Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tene’ Aiken. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tene’, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Growing up I found it hard to let go of things that I thought were meaningful. My desire to beautify and breathe new life into unwanted and broken items later became the catalyst for the mission of my business. My mission as a Creator, Upcycler, and Reseller transcends beyond the space of e-commerce. It’s about more than just selling goods. It’s about transforming and breathing new life into discarded and forgotten treasures. It’s about turning unwanted and broken items into pieces that tell stories of resilience and renewal. It’s about sparking joy and celebrating the beauty in imperfections. It’s about making customized one-of-a-kind works of art for the fashionable and environmentally conscious buyer. It’s about being forward-thinking and sustainable. Through my mission, I aspire to inspire others to see the potential in the overlooked and to contribute positively to both the environment and people’s lives.

Hence my mission…a forward-thinking sustainable company that sells created, upcycled, and pre-loved pieces for the fashionable and environmentally conscious buyer.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The process of creating upcycled goods and searching for pre-loved items to sell often wakes me up in the morning and keeps me awake at night. I feel like my business is much more than a career path or my passion, but is my purpose. I believe that my capability to create, upcycle, and sell pre-loved goodies has always been within me. As a child, I thought about the Earth and marveled at the resources and beauty it provided. Nature has shown me life’s circularity, which goes hand in hand with my business.

I cultivated my love for the arts and my artistic talents at the University of Maryland College Park. There I discovered a myriad of mediums, and in 2001 received a degree in Fine Arts. In November 2008 I established my business to sell my creations, commissioned projects/murals, and to share my knowledge of art through workshops and private lessons. Over the past few years, my love for thrifting resurfaced and I added a reselling portion to my business under the name Eternal Sunshine Sales (ESS). Through ESS, I resell what I consider to be pre-loved and antique items of clothing, jewelry, and hard goods on various e-commerce marketplaces. I love being able to source items in excellent condition, keep them out of landfills, and offer them at prices that prove to be economical for my customers.

I’m most proud of being a sustainable company that aims to let nothing go to waste and providing impeccable customer service. These include but are not limited to reusing package materials, writing personalized thank-you notes, and following up with customers after they have received their package. To me, it is the small things that take a business from good to great, and I love seeing that customers enjoy the special touches.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I am currently using multiple e-commerce platforms. Starting as a reseller who had a full-time job, I saw this as being the easier option for me. They make it easy for my inventory to be seen and sold without needing to pump a whole bunch of money into online advertising. And with the uprising of live shows, there are plenty of networking opportunities with other resellers that provide insight into the industry and ways to “level up” my business.

This model doesn’t come without a few cons though. Platform fees and shipping can be high and vary from platform to platform, there are lots of other resellers to compete with, and there is less control over customer relationships and the data that the platform chooses to share with the reseller.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Offering excellent customer service/support, discounts to loyal customers, and asking for honest feedback are some ways that I stay connected with clients and enhance brand loyalty.

As a consumer, I want companies that I purchase from to provide the best experience possible, and as a business owner, that is what I want to give to my customers.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @eternalsunshinesales
• Twitter: www.threads.net/@eternalsunshinesales
• Other: linktr.ee/eternalsunshinesales