Today we’d like to introduce you to Juliet Sea Chen
Hi Juliet Sea, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Aces Wilder has been a transformative journey not just for the men we serve but also for us as founders. My co-founder, Jenny Zhang, and I grew up as childhood best friends in the Midwest and later moved to NYC, where we built careers in finance – myself in Real Estate Private Equity, and Jenny in corporate banking. By day, we climbed the corporate ladder, but by night, we thrived in the music and dance culture of concerts, festivals, and raves.
When the pandemic forced us to pause and reflect, we realized how much we wanted to live more creatively, authentically, and adventurously. This realization led us to Burning Man in 2022, and to our surprise, we felt completely at home there. All the years we’d spent cultivating self-expression through outfits worked perfectly in that environment, making us feel like we had found our long-lost home. We realized how powerful Radical Self Expression could be—not only as a personal statement but as a way to attract the most authentic connections with others.
As we immersed ourselves in this world, we not only were awed by the creativity and individuality we saw around us, but we noticed how much harder it was for many of our male friends to not only create expressive outfits but also feel comfortable wearing them. This realization planted the seed for Aces Wilder.
Jenny and I’s lives have taken a complete 180 from launching this company. While the brand’s mission is to help men step into their most authentic and adventurous selves, building it has pushed us to do the same—whether it’s quitting our corporate jobs to bring this vision to life, leaving our NYC lives behind for LA, stepping into roles as leaders, flexing our creativity to design unique styles, or traveling across the world to manufacture and innovate the best materials!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road! Especially in the beginning, we were juggling demanding corporate jobs while trying to bring this vision to life, which meant every spare moment was dedicated to Aces Wilder. Transitioning from corporate to entrepreneurial mindsets has been a challenge, and as two self-funded founders, we’ve had to be incredibly scrappy with our resources. And of course, building a team and learning to collaborate as business partners rather than just best friends has been a big adjustment.
Another challenge was that neither of us had any experience with e-commerce or marketing when we started. We had to learn everything from scratch—how to navigate channels and funnels, how to use social media effectively, even how to film videos and get the right lighting. Some of our early videos look horrible! Getting comfortable in front of the camera and sharing our story was an entirely new skill set for us to develop.
The biggest challenge, though, has been our pivot from curating clothes to designing and manufacturing them. When we started, we thought we could simply source cool pieces for men, but we quickly realized the wholesale market wasn’t what we imagined. The options were either too outlandish, too expensive, or too cheap and low-quality. We also discovered that the average guy didn’t have the interest, time, foundations or confidence to create fully expressive outfits.
This insight has completely shifted our approach, and we’ve begun designing and manufacturing our own pieces to bridge that gap. This has been an entirely new (and steep) learning curve, from finding the right collaborators to balancing creativity with functionality, but it’s been worth it to create something truly unique and impactful.
As you know, we’re big fans of Aces Wilder. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Aces Wilder is a men’s festival-wear brand, focused on blending performance, masculinity, and individuality. One of the biggest challenges we’ve noticed for men is that it’s tough to shop for festival clothing that is both high-quality and reasonably priced. Many pieces are either too wild or lack the durability needed for a festival adventure.
For Festival Season 2025, we’re launching a new collection of festival apparel with bold patterns that aren’t over the top, made of high performance fabrics. We’re focused on pieces that feel amazing on the skin and will also hold up for long days and nights of dancing – with moisture-wicking, anti-odor, and sun protection.
But what really sets us apart is that our designs draw from Jung’s Mature Man Archetypes—the Warrior for discipline and strength, Mystic for curiosity and intellect, and Lover for creativity and community. Our clothing lets men showcase the best parts of their personalities in a way that feels authentic to them.
We’re especially proud that we’ve found a way to speak to men about ‘fashion’ in a language they understand, drawing on the same archetypes men know from creating video game characters, watching movies, or reading books. It’s this approach that truly sets us apart from regular clothing brands, giving men a way to wear something that aligns with their identity and aspirations, not just fashion trends. We’ve created a YouTube channel with tutorials and guides for men’s festival and theme outfits!
For LA locals, we offer individualized, in-person styling for events, theme parties, festivals and Burning Man!
Ultimately, we serve men by bringing comfort, performance, style, and self-expression all together in a way that makes it easy for them to showcase who they truly are, and to find the authentic connections they are dreaming of on their IRL dancing adventures!
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Books: Get a Grip by Gino Wickman and Mike Paton.
10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan
The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living
Be Here Now
Podcasts: How I Built this, Diary of CEO
Apps: Definitely Chat GPT for ideation, Mid journey for our video game-style visuals
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Aceswilder.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/aceswilderinc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Aces-Wilder-100086997938413/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@aceswilderinc
Image Credits
Andrew Hawes Photography
