How I Built a "Fake Factory" to Land a Multimillion-Dollar Deal

When people talk about "fake it till you make it," they usually mean carrying yourself with confidence.
I took it... a little more literally.

After Jack Ma’s team placed a massive multimillion-dollar purchase order with Pure Placid, I was over the moon. It felt surreal. Life-changing. The kind of thing you dream about when you’re blending products in the back of a tiny store, wondering if anyone will notice.

And then came the email:
“We’d love to come visit your factory and see your operations.”

Cue the internal panic.

Because here’s the thing:
We didn’t have a factory.
We had... me, one employee, and a back room behind our retail shop.

No forklifts.
No shipping docks.
No bustling teams in hairnets and lab coats.
Just us, some shelves, and a whole lot of hope.

But was I about to say no to Jack Ma’s team?
Absolutely not.

I was deep in my “say yes and figure it out later” era.

Step One: Find a “Factory”

I called a local friend who had rented me space when I was just getting started—before I even had my store.
By some miracle, he had an old warehouse space available.

Perfect.
It wasn’t glamorous.
It wasn’t ready.
But it was something.

I signed the lease, rolled up my sleeves, and got to work.

Step Two: Make It Look Real

I maxed out every credit card I had outfitting the space.

• Stainless steel tables? Ordered.

• Filling machines? Bought (even if we didn’t really use them).

• Stacks of taped-up empty boxes? You bet.

• White lab coats for everyone? Mandatory. (Because nothing says “professional operation” like a crisp lab coat.)

We staged the entire place to look like a bustling production hub.
We made it feel alive. Busy. Growing.

It was part real, part dream, and a whole lot of hustle.

Step Three: Open the Doors

The day Jack Ma’s team arrived, I was nervous—but proud.
They toured the space, met our “team,” and asked all the right questions.
And you know what?
They loved it.

They didn’t see the scrappy beginnings or the last-minute setup.
They saw the vision.
They saw the belief.
They saw where we were going.

And honestly, that's what entrepreneurship is all about.

The Real Lesson

When I look back at that moment now, I laugh.
But I’m also proud.

Because sometimes, when you're building something from nothing, you have to believe in your future so fiercely that you're willing to build it—physically, financially, emotionally—before anyone else can see it.

Sometimes "fake it till you make it" doesn’t mean being fake.
It means believing so hard in what's coming that you start acting like it's already here.

You create the space for your next chapter.
Even if it means lab coats, empty boxes, and a whole lot of duct tape.

If you're standing on the edge of something bigger right now—wondering if you're ready—here's your reminder:

Say yes.
Figure it out.
Build your fake factory.
And trust that one day soon, it won’t feel fake at all.
It’ll just feel like the life you were meant to live.