Hidden Gems: Meet Jason Chan of Eastern Leaf, Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Chan.

Hi Jason, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Below is a excerpt from our store history page. I’ve also listed a quick summary at the end as well.

Founded in the fall of 2004, Jason and Renee started as a small vendor selling lucky bamboo arrangements at local farmer’s markets in San Diego. They would try their best to fill the 10 x 10 booth with as many plants as possible. Despite San Diego’s reputation of sunny skies, it rained nearly every Sunday during the market. On some days, Jason and Renee would be lucky to sell a single item. However, their persistence was rewarded as the little shop quickly gained popularity with the regular market shoppers.

The Launch of Easternleaf.com

After getting requests from many of the market shoppers to create a website, Jason and Renee launched EasternLeaf.com at the end of 2004. With his technical background, Jason designed and coded an online store overnight and launched it the next day. They received their first online order 5 hours later. The first shipped order did not go quite as they had planned as the pot arrived shattered. They reshipped the item and learned their first lesson. Since then, they developed their own custom packaging in which nearly all of the trees are now packaged.

Establishing Eastern Leaf

After operating out of their garage for two years, Jason and Renee moved to their first warehouse in 2006. At first, the two thought they would never be able to fill the 1,200 square foot facility as they only had three pallets of inventory. One year later, they had outgrown it and needed to move. Over the next two years, Jason and Renee continued to add more products to the store, expanding their selection of bonsai trees, lucky bamboo, money trees, orchids, and other natural Zen related products.

In 2008, Jason and Renee moved to a larger warehouse. Similar to the previous warehouse, the two thought they would never fully utilize it. Four years later, in 2012, Jason and Renee had to purchase a large nursery property to meet with the demands of the business. As popularity grew, Jason and Renee expanded their production to starting plants from cuttings and seeds. In 2021, an additional two acres of land was purchased to continue growing and developing specialized species of trees including maples, junipers, pines, and various broadleaf trees. Eastern Leaf continued to grow and quickly established itself as a trusted source for quality bonsai trees, lucky bamboo, money trees, orchids, and zen gardening items.

On July 2023, Jason and Renee finished construction on their new garden center, which encompasses both their online operation and nursery. Their hope with the new retail garden is to provide an inviting experience to visitors interested in bonsai and various other plants. At the garden, visitors are able to see trees at different stages of development, from raw material to finished bonsai trees. Visitors can also hand pick trees to be shipped out to friends or back home if visiting from further away. Jason is also available at the nursery to share his knowledge with visitors.

Continually Learning and Sharing

Jason is very active in the bonsai community. In 2014, Jason was elected to the board of the Golden State Bonsai Federation. In 2015, he became the editor of GSBF’s quarterly bonsai magazine publication. Locally, he has served as an officer for Kofu Bonsai Kai, one of Southern California’s largest bonsai clubs. Jason holds demonstrations regularly at bonsai clubs, garden organizations, botanical centers, and museums throughout the country. Jason continues to share the knowledge he learns through his blog articles and videos. He also contributes to various bonsai publications including Bonsai Club International and GSBF. In 2017, he helped establish a bonsai school in Chino. In 2019, Jason started the Eastern Leaf Community, a place for enthusiasts of all levels to come together and collaborate on bonsai techniques and tips in a friendly and welcoming environment.

In 2021, Jason published Bonsai Pocket Guide: A Beginner’s Journey, a book dedicated to helping beginners and new enthusiasts start their journey into the art of bonsai. The book has been praised by many bonsai clubs and communities as a comprehensive starter guide to bonsai.

Jason continues to be involved in the bonsai community through hosting bonsai club events, tours, and demonstrations. He also participates with the California Bonsai Society in hosting visiting artists from around the world to spread the art locally.

Eastern Leaf was fortunate enough to have their products appear in various magazines and publications including Better Homes & Garden, Naturally Danny Seo, Architectural Digest, Vogue, Washington Post, Martha Stewart Living, Veranda Magazine, Las Vegas Journal, Domino Magazine as well as an appearance on the television show Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Eastern Leaf also participates and hosts workshops at large conventions including Anime Expo.

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Quick Summary:

My wife and I started this business back in 2004 from our little apartment in San Diego. Our first shop was a little tent at the local farmer’s market. It was difficult. We did not always get sales each time we set up our shop but we continued to show up. Eventually, our reputation grew and we started getting more customers. We listened to what our customers asked for and started offering more of those products. A few months into it, my wife bought me a Chinese Elm bonsai. I thought it was one of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen and from there we introduced our bonsai to our store. We were still operating out of our apartment balcony at this time. Soon after, we created our first online store and we received a sale almost immediately. As my fascination with bonsai grew, I continually kept learning. I became involved with many bonsai organizations during this time and became very active in the community. I wanted to spread the joy of what I found in this art form with others, so I began teaching. I created a Youtube channel and shared my knowledge with the others are community and industry events. I eventually wrote a book that is now widely used across the country by many bonsai clubs.

As our involvement grew, so did our business. We expanded from our apartment, to a self storage unit, to a small rental home, to a small warehouse, to a medium large warehouse, then a nursery property to our current location where I built a warehouse and nursery operation. I continue to support the industry and still demonstrate and teach regularly. I enjoy introducing others to the art form of bonsai and see the excitement in both young and older enthusiasts, similar to what I experienced when I first started.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not, one of the largest struggles of running this business has been adapting to everything that changes each year. Since we deal with plants, we contend with the weather, pests, and outside forces that are out of our control. We’ve also gone through the great recession, a pandemic, and different economic conditions.

I think that when faced with these challenges, the best you can do is adjust your business. Whether building protective environments for your plants, or changing care conditions. Not everything is your control, but at the minimum you can control how you respond to it.

Every time a new challenge presents itself, we learn from it and our business becomes more resilient so if that challenge happens again, we are adequately prepared for it. Without the struggles, the company would never develop and improve.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a retailer specializing in bonsai trees. We also carry other types of plants. However, our specialty is still bonsai. We grow, train, and develop our plants for bonsai. This process can take several years to reach a desired shape and size. Each species of tree requires different methods of growing and care.

Our goal is to not only provide the plants themselves but also the educational resources to learn the art form. Our site is filled with information on how to learn about bonsai.

I’m most proud of the team here at Eastern Leaf. All of our staff have a deep connection with our trees and a wealth of information that we share every day with customers and visitors to our nursery.

I’d want your readers to know if they visit Eastern Leaf, they will come away with knowledge of the art of bonsai. Should they be interested in caring for one, we have the resources and supplies to help them along the way.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
My friends would describe me as a kind and caring individual. As a child, I was always interested in art, drawing, painting. When bonsai was presented to me by my wife as an adult, it opened up a whole new medium for me that I didn’t even know existed. What was different from drawing was that bonsai that would grow, develop, and change constantly.

I’ve also always loved building things or tinkering with stuff. A lot of times I would break stuff by doing it but I’d figure out how to put it back together. I spent a good amount of time in the garage doing this. I don’t think my parents appreciated it that much.

I’ve always enjoyed creating things that didn’t exist. Maybe they did, but not to me at the time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.easternleaf.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/easternleaf/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/easternleaf
• Twitter: https://x.com/easternleaf
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/easternleaf
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/easternleaf/_saved/