Meet Tanryelle Tafoya | Interior Designer, homeschooling, mother of 8

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tanryelle Tafoya and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tanryelle, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
In my almost 9 years of being a business owner, I have tried and failed and tried again and failed again. I know to keep going when the hope that lays within me over powers the grievance of my failure. Reminding me that failure isn’t an end but a platform to which I build better the next time around. When I’m making a decision weather to let it go and keep going, I wait for Gods peace in either decision.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My journey into interior design started as a little girl really.

I grew up in apartments and wasn’t allowed to paint the walls. My desire to have painted walls ignited my creativity and from there I would go and buy vinyl table cloths and tape them to my walls to get “colored walls”, I would take feather boas and frame out the walls. My dad would bring home old furniture and I would take my acrylic craft paint and paint pieces to match my room.

As I entered my teen years, I began to take a strong interest in interior styling. After having my first child at 17 and becoming a wife all before I was a senior in high school, I had to apply that same creativity to my new life as a young teen mother and wife.

I eventually began online schooling for interior design and would help all of my friends and family with decorating their spaces. We moved a lot and that caused me to become really proficient in maximizing spaces, making them both functional as well as stylish.

In 2014, I officially launched my business with my husband here in the valley. We had five little ones by this time and homeschooled our kiddos as well. So owning a small business allowed me the flexibility to be able to raise our family, provide for them and do what I loved. We would refinish furniture for clients as well as decorate homes. We did a lot of this work out of our two car garage. Before I was invited to participate in two major markets in AZ.

In 2018, I opened my first showroom in northern AZ. We had 7 children at this time. It had a retail space to sell pieces we created, home decor as well as a studio for us to operate out of. We launched the Get your kicks vintage market in Holbrook Az. A market for other artisans and independent business owners to come and showcase their art and get exposure to the Route 66 market. I also started the art walk of historic downtown Holbrook in my time there as well as serve on the chamber board.

In March of 2020, we closed our doors due to the pandemic shutdown. I gave birth to our 8th and final little boy, leaving us with 4 boys and 4 girls. We weren’t able to reopen shortly after our son was born. The children and I relocated back home here to the valley. I had no plans to reopen business or jump back into interior design at all after all we had lost.

I recently reopened shop here in the valley in December of 2021 and have since closed my doors again. I’ve made many mistakes and have certainly learned from them. It was a very hard thing to walk away from, yet again. However as I am now in the waiting room of where to go next, I am focused on what God has in front of me right now. My clients and building my online business alongside my older children. It has been both bitter leaving a dream on the table (for a season) and sweet getting to watch my babies now blossom and grow into their gifting. We are building this thing together.

I am still homeschooling my eight children, oftentimes you will get to see one of my older four helping out with online marketing and content creating. Life gets pretty busy as you could imagine with eight kids and a business. I am still helping others live their style in their homes and commercial spaces, all while teaching my kiddos the art of design as well.

It has been a hard yet beautiful journey into design. It’s beautiful to see the beauty God makes for us in life out of the ashes we are often left with.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I was to take my best friend out for a day in the valley, we would start with seeing all of our closest friends and family in town (because we’re besties right? So they are close to my family too) then to brunch at The Henry, then off to the musical instrument museum (because I play violin and this place is AMAZING) we would definitely hit up a couple of the local small boutiques on cave creek and in Scottsdale! Also head out to Buckeye to visit screws and sparkles and support all of those small businesses there and then off to the best speak easy restaurants in town . Undertow!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout would have to go to My Heavenly Father first and foremost! Without Him I wouldn’t be where I am today. I have fallen many times and He has been faithful to pick me back up! My parents, family, friends and siblings. All have played a beautiful role in helping me get to where I am today.

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