Lennick’s studio today is a downstairs room in her home in one of San Francisco’s outer neighborhoods. Lennick draws her clips on her tablet, chooses their colors from a library of samples and sends the designs to her long-time Chinese factory, which produces a prototype.
Her style, she explains, pares food down to its essentials, and she rarely uses more than three colours to aid wearability. She also watches food trends – the sardine tin claw clip is because tinned fish is having a moment.
And she is adding designs inspired by seasons and festive occasions, including a pumpkin spice latte hair clip that debuted this past autumn.
Jenny Lemons now has three full-time staff – Lennick, her husband as director of operations, and an operations manager, plus contractors who help with everything from inventory forecasting to social media, where Instagram is crucial.
Revenue reached $2m last year, up from $1.7m in 2024. And the business, she says, is profitable.
A shipment of 31,000 clips – the company’s largest yet – recently crossed the Pacific to a fulfilment centre in Missouri which handles orders for her. About 60% of sales are wholesale, with the rest online.
A recent survey of her customers found most were aged 25 to 45, with about 30% in teaching or healthcare. Some wear the clips to glam up medical uniforms, she says.
