We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tatyanna Thomas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tatyanna below.

Alright, Tatyanna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

This all goes back to when I was younger and my love for art. I truly had no idea what I wanted to be in life even when it came down to choosing a major. I knew I wanted to impact people. I knew I loved art and I knew I had a passion for teaching people so, obviously I chose education. And look where I am now. *Insert laughter* I never thought in a million years I would be owning my own art business. Teaching the past years has really taught me how to grow people. Teaching also taught me how to recognize the spark in understanding. I realized that I was good at working with adults and I was great with working with kids and I didn’t necessarily need to work for someone else for pennies I can make as an artist too.

We were on a road trip, my husband and I, and we just really needed to figure out what is it that I wanted to do. I was taking a break from teaching due to COVID and having three children, a newborn, one in virtual school and one preschooler running around. I couldn’t handle being on a computer screen teaching while also trying to be a mom and learning to navigate that. Art was always a thing, I knew I wanted to do something that was in art and my husband had mentioned, “Why don’t you do paint classes?” and I was like, “Absolutely not.” Little did I know the more I thought about it and the more my sister-in-law encouraged me and people kept giving me these ideas that I would actually take it and run with it and ever since I haven’t looked back.

There’s so many emotions that come into play when you’re running your own business, especially at the beginning. This is my going on my second year of being in business and the first year I was teaching while I was running it. This is my year! This is my year to grow and so all the intensity comes into place. All the emotions of am I going to succeed? Am I going to feel satisfaction from doing this? It all comes into play. I think the biggest thing is my support and I have seen my support show up time and time again and I am so honored to have such a great support system during this time.

I knew this would work and I know it’s going to work because people love art. I know my personality is different than most, honestly, and that’s what makes me stand out. It’s not that I don’t believe any other artists can do what I do because, they could. They very well could, but not every artist can teach another artist. Not every artist could teach another individual how to paint. Not every artist can relate to you and that’s what I bring to the table. I bring relatability, I bring down to earth, and fun.

The best thing about my business is that I am mobile currently, I bring classes directly to the people and if you don’t have a place for me to bring it to you, I find a place for you. I think that’s a big thing, flexibility, and being able to reach the people. My ultimate goal is to achieve lifelong partners, lifelong clients, lifelong friendships and eventually get my own studios. If I can keep working hard, staying relatable and inviting, as well as continuing to grow my own personal skill set, I know this business will succeed.

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?

My art business’ name is called Ex Animo Creations. Many people mispronounce it, but it truly has meaning. Ex Animo is latin for, from the heart, and I truly believe that anything I create or teach, is truly a creation from my heart.

I lead paint classes, art Summer camps for kids, homeschool lessons, private art lessons, monthly Saturday Art clubs for kids, paint, and more!!

The main thing I want future clients to know about Ex Animo Creations is that I am willing to go above and beyond to make events special and that art is truly my passion. I am ALWAYS looking for new clients because I want to share art with the world, I truly believe ANYONE can be a good artist with a little guidance and support!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

This is tough, I had to truly unlearn this, “I got this,” mentality. It’s hard to say that because a lot of people truthfully always say, “I got this,” and let’s be honest we don’t always HAVE it. Sometimes we need help, sometimes we need to learn, sometimes we need to grow. We ALWAYS need someone for something whether you need support, a client, a location etc… There will never be a time when you just have it all together, and that’s okay!

Have you ever had to pivot?

My biggest pivot in career was going from classroom teacher to full on entrepreneur! I knew I didn’t want to work for the school system anymore, the whole year I dreaded the idea of ever leaving but when it came to the final months… The decision was inevitable, it was happening, there was no way around it, I was DONE. God had aligned everything just right, my exit path was well lit and I knew it was my time. The school year ended and I hit the ground running with summer camps. The moment the 1st session of art camp began I just knew I was where I was meant to be!

Contact Info:

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