, get into one of those moods where I'm like, "How am I going to do this? How am I going to balance everything?" And then I make it work. It's about stepping back and thinking positive, but also letting yourself sulk. Just for a day. Recharge. I'm a big believer in regrouping: taking a day and not doing anything, turning off of the computer and letting yourself regroup. At the end of the day, if you're not your best self, you won't be able to be productive in any which way.
I love that! That sort of mindset isn't really accepted, or promoted, in this day and age.
Because you have social media telling you that all these people are happy. It's very much in your face these days, of course, and everybody wants to do everything. I think you just have to mentally mature, which also comes with age. I think last week, I'm just coming into this mind frame. Just kidding! But it really comes with age. You're in a very interesting time in your life where you see a lot of people doing great things and you're like, "Oh my gosh, how do I get to that level?" It's really just owning that process that you're in right now. I couldn't be where I'm at—mentally and everything—if I wasn't in that lost place for like, 5 years. So, own it.
Exactly! And I'm going to be in that process forever, and I'm going to be happy about it.
That can be really hard to accept.
For sure. Happiness with your success isn't black and white. It's really just appreciating the small wins. There's a huge amount of losses, but a bunch of small wins that you have to celebrate.
What brought you back to NOLA?
That feeling! The "more to be desired" thing. I knew that I'm going to be here, building what I'm going to build in my way, but I have to pay my dues whether it is moving to a random city—which I'm so grateful for, I would do it over again in a heartbeat—or taking odd jobs. It was always going to lead me back to New Orleans. Those times where I was really down and missing New Orleans so much, it all fueled my desire to work a little harder, think more creatively, to figure it out. The minute I had a door open, I jumped on it.
We met each other at the very first fashion week event I ever attended. Matthew Arthur was showing, it was the year with his sailor hat boys, and you gave me your card. I became obsessed with your blog. This was in 2010. What was your vision for Upperlyne at that time and how has it evolved since then?
Yeah! So, the blog was never meant to be something. Even now, my intention isn't to be a "blogger". I think people are really great at being bloggers. The general messaging on my blog isn't that I'm trying to sell you anything, it's always been a platform for me and fortunately people relate to it. It started as this personal platform as I was going through all these different careers. It was just there. Now, I'm more intentional with the content I'm creating. I have contributors writing for me. I think the message from my blog is about working hard for what you want. I'm going to talk about that process, I'm going to share my insight now that I have experience. I definitely take it more seriously than I used to.
You very much embody the JAQ personality. You have an open-minded personality, you love new projects, learning a new skill set and jumping into the unknown...
You said Jack of all trades?
For sure. That was what was wrong with me growing up! I was like, "I don't know what I'm good at!" I'm mediocre at everything. I wrote a post about it, too! It's something that I love and respect now, but growing up I was like, "How do some people have it so easy?"
How have these traits helped you professionally?
I mean, just looking at my background, I've done 5 different careers. It's not just 5 different job titles, it's 5 different careers. That is the epitome of being a jane-of-all-trades. It helps you be fluid with your skills. If you're a specialist, which I completely respect; if you're a writer and you specialize in writing, you know how to harness all of your energy into making that your speciality and becoming an expert. For me, though, I had to step back and realize that I can't be a specialist at anything, but I can be an expert at high-level stuff. Because I know all the intricacies of all these jobs, I can look at it from a high-level perspective and start a business with it—use all of those skills and focus in on that bigger picture. I think, as a jane-of-all-trades, you want a job that encompasses everything that you have experience with. That's what I'm doing now. It all happens organically. To answer your question, you're going to find that lightbulb. You take all these skills you learning and make something bigger than you.
Was there ever a moment where you had that lightbulb go off? Like, "Oh, I know why I did all of those things and now I know that this is what I want to do?"
I knew this about myself since college: doing all these different things, being involved in a variety of things. Going into every job, I knew that my skill set was going to be powerful in each of them so I would apply all of my thinking into every job. As far as the business goes, before I stopped working for other people, I thought, "Oh, I'm going to do this because I feel like I'm ready to take it to the next level." There's not really a time where you tell yourself that, you just know. I think it's just knowing yourself.
Would you like to wrap up with anything? Is there any advice you'd tell your 19-year-old self?
Probably just to focus more on my blog. Like I said, I put it out there and good things happened but if I would have believed that I could tap into my potential at 19, I don't know...I wish I took it more seriously. So, those little things that you're dedicated to right now, that you loooove, focus on it.
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