The female employees in Lu Jiaojiao's factory are preparing food. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Lu Jiaojiao, a 29-year-old from Yunnan, turned her challenges as a rural mother into a successful business that empowers over 30 women.
Lu Jiaojiao, a 29-year-old from a village in Yunnan province, Southwest China, has transformed from a rural girl into a thriving businesswoman.
Over the past nine years, she has led over 30 women in rural employment and built a successful business.
Lu's entrepreneurial journey began with a common challenge faced by many mothers. In 2015, to address her child's picky eating habits, she came across a social media post about making colorful noodles using vegetable and fruit juices and decided to try it at home.
To her delight, her child enjoyed the noodles, so Lu shared them with other mothers. Some of them, feeling it was unfair to receive the noodles for free, began purchasing these brightly colored noodles from Lu regularly, marking the start of her financial success.
As Lu's reputation grew, she attracted customers beyond her immediate circle. Being a mother herself, she continually improved her products to better meet children's needs.
In 2016, after her child suffered a bowel obstruction from overeating and required hospital treatment, Lu turned to an experienced traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctor for solutions.
Since her child was too young for TCM herbs, the doctor recommended a formula made from medicinal and edible ingredients — natural substances that offer both health benefits and nutritional value and are safe for long-term use. However, like many TCM herbs, the decoction was hard for young children to swallow and keep down.
Lu started experimenting with enhancing its flavors and textures by adding more sugar and hawthorn, and she concentrated the decoction into a paste for easier storage and use.
"After testing dozens of formulas at home, I finally developed one that was both effective and appealing to children," she said.
When Lu introduced this final product to her customers, it quickly gained popularity and eventually became a flagship product of her future company.
Today, Lu's company specializes in medicinal foods, including handmade snacks, desserts, health pastes, and sugar-free lollipops, all of which are highly popular with both children and mothers.
Lu holds pears that will be used as ingredients in her factory. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Lu's journey was far from easy. As a newcomer to the food industry, she initially believed that using quality ingredients, maintaining a clean production environment, and being responsible for her products and customers would be sufficient for success.
However, as her customer base expanded and her company grew, Lu came to understand the complexities of the business world.
"Being a female entrepreneur is tough enough. With just a middle school education, I've faced plenty of setbacks and detours along the way," she said.
By 2019, Lu's brand had made significant progress in the market. As she was preparing to open a physical store, a former partner reported her to the local administration for market regulation, accusing her of infringing on the partner's trademark rights. It was then that Lu discovered her trademark had been maliciously registered by this partner shortly after she founded her company.
To prevent further losses, she had to pay 60,000 yuan ($8,454) to reclaim her trademark.
In 2020, her newly renovated factory was intentionally damaged. Due to limited funds, she had not yet installed surveillance cameras. Although she reported the incident to the police immediately, she still doesn't know who was responsible or why it happened.
"This incident hit me hard. With my family and employees not around, I had to handle everything on my own. I didn't even have time to cry and let out my frustrations," she recalled.
Despite these setbacks, Lu grew stronger over time. "Even with all the pressure, I was determined not to give up. I focused on finding solutions and ways to thrive in the business world with my team," she said.
From her early entrepreneurial efforts to obtaining a food processing license for her factory, Lu dedicated many hours traveling alone across various cities and provinces to promote her brand.
She learned about financial planning, industry regulations, and business management from the ground up.
Today, she runs a food factory with an annual output exceeding 15 million yuan, producing its own products and processing over 30 types of food for 19 brands across the country.
Lu's experience has given her a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by rural women, particularly mothers.
She pointed out that, unlike major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where women are increasingly raising awareness, challenging social norms, and finding more business opportunities, entrepreneurship is much harder for a homemaker from rural Yunnan raising three children.
According to Lu, in her rural hometown, women's abilities are often underestimated, with many confined to household duties. "People frequently assume that men are more capable than women," she said.
Lu (front) is cleaning vegetables. [Photo provided to China Daily]
She added that despite working full-time jobs like men, many women still handle most of the household chores and family responsibilities when they return home, while men often take it for granted.
Lu's journey has motivated her to support other mothers facing gender bias and career obstacles.
Currently, Lu's factory employs 32 people — all of them are women — including 28 local mothers.
She discovered that female employees, even when handling physically demanding tasks, consistently showed more diligence and excelled in both production and sanitation.
"Our team of women has proven that they can do just as well as, or even better than, men. They're incredibly brave and are the backbone of our company's growth," Lu said.
Unable to change societal attitudes, Lu concentrates on providing more support and care to her female employees in various ways.
For example, she adjusted the start time from 8 am to 8:30 am, allowing employees to drop off their children at school and have breakfast before beginning work. She also moved the finish time to half an hour earlier than the local standard, providing them with additional personal time.
"These supports are limited," Lu said. "I always hope that the women can take on more leadership roles and that we can genuinely achieve gender equality."
