JZD: The Queer Latina-Owned Brand Centered in Celebrating Cultura

Jennifer Serrano and Veronica Vasquez, the founders JZD, the queer Latina-owned lifestyle brand that builds community and celebrates cultura every day, poured their hearts out on an LATV Exclusive Q&A. Get ready to find out what it takes to build a business with a partner as you stand out for your values, your motives and your culture.

“We’re so excited to be expanding into Home Goods now with the launch of our Un Día a La Vez Tea Towels and Throw Pillow as well as adding denim into our collection with the new patchworked denim jacket.” – Jen and Vero on their new collections now available at Target.

• Tell us a bit about your upbringing: nationality, family background, growing up Latina

  We are proud to be living the American Dream with our dollar and a dream hustle mentality, which has catapulted our business and brand to unimaginable heights as two women with immigrant roots. Jen immigrated from Mexico at the age of six and Vero is a first-generation Mexican-American, but raised and currently based in Brownsville, Texas.

• Share your take on entrepreneurship – any specific defining moments in your journey

Entrepreneurship is so hard, but so worthwhile. Every day, every new product and every moment within this journey is a defining one for us. We started this brand with just $200 in our bank account back in 2016. So, to now see our brand in more than 1,500 Target stores nationwide is surreal. Many small businesses don’t get these kinds of opportunities and we’re just so appreciative that Target took a chance with JZD.

• How did you fall into a career in apparel? your studies, and accomplishments…

  We actually have a background in psychology and legal studies, but always had the desire to run our own business. After working in our fields for a few years we decided to take a leap of faith and start JZD. We started super small selling on Etsy and have learned so much through our 6 years in business.

• How have your different projects helped find inclusion for the Latinx community?

  Everything we do is centered around celebrating our Latinx cultura and community every day. It’s really such a joy to be able to bring a brand to life via all of our products, which all about including all of who we are as Latinas and share in that celebration with our family, friends and our customers. Whether it’s our Latina Power t-shirt or our new Corazon Latino t-shirts with Target to our Viva La Mujer Que Lucha crewneck, everything we do is to allow our community to feel represented and celebrated.

• Tell us about the biggest struggles/obstacles in your career, and how you have overcome them

  The biggest struggles were just taking the leap of faith with putting all that I had left financially into JZD and needing to find a way to make it work. Vero and I were newlyweds, basically no money, but we had each other and a vision so we knew with hard work and a plan, we could build something for ourselves. Vero also took a big risk and quit her corporate job to come full time with JZD in 2017. She saw I needed the help so that was also scary for some time because that financial cushion of a salary was now gone.

• What makes you most proud of the work you do?

  Our community is our “why” and what makes us most proud! Everything that JZD does and every single item that we put out is with our community in mind. We love creating pieces that make our customers say “Wow! That’s me!” or “This reminds me of my abuela!”

• Do you have a mantra, piece of art, person or ritual that has helped you in a proud way that you would like to share?

  Our mantra is “no pasa nada.”  (It’s all good) Those 3 little words have really helped us keep going and keep pushing forward! Whatever life throws our way, we know we can overcome it and come out stronger on the other side, no pasa nada.