Meet Mimi Striplin: Founder, The Tiny Tassel

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mimi Striplin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mimi, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I started my business I was working full-time in retail management. After receiving a pair of tassel earrings as a gift from my sister, she jokingly said that I should just make them myself. From there The Tiny Tassel was born. I wanted to create a career and lifestyle that brought me joy, could allow me to afford the life that I wanted, and work at growing something of my own. I’m so humbled by the years spent putting my all into this and seeing what it’s grown to be today. We just opened our flagship store and I couldn’t be more proud.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My goal is to bring a little joy to everyone that wears The Tiny Tassel! The brand was founded with our Signature Tassel Earrings, which will always hold a special place for me. I started by creating an Etsy Shop for my hand-made tassel earrings and attending pop-ups around Charleston and The Tiny Tassel grew from there. When the pandemic hit, I was forced to pause and think about how to work smarter and dig into what I could work more intentionally at. As an online shop, I focused on ways to increase site traffic, retain customers, and reach new spaces virtually. The lessons I learned during the pandemic are now applied to the business every day. On Monday, The Tiny Tassel flagship store opened in downtown Charleston. I’ve always dreamt of opening my own boutique and it has been one of the most memorable experiences in the 5-years of The Tiny Tassel!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Charleston is filled with locally-owned shops and restaurants – my favorite neighborhood is Cannonborough-Elliotborough, where our flagship is located! It is a quaint neighborhood with historic Charleston homes, beautiful gardens and local small businesses.One of the best ways to explore the city is by bike – you can see everything from the beautiful homes along the battery, to the College of Charleston Campus, Rainbow Row and The Tiny Tassel shop in the bustling Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood. You will be surprised what you can find by just wandering around Charleston! A few of my favorites downtown to checkout are J. Stark & Lake Pajamas for shopping, Transformation Yoga & Sweet 185 to relax, and Sugar Bakeshop & Le Farfalle for good eats. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My older sister, Aiko, has been my biggest supporter though my journey as a small business owner. From encouraging me to leave my previous career to helping calculate all things accounting, she is always here to help. She’s so excited about all things The Tiny Tassel and genuinely cares about the growth and success of this company- to a level that I can’t even explain. She’s always there and I’m so grateful for her.

Website: www.thetinytassel.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetinytassel/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thetinytassel

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetinytassel

Image Credits
Aneris Photography