Consider the Wildflowers
Consider the Wildflowers
104. Mimi Striplin: From Tiny Tassels to the Today Show— Million-Dollar Success Found in the Unlikeliest of Places
From Tiny Tassels to the Today Show— Today’s guest found million-dollar success in the unlikeliest of places.
Driven by her passion for building businesses and a life centered around joy, Mimi Striplin empowers female entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams professionally and personally. Mimi founded The Tiny Tassel in 2015, and has now surpassed the 7-figure revenue mark all while finding joy in her work. The Tiny Tassel is a handmade jewelry, clothing, and accessories brand inspired by the vibrant colors of Charleston, SC. Featured in Southern Living, People, Business Insider, & on the Today Show— The Tiny Tassel is making big waves all across the country.
In this conversation you’ll hear how digging into her business numbers led to strategic growth & the unexpected joy she’s found in entrepreneurship. Let’s dive in!
WILDFLOWER SHOWNOTES : shannaskidmore.com/mimi-striplin
📌 RESOURCES MENTIONED:
The Tiny Tassel (use code WILDFLOWER for 20% off)
The Tiny Tassel on the Today Show
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This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.
For anyone that's listening and they're thinking about like, how do I access capital, or even, how do I get a loan? Someone told me years ago, they said, access it when you don't need it. And I wish that I would have heard that a year before that, because that was a season where we were like, running the business all on cash, and it was all like, great. And we were like, We don't need capital. I just didn't know what I didn't know. I was so afraid of going into debt and seeing debt as debt, instead of seeing access to capital. And like, having that mindset shift if you are growing and scaling your business, think about, how can you access capital today so that when you do need it, you have that relationship already set in stone.
Lauren / Team Skidmore:Hey, Wildflower, Lauren from Team Skidmore here, and you're listening to consider the wildflowers the podcast episode 104 from tiny tassels to the Today Show, today's guest found million dollar success in the unlikeliest of places, driven by her passion for building businesses in a life centered around joy, Mimi striplin empowers female entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams, both professionally and personally. Mimi founded the tiny tassel in 2015 and has now surpassed the seven figure revenue mark, all while finding joy in her work. The tiny tassel is a handmade jewelry, clothing and accessories brand inspired by the vibrant colors of Charleston, South Carolina, featured in Southern Living people Business Insider and of course, on the Today Show, the tiny tassel is making big waves all across the country. In this conversation, you'll hear how digging into her business numbers led to strategic growth and the unexpected Joy she's found in entrepreneurship. Let's dive in.
Shanna Skidmore:Hey, it's Shanna, and this is consider the wildflowers the podcast. For the past 15 plus years, I've had the honor to hear 1000s of stories from entrepreneurs around the world as a former fortune 100 financial advisor turned business consultant, I have a unique opportunity to see the reel behind the highlight reel. I'm talking profit and loss, statements, unpaid taxes, moments of burnout and those of utter victory, or, as my husband says, the content everyone is wondering, but not many are talking about. And now I'm bringing these private conversations to you hear the untold stories of how industry leaders, founders and up and coming entrepreneurs got their start, the experiences that shaped them and the journey to building the brands they have today, stories that will inspire and reignite, encourage to redefine success and build a life and business on your own terms. Welcome, Wildflower. I'm so glad you're here. Hey, Mimi, welcome to the show.
Mimi Striplin:Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Shanna Skidmore:Okay, this is gonna be fun, and I normally like to, since we do kind of an intro before, like to just kick it back to the beginning of the story. But I would actually love Mimi, if you will, just start off and tell everybody who you are and what company and companies you own today.
Mimi Striplin:Yeah, I'm Mimi Strickland. I am the founder and CEO of the tiny tassel based in Charleston, South Carolina, and I also own a consulting company with my older sister called parfair Consulting. And there we just help work and implement different tools and skills with female entrepreneurs. And our focus are women of color to help them just gain access and create more stability and sustainability in their business while finding peace and ease. So I do a lot of things right now, and it all feels so joy, joyful. And I'm super excited to be here with you today to chat about it.
Shanna Skidmore:Okay, this is gonna be fun. How is it working with your sister? Oh
Mimi Striplin:my gosh. Okay, so I have to, like, backtrack just a little. I also work with my mom, so I love it. Okay, so much fun. I never would have imagined I would be working with family, it has been this incredible journey of like, learning so much about myself, about them, patience, controlling your emotions and temper and all the things. But it's really beautiful because there is this level of trust and understanding that I don't know if I would be able to to have this soon in my career, with other teammates and co workers and employees, and so it's been really incredible to work alongside my sister and my mom.
Shanna Skidmore:Okay, this is so fun because I feel a kindred spirit. B, it sounds like on the consulting side, you do a lot of financial support for small businesses, which you know, is what I do, and I love it. But my sister actually started working with me. Let's see 2014 15, so nine or 10 years ago. And. He does a lot of bookkeeping and that that type of nitty gritty work for my clients. So it's really fun, like, maybe kind of a similar dynamic. So did the tiny tassel come first? Yeah. Then I'm I'm jumping ahead, but then I want to know how the consulting side came about and working with your mom and your sister. So okay, tiny tassel first? Yes.
