We recently connected with Maria Stanzak and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

Working with family is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s also the most rewarding. It’s weird to both, be completely exhausted and drained emotionally by your co-workers, while also having such an intense love and compassion for them. My co-workers happen to be my mother, sister, and brother. It’s a mess every day, and yet, we’ve managed to grow a successful business and still want to be around one another. We learn from each other. We guide each toner. We pick each other up when we fall. There’s beauty in the chaos. It works for us.

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?

I think being self employed is good for the soul. It helps you grow. It’s also not for the faint of heart. It is challenging and it pushes you to the brink of crazy at times. But, if you listen closely, you’ll realize that every struggle, every challenge, every problem, is actually a lesson in disguise. I think as a family we’ve listened closely. I truly believe that’s why we’ve been so successful. We don’t give up when times get hard. We only get stronger. I think we learned that from our mama.

I love every part of what I do. I run the financial show at The Tamale Store. Honestly, being the oldest of 4 kids, I’m also the most responsible lol (but seriously). I went to school to be a nurse. More specifically, a doula. I wanted to deliver babies into this glorious and miraculous earth. I wanted to witness a miracle daily. When the opportunity arose to fully be a part of the business though, I didn’t hesitate. Deep down I knew that’s what I wanted. I still witness a miracle daily, but in different ways. Hugging my mom good morning as we sit alongside one another in our office and drink coffee while we work together is a miracle. Meeting customers from all over the world, some who flew in specifically for us, is a miracle. Watching our American Dream actually become a reality, in a world that says the American Dream is now harder and harder to attain, is a miracle.

15 Years later, we’re still doing what we do best. We make the best tamales in Arizona.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Being CFO of The Tamale Store has come with a lot of challenges. When we first started, everything from paying our electricity bill to paying our handful of employees was difficult. We had to take out loans, and usually not pay ourselves as owners. There were plenty of months that I couldn’t pay myself and relied solely on my husband’s income (thank God for his!) When we opened the restaurant portion of our business, we also endured a lot of financial hardships. We took out more loans and got into substantial debt. Luckily the business carried us through that and we managed to remain intact. We’ve had a lot of close calls but we’re still here, thriving, and ready to fight another day.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for us has been word of mouth! Honestly, I know it’s a possible cliche, but its true. When customer’s like something, they tell their friends. They share it on social media. They tell their neighbors. That’s how we’ve grown to where we are today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thetamalestore.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetamalestore/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/thetamalestore