We were lucky to catch up with Mollie Leone recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mollie, thanks for joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

I have been flipping and creating furniture for years now. Abut 4 years ago I decided to do a pop up shop in my driveway! It looked fantastic. Like a little shop. However, when people started showing up thinking it was a garage sale, well lets just say that my prices were not the same as they were expecting. After the day finished, and very little sales I knew I had to go a different route. I decided to do a market. I rented a booth, got a uhaul, lined up my family and was ready to go. Again, found most people just like to walk around and look. Big, bulky items were not the product of choice. I found my self back at the drawing board. I found a permanent market and was able to get a spot. My spot was an outdoor spot, but under a canopy so I thought, “ok, I’ll give it a try.” That year it rained more than I think ever in Arizona and almost daily I was there covering my furniture and clothing in plastic, saving as much as possible. So after 3 months of that, I knew that was not the route to go. For the next 5 months I found myself in 20+ vendor boutiques all over the entire Phoenix valley. No one had any open spots. Finally in May 2023 I found a shop that I could put my clothing boutique in. Unfortunately, its 40 minutes from my house. I have broken even there, but haven’t made a profit. Now its November 2023, and I just opened my very own shop. Momo’s Mercantile! As disheartening as the last few years has been with everything that I saw a failures, it was all leading me to here. I have learned so much and am fully equipped to run a successful vendor boutique. Now I have vendors coming to me to have a spot in Momo’s Mercantile!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a wife and a mom to 2 teenagers. I have been a stay at home mom, well sort of. I have always had some sort of side gig going. A few years ago I wanted some very expense furniture but couldn’t afford it. So I taught myself how to duplicate it. And that desire has not stopped! I love creating, repurposing, and all the things furniture and home decor.
About 2 years ago, my daughter and I started a clothing boutique. We were online only for awhile but now are in Painted Tree and Momo’s Mercantile.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Basically everything I shared in the beginning

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

This is also basically everything I already shared

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @momosmercanilte
• Facebook: momosmercantile

Image Credits
all photos taken by Mollie leone