Mimi Striplin:So I started the tiny tassel in 2015 just on a whim, and it was from the same older sister. She gifted me these tassel earrings for my birthday. I'm the youngest of all my siblings, and, of course, in younger sister fashion, I was like, Oh, these are so cute. I would love to have these. She gifted them to me for my birthday, and I get them, I'm so excited. I FaceTime her, and I'm like, look how cute these are. And I don't think she remembers this, but I've told this story so many times, but she was just like, Yeah, I feel like you could have made those. And it was just something Emmy was sparked because I never made jewelry before. I never was like, the one that claimed to be creative out of my sisters and my mom. And something sparked in me where I was like, wait a minute, I could actually try to make these. And so I went to the internet. I went to Pinterest. I started looking of all these videos on how to make tassels and how to make jewelry out of it, and it was just this unique style that I loved. It was a fun statement. It was accessible. I started with hot pink tassel earrings, and then grew and added on a full rainbow of colors. And today, nine years later, we still hand make every tassel that we sell. And yes, it's a really beautiful part of our story. And like, keeps us grounded to our roots. And I would have never imagined that I would be running a creative business, because if someone asked me to, like, pick up a pencil and draw something, I literally start to like sweat. And from there, it has been this beautiful testimony of like you can truly do whatever you put your mind to. But also there are so many gifts inside of us that we just have to, like, be aware of and be present for, and it will just guide us through our lives and, like, take us exactly to where we need to be. So that's like the beginnings of the tiny tassel.
Shanna Skidmore:Oh, my goodness, I love it. I'm like, on your website right now, and I'm just currently obsessed, so I have to pick all the things, okay, take us back Mimi to life before starting the tiny tassel before being gifted those earrings from your sister. Like your background, did you it sounds like you never thought you'd own your own business, let alone a creative business. Kind of like, take us back to the story before the business. Yeah.
Mimi Striplin:So I grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and my mom and my dad were both entrepreneurs my whole life, and so my mom owned an alteration shop, and so we were there in the alteration shop with her pretty much my whole childhood. And whether we were helping out or like in the back room, out of the way, I got this first hand look at entrepreneurship and having to be in like a physical space where you're serving customers and you have to be on and just be multitasking and doing all these things. And so that was my first experience. And look, and my dad on the other side was a bill bondsman. So very different business, but I worked in his office. That was, like my first official job. When I was like 12, I used to have to call his clients and say, like, hi, you owe this much money. And most of them hang up in my face because I was a child or thrown in there. I was totally thrown in there. So one trait that I have is I can pick up the phone and call anyone, or I can answer the phone at any moment, and my childhood was just kind of shaped by the entrepreneurship of my parents, and because of that, for one period of my life, I saw how hard they work, how tough it was, how up and down it could be, and I kind of vowed to myself that I would not be An entrepreneur, and I went on to College of Charleston, and I got a degree in corporate communication, and I said, I'm going to be this, like, really cute, PR, girly. And my senior year of college, I was in this internship, and I was like, What am I doing? Like, I don't actually like this at all. Like, I don't like the work that I'm doing. I can't imagine moving on and doing this as a career. And all those years, through high school college, I'd worked in retail, and I really loved being on the floor, selling dressing mannequins, doing visual displays. And I would always say, one day I'll have a boutique, one day I'll own my own store, but it felt. Like such a faraway dream, and I would even go to the lengths of saying, like, after a career, I'll open a store, and I still think about that today, of like, why do we delay things so much? And I kind of did it the opposite way. I graduated from school, I got a job in menswear, managing a shop here in Charleston. I did that for about two and a half years and about a year, and I started the tiny tassel, and started to quickly realize, like, Okay, I've got something here, and if I just stick with it and actually focus in, I can grow it and maybe one day leave my job. And it was about a year after that, I picked up the phone and called my sister Aiko, and was like, okay, like, How much money do I actually need to make from this business in order to support myself? And it was so funny thinking about it now, because she was like, Well, you don't make a lot of money right now, so it's not going to be that hard to like to really take care of yourself, which, of course, it was so scary, and so much planning went into it, and so much saving, and I really, really, kind of jumped into the wind, but after so much preparation and planning, so I ended up giving about a six month notice To my job, and I was able to kind of work down my hours from full time to part time. And was in this really unique position where they, like needed me there, so they were able and willing to work with me, which I know is not the case at most jobs. And from there, I finally left that job at the end of 2016 and took on the tiny tassel full time in 2017 and from then, it has been this beautiful just experience of like resilience and persistence and joy and creativity and so much learning and So many beautiful connections. And I really do think back to, like my childhood of like playing instead of like playing house, I was playing like store and like doing these fun, like displays in my room with, like, all my cutesy, like pink things in my room. And fast forward to today, like when I stand in my storefront in Charleston, I tell customers almost daily, like it's so pleasing to my inner child, like it's so joyful. It is like a dream come true that I get to share this with the world, and it's something that I never felt like would become reality, and I'm so grateful that it is like real life. It's a real life dream,
Shanna Skidmore:yeah, oh my goodness, I love this so much. Okay, so tell me, in those beginning days, it sounds like maybe your sister was really helpful in this, or maybe it's something you figured out on your own. I'd love to hear just how you figured out, yeah, like leaving your job planning the financial side. Like, do you feel like that kind of came naturally to you, or your sister was a big help, like figuring out pricing and overhead and just all the like money and business side of starting the time tassel. And also, I would love to hear how it started. Was it all online at first? Because now you have a storefront. So at what point did the storefront come? So I gave you two big questions there,
