We’ve all been there: staring at a screen, dreaming of something more, but convinced we don’t have the right degree, the right connections, or the right resume to actually start.
Lauren Olds was right there with you. At 32, she was working a full-time corporate job as a director of relations for a software company in San Diego. She had a desire to build something of her own, but she had “absolutely zero experience” in the industry she was about to enter.
The industry? Consumer packaged goods, specifically beverages. It’s a space dominated by giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, complicated by supply chains, regulated by the FDA, and notorious for high failure rates. Most people look at that mountain and decide it’s too high to climb.
Lauren looked at that mountain and opened Google.
Her very first step wasn’t writing a business plan or pitching investors. It wasn’t taking out a loan or recruiting a co-founder. It was a search query so simple it’s almost embarrassing: “How do you start a beverage brand?”
That single search was the domino that started a chain reaction.
The “No Experience” Mindset Is Your Secret Weapon
Over the next year and a half, Lauren invested over $80,000 of her own money saved meticulously from her corporate job into product development and branding. She worked before work, and she worked after work. She invested in a founders course to learn the jargon she didn’t know. She built a community of other entrepreneurs in San Diego who could guide her through the blind spots.
It’s easy to look at a lack of experience as a weakness. Lauren saw it as a blank canvas. She didn’t know what was “supposed” to be hard, so she just focused on what made sense.
Because she was juggling a full-time job, she couldn’t do everything herself. So she invested in experts to fill the gaps: graphic designers for her branding, manufacturers for her formula, photographers for her website. She focused on the two things that mattered most: the product and the brand.
Finally, after eighteen months of grinding, she launched LEEVA—a collagen-rich, functional tea designed to feel as good as it tastes. The branding was clean, the product was premium, and the mission was clear.
The result? In her very first month of business, she pulled in over $11,000 in revenue. By the end of year one, she is on track to hit $200,000.
The Hustle Is Real (Like, 7-Days-a-Week Real)
Let’s be honest about the “side hustle” life for a moment. Lauren still has her full-time job. She didn’t quit chasing her dream; she layered her dream on top of her reality. So, how does she do it?
– Weekdays: She spends 4-5 hours a day on LEEVA. A couple of hours before her corporate job starts, and a couple of hours after it ends. That means 5 a.m. alarms and 10 p.m. emails.
– Weekends: While her friends are at brunch, she is usually at a pop-up event, packing orders, or prepping for the next week. Saturday and Sunday are not days off they’re catch-up days.
– The Reality: She works seven days a week. She misses out on seeing friends. She doesn’t always have time to cook a balanced meal. The glamour of entrepreneurship? It’s mostly cardboard boxes and spreadsheets.
Lauren shared that her guiding light through the exhaustion is a crystal-clear understanding of her “Why.” She advises aspiring founders to take the vision you have for your life and “multiply that by 10.” Because when you are getting up at 5 a.m. to pack boxes, the only thing that will keep you going is a “why” that is bigger than your fatigue.
When Things Go Wrong (And They Will)
About a week after launch, the dream almost turned into a nightmare. Customers started messaging her: the safety seals on her cans were popping open during shipping. Powder was leaking everywhere. Orders arrived looking like they’d been through a war zone.
Her brand-new company was making a terrible first impression.
“I was mortified,” she admits.
where Lauren’s lack of beverage experience was outweighed by her experience in customer relations. She didn’t hide. She didn’t delete comments. She didn’t make excuses.
- Investigated: She immediately went to her manufacturer to find the problem and fix it at the source.
- Inspected: She checked every single can in her inventory by hand.
- Communicated: She made an Instagram Reel speaking directly to her customers. She explained the issue, why it happened, and how she was fixing it. Then she emailed everyone with a link to the video.
The result? Not a single person asked for a refund. By being honest and human, she turned a potential PR disaster into a trust-building moment. Her customers actually respected her more for how she handled it.
The Lesson Hidden in a Google Search
Lauren Olds’ story isn’t really about tea, or collagen, or even $11,000 months. It’s about the power of that first, clumsy step.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need a 40-page business plan. You don’t need a famous last name or a check from a venture capitalist. You don’t even need experience.
All you need is the courage to ask the question.
Go ahead. Open a new tab. Type it in.
“How do I start a…”
“How do I become a…”
“How do I make…”
That search bar is the doorway to your new life. Lauren walked through it with zero experience, zero connections, and zero guarantees. Three and a half months later, she was making five figures a month.
What’s stopping you from typing the first word?
