Entrepreneur Spotlight: Jing Gao of Fly By Jing
This month, we’re celebrating our generation’s Asian American entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of NYC. Jing Gao is the founder and CEO of Fly By Jing, the popular Sichuan Chili Crisp sauce brand that has become a pantry staple in the homes of cooks around the country.
What is your background, and the inspiration behind your business?
I grew up all over the world, but returned to China in my mid-twenties for a tech job — and that’s where I really connected to Sichuan food. I studied with master chefs, wrote about food for different publications, and even opened a restaurant in Shanghai. Fly By Jing actually started as an underground supper club that had pop-up dinners all over the world. I had the idea to launch as a packaged food brand when I would see people’s eyes light up when they tried what became my all-natural Sichuan Chili Crisp. It was the base of a lot of dishes I served and people just had an instant connection to the flavors. I launched with the chili crisp, and had the most successful Kickstarter campaign for a food brand to date. That really set Fly By Jing off on its journey.
What is the significance of being an Asian founder in your industry?
Part of what inspired me to found FLY BY JING was my first experience at Expo West, the largest yearly natural foods show. As I walked the many, many halls of brands, I barely saw any brands representing non-Western foods and cultures. It was wholly unrepresentative of the world I lived in.
We get asked often about if it’s challenging to market Chinese sauces to ‘appeal to the mainstream’—which to me, is just coded language for what white audiences will be receptive to. The mainstream U.S. audience is not what it was 50, or even 10 years ago. The way this country looks—and eats— is changing fast. It’s been so inspiring to see so many new Asian CPG food brands launch in the last few years. We need more, and more, and more. As an Asian founder, my community of other Asian founders and brands have been essential to so many parts of keeping Fly By Jing going. They’re my friends, sounding board, and safety net when I stumble. It’s really a special thing.
Why are you proud of the Asian (American) community?
Maybe this is less pride and more what I treasure and find so essential about being an active member of the Asian community—when we’re together, we can go beyond resilience. We can see more in each other than how beautifully we can endure marginalization, hypervisibility, and violence. We can see each other as artists, and writers, and entrepreneurs, in conversation with our heritage and culture. And the Asian diaspora is so wide! We’re all so different. It’s such a rich tapestry of human experience to share and learn from together.
What’s your favorite place to go in Chinatown?
I love Wing on Wo & Co! I’d love to work on a piece with them for Fly By Jing one day—it’s so inspiring how they’ve engaged the next generation of Chinatown residents and artists. It’s amazing to see a family business embrace the evolution of culture with open arms and the fruit that comes from that.
What are some challenges you’ve overcome an Asian founder, and how did the community support you?
I recently spoke with the New York Times about some of the trolls we’ve faced on social media, who come at us with everything from flat-out racism and misogyny to complaining that our prices are too high for Asian food. We’ve decided to troll them right back, using humor and cleverness. I’ve had a lot of support from other Asian founders — especially women — who’ve gone through the same thing. Chatting with them about how they handle this sort of thing has been really helpful.