Mimi Striplin:so I did not take to the financial side naturally at all. And my sister, she has a background in accounting, and she, at the time, was working with a lot of small businesses at the firm where she worked, and so she had a lot of experience seeing the back end of small businesses, and she has helped me since day one, whether it was just encouragement or like, hey, you need to save this amount, or you can spend this amount on X, Y and Z. But I'm so grateful for her, and it's been such a foundational part of the business, to have her support and to have her guidance on the finance side. And I think back to when I first started. I just took to Etsy because that was the place to go in 2015 to start your creative shop. And it was this really cool platform where people were coming and you didn't have to, like, work so hard, or, like, think about 24/7 like, how am I gonna drive traffic to my site? Because you're on the site where traffic is coming. And it was really incredible. Because I'll never forget the first time I got an order from someone that, like, I absolutely had no ties to did not know wasn't like a friend of my sisters or a family member. That was the moment that I was like, Okay, this is like, this feels real now, yeah. And that was because of Etsy. And from there, I, like, started an Instagram account and started to just share, like, what I was doing, what I was making. Being it was just very like tassel earring focused. Like that was what you saw pretty much in every post. Like you never saw me. You never saw people like behind the brand. And from there, I switched to my own website about a year and a half later, and was doing all these pop ups and trunk shows. And had even started traveling when I left my full time job and had that, like, time freedom, and started to just really, really dig into, like, spreading the brand name. And the coolest thing is, when you get your first repeat customer and they're like, I had to come back because I got so many compliments, or I had to come back and buy a pair for my friend. And that was just like, those kind of stepping stones of starting the business and really digging into it, but going back to, like, the financial side. When I left my full time job, I gave that six month notice because my sister challenged me, of like, see how much money you can save in six months. And we'll, like, we'll come to terms there. And, like, see if you can actually pay your rent and pay your bill, right, all these things. And I remember when I finally left my full time job, I don't think I had more than, like, my rent and like, $500 for the next month. Like, it was not this, like, beautiful story of like, and she saved 1000s of dollars, right? Like, okay, that's enough to, like, cover my next paycheck, essentially. And at that time, I just knew, like, it was my time to leave that part of my life in that business, and it was so special, but it also fueled me like there was no backup plan. There was no one else that was gonna pay my rent or buy my groceries. And so that kind of fueled me to move forward. And I've always had that kind of sense inside of me, and I think it goes back from my parents entrepreneurship and my mom. She moved to the States from Japan in the 80s, so she has this like immigrant mindset and just like work ethic that we see a lot. And growing up in that type of household between her and my dad, like there was so much drive, but there's also been a lot that I've, like learned and had to unlearn from my beginnings of the business, because there are times with with money, like we can get so in our heads about it, and it can kind of drive me, personally, to, like, work, to no end, which one of the main reasons why I started my business was to become like more financially stable and have financial freedom, and also have freedom of my time. But there have been so many seasons of this entrepreneurship journey that I've not had that even though the business was finding success and so the finances in the business, and just the whole like, journey and experience of entrepreneurship has tied so hand in hand. And for anyone that's listening and they're like, I'm not good with finances, I just want to challenge you to, like, get to know some of your numbers. Like, if anything, it's just going to empower you so much and, like, educate you so much on the opportunity that you have versus just the opposite.
Shanna Skidmore:Mimi, okay, because I know you do some consulting, and your work so closely with your sister who has an accounting background. Okay, I'm gonna ask you, I'm gonna put you on the spot. So I didn't prep you for this. Here we go. What numbers did you start getting to know? Like, because I have what I would do in my head. I'm like, Okay, let's do the but I'm interested from your perspective, like, what were the first numbers? Obviously, like figuring out how to pay your own rent, but what were kind of the places you focused initially, just to make sure we can keep this thing going. Do you remember?
Mimi Striplin:Yeah, so right now I would call it operational costs, but back then, it was like, How much does it cost for me to live and run this business? And I think that's where a lot of entrepreneurs start, and especially if they're transitioning from a full time role to entrepreneurship full time, they think about, How much money do I need to live my life? And that was the first number. And I looked at like, Okay, this is how much my Etsy costs. This is how much my website costs. These are, like, shipping boxes, etc, etc. And I think back to that. And my sister, of course, was like, okay, and now you need to know like, what is your gross income? Like, how much money are you making, and then what is your expenses? And what is your actual income, like, your net income, and those are still numbers like we look at daily, because we've got to know this in order to know if we're making money or not, if we are in the right direction or not. That. And I also think about numbers of like, do I have a savings goal like, and that might not be a fun like, travel fund at the moment, it might be like an emergency fund, because a year is harder in sales, and so having these different numbers that I have to know and understanding my profit margin. So every season, I feel like there is a shift in pricing and profit margins, whether it's from our suppliers or to kind of keep in touch with like the consumers and competitors. We're constantly looking at our profit margins to make sure, like, Okay, if we bring on another employee, can our profit margins actually handle this and pay for the employee? Or, if we have the months of summer coming up in Charleston, South Carolina, and it's 100 degrees for 30 days straight, and our electricity bill is going to skyrocket, like, are those profit margins going to carry us across the year, and we have to look at all of these numbers, and it can sound so overwhelming, but again, it's like the beauty of entrepreneurship is that we get to create the limits and the rules and the things for ourselves. And so when we notice that maybe our profit margin is not high enough, we can shift our pricing and charge a little more, or we can find a better priced supply. And so in the beauty of kind of juggling that and finding the balance,
Shanna Skidmore:I love this so much, kindred spirits, because I do. I think there's so much empowerment in the numbers. And like you said, when you know, well, this costs this, so I either need to raise my price, or I need to find a ulterior option, alternative option. And I just think, like you said, it can feel and sound so overwhelming, but when you boil it down to like, Okay, what do I need to live? Let's just start there. It becomes easier. What would you say? Maybe, because in the beginning, and it sounds like still today, everything is handmade, right? So did you do all of this work yourself, and did you start bringing on a team? And how did you actually make your product?
