Mimi Striplin: From Tiny Tassels to the Today Show— Million-Dollar Success Found in the Unlikeliest of Places

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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!

Press play for the full interview or keep reading below!

In this Episode:

Working with Family 🤝 Mimi opens up about working alongside her mom and sister. [3:50]

Launching the Tiny Tassel 📿 After receiving a pair of earrings as a gift & thinking “I feel like you could’ve made those,” Mimi got to work researching how to make her own jewelry line. [5:19] 

You Can Do Whatever You Put Your Mind To 🧠 [5:45]

Entrepreneurial Family 🧵 Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, Mimi was familiar with the hustle and heart required to build a successful business. [7:56]

A Vow to Never Be an Entrepreneur 🚫 When Mimi headed off to college, she vowed to never be an entrepreneur and instead pursue a degree in PR. She quickly realized this wasn’t the career path for her. [8:15]

How much money do I actually need to make to support myself? 🤑 As Mimi continued to build the Tiny Tassel, she set her sights with hopes of going full time. To do so, she started crunching the numbers. [13:28]

Starting Out on Etsy 🛍️ Mimi started selling her earrings on Etsy before launching her own website. [14:00]

Stepping Stones in Business 💎 Strategic business growth and the steps taken to grow the Tiny Tassel to what it is today. [14:10]

Time to Say Goodbye 👋 With the next month’s expenses set aside in her bank account, Mimi stepped away from her job to pursue the Tiny Tassel full time. It was go time. [14:15]

Cozying Up to Your Numbers 📊 The numbers Mimi focused on initially to grow and scale her business. Her enough number & operational costs at the top of her list. Related— The 5 Numbers to Know & Track in Your Business [17:00]

From Solopreneur to Hiring 💼 After a season of significant growth, Mimi it was time to make her first hire. [22:25]

Money Comes and Money Goes 💸 The money mindset Mimi’s learned as a business owner. [31:20]

Fears in Entrepreneurship 😨 How Mimi has overcome fears in the wild journey of entrepreneurship. [40:04]

Featured on The Today Show 📺 How a feature on the Today Show changed the trajectory of the Tiny Tassel. [46:53]

Put’em on a Bumper Sticker. These Quotes are Pure Gold.

“Something in me sparked because I’d never made jewelry before. I never was 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.”

“I would have never imagined that I would be running a creative business. If someone asked me to pick up a pencil and draw something, I literally start to sweat It has been this beautiful testimony of you can truly do whatever you put your mind to. There are so many gifts inside of us that we have be aware of and be present for, and it will just guide us through our lives. Taking us exactly to where we need to be.”

“My childhood was shaped by the entrepreneurship of my parents, and because of that, for one period of my life, I saw how hard they worked, how tough it was, how up and down it could be, and I vowed to myself that I would not be an entrepreneur.”

“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 far away dream. And I would even go to the lengths of saying after a career, I’ll open a store, and I still think about that today… why do we delay things so much?”

“It has been this beautiful experience of resilience and persistence, joy and creativity. So much learning and beautiful connections. I really do think back to my childhood, instead of playing house, I was playing store and doing displays in my room. Fast forward to today, when I stand in my storefront in Charleston, I tell customers almost daily, like it’s so pleasing to my inner child, it’s so joyful, it’s like a dream come true that I get to share this with the world, and something that I never felt would become reality.”

“One of the main reasons why I started my business was to become 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.”

“The beauty of entrepreneurship is that we get to create the limits and the rules for ourselves. 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. It’s in the beauty of juggling and finding the balance.”

“When you’re making a product and you’re having to make every single product that you sell, there is not a sustainable way to scale that business on your own.”

“There was so much sacrifice that I thought I had to make as an entrepreneur. But I’ve learned over the years that there can be both… There can be rest and there can be productivity, there can be success, and there can also be beautiful relationships and solitude and all of these things that I now find are requirements for my life to exist and be in harmony together.”

More from this Episode

To hear the full story and more about Mimi, press play on the player above for the full interview or click here to download the transcript.

Resources Mentioned:

The Tiny Tassel (use code WILDFLOWER for 20% off)

Parfaire Consulting

The Tiny Tassel on the Today Show

The 5 Numbers to Know & Track in Your Business

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Mimi Striplin

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. Entrepreneurship can yield success while business owners find joy and rest, and Mimi’s business approach is the perfect testimonial. Her 16 years of retail expertise and eight years of entrepreneurial experience have produced two successful businesses. Mimi built these brands into retail brick-and-mortar businesses in downtown Charleston, SC. She founded The Tiny Tassel, creating the namesake accessory in just one color 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. Joy is the core value of The Tiny Tassel, so each piece is created with those special, everyday moments in mind for an extra dose of delight. Mimi works closely with lead designer, her mother, Keiko Striplin, to curate a fresh collection every season. Every colorful tiny tassel is handmade in Charleston, SC by a creative women-led team.

In 2023, Mimi founded Parfaire Consulting with her sister Aiko Striplin, to serve other entrepreneurs looking to find joy while also growing their businesses to greater heights. She was tired of being the only one in the room that looked like her and became more and more aware of the wealth gap between women of color and their white counterparts in those rooms. So though Parfaire welcomes entrepreneurs of all backgrounds, women of color and their unique business and personal needs are prioritized.

With that in mind, Parfaire’s support structure includes business and mindset coaching, a welcoming community, and access to trusted experts in web development, HR, legal, photography, marketing, and more. But to put it simply, Parfaire helps clients bring their businesses to perfection and create a well-rounded life.

CONNECT WITH MIMI:

Website | Instagram | Facebook

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