We were lucky to catch up with Tanisha Taliaferro recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tanisha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I took the risk to open a storefront (brick/mortar) for my home based business during the pandemic.

Style Haven has been in existence for years as a home based business.
My full time job was doing background investigations. Once things shifted with my employment due to Covid-19 I decided to bet on myself. It has always been something I wanted to do but I never seriously acted on it.

Well, it has exceeded my expectations.
I have great customers, old and new. They have been just as excited about the store as I am and I am celebrating my 2 year anniversary for my storefront 10/29/22.

Tanisha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m someone that loves fashion but love to be different. I based my brand Style Haven on a style that’s “NOT the Ordinary”. I search countless hours going through vendors to find unique, eclectic pieces that you do not see everywhere. I pride myself in creating a comfortable, unique, welcoming boutique where women can come for a shopping experience. I don’t stock many of a particular item to make sure my customers are set apart from the average mall shopper. We like to call it boutique shopping!
My customers love that!

I’m always trying to think of ways to keep the business thriving.
In my boutique I carry my puppy wear line named after my pup, Keo’s Kollection and I carry my lip wear line, LevelZ.

I just recently entered into a collaboration with a clothing line named “Stacked” that is also currently sold at Style Haven.

We have something for everyone and every occasion!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

My initial funding used to start my business was my personal savings. Although I have no regrets and I am still very excited about my decisions and business, If I had to do things over again or give advice to someone starting their business. My advice would be to look into grants to help fund small minority businesses. There is help out there. It will relieve a lot of the anxiety you will have starting out.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my social media presence over time. In the beginning I wasn’t as engaged with the platform because I was also unaware of the many tools that came with utilizing social media. Once I opened my store I knew this was the place to let people know where I was and what I had to offer. Once my presence grew, so did my sales.
Everyday I am engaging with my audience and hoping to continue to build.
My advice would be to take advantage of the free business tools from the social media platforms.

Contact Info:

• Website: Stylehavenboutique.net
• Instagram: @astylisthaven
• Facebook: @shopstylehaven