Mimi Striplin:Yes, so I was a solopreneur from 2015 to 2020 and I think about that, and it's insane to me, like I don't know when I was resting. I don't think I was genuinely resting and like, caring for myself and spending time outside of the business for those five years. And it was such a sacrifice that I wish I would have, like been able to kind of step out of in some way. Because when you're making a product and you're having make every single product that you sell, yes, there is not a sustainable way to scale that business on your own. And so I kind of lived and worked in that space for about five years. And in 2020 we saw just massive growth and massive exposure and brand awareness. And I finally got to the point I, like, worked through the end of that year and hired one of my best friends. She essentially came to my apartment and was like, I'm working for you. You can't tell me no, like you need help in the summer of 2020, and I'm so grateful for her. And from there, she was my first hire, and she was like, essentially what we would consider like an operations manager, or like an office manager. She was just like, helping with everything and helping me get all the stuff out of my head to be able to even hire people. And so that was the first hire that I made. And I was still making jewelry, I was still doing marketing. I was still like showing up as the face of the brand. And then the beginning of 2021 that spring, we were about to open our flagship store, and I hired a jewelry maker, and she came on, and she was the first person to ever make a piece of jewelry besides me that we sold. And it was a weird transition, but it was so needed. And I only say weird because it's all it was all in my head, of, like, the control that you're releasing to allow someone else to come in and help, like, make the product. And it was the scaling moment that we needed. And so she worked with us for three years, part time, for 20 hours a week for three years, and she was able to help make and eventually transition to make all of our tassel jewelry and our handmade pieces. And my mom was making all of our clothing up until 2021 and. And which is like insane to me, that she was sewing every single piece of clothing that we were selling. And and 2020, to 2021, we started to transition and think about, okay, we literally don't have enough products to sell, people like there's so much demand, and we don't have enough in stock. So what else can we sell that is on brand that aligns, that represents us, that's great quality. And so that's where we leaned into the beaded jewelry and accessories. And so we get to design those, and we work with a small business that hand beats them to this day. And so it's now this balance of like we still make a portion someone else make some and then we also support other female owned businesses, other Black and Asian owned businesses are our focus, and we carry their products in our store and online too. So it's this beautiful balance of like, this collective that makes up our brand, and it allows me to like, not have aching hands all day long. It allows me to also use different parts of my brain that didn't necessarily need to be used just on making jewelry all day long anymore.
Shanna Skidmore:When you hired your first employee, 2021 brought on the joy like the flagship store. Do you feel like a I'm sure that was terrifying. So I'd love for you to speak to that that's a big Those are big growth jumps, yes, but then I'm also wondering, how did you sustain the growth? Like, I kind of think sometimes hiring is so scary, but then it also allows you to be the visionary, run the business. So hopefully continues growth. You know, so no longer in your business so much, but like, you can actually work on your business. So yeah, just talk through that transition and the growth that you saw and how you handled that.
