We were lucky to catch up with Preshous Thompson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Preshous, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I was sitting at home one day scrolling on social media and came across of boutique. When I tell you this lady had a beautiful Maxi Dress on, however, what caught my attention was these beautiful red tassel earrings she had on to accent the bold lines stitched in the dress. I went to the accessory section on the website to check out what other earrings were available. To my surprise there was not too many to choose from. I was getting ready to purchase the pair of red tassels but something would not let me press the checkout button. I have a very creative side which also pushes me to the mindset, “Preshous, you can make this yourself”. So, that is exactly what I did. I told my husband I would be right back, I needed to head to the store and purchase some yarn to make me some earrings. I returned from the store with about 5 colors and went to work. A bit of a struggle at first to figure out exactly how to maneuver the yarn to create the shape I needed, but!, I managed. I created a red pair of tassels and they were super cute, so of course, you know I headed straight to my facebook page and posted a picture and the response was crazy! I received so many messages and three young ladies who immediately placed orders. One from North Carolina, Richmond, and my local town of Hampton. From there it has been non stop. This was an unexpected blessing that has turned into my very own business. I just wanted a pair of tassels. The emotions of having so many women and men reaching out to me to purchase what I thought was a simple pair of earrings for myself to gifting them to themselves and their loved ones was so crazy and heartfelt.

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?

My Name is Preshous Thompson and I was born and raised in Hampton Virginia. My entire life I have always been drawn to crafting to include decorating homes with my aunt using interior designs, holiday decorating with my mom for our home and church events. I found a new love for crocheting while working for a call center in high school. Ever since then yarn has been my favorite tool. I began to make yarn wrapped bottles for housewarming gifts and decor around my home. Now!, I am the owner and creator of Tasselfifteen where I create exclusive tassel earrings. I can create tassels for your everyday wear whether you are running errands, school visits with your children to elegant tassels for date nights, conventions, vacations and so much more. I am so proud of myself for starting. Faith over Fear is my motivation. My only hearts desire for Tasselfifteen outside of being a very successful business is to be a blessing to all that I come in contact with. Tasselfifteen is not only about creating earrings for your fashionable outfits, but it about making the community smile again. Building the confidence that women young and seasoned have lost during this thing we call life. A pair of earring specially created for you with love to allow you to show up in life the best version of yourself. This, is what I have to offer my Tassel’Nista’s.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I wanted to share this not because I am doing the best at it right now, but I wanted to share this to encourage anyone is starting a business and building their social media platform to never stop, remain consistent. At the current moment I am still working my 9-5 so I am juggling those hours and then taking that hat off to put on my entrepreneur hat. Building my social media presence takes dedication. I struggled with this because I was not use to having to create content to draw attention to my business verses just posting to be posting. I take pictures everyday when I am wearing my earrings and schedule post to show them off and draw traffic to my website. I also make Reels on Facebook and Instagram to keep the viewers interested and excited about my creations. Remember, people cant like, share, and comment on what is not there. At the beginning, you are your only advertisement. Once my clientele built up I asked each client that I refer to as “Tassel’Nista’s” to tag when they post their selfies in their tassels. This allows their audience to be introduced to your brand. When I post about my earrings, I do this from my business Facebook and Instagram page, even if the following is low. Stay consistent with that. Useful tip: after you posted from your business page, share it from your personal page to capture the attention of others who are not yet following your business. I also go live on Facebook to give special incentives and sales to those exclusive to the live only. This gets the attention of the crowd because who wants to miss out on a good sale. My last golden nugget to all my beautiful people reading this is do not be discouraged about the numbers. Whether you have 10 followers, 5 likes, no views on your lives, or 2 comments. People are watching. Do Not Stop!!!!!!!!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The one thing that helped me build my reputation within my market was “Being Me”. I know this sounds crazy but there is only one version of you no matter how many share the market with you. When I ventured out with my tassel earrings, I researched and found other individuals that were making tassels. Some of them I reached out to and introduced myself and asked how they got started, what was their inspiration, and what could they tell me in starting my own that would benefit me. The most common answer across the board was let God lead you. This was so crazy because my relationship with Christ is the foundation of everything that I put my hands to. At that moment, I knew that being myself is the best thing I can do. Give them Preshous. Don’t change who you are because you are starting your business. People buy because they love you, people buy because they see you carry yourself with integrity, people support you because they believe in you. There are so many people at this current moment that were creating tassels before me and so many since I have started, and we all offer something different because we remain who Christ created us to be. That makes all the difference. If you choose this mindset that you don’t leave any doubt for discouragement to set in, you don’t leave room for competition to drive you, why, because you know that they can only get you from you.

Contact Info:

• Website: Tasselfifteen.com
• Instagram: Tasselfifteen
• Facebook: Tasselfifteen