Elizabeth Bighorse was dragged, figuratively speaking, into the technology age when her husband brought home their first computer.

In the past six years, though, she has come to embrace technology to the point that she runs her business entirely online working primarily from her Maple Valley home.

Bighorse bumped into an acquaintance, Patty Dreyer, at a local coffee shop in 2003.

“We were discussing my plans to open this fun and funky store in Maple Valley with my daughter,” Bighorse said. “She said, ‘You’re kidding, that’s what I’m doing online.’ She was making a ton of money selling stuff on eBay.”

Dreyer has a telecommunications degree while Bighorse has an extensive background in retail. It seemed like the perfect fit.

“Our goal was to combine both of our talents because we didn’t want to rely solely on e-commerce or brick and mortar for all of our revenue,” Bighorse said. “So, we said, ‘OK, let’s do this together.’ Our plan was always to see if they would work equally together or if the brick and mortar or the e-commerce would outsell the other. We always left it at, ‘Let’s see what happens.'”

So the brick and mortar store, Moodswings, opened in Maple Valley.

“For six years, the retail store did really well, the community embraced it,” Bighorse said. “We were edgy and urban. We offered products that you couldn’t find at a lot of other gift stores. We had that fun and funky edge when we took it online. Our niche products were flying out the door because you couldn’t always find a tattoo style handbag.”

Because they were already catering to a niche market, Bighorse explained, it was perfect to take the online retail sphere and “it just exploded.”

While both women raised their families — Dreyer home-schooled her two children and Bighorse has four kids of her own — they also worked to build the business.

After a while managing the online as well as brick and mortar operations became too much in addition to their family lives.

The pair evaluated their options.

“There was going to be road construction in front of the brick and mortar, the economy was slowing down,” Bighorse said.

So they decided to take all of the capital they had and “inject it into our online operations” in February.

The strategy worked.

Bighorse said that Moodswings has an expansive online presence, thanks in part to Channel Adviser, the software program they use to offer products on a wide variety of Web sites ranging from eBay in a number of different languages to Amazon in addition to their own domain, www.moodswingsonthenet.

A dozen of the same item are offered, Bighorse explained, with a few available on eBay, a few on Amazon and a few on their own site. When one site sells out then potential buyers are directed to one of the other online purchasing options available.

While their physical inventory in the retail store was mostly apparel and accessories now Moodswings sells accessory items online almost exclusively.

“There has been a tremendous resurgence in rockabilly culture,” Bighorse said. “It’s a style. It’s a flare. It has to do with a style of music. What it’s about is that pop culture pin up girl, lots of cute tattoos, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Page, Betty Boop kind of look.”

With these kinds of items in style and in demand, Bighorse said, they work with 300 vendors from around the world selling merchandise that reflects the trends in that rockabilly culture as well as items for goth, retro and more.

With the help of five full-time employees, Dreyer and Bighorse run the online business, which has allowed them the flexibility to do more both personally and professionally.

“The amount of programming we had to learn at a fast pace, that’s probably the most challenging thing,” Bighorse said. “Patty and I are more able to travel to conventions and trade shows together, whereas before, we felt one of us had to be here at all times. Now we can manage the Web site from anywhere in the world. That has been the ultimate freedom for me. I don’t feel there’s such a ball and chain around my ankle in terms of the locality.”

As the press on through their first year of online only sales, Bighorse said, it’s been a good year. They’ve gotten a lot of press, including being featured during MTV’s “MADE” series earlier this year when a pair of local teens who were on the show shopped at Moodswings.

They’ve also had the opportunity to mentor other small business owners and speak as guest panelists.

“We’re so excited,” Bighorse said. “It’ll be interesting to see where the next few years take us, but, we’re pretty excited.”