Mimi Striplin:Yeah, so a little part of my story that a lot of people don't know unless they've just been with me from the beginning. So from 2017 to 2020, I co owned another brick and mortar store called cannon burrow collective, and it was right in Charleston, in our neighborhood, and I was running the tiny tassel, but also running this brick and mortar store where we supported all of these local artists and entrepreneurs and sold their products, and we were also a balloon shop. So it was a very joyful store. And so that was my, what I call my practice run at having a brick and mortar store. And that business was really fruitful, really profitable, and I had a business partner. And in 2020 I started to clearly see that that was no longer the business that I needed to be a part of it was no longer the relationships and the season that I needed to be in, and so I started to transition out of that another six month period from like January 2020, to July, of like, making that transition as seamless as possible for the people that we were, like, holding space for for our vendors, and being able to make it as smooth as possible, even though, on the back end, if I could have left like December 2019, I would have, and should have, in some cases, but that was like a humongous learning lesson. So I built so much awareness and confidence and just was able to build boundaries for myself and with others around business. And so going into 2021 and deciding to open another flagship store, it didn't feel as scary, because I had that kind of that background, yeah, and the when people don't know that. They're kind of like, were you crazy to open a store in 2021 like, How insane is that? But it was still scary, like going back in and saying, Okay, I'm gonna, like, take on this expensive overhead again, and I'm going to have to have employees like, times three from what we were working at in 2020 and it was a really scary moment, but really beautiful moment, because exactly what you said, like, it allowed me to finally start working on the business and become more of the visionary of the company, and actually look into the future and see, like, what kind of impact do we want to make? How do we want to serve our community. How do we want to serve our customers? And it was this really beautiful transition where there have been ups and downs, like even just with the number of employees on our team, we've gone from three to 10 to five to six, and now we're at four, and it's been this really beautiful transition. But I would say my biggest learning lesson in entrepreneurship has been learning how to manage and lead people. Yes,
Shanna Skidmore:I hear that from so many entrepreneurs that have a team that that was probably the biggest, hardest. I don't want to put words in people's. But a big challenging like to learn to be a leader. I feel like entrepreneurship asks us for so many things, you know, to be great at our craft, to be great at running a business, to be a great boss, and it's a lot to learn. So I just think that's really cool that you brought that up, and how my husband, I don't know, I haven't shared this a ton, but my husband is by trade aerospace engineer. That's his background. And for a long time he dreamed of designing his own airplane. And I was just like, that is such a big dream. How are we going to get there? But it was really neat, because he always just talked about, like, you don't start at, you know, a gulf stream level, like a huge manufacturer, you start small, you start with one thing, and I feel like that's sounds like so much of your story. You started making these goods yourself, and then you hire somebody to help you, and then you get a store, and then you, you know, it's just one step at a time. Would you say? Now, as as we're recording this, it sounds like you've had your store for three or four years. You have your team different varying sizes. What would you say now has been maybe looking back like the best thing that you've learned about money, and I would love to add on, like in growing a business,
Mimi Striplin:we hear this phrase all the time, like money comes and money goes. And I think actually believing that has been the biggest learning lesson for me, and actually living into it, because some of the I would say things that held me back in the beginning and still can today, is not fully understanding, like the investment, or being fearful of the investment of money into something, whether it's going from like buying your shipping boxes at the post office to buying them in bulk from an online supplier, and like having them at a much cheaper cost per item, but having to, like, put that money up front, and now today, it's like these different transitions, of like, do we invest in another employee, or do we sign three more years of our lease and like, commit to these bigger numbers? And it's been this beautiful lesson of like, what we've invested has come back to us in so many ways, not just financially, but in so many other ways across the board, and we we are able to continue like shifting that money, and whether it's shifting it around our community and being generous, or shifting it into different employees and investing in them. It has really been this beautiful outcome. And I also really, really think about, for anyone that's listening and they're thinking about like, how do I access capital, or even, how do I get a loan? Like someone told me years ago, they said, access it when you don't need it. Yes, yeah. And I wish that I would have heard that a year before that, because that was a season where we were, like, running the business all on cash, and it was all like, great. We were like, We don't need capital, which is, like, a an interesting mindset to have, but I see a lot of entrepreneurs have that, and it's because I just didn't know what I didn't know, and I was so afraid of going into debt and seeing debt as debt, instead of seeing access to capital, and like, having that mindset shift. And so I would say that to anyone listening like, if you are growing and scaling your business, think about how can you access capital today so that when you do need it, you have that relationship already set in stone, and you have that access to it when you need it, yeah,
Shanna Skidmore:yeah, that's so all of This is so so good. Mimi, I do want to hear about when the consulting side came about. When did you all add that on? What was your vision for that? Talk a little bit about starting the consulting company. Yeah.
Mimi Striplin:So we officially launched it last October. So we're coming up on a year, and for about six months before that, I was coaching and offering business consulting through another brand, through someone who was actually my business coach before. So it's this beautiful transition, and before that, I found myself constantly answering text messages and emails and DMS from strangers and friends and people in my community asking, like, how do you do this? Or what do you use for this? And it really came about because I didn't have the capacity to, like, get coffee with everything, with everyone, and, like, talk about everything. And I finally got serious about it, and thought, like, if I really want to steward this, well. And really want to be intentional about sharing these resources with other people, and like showing up presently. Then my sister and I were on the same page about it. We were like, Okay, we see such a need, and we have the information and the experience and the capacity to offer that and share that with our clients, and it's been this really beautiful, fulfilling addition to my life and to her life and her background is accounting, like I mentioned. So she does like everything from bookkeeping to sales tax to teaching people how to do those things on their own, and setting