“My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.

E-commerce is a huge part of our economy. Etsy alone has 7.5 million sellers on its platform, and by 2026, experts expect almost a quarter of all retail purchases to take place online. But what happens when you want to grow past e-commerce?

Mimi Striplin is the founder and CEO of The Tiny Tassel, an accessories, apparel and gift boutique in Charleston, South Carolina. She opened her storefront in 2021 after spending years selling on e-commerce sites like Etsy and Squarespace. 

“As a Black and Japanese woman in the South, I felt that there was such a need to create a space for people that looked like me,” Striplin said.

Mimi joined Marketplace to talk about the journey of growing her business from an Etsy shop to a brick-and-mortar store and why owning a storefront was so important to her.