Archive Sunday turned 5,000 TikTok followers into $1 million in revenue: In one year.

• Author: Bicknell, Lindsay

NOTHING HAS MADE ME FEEL THE BIG 3-0 looming on my horizon more than being a millennial on TikTok. Like more than the 100 million people who downloaded the app at the start of quarantine, it was something I used to pass the time. It was what all the kids were doing, and I was in strong denial about the fact that I was no longer one of them with my skinny jeans and side part--TikTok has shown me are signs that I am now, certifiably, Old.

What I expected was videos of lip-syncing and dancing--like the app's precursor, Musically. But what I found was a collection of content creators making videos about my very specific and very niche interests and using that as a marketing tool for their small businesses.

I found a lot of small businesses on TikTok to satiate my quarantine-induced shopaholic tendencies. Like custom joycons for my Nintendo Switch, Japanese anime stickers for my laptop, and cute gear for my battle-station (otherwise known as my home office). What I didn't realize was that I wasn't alone--the pandemic had kickstarted an explosion of growth for small businesses on apps and websites like TikTok.

And one of those businesses is right here in Salt Lake City--in fact, right across the street from my very own apartment.

JUST BECAUSE THERE'S A PANDEMIC DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN'T DO BUSINESS

When I was downloading TikTok at the start of the pandemic, Sasha Sloan was starring her business. "I was just kind of stuck at home in quarantine," she says. "I was still in school, but I couldn't go to campus. I couldn't get a job. And like everybody else, I was just on TikTok all the time." What started as a way to make some money and kill some time in quarantine quickly became an overnight sensation.

Her business was simple--buying old Star Wars T-shirts from the thrift store, bleach dying them, and reselling them on Etsy. Coming from a family who had made their living off of recycled fashion, like her siblings' company Uptown Cheapskate or her mother's company Kid to Kid, it was an easy model to follow, but one she did all on her own.

With only 5,000 TikTok followers and 50 bleach-dyed Star Wars T-shirts, Sloan put up a video showcasing her product and went to bed. When she woke up the next day, her entire Etsy collection had sold out. "That was the first moment that I was like, hold on, do we have something special here? And then I did it again."

For the first two months, that's how it went. Waking up at 6:00 AM, buying shirts, bleaching them...