up their payroll, and all of the nitty gritty that we oftentimes find ourselves just like googling online if you're started and we didn't want to just be a coaching business, we wanted to have implementation as well, because I found that in previous coaching programs that I was a part of, I saw people thrive in them, and I was able to thrive. And I also saw people kind of just come in and, like falter, and they, in my opinion, needed more hand holding and more implementation. And it's something that we don't like to hear. It sounds like a bad thing, of like, someone comes in and holds your hand through this. But we truly believe that there is enough space in this world. There's enough business, there is enough opportunity that if we can have someone like reach back and pull us forward, or hold our hand through something and walk us through it, that can be the thing that like allows our business to scale 10 times, or allows our mindset to shift, like so so much. And this business, parfair, has been a really beautiful testament of that of like people have kind of paid it forward for me in ways, and this is a way that I want to show up for other business owners and support them and really just help them create the life that they want. And it goes back to like the season of my life that I shared, like I was just all in on the business, but there were no boundaries. There was no stopping hour, there was no hanging out with my friends, like there was so much sacrifice that I thought I had to make as an entrepreneur, but I've learned over the years that like, there can be both. Like there can be rest and there can be productivity, there can be success, and there can also be like, beautiful relationships and solitude. And all of these things that I now find are like requirements for my life to exist together and to be in harmony together, yeah,
Shanna Skidmore:oh, my goodness. Okay. Well, that tees us up perfectly before we go into a quick fire round and wrap it up. I do want you to speak to Mimi, just kind of digging in on that same I love to ask people, yeah, in a world that asks us to do everything really well, and like you mentioned, especially starting and running a business, it can become all consuming. How have you? What are kind of one or two ways now that you really find that harmony, or seek to find that harmony in your work life, in your home life,
Mimi Striplin:this is something that I'm still working at every day, and I have truly had to, like, let myself off the hook. I, like, grew up as, like, the straight A student, like President of all the clubs and things, and was absolutely like, I have to do everything that I do really well, or else it, like, isn't good. And I've had to let that go over the years, and it's this beautiful thing, of, like, I know that I am not good at a lot of things, and I am absolutely okay with that, and so that allows me to lean in and spend my time and energy on the things that I do really well. And it's this lifelong journey I think that we get to be on, of, like, experiencing new things, practicing new things, figuring out what we like and what we don't like, and not just playing it off as like, Oh, I was tired, so I didn't do it as well. So I need to, like, go at it harder tomorrow. It's like, no, sometimes you just aren't going to do it well, and you need to hand that off to someone else or ask for help, and it's just this really beautiful reminder that we're always able to learn more and more about ourselves and always able to ask for help.
Shanna Skidmore:Yeah, I love it. Asking for help is oh so hard for me. Mimi, I thought about this earlier, and I want to circle back to it before we go to a quick fire round when you were talking about growth and just the different seasons of your business. How have you handled fear in the moments where you feel and maybe you don't feel afraid, maybe you're just like, Let's go for it. But if there's moments of fear or doubt or like, how are we going to keep paying for this? Or I've got to sell so much. You know, these numbers feel really big. Like. How do you navigate that?
Mimi Striplin:First off, there is so much fear. I would never sit here and lie and say I'm like, this fearless leader, because I, for my opinion, I don't think that that is like, a healthy way to to just live. Because when I did think that I was like, fearless. I was just so out of touch with my emotions and my needs and my team's needs, and was just like, over compartmentalizing to the fact that I was just like, numbing out to be able to go through day to day, and the fears come up every day, because especially when you have a team and you're like, oh, like, this business no longer just supports me and my bills, like it supports them and their children and their family and their light bill and all these other things. So there can be a lot of fear creeping in of like, how are we going to pay for the next thing? Or how are we going to do X, Y and Z, and for me, it's truly my faith that keeps me grounded. And I'm so grateful that when I feel that fear and worry, I can just take it to God and just be like, Okay, God. Like, yeah, I can just, like, release this worry right now, and I also go to the people in my life, like, I go to my sister, and if it's fear about finances, I'm like, Okay, how can I be educated more about this so or more informed and, like, have just a better pulse on it, so that I can understand it and have a vision forward, versus just being in, like, the fear spiral, where I've been in this in the past, Where I've, like, Let no one else in and just have spiraled. And then maybe two months later, a friend, like, gave me the clear answer. And I was like, wow, would have been nice if I just asked them two months ago exactly, and not, like, put myself through that so truly, just like, standing firm in my faith and being able to surrender and like, know that fear is real, and also, again, asking for help and like, going to my resources and going to just trusted people to say, like, hey, this feels scary. Like, what should I do?
Shanna Skidmore:Or what would you do? Yeah, I I have noticed about myself, like a I've always thought of myself as somebody who likes change, but no, in fact, I hate change. I do not like it. And in a long time ago, a friend of mine told me she's like, the only constant in business is change and like, like, you find something that works, and then it stops working, you know. Or sales are great, and then they're down, you know. And I can get really stressed in that I can get really anxious. And I love what you said. It sounds like we share a similar faith, like, of course, I take that to the Lord, and I'm just like, gotta worry is I have to let that go? And also, just like, holding it looser, yeah? Like letting, letting it be fun, yeah? But being empowered in the numbers helps me, too, to know, like, okay, let's make a plan here. You know, if I've heard from a lot of business owners like 2024 has been a tough sales year, for whatever reason, it's like, Okay, let's go back to the numbers. Let's go back and make a plan and look at what we need and and so I just love that it sounds like we're next time in Charleston, I'm coming. I'm gonna see you. We're gonna hang out. And I'm so excited. Um, maybe thank you for sharing your story and your family story. And I just love that we have been introduced through the podcast and through I'm like, have all your websites up right now. I'm just so excited about it. Um, let's go into a quick fire round before we end. Are You Ready? Ready? Okay, what is one thing you would be embarrassed if people knew
Mimi Striplin:the amount of raccoon memes I laugh at on the internet.
Shanna Skidmore:Okay, tell me more. Like, how did this come about? Did somebody in your life send this to you? Or, like, why raccoon memes?
