We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful TiaMichele Walton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with TiaMichele below.

TiaMichele, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

My business is one of vulnerability. Walking around on the beach in a bikini is a scary thing to do. Modeling my own pieces is scarier. I built and created Taste Swim to share my story of empowering myself to love myself freely, feel good in my own skin, and share that self-love experience with all of my customers. I couldn’t have done that at a better time in my life. I don’t necessarily think I should have started my business sooner. I do wish I loved myself the way I do now, then.

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?

Absolutely!! I’m actually a scientist by trade, but I’ve always loved all things fashion. For several years, I had struggled with my weight. It fluctuated for a while until finally reached my highest weight of 280 lbs. I was extremely defeated at that weight because, though I loved who I was, it was an adjustment. I had always been smaller throughout high school and college, until my health became vulnerable. One thing that I always found difficult to purchase at that stage in my life was swimwear. I love to travel, so as superficial as that may sound, swimwear was extremely important to me.

I made a decision to alter my health and lost over 100 pounds, Opening Taste Swim was a gift to myself, but was also a way for me to ensure I could provide quality, luxury swimwear and coverup pieces to women of various shapes and sizes from pieces for the more conservative to those who like a lot of sexy. I also intertwined my scientific roots by creating our all-natural SPF shimmering body butters by hand.

What sets us apart is simple. We are a real brand owned and operated by real people with real experiences. We want everyone to love how they look and feel in our items. I model all pieces on the site, and I pride myself in not ever selling anything that I would refuse to wear.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Every dime that started Taste Swim was my own money I earned working my full-time job. Starting my business was non-negotiable for me. I knew what I wanted to do, I outlined and created a plan, I asked the right questions to the right people in my inner circle, and I executed it.

Any dollar that Taste Swim makes goes directly back into the business; whether that be the purchase of new fabrics and inventory, the components of our body butters, or even labels to print for shipping! I’m happy to see profit this year, whereas last year I was grateful to come out even. Most new owners can’t say that!

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

Consistency is key. I currently have just over 1K followers on Instagram and 830 on Facebook. Now I know this number sounds low, but I started with just 93 in my first 6 months.

I’ve learned in a very short time that your number of followers doesn’t matter if they aren’t buying. I’m proud to say that my engagement is high, and for the past few weeks, I’ve been consistently reaching 17K people.

I post reels almost daily, but I at least post a photo in my Taste Swim items daily, multiple times. I want people to see me. They will know who I am. I will be be a household name.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tastebytiamichele.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tasteswim
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/tastebytiamichele
• Yelp: Taste Swim

Image Credits
Smooth Brown; IG @thakulkreative Adrinie Freeman; IG @dreavibez