Published May 31, 2026
By SOPHIE CANAN
Inspired by her last name, which means “gold” in Chinese, as well as her love for the beach, CHS sophomore Jasmine Jin has grown her coastal hoodie business, Golden Cove, finding success on social media and selling over $3,800 worth of hoodies within just a year.
When creating a new product, Jasmine Jin bases the design around a color, like with the Sea Of Stars design. courtesy of JASMINE JIN
Jin began working on Golden Cove in 2024 by developing her first sweatshirt, hand-drawing summer-themed designs on Procreate.
“It was just me, my iPad and an apple pencil, sketching away for hours,” Jin explains. “I designed something I thought was cute and hoped others would feel that way too.”
From there, the sophomore worked with a manufacturing company in China to bring her hoodies to life using embroidery machines to create the first sample of her product, but the high shipping costs overseas and expensive taxes created some issues.
“It’s really hard to have a small business when dealing with taxes,” Jin says. “It’s definitely an investment at first, but it’s fully self-funded by me and my dreams.”
Despite having an accountant in the early stages of her business, Jin now does her own taxes and fully self-manages her business, including all the behind-the-scenes work. Jin was eventually able to grow her business and earn back all the money that she originally invested by leveraging social media platforms.
“I’ve been reaching out to micro influencers who would post two to three videos in the hoodie, which would bring in a lot of sales,” Jin describes. “I also post videos myself on TikTok, which would create more of a following, in addition to more sales.”
In the future, Jasmine Jin hopes to expand beyond coastal designs and base new lines off of a forest theme. courtesy of JASMINE JIN
Since launching in 2025 with her original Starboard design, the sophomore has created the Sea of Stars design in two new colors and hopes to continue expanding her business with new lines beyond its coastal beginnings.
“I want to come out with a new line focused around the forest and flowers,” says Jin. “I want to donate some of those funds to a non-profit that plants trees to give back to the community.”
Hoping to continue her business through college, Jin explains how much she enjoys the legal aspects of her business and hopes to major in something business related, since it has always been something she wanted to pursue.
What started as just a sophomore’s love for the beach became a successful business that Jasmine Jin hopes to grow and expand throughout the years.
Hoodies are available at goldencove.store.