Mimi Striplin:I don't know when and how and why this started, but it is like embarrassing. If someone opened my Instagram and saw my explorer page, they would be like, are you okay? But they're so cute only on the internet. I don't want to encounter them in real life, like they're so cute and they're so funny. And sometimes I'm like, I feel like my inner self is a raccoon. Sometimes,
Shanna Skidmore:okay, I have told this story so many times. Everybody listening. I'm sorry. You're gonna hear it again. But one of the reasons that we send out the questions for the podcast in advance, because some people like that. Some people don't even read them. I think it's totally fine, however people want it. But I was on a podcast one time and I was not prepped for the questions, and they asked me if you could. Be any animal. What would you be at that moment? My my brain just like, it literally just went blank, like, what's an animal? What like, I don't know. And so it's so funny that you say, like, in your life, you would be in Raccoon, like you would have answered that beautifully, like, I was just frozen Mimi I was just like, uh, I said a dog, which is totally not, right? I was like, I don't know, man's best friend. Now, I've thought about the question. I would totally say a dolphin, because I feel like they're so playful, but they're really smart. I'm like, that would have been a good answer, right? So that's my redo. Anyways, okay? Raccoon, life. Love it. Okay, any regrets or wish you could do over moments,
Mimi Striplin:I would say, not being as present and like celebrating or just like living through the hard moments. In the past, there have been so many beautiful moments in entrepreneurship, and this year, I've been trying to, like, really notice them and be present, but that's my only regret. Like, there were some months in my life in 2020 that I can't remember because I was so consumed in work, and when I realized that, I vowed to myself that I never want to feel like that again. I want to be present.
Shanna Skidmore:Yeah, that I needed to hear that today. Yes, that's something I have worked on for. This is the 11th year of my business. I feel like sometimes I'm great at it, sometimes I'm not, but just you can get so caught up in the to do list or the hard or challenging things that instead of just celebrating and resting, and to me, that goes back to what you said before, like, I obviously just need to take this more to the Lord I can I know in seasons where I'm, like, holding it too tightly, that's so good, okay, a big win, or pinch me moment,
Mimi Striplin:I would say, one that I'll never forget is in 2020 when we were just in this really transitional season, we were featured on The Today Show, and it was my 28th birthday, and within two minutes, we, like, made over $20,000 in sales from this two minute segment that we didn't even know was real and happening. We literally thought we were sending product to, like a spam person, and that was this pivotal moment of, like, my life literally changed in that moment, and the business scaled, and we went on to, like, surpass a million dollars in sales. So it was just this, like, catalyst moment for the business that I'll never forget. Okay,
Shanna Skidmore:Mimi, you know, I'm gonna have to ask you more about this. So did you receive like an email? How did they find like a DM on Instagram? They just were like, Hey, we love your stuff. We wanna feature you. So
Mimi Striplin:this is actually embarrassing. We received multiple emails, and about a week before, we had started to receive a lot of traction on our site, so handling a lot of sales, but we also started to get a lot of people asking for free things. And we got probably three or four emails, and I didn't have a PR team or publicist at the time, so I'm like, fielding all of this, and it was just so vague. Like a lot of times these media things are where they're like, We want to feature you on a morning TV show. And like, didn't say the show, didn't say this. And they're like, can you overnight this, this, and this to us, and I was still in this mindset then, of like, overnighting something that's gonna be really expensive, which it was, and they kept pressing in, and they were so persistent, and I'm so grateful for that, because finally, my best friend was like, let's just send it, like it'll be $50 like, if we lose$50 it's fine, we'll make it back. And we sent it, didn't know when it was gonna air, didn't know if it was real, and it aired on my birthday, and that day is still so monumental to me, because that morning was also the day that I emailed my attorney to say, from that previous business, like, I'm just going to let go of this. I just want to move forward into this new year. And it was such a God moment of like, the moment I let go of that thing I was holding on to so tightly. God was like, I'm literally going to show you how much like goodness is in this business that's right here at your fingertips. And so,
Shanna Skidmore:okay, Mimi, you, I'm like, so into this. So 2020 This is beginning of 2020 it sounds like, and, yeah,
Mimi Striplin:this was like, July of 2020
Shanna Skidmore:and the Pro, they just showed it as like, Hey, we love this
Mimi Striplin:on her name is Jill, and she had this segment where she just was featuring small businesses, and we were one of them, and she was wearing our pieces. Had this beautiful setup. And it was this quick segment. And showed pictures and and that was another thing that I was so grateful for. Like, we've been investing in professional photography for like, two years at that time, and people were like, it's so expensive, it's so expensive, but we had gotten in this beautiful relationship and still work with Serena today, and we were prepared for that moment and didn't even know it, because they pulled those images from our website and from, I think, our email newsletter and our Instagram account, and it just displayed our brand as what we were going towards, like what we were actually working towards and moving forward to. And so I look back, and I'll never forget that moment.
Shanna Skidmore:Do you know how they found you?
Mimi Striplin:I still to this day, don't know how they found this,
Shanna Skidmore:because you're so right. Like, we get these emails all the time. Would you like to speak in a week in Chicago at this event? And I'm like, What event is it? Like, four? It's so weird, and they, I don't know, there must be a reason. Somebody in the advertising PR world tell me why. They don't tell you. That's amazing. And so that year, Mimi, you grew and scaled to seven figures.
