Start-up’s savvy use of social media leads to success

Stevie and Alana Pallister of Tiger Mist know that life’s too short to not follow your passion.

10 years ago, the Pallister sisters began a tiny dress shop in suburban Melbourne. While they were relatively small in size, they were one of the first fashion retailers to successfully use Facebook as an advertising tool. A move that’s proven to be remarkably rewarding.

“Every Wednesday, Alana would take photos of me wearing the new stock. She’d upload the photos and before long we had girls driving in from all over the place because they’d seen our clothes on Facebook.”

Today, the sisters run their own fashion label, Tiger Mist. And while they’ve upgraded to professional models and photographers, the business is still booming thanks to their savvy use of social media. In fact, it's through the power of social media that they’ve expanded their label internationally.

“Tiger Mist is an affordable fashion line with a bit of flair. Originally, we thought it would grow through wholesale,” explains Alana. “But we could see the financial benefits of social media from the beginning.”

Tiger Mist’s plans stalled a few years ago when Stevie was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Suddenly, Alana had to run the business on her own.

“My main priority was to see Stevie get better and have something to be passionate about in her recovery,” says Alana. “I had to close one of our two stores so the family could focus on Stevie.”

However, Alana’s determination didn’t falter. “I spent a lot of time studying social media and figuring out how to use it to grow the online business so Stevie could work from home.”

“But by then,” adds Stevie, “the business went crazy. By the time I was back, we needed a proper warehouse!”

Five years on, and along with the 40 staff in Melbourne and two factories in China, Tiger Mist is now expanding quickly in the US.

The key to their success? Both sisters agree it’s passion. “We live and breathe the business. Social media doesn’t sleep and neither do we,” explains Alana. “It’s about chatting with our customers exactly the same way we talk with our friends. We upload up to 10 times a day.”

“NAB has been really supportive through it all,” adds Stevie. “They’re kind of our friends. We review our social media strategy with their tech team regularly and they’ve been able to give us some really cool pointers - which is funny because we think we know everything about social media.”

At NAB, we’re continuously inspired by social media driven businesses such as Alana and Stevie’s, and proud of supporting them to succeed.