Jennie Lennick (‘09) took an art degree and turned it into a thriving business creating food-themed fashion products and accessories.  She’s now known for her brand Jenny Lemons and its colorful designs that have been selling worldwide for over 10 years. That journey all began with a foundation in craft, design, and inspiration that she formed through the arts at UMD.

“ My education at UMD really helped me develop a discerning eye and to understand when things were working visually,” Lennick said. “At UMD, I really honed my craft and created my aesthetic.” Her style became minimal and simplified in Duluth, too, something that’s become a hallmark of her Jenny Lemons brand.

“My goal was to make a piece that you could understand immediately.”

From UMD, Lennick moved to California to continue her studies. After graduating with a Master’s degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, she explored being a fine artist and selling art in galleries. She exhibited at a number of shows, but never sold much of her work, so in 2015 she decided to shift her focus.

“I had an art show where I was like, ‘you know what, instead of making paintings, I'm gonna make some products.’” She created things like shirts and jewelry from her designs, hanging them at the show. When those products based on her art started to sell, she realized she could create a business.

“I started out as a fine artist creating artwork all about food and community,” Lennick said. “Maybe I should make products instead.”

She launched Jenny Lemons full-time in 2017. It began with mostly clothing, but later it grew to include pieces like hair clips, necklaces, and a wide array of accessories–all in her signature style and centered around that theme of food.

“I was interested in this connection between high art and traditional crafts and family histories; how we all connect around food and these celebratory moments in our lives,” Lennick said. “My business was born from this idea of connecting people around food.”

A self-labeled ‘true millennial,’ Lennick was an early adopter of channels like Instagram. Much of her marketing has been through social media, and she’s been crafting that voice now for a decade. Her consistently bold and honest posts have become a signature of the brand. “ Instagram has helped develop a real community,” she says. “People feel like they're part of the story of my business and kind of my life. It has played a huge role.”

Her business grew substantially. At the time of writing,  Jenny Lemon's products are sold in over 700 retailers worldwide. “It is truly a dream come true to have such an amazing reach,” Lennick said.

With that success, Lennick has been able to focus more on her role in the company, and to lean on the foundations that she built at UMD. “I’m the founder, but since we've grown, I'm the head of marketing and head of design.”

Thinking back through her journey, she says, “a lot of the work I did at UMD is really similar to the work that I do now,” she said.

Along that journey, she’s proud that her theme of food has helped to foster community. Lennick’s customers gift her products to friends or family, or buy something to accentuate their own personality. Whatever the story, it's those connections that fuel her to keep making.

“ I'm creating a product, an art piece, that is literally bringing people together and creating conversations,” she said. “It's creating little moments of joy.”