Mimi Striplin:Yes. So that year we finished the year out, and I will say the first six months of the year, we probably made, like, $100,000 total, maybe. And then the last six months of the year, we finished that year out at like close to a million dollars. And then never could have imagined. And then the next year we finished right below a million, and then the next year we surpassed a million.
Shanna Skidmore:Maybe that is amazing. And so it just became this catalyst for gross, like, did you then get a lot of other publications reaching out or, okay,
Mimi Striplin:and that month, I should say, from like, end of June through that first week of July, we were starting to get a lot of traction. And it was just in this moment where a lot of black owned businesses were being highlighted for the first time and for the millionth time, but there was actually a focus on, like, we need to show up and support these businesses. And we felt that really strongly, which I will say, fast forward, four years later, we are seeing, like, a lot of that support has kind of dwindled away. And that's like a whole story for another podcast, but it's been this really huge learning lesson of like, how did we scale and like, do it sustainably? At some points we didn't, and how do we now find a new baseline? And that's what we've been doing this entire year, of like, figuring out, like, Okay, what is our baseline of sales of like, how many team members we need to have, etc, etc, how many collections do we launch? And it's just been almost like this, this learning of like a new business this year. Yes,
Shanna Skidmore:I'm right there with you. I feel like that is kind of going back to like nothing in business is constant. That is one thing with marketing. I feel like it just shifts and changes, and it's a constant. That's something I'm learning personally. It's like it's a constant, reaching out, getting your brand out there, working on SEO like and I, and I tell all my students, I have a business course where I teach all about numbers, but we have one portion on marketing, even though I'm like, I've always said I'm not the marketing person, but marketing is numbers, and so getting your brand awareness out there, and I always say, focus on like, one or two areas, and I love Mimi how you know it sounds like 2020, through the last few years, like media has played a big role in your brand awareness, and now you're going back to the drawing board. Like, okay, where are we now? Like, I feel like, when I started my business, 2012 2013 officially Instagram, you know, that was like the heyday of Instagram, 2014 2015 and so, and now it's like, Instagram's totally different. So okay, we got on a major tangent there. But that was so good I had to go. Let's finish out quick fire best advice, or just really good advice that you have received,
Mimi Striplin:similarly to what you said earlier, just learning to not hold things so tightly, whether it's relationships, goals, what success looks like, not holding it so tightly and allowing it to be fluid and change. Yeah,
Shanna Skidmore:I love it. Okay, last quick for our question, and then we will send it off. What are you working on now? Or one resource that you would like to share?
Mimi Striplin:One thing that I'm working on now is to be very transparent. This is the year of paying down debt. It's not a cute answer. It's not free. It's just this is our year to pay down debt.
Shanna Skidmore:I love that, Vimy, and thank you for sharing that, because I think that sometimes we Well, I would go on a different tangent, but like you said, it takes capital to grow a business. You either cash flow that, or you use other resources to do it. And I just love that you have really it sounds like maybe you've worked really hard to maintain the joy and creativity and the beautiful aspects of your business, while also simultaneously you're figuring out running a business. You have employees, you have a brick and mortar store like you, you're doing, like, legit, big things, hard things, so just thank you for sharing and your transparency, and it's just been a joy, honestly, to spend time with you and get to know you and your business. And please, please, please, let us know how we can continue to support you. Let's send it off with looking back. Now, what would you tell yourself on day one, whether that's you know, your sister gifts you these earrings, and you're like, wow, think I can do this, or turning in your six month notice like looking back now, what would you tell yourself?
Mimi Striplin:Gosh, I would tell Mimi in 2016 2015 like, have fun. That is, like my the trait that I am least associated with at times in my life to like, be able to play and have fun. Like, don't take it too seriously, hold things loosely, like, be present and have fun. Yeah.
Shanna Skidmore:Mimi, thank you so much. I truly feel like working into spirits. I'm the exact same way. I have always been the achiever, the like perfectionist, the I focus. And I have too often focused on what is a challenge or what isn't working, or what i Goodness, what I could do better. I was like, Hannah, be kinder to yourself and just have fun, because you're right. You'll look back and like, the journey goes so fast, and there's so there will always be highs and there will always be lows. That's what I've learned. And like to have more fun, like, I just love it. So Mimi, thank you for your time and for your beautiful work in the world, and you're beautiful. I'm so excited to go shopping. I just feel like your brand probably is a reflection of who you are. Brings a lot of joy, like it just makes me happy. So thank you so much for coming on the show.
Mimi Striplin:Thank you so much. This has been so much fun. Hey, wild
Lauren / Team Skidmore:flower, you just finished another episode of consider the wild flowers, the podcast. Head over to consider the wildflowers podcast.com. For show notes, resource links and to learn how you can connect with Mimi. One final thought for today, from Eleanor Roosevelt, happiness is not a goal. It's a byproduct of a life well lived as always. Thank you guys for listening. We'll see you next time. Consider
Shanna Skidmore:the wildflowers podcast is produced and edited in partnership with the team at Palm Tree podco. Special thanks to our producers, Anthony Palmer, our audio mixologist of palm tree podco, and Lauren from Team Skidmore, without whom this podcast would never reach your earbuds each week.
